Latest Oklahoma City Thunder News

    Oklahoma City Thunder Franchise Information

    Have a read on below at some quick stats and facts on the Oklahoma City Thunder to get you started: 

    Established:1967
    Stadium:Chesapeake Energy Arena
    Colours:Thunder blue, sunset, yellow & navy blue
    Hall of Famers:Ray Allen, Gary Payton, Patrick Ewing, Spencer Haywood, Dennis Johnson, Sarunas Marciulionis, Jack Sikma, David Thompson, Paul Westphal & Lenny Wilkens
    Hall of Fame Coaches:Lenny Wilkens 
    Rivals:Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors & Houston Rockets
    Legends:Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Fred Brown, Ray Allen, Jack Sikma, Dale Ellis, Dennis Johnson & Rashard Lewis
    Retired Numbers:1, 4, 10, 19, 24, 32 & 43
    Conference: Western Conference
    Division:Northwest Division
    NBA Championships1: 1979

    Oklahoma City Thunder History

    The Oklahoma City Thunder started off in Seattle in 1966, being the first Seattle based professional sports team and were known as the Seattle Supersonics, named after the Boeing 2707 Supersonic Transport Project, given Boeing’s head office was in Seattle. 

    The Supersonics started their inaugural season, going 23-59 in their first year, before trading for Lenny Wilkens in 1968. Wilkens brought star power and instant impact, and paired with second year player Bob Rule, was supposed to boost the Sonics up the standings. The team was only able to achieve 30 wins for the year, resulting in their coach being fired and Wilkens becoming player/coach. 

    The Sonics steadily improved with Wilkens leading the way, but were unable to make the playoffs in this time. A bright spot however was the 1971 All Star Game, where Wilkens won MVP. 

    The team added American Basketball Association MVP Spencer Haywood, after the NBA allowed him to enter the league. Haywood almost helped Wilkens lead the Sonics to their first playoff berth in 1972, but injuries saw the team lose eight of their last nine games to narrowly miss. 

    Wilkens was then traded to Cleveland, a very unpopular decision at the time, and saw the team’s record plummet, winning 21 less games than the previous year, despite Haywood’s 29 points and 13 rebounds per game, which earned him All-NBA honours. 

    The legendary Bill Russell was named coach of the Sonics, and led the team to the playoffs in just his second year, winning the first round of their first playoff appearance 2-1 over the Detroit Pistons, before falling to the Golden State Warriors in the second round.

    Haywood left the team and Seattle had a down two years, missing the playoffs in one of them, before Lenny Wilkens came back as coach after a dismal start to the 1977-78 season. Wilkens turned the team around, taking them back to the playoffs, and ending up in the NBA Finals where they lost to the Washington Bullets in a tough seven game series. 

    Wilkens kept the team together and the consistency paid dividends with the team winning its first division title on their way to facing the Bullets in the Finals again, this time defeating them 4-1, with Finals MVP Dennis Johnson and All Star center Jack Sikma leading the charge. 

    The on court success saw Seattle bring an NBA record (that has been broken since) 21,725 average home game attendance and the Sonics had a lot of players do well individually, Johnson being named to the All-NBA Defensive team and the All-NBA second team, while Sikma played in the All Star game for the second straight year. 

    Seattle made it back to the Western Conference Finals, facing the Los Angeles Lakers, led by star rookie Magic Johnson. The Sonics lost to the Lakers, who went on to win the Championship. Johnson was traded in the offseason and the Sonics were only able to make the playoffs in three of the following six seasons. 

    The 1986-87 was an unexpected one for the Supersonics, with forward Tom Chambers winning the All Star Game MVP and guard Dale Ellis winning Most Improved Player of the Year, with the pair leading the Sonics to the Western Conference Finals, despite a 39-43 regular season record. They faced the Lakers again and were unable to force a different outcome, being swept by the eventual champions. 

    Seattle remained in the hunt for the following five years, making the second round twice and only missing the playoffs once, before the 1992-93 season. Led by Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, with George Karl as coach, the Sonics played with a chip on their shoulder, always with something to prove and made the Western Conference Finals. The Sonics took the Phoenix Suns to seven games but were unable to win the decider. 

