Defending team with 68 wins! 800 million contract extension! Can the young dynasty break the curse?

"68 wins to defend the title, three 820 million contract extensions, a new era dynasty!"

This is the most noteworthy sentence in the new season.

As for the Thunder, some people say they are the Bulls of the new era; others are mocking: The NBA crown may not be so easy to wear. After all, no one in this league has been able to win consecutive championships for seven years.

The preseason is in full swing, with less than two weeks left for the 2025-26 season. Everyone’s eyes are once again focused on the young Thunder team with excellent ceiling.

Compared with other championship teams, the Thunder is not a traditional giant, nor does it have the star traffic of big cities, but it still relies on a stubborn youth momentum to break the rules of the old era.

Looking back at the Thunder last season, they almost had a historic season. The top execution around outside pressing, strong counterattacks, and defensive rotations has shown the entire NBA what youthful vitality is. During the regular season, they recorded 68 wins and 14 losses, ranking first in the league and the sixth-highest single-season win record in NBA history.

What is even more exaggerated is that they are not just beautiful statistics, but a dominant performance that truly crushes their opponents:

The season's net victory was 1,084 points, with an average margin of 12.87 points per game, ranking first in history;

Sweeping 21 teams in the regular season, breaking the NBA record;

54 double-digit win points, first in history;

Facing the Eastern Conference, they recorded 29 wins and 1 loss, first in history;

This young and strong game temperament has also completely rewritten the fans' best understanding of whether "small ball + defense" can coexist. They run faster than any team and defend stronger than any team. What's more worth mentioning is that there are 7 teams in NBA history that have won 68 games, but the only ones that can defend the title the next year are the Bulls teams in 1996 and 1997.

In short, if the Thunder want to recreate the legend of the Jordan era, they need to break the 28-year curse.

Is this difficult? It's hard.

But for the Thunder, they seem to have just that potential.

Going back to 13 years ago, the Thunder also had the "Three Young Boys Era" that countless people dreamed of. Durant, Westbrook, and Harden were the most outstanding talented team in the league at the time. However, at that time, they personally dismantled the future dynasty for a mere 4 million luxury tax. This sword ended the era of the Third Young Master and halted the entire city's championship dream for more than ten years.

Thirteen years later, fate once again placed a multiple-choice question in front of the Thunder. But this time the Thunder did not hesitate. The team directly offered a huge contract of 820 million, firmly locking in the new three young players:

Alexander, a four-year contract extension of 285 million;

Holmgren, a five-year maximum of 250 million;

Jaylen Williams, a five-year maximum of 287 million.

With these three contracts alone, half of a small-market team can be purchased. But Thunder showed no mercy.

Why? Because they finally understood that the foundation of a dynasty is not talent, but stability.

From a data point of view, the Thunder's core lineup has not moved a single point, and the rotation team is intact; from a player age point of view, the average age of the team is less than 25 years old, making it the youngest championship team in the league. This also directly means that their peak has just begun.

Borrowing comments from fans: "Back then, I saved 4 million and missed ten years. Now I spend 800 million to rule for ten years."

Although this is a bit of a joke, it is true. Instead of being victims of small markets, they started actively spending money to build their dreams.

As for the upcoming new season, major websites have released their latest prediction lists, and this time, they are almost unanimously targeting the same answer:

ESPN's championship odds: Thunder +200, first in fault;

Basketball Reference model: +240, tops the list;

Bleacher Report predicted record: 62 wins and 20 losses, first in the league.

According to reporter reports, some conservative NBA coaches also admitted in anonymous voting: "The Thunder are the only team that people don't want to meet in the new season."

This is the current situation of the Thunder. They are no longer a potential team, but a strong team recognized by the entire league, but as the old saying goes, the higher the hope, the greater the pressure. The precedents of the past two seasons are still before us. The Nuggets and Celtics are both popular teams after winning the championship, but the final results have also made many fans remain vigilant:

"Don't let predictions turn into poisonous milk."

For the NBA, predictions are never about predictions in games. The more perfect the game, the easier it is to be backlashed by the plot.

"It is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to defend it."

This sentence is extremely suitable to be applied to the current NBA. Since the Warriors completed two consecutive championships in 2018, the NBA has not seen a consecutive championship team for seven years.

Seven championships in seven years, the Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics, and Thunder. Each team can only dominate for one year, and then quickly retreat to the second line.

They are both championship teams, and their strength is naturally not weak. However, the current problem is obvious. The overall level of the league is too close. The one-stop super team model in the past has basically disappeared. Each team has two or three stars, four or five stable players, and even a set of starting-level substitutes on the bench. Coupled with injury problems, rule changes, player load management, etc.,

The NBA championship becomes more and more like a probability game.. No team can guarantee that it will be stable and healthy every year and will not be targeted by any opponent; and for the champion Thunder, the challenges of the new season are even more unprecedented.

No exaggeration:

"In the current NBA, the competition is not to see who is the strongest, but to see who can survive longer."

So, the question is: Can the Thunder complete consecutive championships in the new season?

They have talent, a stable lineup, a young coach, and an advantageous tactical system. Compared with the previous season when they won the championship, they have not experienced a top-level defense that was "targeted for a whole year." They were challengers before, and they will become the challenged in the new season. What they have to face in the new season is not a certain team, but the hunt for the entire league. The gap is difficult to predict at present.

Of course, if you really want to choose a team to break the seven-year defending curse, that person is still willing to bet on the Thunder. They are too young and the team's strength is too deep.

As for the upcoming 2025-26 season, we will wait and see whether it will be the starting point of a new era for the Thunder.