's 2026-27 NBA season preview arrives with the league already shifting around it. Giannis Antetokounmpo is in Miami, Jaylen Brown is in Philadelphia and Ja Morant is in Portland, while the Oklahoma City Thunder remain near the center of the title picture despite a summer that changed their rotation.
That is why NBA today searches are landing on Oklahoma City first. gives the Thunder a 99.9% chance to make the playoffs and projects 60.7 wins, a reminder that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's team is still being treated as one of the league's strongest even after the departures of Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins in salary-shedding summer trades. The preview also points to a roster that can still absorb change, with Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams as All-NBA sidekicks and Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain among the young players the club wants to push into larger roles.
The moves around the league are wide-ranging. Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto, LaMelo Ball is joining Anthony Edwards in Minnesota's backcourt and the Lakers have added a new lob threat for Luka Doncic, while a 41-year-old legend changed coasts and helped set up the league's newest superteam. Against that backdrop, Oklahoma City looks like the most stable contender in the room, which is exactly why the preview gives it so much weight.
The catch is the same one Tim MacMahon flags inside the preview: the Thunder may still have arguably the NBA's deepest roster, but depth does not erase the bruise that comes with losing three championship-winning role players. It also does not fix the one number that keeps hanging over Oklahoma City. The Thunder ranked 22nd in the league with a 49.0% rebounding rate last season, even while finishing second in defensive rating in the bold prediction and leading the league by 2.5 points over second place in 2024-25. Over the last two seasons, that defense has been dominant by 2.4 points in the following season as well, which is why the rebounding issue stands out so sharply.
So the story for Oklahoma City is not whether it belongs among the favorites. It does. The real question is whether the Thunder can keep that edge when the schedule starts for real and the possessions get heavier, because the first test of this preview is whether a team this strong can clean the glass without losing the balance that made it dangerous in the first place.
