ESPN's 2025 offseason survey: What did NBA staffers say about OKC Thunder?

Only one month remains until the Oklahoma City Thunder open up the 2025-26 regular season. The NBA champion will be part of Opening Night as they will see their banner dropped and rings handed out. That means we've reached the point in the offseason where rosters are mostly set.

Besides celebrating with the Larry O'Brien trophy, the Thunder had a quiet offseason. They quickly did their homework as they signed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to contract extensions that'll keep them in OKC for the foreseeable future.

To prepare for the upcoming season, ESPN's Tim Bontemps published his offseason survey results. He polled 20 coaches, scouts and executives to get their opinions on a variety of topics. Here's what they had to say about the Thunder as they start their championship reign:

Who will win the 2026 NBA title?

This was the headliner of Bontemps' poll. While there are several interesting questions in the survey, who will win the 2026 NBA championship is what this business is about. Considering all of the offseason talk, it shouldn't be a surprise to see the Thunder as the prominent favorite.

The Thunder received 18 votes to win the NBA Finals. They also received 18 votes to win the Western Conference for the second consecutive year. Funny enough, the Denver Nuggets tallied the other two votes in both of these categories.

Who will win 2025-26 MVP?

After one of the greatest individual seasons ever, Gilgeous-Alexander now has his sights set on all-time greatness. He won about every award imaginable — from MVP to NBA Finals MVP to a scoring title. Now that he's a household name, expect him to remain in the MVP conversation for the foreseeable future.

That said, Gilgeous-Alexander finished in second place in ESPN's MVP poll. He received five votes. Nikola Jokic was in first place with seven votes. This could be the third straight season where those two players headline the prestigious award race.

As a sidebar, only two players received votes for the best player right now. Jokic with 19 and Luka Doncic with one. It was interesting to see Gilgeous-Alexander not get at least one vote, considering he's finished top two in MVP the last two seasons.

Who had the best offseason?

Even though it was quiet, the Thunder received some love for their offseason. They had two votes, which tied them for fourth place with the Orlando Magic. After they won an NBA championship, they took care of their own players.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren signed contract extensions. That guarantees OKC will have a championship window through the rest of the 2020s at a minimum. That said, their long-term payroll will be taken up by those three players starting in the 2026-27 season.

Who will be best American player in 5 years?

Williams received a vote for this category. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. Only five players even received a vote. Anthony Edwards was the runaway favorite with 11.

Williams had a breakout season last year. He was a first-time All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defense member. He battled through the playoffs with a wrist injury that eventually required surgery. He dropped 40 points in an important Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals. He's established himself as one of the 15 best players in the league.

New ESPN story: Our annual offseason survey has arrived, with coaches, scouts and executives weighing in on both what took place over the last couple of months and how the upcoming season will shake out, including MVP, title picks and much, much more:https://t.co/vSNQO2GQDd

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 22, 2025

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: ESPN's offseason survey: What did NBA staffers say about OKC Thunder?