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Philippines, 27 Dec 2025 |
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OKC Thunder Favored to Repeat as NBA Champs By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Mon, 01 Sep 2025  The 2025-2026 NBA Season will officially start in less than two months yet but the Oklahoma City Thunder are consensus frontrunners and favorites to repeat as champions. Last season, OKC finished with the league's best record of 68-14 but were taken to the full seven games Finals series by the Indiana Pacers to clinch the Larry O'Brien's Trophy. It was their first since the franchise transferred from Seattle (then known as Supersonics). The team is coming back with virtually everybody from the youngest squad that clinched their first NBA title after years and decades of rebuilding and languishing in relative obscurity. Back is NBA scoring champion, season and finals MVP and now full-blown superstar Shai Gilgeous Alexander or SGA and his trusted lieutenant Jalen Williams, himself on the brink of superstardom for his all-around brilliance next only to SGA, of course. Seven-two center Chet Holmgren is likewise back to help anchor the team on both offense and defense together with Luegentz Dorf and Cason Wallace. Also returning are reserves seven-foot center-power forward Isiah Hertenstein and veteran swingman Alex Caruso who both can play starters alongside SGA, Williams and Holmgren and a slew of other Thunder who can play defense, rebound and shoot well from under the basket or afar. Improving further their ceiling, the Thunder drafted free agent 6-10 bruiser Thomas Sorber from Georgetown and 6-9 forward Ousmane Dieng from France. Sorber is projected to be developed in the mold of Hertenstein to counter especially other rival Western Conference teams which bolstered their frontline in the off season. The balance of power in the NBA remains in the West hence other top teams from the Conference constitute the biggest stumbling blocks to OKC's successful title defense. Pundits see the Houston Rockets as the Thunder's top threats in the West In the off-season, the Rockets acquired the nearly seven foot Kevin Durant who is expected not only provide outside fire-power but also help the vastly improved Turkish 7'3" center Alperen Sengun and seven-foot veteran slotman Steven Adams control the boards. As if that is not enough, the Rockets also acquired the 6-10 veteran center Clint Capella to provide rim protection and pose scoring threat with his alley-op dunks. Another threat are the Denver Nuggets with a well recovered Nikola Jokic expected to play in his MVP form with the streak shooting Jamal Murray and the always dangerous Aaron Gordon. The Nuggets had parted ways with the 6-10 power forward Michael Porter Iii, a member of its last championship squad. But they took in seven-footer veteran Jonas Valenciunas who is seen to spell Jokic without seeing a drastic drop especially in offense. Also not to be discounted are the Minnesota Timberwolves who took OKC to six games before losing last season's Western Conference Finals. Anthony Edwards remains as the main threat with his streak shooting while veteran French 7'1" center Rudy Gobert has been a hand full especially on defense even after parting last season with Twin Towers pal Karl Anthony Towns. Providing able assistance on the painted lane are a pair of 6'9"s in Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle. Los Angeles, both the Clippers and the Lakers should not be overlooked too. The Clippers who have largely depended on rugged center Ivica Zubac in the previous seasons can now look forward to a better, much improved frontline with the addition of another seven-footer who has shooting range and a proven battler at the slot in Brook Lopez from former NBA champions Milwaukee Bucks. Hopefully Kawhi Leonard will remain healthy for much of the season, especially the playoffs. The Lakers too might have finally found the answer to their weakness at the center following the departure of prolific big man Anthony Davis to Dallas for scoring ace Luka Doncic. The Lakers landed DeAndre Ayton, a seven-foot center who had NBA Finals stint with the Phoenix Suns to provide steadiness at the slot. Previously, the Lakers had to rely on Jaxson Hayes or seeing his ineffectiveness, on a committee of big forwards that included Lebron James and Rui Hachimura to do the job but with limited success With Ayton around, Lebron can concentrate with what he does best---scoring tons of points, while hopefully playing in tandem with Doncic Dark horses are the Dallas Mavericks which have maintained 7'4" Derrick Lively and hard-nosed Daniel Galford to play center to allow Anthony Davis to get his long-cherished wish of playing full time as power forward. Who knows how far will this version of Twin Towers set-up takes them? Lest we forget, the Golden State Warriors are also trying as of this writing to get former Boston Celtics dependable big man Al Horford to solve their deficiencies at the slot Imagine Horford playing alongside Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green---one of the most versatile threesomes in recent NBA history. Can't wait for the new season to start! The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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