ESPN ranks OKC Thunder No. 1 in post-free agency NBA Power Rankings

Running it back with the same roster that led them to an NBA championship, it shouldn't be a shocker to see the Oklahoma City Thunder receive praise for their historic 68-14 regular-season campaign that led to the Larry O'Brien trophy.

As the calendar is about to flip to August, we've entered the slowest part of the NBA year. The offseason is basically over as teams head to vacation before training camp kicks off in a couple of months. The Thunder will enter the 2025-26 season with a chance to be a rare repeat champion.

To recap what happened this past summer, ESPN's panel of NBA writers conducted a post-free agency power rankings. The Thunder enter at No. 1 as they spent more time celebrating their title than they did shuffling their roster.

"The defending champs will return every member of their rotation as they attempt to repeat in 2025-26," ESPN wrote. "Instead, Oklahoma City's main business this offseason was signing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to long-term extensions, locking up this championship core through the rest of the 2020s. And that mission was accomplished without any fuss."

Expect to hear plenty of praise about the Thunder for the rest of the offseason. That happens when you're fresh off one of the most dominating championships the NBA has ever seen. Now, they enter next season at the mountaintop with several teams vying to knock them down.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: ESPN ranks OKC Thunder No. 1 in post-free agency NBA Power Rankings