NBA Contenders: 5 Teams Challenging the Thunder

In the NBA, parity reigns: seven different teams have been champions in the last seven seasons. Can the Thunder create dynasty?

He Oklahoma City Thunder He finished his long rise to the top a few days ago, giving his fans the first title since they moved from Seattle in the already distant 2008. The team led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams y Chet Holmgren also made it clear that the NBA Current is structured so that every team has the opportunity to champion.

2018 was the last time a team repeated champion – the Golden State Warriors They defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to achieve your third ring in four seasons. Prior to that, normal were dynasties in the league. Before the Warriors, the Miami Heat had won two in a row with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade y Chris Bosh.

In the 2000s, the San Antonio Spurs won three times, while in Los Angeles, the Lakers They took five with Shaquille O’Neal y Kobe Bryant -and then Kobe with Pau Gasol. If we go to the previous century, the Chicago Bulls shine, the same Lakers and the Boston Celtics as the most winners: between the foundation of the League in 1947 and 1999, those three teams won 33 rings in 52 years.

Today, the League is much more even, since in the last seven years, there have been seven different champions. Nor the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Warriors, Lakers o Celtics They were able to defend their crown. In the 2025-26 season, Oklahoma City will try to do the same. With that group so young of stars (SGA is the most veteran with 26 years), Thunder definitely has an opportunity to break with short -term parity.

It is clear that there are several other teams seeking to lower them from the throne. The Lakers acquired Luka Doncic A few months ago, which elevates them again to be candidates, while Milwaukee, Denver and Golden State continue to have their great stars that took them to glory recently.

But what about those who have not been champions in recent years? Could it be that we see an eighth different champion in eight seasons? Here, a list of the most viable candidates.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The betting houses have Cleveland a step below Oklahoma City on their list of possible champions for the next season. The reasons are obvious: before the injury of Tyrese Haliburtonthe Pacers will have a much more difficult path to return to the NBA finals next season.

That opens the door for Cleveland, who won 64 games in the regular season and were eliminated precisely by Indiana in the second round of the playoffs this year. With an excellent group of young stars like Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley y Jarrett Allenthe cavs are in position to dominate an east conference that will enter in the time of skinny cows the year that enters Haliburton, Jayson Tatum in Boston and Damian Lillard No Milwaukee.

The NBA shuddered with the news that Kevin Durant He would leave the Phoenix Suns to join the Houston Rockets next season. Although the Rockets gave to Jalen Green, a great player in the exchange with Phoenix, Durant joins a group that includes the Turk Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr., among others.

The Rockets have not been able to win the title in 30 years, when they fulfilled the mission of winning consecutive titles in 1994 and 1995 during the absence of Michael Jordan due to their first retirement from the NBA. From there, Houston has been close to James Harden’s era, but this group gives him his first great opportunity in a long time.

Much will depend on who chooses the Knicks as their new coach after the departure of Tom Thibodeau, but it is difficult to argue the roster to the New York team, since they possess figures like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns y Mikal Bridges. This same team was very close to reaching the NBA Finals, but like Cleveland, they were dispatched by Indiana.

The Knicks are – despite not having a coach – in the third place of the bets, in front of Houston and behind Oklahoma City and Cleveland. Like the cavs, they will seek to take advantage of the multitude of injured in the east conference to reach the promised land. It would be a milestone for the Knicks, who add up to more than half a century without being champions of the NBA.

In 2024, the Timberwolves arrived surprisingly to the final of the West Conference, where they lost in five games the series against the Dallas Mavericks. That team enjoyed the talent of Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert y Townswho went to the Knicks the following summer in exchange for Julius Randle, among other players. Minnesota responded to the tumult getting back to the final of the conference, this time falling with the Thunder.

Will the third be the defeated for the Wolves? Their base is still intact, and the experience gained in these last two years will surely benefit them when facing another year of navigating the regular season and the playoffs. Edwards, on the other hand, looks more and more like a world -class player – a MVP level season could release the team to the championship as it happened with SGA and Thunder.

Like Houston, Orlando already made an important movement to position himself for the next season. The Magic, a team that, like Minnesota, has never won an NBA title, acquired Desmond Bane of Memphis, who will now be for Paolo Banchero at the head of the club’s offensive.

That duo is complemented with more young talent by Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner. But even with all that, Orlando won 41 games last year. Why do we have to believe that the next season they become candidates to be champions? Simply, by Bane. The former TCU player is a natural scorer, who also contributes with rebounds and assistance in offensive, and robberies on the defensive part. That is why in the betting houses, Orlando already entered the top 10 of candidates to win everything in 2026.