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Jalen Williams Gets Honest About Thunder's Title Expectations

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By JH Kubicek | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 5:15 PM ET

The Oklahoma City Thunder were far and away the best team this season, and are perhaps one of the best teams of all-time. The Thunder finished the season outscoring teams by 12.9 points per game, by far the most of all time, and now they have their sights set on winning the NBA Finals.

The Thunder have come close, making their lone appearance in 2012 before losing to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat, but they have never won before. OKC has plans for that to change soon.

The biggest, and only, knock against the Thunder is the fact that they have very little experience. They have one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, and only Alex Caruso has won a ring.

“I think we have the talent to do it," said Jalen Williams of winning OKC its first title. "I’m not gonna lie and say we don’t think about it, but it’s something we put on the back burner. When you start looking too far ahead, you miss what’s in front of you, so I think we've done a really good job of just taking each day one at a time."

The Thunder will play their first game against either the Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, or Sacramento Kings. After that, assuming they win, it will be a tough march through the West to the Finals, and in the postseason, the regular season doesn't mean a whole lot.

"We know the rare air we're in, but the teams we're playing don't care," Williams finished.

OKC will have home-court advantage through the playoffs, and they are the consensus betting favorites to win the title.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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