The Oklahoma City Thunder’s title defense officially tips off in just a few days, as opening night against the Houston Rockets is this Tuesday night. And OKC’s season opener brings with it fan speculation. Could the Thunder be the first team in the past 8 years to repeat as champions? Is it possible for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to go back-to-back as league MVP? Does Chet Holmgren make an All-Star leap? And most importantly, will Nick Gallo continue to be covered in towels in the postgame interviews?
Let's make one prediction for each of OKC’s Big 3.
Chet Holmgren is selected to his first All-Star game. Everyone who pays any attention to basketball realizes Holmgren is an All-Star talent. There's a high probability that OKC’s defensive anchor would have already checked this milestone off his bucket list last season if not for the hip fracture that derailed a dominant start in which he was on not only an All-Star trajectory but possibly an All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year one as well.
Jalen Williams is selected to his second All-NBA team. The Thunder’s secondary scorer and playmaker made the third-year superstar leap last season. His accolades included All-Star, Second Team All-Defense and Third Team All-NBA. Predicting back-to-back All-NBA selections is two-fold. One, the belief that his continued improvement and development maintain his status as a top 15 talent in the league. Two, the hope that his current wrist injury recovery does not keep him out of too many games to start the season and that Williams plays the required number of games to qualify for postseason awards.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repeats as NBA scoring champion. Saying that one of the best players in the NBA is going to be an All-Star starter or make All-NBA isn’t exactly going out on a limb. Throwing out any sort of NBA Finals or championship prediction would possibly tip my hat for my future team predictions RoundTable article. And everyone is listing Gilgeous-Alexander alongside Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic as MVP favorites. So I’m going with one that I've seen nobody discuss. The Thunder superstar has scored 30+ points in three straight seasons. Jalen Williams may miss some time to start the season. At this moment, Isaiah Joe, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Wiliams, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber are injured as well. OKC will once again rely on Gilgeous-Alexander's otherworldly scoring ability as the offensive engine that drives the best team in the NBA. And he will once again lead the league in points per game.