Thunder dominate a stacked division, clinching their third straight Northwest title with a historic eighth championship.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were the first team in the 2025-2026 season to secure a playoff spot. The Thunder were the first team to win 50 games. And now the Thunder are the first team to clinch a division title.
Oklahoma City can now officially stake their claim as the 2025-2026 Northwest Division winners. It's the third straight season the Thunder have won the division. And most impressively, this is now eight Northwest Division titles for OKC since 2011. That means the Thunder have won exactly half the divisional titles over the past 16 seasons.
Claiming the Northwest Division, especially with a full dozen games remaining on the schedule, is even more meaningful given the competition. The other members of the division include the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz. The Nuggets are an annual championship contender, the Timberwolves have gone to back to back Western Conference Finals and the Blazers are an up and coming squad that will qualify for the play-in and possible playoff spot this year. Only the Jazz are a cellar dwelling tanking team.
While OKC leads the Northwest Division in titles over the past 16 seasons, three other teams have won the division in that span. Oklahoma City has eight crowns, Denver and Utah are tied for second with three titles each and Portland has come out on top two times. Minnesota is the lone team to go without a division title over that time period.
The Northwest Division is home to some of the biggest superstars in the league. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Anthony Edwards are three of the top six or so players in the NBA. Not to mention other All-Stars in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Jamal Murray, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr and Deni Avdija.
The Northwest is also the only division in the Western Conference to have three teams currently in the top six guaranteed postseason slots. OKC is presently the #1 seed, the Timberwolves are the #4 seed and the Nuggets are the #6 seed.
Northwest Division Champions By Year
2011: Oklahoma City Thunder
2012: Oklahoma City Thunder
2013: Oklahoma City Thunder
2014: Oklahoma City Thunder
2015: Portland Trail Blazers
2016: Oklahoma City Thunder
2017: Utah Jazz
2018: Portland Trail Blazers
2019: Denver Nuggets
2020: Denver Nuggets
2021: Utah Jazz
2022: Utah Jazz
2023: Denver Nuggets
2024: Oklahoma City Thunder
2025: Oklahoma City Thunder
2026: Oklahoma City Thunder