Play-In Bolts: Shaping Up
ICYMI: OKC lost their last two meaningless games of the season. Losing to the Nuggets helped vault Denver into the 3 seed, so OKC will face the Warriors or Suns in Round 1 and the Rockets or Lakers in Round 2.
John Napier
cray
On the podcast, we reminisced about Thunder seeding and playoffs outcomes of the past. Randomness will always be a part of the NBA, but this OKC team doesn't rely on luck to determine its fate.
We also looked at data points for all 27-and-under players for the Thunder's still-developing roster: "Chet's offensive improvements have been frustratingly incremental, but they are real. He's putting the ball on the floor more and expanding his shot selection to positive effect: Holmgren has poured it in at a higher volume and percentage in the short midrange and at the rim this season. We knew he could spot up, but teams are increasingly paying for running him off the line."
cray
The Thunder officially control at least two first round picks in the 2026 draft:
- Philadelphia advanced to the playoffs by beating Orlando in the Eastern Conference 7/8 play-in round. That means the first round pick Philly owes to OKC (top-4 protected) will convey outside of the lottery at #17 or #18.
