National Media Member Crowns OKC Thunder as 'the best team in the NBA'

Oklahoma City's recent wins against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have catapulted the Thunder to championship contenders in the eyes of national media members.

Jan 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) celebrates after dunking against the New York Knicks during the second half at Paycom Center. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of the best start in franchise history.

OKC is currently on a 15-game win streak that featured comeback victories against the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. This run is part of a 30-5 start to the season that gives Mark Daigneault's squad a seven-game lead over the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Oklahoma City's success to start the season has come with budding star Chet Holmgren sidelined for much of the year after suffering a hip injury. Alex Caruso has also been absent from the lineup for the past seven games with an ailment of his own.

Despite missing two key pieces, the Thunder boast the second-best record in the NBA and have been one of the league's most dominant teams. After the Thunder's recent stretch, Esfandiar Baraheni said on a recent episode of The Athletic NBA Daily podcast that he believes OKC will reach the finals this season.

"I think the Oklahoma City Thunder are a shoo-in to get to the NBA Finals," Baraheni said. "One, it's because of that defeanse. I think the reason for that is, they are so good collectively, and they're doing it without Chet Holmgren. That is the wild part about all of this. This is a guy who's anchoring their defense on a night-to-night basis to start the season, goes out with a hip fracture, and they're missing him and it feels like they haven't even skipped a beat. So that's why I think, yes, they are the best team in the NBA, best defense in the NBA. Potentially the best, like, historic defense in the league, too."

When Holmgren and Caruso are able to return to the court, a suffocating Oklahoma City defense should become even better. With eight weeks since Holmgren's hip injury, an update on the second-year player's status should be coming from the organization in the coming weeks.

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