Reggie Miller details the Thunder and if they can reach 70 wins this season

The Oklahoma City Thunder have certainly had a phenomenal start to their 2025-26 campaign. After clinching their first championship in franchise history, coach Mark Daigneault and his crew could be staring at a dynasty in the making.

OKC is 17-1 in its first 18 games of the season.

What makes the situation even more worrisome for the opposition is that the Thunder are still without their All-Star guard, Jalen Williams. Not to mention Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carrying his MVP form into the current season as well, averaging 32.2 points on 54.3 percent shooting.

Thus, OKC is in the league of its own, with many even predicting a 70+ win season for them. Recently, NBA veteran Reggie Miller shared his thoughts on the same, alluding to the fact that the Thunder should see the bigger picture and not be worn out come the postseason.

"They could if they wanted to. I don't think that's a priority for them. Again and they're doing this without J-Dub, by the way, guys. I know. Just like last year, they did that hot start without Chet.Chet played the first game, got hurt and missed, you know, like 50 games after that or something and they continued to win. So, they're only going to get better once Jalen Williams gets back," said Reggie, who felt OKC had no intentions to follow the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors team who finished 73-9.

Learning from the Warriors

The current Thunder team does remind us a little of the 2015-16 Warriors, given their similar starts to the season and their status as defending champions. Stephen Curry and Co. could never have dreamt of a better season, edging the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls with 73 wins, which was a record in a regular season.

Unfortunately, their historic campaign ended tragically, with the Dubs blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals. Thus, the 70+ wins would mean nothing to the Thunder if they fell short of their ultimate goal: winning a championship.

"Could they win 50 or 70 and maybe go for the Golden State Warriors record? Perhaps, but I don't think that's a priority. Being healthy, playing well, going into the playoffs is, probably, and getting overall number one seed because, as we saw last year, you want a game seven in your building and having the overall best record allows you to do that," added Reggie.

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Playing in the load management era

One of the most used terminologies in the modern NBA, load management, has been subjected to heavy criticism. The health of players remains paramount, but resting them for no legitimate reason is cheating the fans, who spend their hard-earned money to watch their favorite stars.

With teams and coaches regularly advocating this method, former players such as Robert Horry are confident that no team will seek to chase feats like 70 wins in the NBA.

"I think they have a shot, but I don't think coaches care anymore. I think if they get so far ahead in the West, they're gonna play guys strategically just to keep them in shape, but don't care if they win or lose.It's gonna be hard, man, cause if you look around the league and the way they load management is so prevalent, I don't think they will," said Big Shot Rob.

The Thunder surely looks to tread carefully, considering we all witnessed how fatigue and high expectations got the better of the Warriors in the 2016 Finals.

Regardless, looking at how deep of a roster OKC is, it won't be surprising to see them clock 70 wins.

Related: OKC is chasing 73 wins, but star Jalen Williams already lost $40 MILLION due to NBA rules

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.