    With momentum from the previous year, Seattle posted a record of 63-19, winning their second division title and finishing on top of the West standings. Facing the 8-seed Denver Nuggets in the first round, Seattle suffered a shock upset, losing 3-2 and becoming the first 1-seed to lose to an 8-seed in the opening round. 

    Seattle played well in the 1994-95 season but were ousted in the first round by the Lakers, setting up a ‘comeback season’ in 1995-96. Gary Payton won the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year award, while leading the team to a third division title and again, finishing on top of the West, with a 64-18 record. 

    Kemp and Payton helped Seattle dominate the first two rounds before defeating John Stockton, Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz in seven games to advance to the NBA Finals for just the third time in franchise history. Seattle were ultimately no match for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, losing 4-2. 

    Seattle continued their dominance winning 57 and 61 games in the next two seasons but were unable to reach the Western Conference Finals again and went on to struggle for the next 10 years. During this stretch they only managed to make the playoffs three times and traded Payton in 2002. 

    The Supersonics created headlines when young duo Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis led the team to a 52 win season, winning the division title and defeating the Sacramento Kings 4-1 in the opening round. The team unfortunately ran into the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs, in the second round and were eliminated. 

    The 2007 draft changed the fortune of the franchise, winning the second pick and being lucky enough to select Kevin Durant, after the Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden with the first pick. Seattle embraced a full rebuild around Durant, trading both Allen and Lewis for young players and picks, including Jeff Green. 

    Durant would go on to win Rookie of the Year in 2008, but the team only managed 20 wins, which was surrounded by off-court drama and after being sold to an Oklahoma City group of businessmen in 2006, was eventually relocated to Oklahoma City in the 2008 offseason. 

    The team drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook in 2008, hoping that Durant, Westbrook and Green would be able to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to success. The Thunder only managed 3 more wins in the 2008-09 season, but their poor performance allowed them to have a high draft pick which they used to select James Harden. 

    The young Thunder team, led by Durant were determined to have success, winning 50 games in the 2009-10 season, making the playoffs for the first time in five years and Scott Brooks winning Coach of the Year. The Thunder would win two games against the defending champion Lakers, but lost 4-2 in the first round.

    Harden and veteran Serge Ibaka helped young stars Durant and Westbrook push OKC to their first division title in 12 years. The emerging Thunder beat the Nuggets and Grizzlies on the way to the Western Conference Finals, a place they hadn’t been since 1996. Oklahoma City would lose to the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks, but this made the team even hungrier. 

    In the 2011-12 season, Durant won All Star Game MVP, Harden won Sixth Man of the Year and the Thunder finished 2nd in the Western Conference standings. Oklahoma had a dominant playoffs, sweeping the defending champion Mavericks before defeating Kobe Bryant and the Lakers and the powerful San Antonio Spurs to advance to the NBA Finals. 

    The Thunder were facing the Miami Heat in what was seen as a direct match up between Durant and LeBron James, who many thought were the two best players in the world at the time. Oklahoma won the first game of the Finals, but were beaten in the following four, losing to the Heat.

    The Thunder signed Ibaka to an extension in the offseason, but was unable to come to an agreement with Harden. The front office preferred to avoid luxury tax and ended up trading Harden to the Rockets in a move that decimated the team’s momentum and fire power. Durant and Westbrook’s fire power was able to keep the Thunder at the top of the West, winning 60 and 59 wins in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. 

    A Westbrook injury and a difficult matchup against the Spurs meant that the Thunder were unable to make the NBA Finals in those two years. Durant however was named MVP in the 2013-14 season. Westbrook and Durant would both miss most of the next season, both requiring season ending surgery and the Thunder missed the playoffs for the first time in 6 seasons. 

    With both stars back and firing, the Thunder shot up the standings again, finishing third in the West with a 55-27 record. Oklahoma would defeat familiar foes, the Mavericks and the Rockets, on their way to facing Steph Curry and the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Durant and Westbrook helped the team to a 3-1 lead over the Warriors but were defeated in seven games. 

    That offseason saw Durant do the unthinkable and leave the Thunder, joining the team that just defeated them, the Golden State Warriors, who had made the Finals the previous two years, winning one Championship over that stretch. Durant’s departure allowed Westbrook to shine, becoming the second player in league history to average a triple double during the 2016-17 season and winning MVP. 

