The calendar has flipped to September, which means the offseason is near its end. Before you know it, the Oklahoma City Thunder will start the 2025-26 regular season. The NBA champion enters the campaign as the consensus favorite to be a rare repeat winner.

Easy to see why, too. The Thunder had one of the greatest seasons ever. They had a historic 68-14 regular-season record and finished with the best point differential of all time. After celebrating the Larry O’Brien trophy, they quickly did their offseason homework. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions.

To prepare for the upcoming season, Thunder Wire broke down a few lineups Mark Daigneault can use during the 2025-26 season. Here’s a look at a handful:

The starters

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Lu Dort – Jalen Williams – Chet Holmgren – Isaiah Hartenstein

This is fairly easy. Don’t fix what’s not broken. The Thunder will have four players who will always be starters as long as they’re healthy. Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams and Holmgren have been mainstays for three-plus seasons. Expect that to continue as they’re the reigning NBA champions. The fifth spot can change, but should be Hartenstein’s. At least for most nights. After all, they rode the double-big lineup to a title. These are the five players who started about every playoff game.

The closers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Alex Caruso – Lu Dort – Jalen Williams – Chet Holmgren

Now this is the more interesting question. Who do the Thunder go with in crunch time? While they didn’t experience much of that in the regular season, you saw who Daigneault trusted the most in the biggest moments. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren are guaranteed. While the other two spots might change, you have to stick with Dort and Caruso. Both are high-end defenders who can shoot the ball from the outside. They perfectly fit with the rest of the group.

The shooting lineup

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Isaiah Joe – Lu Dort – Jalen Williams – Chet Holmgren

There’s some mix-and-match potential here. The Thunder were an upper-third outside shooting team. They averaged 14.5 made outside buckets on 37.4% shooting. Both were good enough for sixth in the league. A goal of last season was to increase their volume to generate more outside buckets. That worked out as several role players had career years. Gilgeous-Alexander is a must-play in this lineup as the drive-heavy scorer collapses defenses to create catch-and-shoot looks for his teammates.

The all-bench lineup

Cason Wallace – Isaiah Joe – Alex Caruso – Aaron Wiggins – Jaylin Williams

The Thunder wouldn’t have won an NBA championship without their depth. To do that, a team needs several role players’ career seasons to align together. You saw that last year with this group. Wiggins and Joe had career highs across the board. Caruso and Williams maximized in their roles. Wallace was the unofficial sixth starter and has plenty of room to grow. At least one of OKC’s two All-NBA players will be on the floor most of the time, but this was a special shoutout to their bench.

Going big

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Jalen Williams – Jaylin Williams – Isaiah Hartenstein – Chet Holmgren

The right answer is probably the Thunder’s starting lineup, but let’s experiment for fun. The shortest player in this group is Williams at 6-foot-5. Putting him against other guards would be a mismatch nightmare with his size and ability to go downhill. Meanwhile, the Holmgren-Hartenstein frontcourt is the headliner. Even though injuries limited their regular-season action last year, we saw their potential materialize in the playoffs. Sliding up allowed Holmgren to attack off the dribble more often.

Going small

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Cason Wallace – Alex Caruso – Aaron Wiggins – Jalen Williams

If the Thunder want to go small, this is the lineup to use. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are the tallest at 6-foot-5. Both of those players are must-play for this group to succeed. The former helps create outside attempts. The latter has shown last season that he can size up and play center when needed. Unlike most small-ball lineups, the defensive dropoff won’t be severe. Caruso and Wallace are high-end perimeter defenders who can shoot. Wiggins has some juice off-the-ball and can shoot as well.