After the Oklahoma City Thunder won the 2025 NBA championship, they continued the streak of having a new champion each year for the last seven years. Despite many talented teams attempting to form a dynasty, no one has been able to do so in this new era. But if there were any team that had the tools to break that trend, it would be the Thunder. Regardless, former Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin isn’t on the Thunder hype train for the 2025-26 NBA season.
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The OKC Thunder became the second-youngest team to win an NBA championship behind the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. The fact that they have their entire core under contract until 2030 is a scary sight for the rest of the league.
Thunder MVP superstar, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is only 25 years old. All-Star forward Jalen Williams is 24, while Chet Holmgren is 23. They have the perfect combination of youth and talent to make another deep run next season to potentially go back-to-back.
Many experts believe the Thunder are by far the favorites to repeat come June 2026. Blake Griffin, however, believes another Western Conference foe will overtake the Thunder for that top spot.
“I’ll give you a hot take. I think Denver gets to the Finals in the West,” Griffin said on the Post Moves podcast.
Griffin, who is soon to be an analyst for Amazon Prime’s coverage of the 2025-26 season, is already getting into character. He provided a brief explanation for his bold claim.
“I think Denver got better this summer, and they took Oklahoma City to seven games,” Griffin proclaimed.
It’s quite simple math for the six-time All-Star. It’s worth noting that Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. were playing through injuries, which certainly held the Nuggets back. Denver understood reinforcements were necessary if they aspired to usurp the crown from the Thunder.
As a result, the Nuggets traded for Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, while signing Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. to fill out their bench. Their new and improved roster has the talent and experience to prove Griffin right in a few months. If they were to be the last team standing from the West, he revealed the team from the East that would stand in their way.
“I think it’s New York or Cleveland in the East. I’ll take New York. So I’ll go Knicks-Denver,” Griffin revealed.
In the same vein as the Nuggets, the Knicks made some key additions. The team’s acquisitions of Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson add some much-needed bench depth, which they lacked. Can’t forget the new coaching change of Mike Brown! New York’s offense will be a sight to behold next season.
If Griffin’s prediction turns out to be correct, it’ll confirm that his new endeavor in sports media was the right decision after all.
