
The Thunder are so good that it is almost boring. The defending squad sits comfortably atop the West—just two wins ahead of the Spurs but 10 wins ahead of the third-place Nuggets—and star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks poised to repeat as MVP again this season. The team itself is young, which bodes well for future seasons, and each player is friendly with his teammates and poised before the media and fans. And from a front office perspective, general manager Sam Presti is holding on to a treasure trove of draft capital as a result of previous trades.
And things got even sweeter on Wednesday night, when the Clippers lost to the Warriors in the NBA's 2025-26 play-in tournament.