Is OKC Thunder Starting Five Set?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are embarking on a new journey this season. An 82 game schedule with a massive target on their back as NBA Champions.

On Opening night, a banner will drop and rings handed out in Oklahoma City for the first time in franchise history. The Thunder will attempt to repeat as champions and buck the current parity era in the league. The past seven champions have failed to make it out of the second round the following season but the OKC Thunder are primed to outdo its predecessors. The Thunder roll into the 2025-26 campaign with the deepest and most talented squad in the league.

There hasn't been a hint of drama this summer for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Everyone still dancing in the streets of Bricktown after finally capturing that elusive first title. The Thunder spent the offseason re-signing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell to extensions while adding a top 15 pick, Thomas Sorber, to the squad and holding a 99.2% retention rate.

One of the lone questions to watch for this season is the starting lineup for Oklahoma City. Mark Daigneault has shuffled the rotation each year since he took the job back in 2020. Last season, the starting five flipped over numerous times due to injury but once Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein shared the floor together in February the first five when healthy never changed until the NBA Finals, seeing Hartenstein come off the bench.

The double big lineup should take a massive step forward this season, not only due to continuity but because of the growth from Holmgren on the offensive end, particularly due to his 3-point shooting, which everyone expects to develop the further removed he gets from the Nov. 10 hip fracture.

It would make sense for the starting five of Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Holmgren and Hartenstein to be the primary driver for Daigneault's club. It allows Williams to play a more natural position but also gets Oklahoma City's five best players on the floor.

However, in certain matchups, especially against guard heavy teams, inserting Cason Wallace in place of Hartenstein isn't a bad idea to bolster the Thunder's elite point-of-attack defense with the floor spacing and cutting ability of Wallace on the other end to lift Oklahoma City offensively.

Expect the starting lineup largely remain the double-big bunch with alternative groups sprinkled in. Hartenstein handled his Finals benching with grace and if they can shake things up on the biggest stage, a Tuesday night in the regular season doesn't seem like a big deal.

Even in the Western Conference Finals, while the double big duo did start the games, Oklahoma City quickly staggered the two centers throughout the game mainly playing one at a time throughout that series with the Timberwolves.