It’s certainly not breaking news that the OKC Thunder have entrenched themselves as the dominant force in the West since the beginning of last season.

Dating back to the 2025 trade deadline, the conference’s toughest competitors have been busy trying to construct title hopefuls, all while Oklahoma City has stayed reletively dormant in the talent additions department.

Though they were able to take home an NBA Championship despite this inaction, it has led many to question OKC’s chances of winning another title this season.

Western Conference threats have been trading circles around Thunder

Last year’s trade deadline featured blockbuster moves that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs. While they didn’t necessarily move the needle for their new squads right out of the gate, these kinds of moves are proving to be true game changers here in 2025-2026.

In response to these transactions, teams like the Nuggets and Rockets have also made significant shakeups of their own.

Denver shocked the league when it acquired Cam Johnson in a trade that sent Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets this past summer, while Houston made the biggest deal of the offseason when they traded for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to solidify their already-terifying roster.

Amidst the player merry-go-round, the Thunder remained dead silent. From one season to the next, their roster remained nearly unchanged.

That is, of course, until this year’s deadline.

Thunder have finally given in to the trade frenzy

This February, Sam Presti finally took a page out of his counterparts’ playbook when he went out and acquired Jared McCain from the Philadelphia 76ers.

In just three games, the move appears to have been a homerun smash.

Not only has the guard provided speed, ball handling, and shooting off the bench, but he has also completely opened up the floor for the rest of the OKC scorers.

What was once considered to be their main weakness is now looking like their superpower, as the Thunder can no longer seem to miss from beyond the arc. Before McCain’s first game on February 7th, the team ranked just 14th in three-point percentage and was only shooting 32.5 percent on contested threes.

Since then, they’ve ranked seventh in three-point percentage, second in catch-and-shoot three-point percentage, and are making contested threes at a 5.0 percent higher clip.

To punctuate the metrics even more, they have been shooting at these ludicrous rates with their star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, sidelined with an abdominal strain.

The acquisition of McCain seems to have had an immediate trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster, which is more than the other Western Conference competitors can say. All of the previously mentioned acquisitions provided rather minimal immediate benefits upon their arrival, and it took time for the teams to adjust to new roster dynamics.

For the Thunder, however, it appears that their new man is fitting right in.

If this trend continues, OKC may see levels of success that wouldn’t have been possible before the trade deadline. Western Conference rivals are likely dreading SGA’s return to an already-stacked offensive lineup.