    The Thunder were never able to win a first round series under Westbrook’s leadership, even though the front office added All Star Paul George in 2017. The duo led the Thunder to the playoffs in 2017-18 and 2018-19, with George even finishing in the top three in MVP voting in 2019, but were defeated by the Jazz and the Trail Blazers in the first round each year. 

    The defeat to the Trail Blazers was a tough one with so much expected surrounding the team, and the front office decided that they no longer wanted mediocracy. The Thunder traded George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Danilo Galinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a record five future first round draft picks. 

    Knowing that Westbrook couldn’t lead a team deep into the playoffs by himself, the front office traded their star to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and two future first round picks. Many thought that Paul and Gallinari would be traded, with the Thunder embracing a full rebuild around Shai and their mountain of future picks, but a revitalised Paul pushed OKC into the playoff picture, earning himself an All Star Game selection along the way. 

    Oklahoma finished the regular season in 5th spot with a 44-28 record, facing Westbrook, Harden and the Houston Rockets in the first round. After losing the first two games, Paul willed the Thunder back to even the series 2-2. The teams traded wins, setting up a game seven against their former stars. 

    The Thunder missed a shot in the dying seconds that would have won them the series, going down 4-3 to the Rockets and being eliminated from the playoffs. With the team still unsure whether to continue contending or embrace a rebuild, Billy Donovan’s contract as head coach wasn’t extended. 

    After the 2019 offseason was supposed to kickstart the rebuild, it finally came to fruition in 2020. Chris Paul was traded to Phoenix for players and picks, with those players then on-traded for more picks. They also sent Dennis Schroder to the Lakers for Danny Green and a first, with Green then traded to the Sixers for Al Horford and a first.

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was giving the keys to the car but plantar fasciitis cut his season short. His injury was bad but the Thunder’s losing streak was even worse. They tied a franchise record for 14 straight losses, losing 21 of 22 games at one point.

    All of the tanking, losing and trading has allowed them to have three picks in the top 20 in the 2021 draft, but they finished with just the equal-fifth worst record and received pick six in the draft, much lower than they would have liked.

    It was another rough season for the Thunder as they finished with a record of 24-58 and 14th of the Western Conference. However, the future looks bright on this team as they added Chet Holmgren.

    Expert 2022-23 Picks & Preview on Oklahoma City Thunder

    If you are a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder, then you know that the only thing that matters right now is how they are expected to perform in the 2022-23 season. Do the Oklahoma City Thunder have the star power to make it all the way to the playoffs and win The Finals in 2023?

    Have a read on below at SportsTips expert picks & preview on the Oklahoma City Thunder:

    Front Office

    Mark Daigneault is the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and this upcoming 2022-23 National Basketball Association season will be his third season in charge of the franchise. He previously was an assistant coach with the Thunder and the head coach of their G-League affiliate. He has been coaching in the league for two years overall and over the course of his coaching career he has never made the playoffs. His overall record in the regular season currently sits at 46-108.

    Sam Presti is the general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder and he has held that position within the franchise since 2007 which makes him one of the longest serving active general managers in the league. This upcoming 2022-23 National Basketball Association season will be his 15th season as the decision maker for the franchise. He has been with the team since before they moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle and has made many high profile moves for the franchise.  

    Key Players

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on this team’s roster and he is sure to make a huge impact during the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season. This upcoming season will be his fifth season in the National Basketball Association. Last season he put up some impressive numbers as he averaged around 25 points per game. He set up his teammates as well as he averaged around six assists per game. He also managed to do some work on the boards as he averaged around five rebounds per game. 

    The second key player on this roster is Lu Dort and this upcoming season will be his fourth season in the National Basketball Association. Last season he put up some impressive numbers as he averaged around 17.5  points per game. He set up his teammates as well as he averaged around two assists per game. He also managed to do some work on the boards as he averaged around four rebounds per game.

    Breakout Player

    Jalen Williams will be the breakout player on this team’s roster and he is sure to make a huge impact during the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season as well. He is a former 12th overall pick in the 2022 National Basketball Association Draft. This upcoming season will be his rookie season in the National Basketball Association after attending Santa Clara. Last season he put up some impressive numbers as he averaged around 18 points per game. 

