The Thunder Can't Be Satisfied With Where They Are Now

OKC must continue to work on its biggest flaws if it wants to get back to the top of the league.

May 26, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in game five of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even one of the best teams in the world has areas where they need to improve. 

Oklahoma City is entering next season as one of the favorites to win the title, but must play almost perfect basketball to do so. The Thunder fell short this past year, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, and learned where they had to improve going into this upcoming year. 

There’s no doubt that if OKC puts time into these issues, they will slowly start to resolve themselves, but that’s always easier said than done. 

Here are three areas where OKC must improve before next season. 

1. Offensive Rebounding

Grabbing and allowing offensive rebounds is no doubt Oklahoma City’s worst flaw. The Thunder were one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the league last year, only grabbing 9.6 per game. Additionally, they let opponents grab an average of 11.9 offensive rebounds per game on them. This differential of -2.3 ranked OKC dead last in the entire league, and is something that can’t happen again. 

Isaiah Hartenstein does all he can, but other players like Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams have to step up and lend a hand. Luckily, rookie Aday Mara could be a big help in the paint this coming season and could start to turn this weakness into more of a strength for Oklahoma City. 

2. Deep-Range Defense

The Thunder play aggressively; there is no doubt about that, but sometimes they can play a little too aggressively. The squad's aggressive play has paid off as they cause more turnovers per game than almost every other team, but this sometimes leaves them out of position. When they do get put out of position, teams take advantage of this and let the three-ball fly. 

Oklahoma City allows the third-most three-point shots made per game at 14.3. Because of the volume of deep shots the team allowed, OKC was always trying to match their opponent. This put the team in some rough situations down the line, and sometimes cost the Thunder games because of terrible shooting performances. If Oklahoma City can limit the three-ball and play its game, it won’t have to worry about bad three-point shooting nights as bad. 

3. Attacking elite defenders

This is a more specific area, but the Thunder can’t try to change their game because of one defender. We saw this in the conference finals this past year, where the squad was timid about going at Spurs big Victor Wembanyama. This hindered the squad a ton until they finally started going at him. 

Jared McCain went at the big man a couple of times in the series and showed it was possible to score on him, which got the rest of the Thunder squad to test the waters more. In the future, OKC can’t be scared to go at defenders and must showcase the way they play, instead of shying away.