Throughout league history, we've seen championship teams come into the next season a bit slower after winning the Larry O'Brien trophy, as they know how good they are and what it takes to win, so they don't push as hard as they did the year before.
But that so-called "championship hangover" is definitely not present with the Oklahoma City Thunder , because Mark Daigneault 's team is destroying everything in front of them.
They currently sit at 12-1, despite their nominal second-best player, Jalen Williams , hasn'tnot having played a minute due to injury. On top of that, Chet Holmgren has missed four games, the same as Alex Caruso , while Luguentz Dort has played only six.
The result? They're sixth in the league in offensive rating at 118.5 points per 100 possessions, while ranking first by a wide margin in defensive rating at 103.0 points allowed per 100 possessions, which is staggering considering all the injuries they've dealt with so far.
"Without Jalen Williams, though and that's the part about him I don't want to say confused by, but like pleasantly surprised by, because of Ajay Mitchell being able to come in and just be this immediate 16, 17 points a game, steady offense. It's not like he's a 3-point shooter. Simmons started . "He's like a crafty guard,"
"He can kind of do a Shai impersonation a little bit… If Shai misses a game, he could probably get in and get 25. They're so freaking deep. When Jalen Williams comes back, I don't even know who loses minutes. And I think it's about as deep a team as we've ever seen," Simmons added.
It's Ajay Mitchell who has become the biggest story in Oklahoma this season. Drafted 38th overall by the New York Knicks last year, he now looks phenomenal, averaging 16.9 points and 3.8 assists on 46.2 percent shooting. He played only 36 games last season, averaging 6.5 points, which clearly suggests he will be one of the main candidates for the Most Improved Player award this year.
Once everyone gets healthy, Mitchell will slide back to the bench and that could actually become a new weapon that OKC didn't have last season. However, let's take a step back and examine all the problems they've had, yet still managed to rest their starters in the fourth quarter due to blowouts in seven of their 13 games. It becomes clear just how deep this roster really is.
They're on track to finish first in the West for the third straight year as one of the youngest teams in the league. With a +15.6 net rating, they are leading the league this season and only the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets also have a double-digit net rating.
They're on pace to exceed their remarkably strong 2024-25 season, when they posted the second-highest net rating in NBA history and the seventh-best regular-season record ever. All of that has led James Worthy to feel OKC has found a formula to become a dynasty .
"They are on their way, remind me of some of the great dynasties of the past — Chicago, San Antonio, Lakers . They have a formula, and once you get the formula and you believe in it and it works for you, all you do is stick in different parts, and it doesn't matter," said Worthy, who was an integral part of the Lakers' Showtime era.
Worthy's words carry real weight in this league, as he was part of one of the greatest dynasties ever and he wouldn't be throwing out such statements lightly. Still, the season is young and one big injury can change everything. While the Nuggets also look phenomenal, their only two losses essentially came down to one possession.
Everything points to the possibility of these two teams meeting in a potential Western Conference Finals this season, building a rivalry that began last year with an epic seven-game series. From this perspective, it seems that OKC's advantage over Denver and the rest of the league is exactly that roster depth Simmons is talking about, but let's wait until those matchups actually happen.
Until then, let's just enjoy the masterclass orchestrated from the shadows by Sam Presti , which could become even more dangerous next season, considering the Thunder currently project to own two top-10 picks in a historically loaded 2026 NBA Draft, seventh and ninth.
Related: History tells us the Oklahoma City Thunder are destined to repeat as Champions
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
