After a few months of offseason dormancy, starved fans of the defending champion OKC Thunder recently received welcome new information about next year's follow-up campaign, particularly when they can expect to see the club take to the hardwood once again.
On Friday, it was revealed by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania that Oklahoma City will be one of the featured teams during both the NBA's late October opening-night slate as well as the always prestigious Christmas Day programming.
Excitingly enough, though these news drops have certainly given fans much to buzz about, they are merely just the appetizers for the even more coveted entree that will be delivered in the next few days.
Full Thunder regular season schedule set to be released in coming days
On August 7, the Atlanta Hawks' official X account revealed that their schedule drop will come about a week from the time of the posting, which, according to OKC Thunder Wire's Clemente Almanza, follows the same trend as the previous two years, when the full league schedules were released on August 15 and 17, respectively, both falling on a Thursday.
On top of the recent tidbits of season tip-off and Christmas matchups, fans are also fully aware of who the Thunder will find themselves squaring off against during the 2025 NBA Cup Tournament.
Per last month's reveal, they will be in West Group A and will see matchups against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. Of course, even with group play set to be held from October 31 through November 28, there's still no word on which teams will play on what date.
Like many mysteries that will be solved with the forthcoming regular season schedule drop, this, too, will be addressed in the coming days.
Already, the Thunder are viewed as the top threats to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2026, as they have +230 odds to become the first back-to-back champion since the Warriors back in 2018.
Considering they're coming off a historically dominant 2024-25 campaign and are bringing back largely the same roster that guided the franchise to its first title of the Sooner State era, this standing should come as no surprise.
The road to a repeat is slated to begin on October 21 for the Thunder, with the road map set to be fleshed out with more details over the next week.