    He set up his teammates as well as he averaged around four and a half assists per game. He also managed to do some work on the boards as he averaged around four and a half rebounds per game. He put in some work on the defensive end of the court as well, averaging around one steal per game and one block per game. His list of accolades is impressive as he is a former all West Coast Conference selection.

    Oklahoma City Thunder Betting & Odds Preview 2022-23

    The Oklahoma City Thunder campaign during the 2021-22 National Basketball Association season went about as you would’ve expected. They finished the year with a record of 24-58 and in fifth place of the Northwest division.  

    There is a lot of optimism surrounding the franchise heading into the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season. If they want to improve or keep up their current level of play they will certainly need a ton of production from their stars over the course of the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season. The most important thing in any season is how a team starts out of the gate, and then how they look when the all-star break approaches. 

    In the National Basketball Association, a lot can change over a single off-season. It will be interesting to see how their offseason moves translate onto the basketball court over the course of the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season. Based on their odds to win some hardware headed into the season it is clear how the oddsmakers in Las Vegas feel about them heading into the year. 

    Their odds to bring home the Northwest Division championship this season currently sit at +20000 heading into the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season, which puts them last in the Northwest Division out of five teams. 

    While their odds to win the Western Conference currently sit at +25000 heading into the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season, which puts them 13th in the Western Conference out of 15 teams. Their overall odds to bring home the championship are currently sitting at +50000 heading into the 2022-23 season, as they rank 26th out of all 30 teams in the National Basketball Association.

    Oklahoma City Thunder FAQ

    Still got some burning questions about the Oklahoma City Thunder? Well, we have answered some of the most common questions people have, hopefully you will find the answer you are looking for below! 

    Where do the Oklahoma City Thunder play?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder play their home games at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. 

    Who owns the Oklahoma City Thunder?

    The Professional Basketball Club is the ownership group of the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Clayton Bennett is the chairman.  

    Have the Oklahoma City Thunder won an NBA Championship?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder have won 1 NBA championship, in 1979 when they were the Seattle Supersonics. 

    Who is the Oklahoma City Thunder coach?

    Mark Daigneault is the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Daigneault was hired in the 2020 offseason after being an assistant of the Thunder for one season and coach of their G-League team before that. 

    Do the Oklahoma City Thunder play tonight?

    Are you wondering if the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing tonight? Well, SportsTips has all the details you need about upcoming Oklahoma City Thunder games! Make sure you check this page at the top for all the details you are looking for.

    What is the Oklahoma City Thunder record?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder had a 24-58 win-loss record for the 2021-22 NBA season. 

    Did the Oklahoma City Thunder win last night?

    Fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder are all wanting to know if they won the game last night. You can find more information in relation to the team’s recent form in games on the page at the top.

    How much are the Oklahoma City Thunder worth?

    According to Forbes Magazine, the Oklahoma City Thunder are worth $1.63 billion.

    Who do the Oklahoma City Thunder play tonight?

    Like a lot of things in the NBA, things change pretty quickly. So, if you are looking for more information about who the Oklahoma City Thunder play tonight, you have come to the right place. We have all this information for you in detail, you can find these details for upcoming games at the top of the page.

    How to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder?

    You can watch the Oklahoma City Thunder on TV channels like ESPN, ABC, TNT, NBA TV or Fox Sports Oklahoma, or subscribe to NBA League Pass. 

    Will the Oklahoma City Thunder make the playoffs this year?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder did not make the playoffs in the 2021-22 season after finishing 14th in the West.

    Will the Oklahoma City Thunder get the 1st pick in the NBA Draft?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder did not receive the 1st pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

    When do the Oklahoma City Thunder play?

    Oklahoma City Thunder fans are always looking for more information about when their team plays the next game. For all the information you have been craving and more, be sure to check the top of this page. Here at SportsTips, we list all the information you need like the tip off time, location of the game and the all important NBA odds.

    Where did the Oklahoma City Thunder finish the season?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the 2021-22 NBA season in 14th place in the Western Conference. 

    How many games did the Oklahoma City Thunder win?

    The Oklahoma City Thunder won just 24 games during the 2021-22 NBA season.