The curtain has barely risen on the 2025-26 NBA season, but there is already a familiar storm rolling in from Oklahoma City.
The reigning champion Thunder have unleashed an almighty 23-1 barrage to kick off their title defense. Last year’s 68-win masterpiece culminated in the first championship in the franchise’s history, and if the latest NBA betting odds are anything to go by, they could well be on their way to a second straight crown.
The latest Bovada NBA odds currently list the champs as a +135 favorite to defend the Larry O’Brien this season, and it’s very easy to see why.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the triple-crowned king (MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring champ— let that sink in), has somehow elevated his play from last season, averaging 32.8 points (56% FG, 44% 3PT, 88% FT), 4.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals over 33.3 minutes per game.
Most teams lose key pieces after winning a championship. This roster, however, did not. Instead, they inked their core to mammoth extensions, cemented 95% of their minutes, and left the rest of the NBA scrambling for answers.
But for every dynasty on the ascent, there are giants who tumble. As Oklahoma City wields its scepter, three franchises find themselves not only sliding down the standings but at existential crossroads. Let’s take a look at who those are.
1. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are by far the most disappointing team of the three. They currently sit with an embarrassing 6-18 record — 14th in the West — and face dozens of questions with no answers.
They just cut franchise legend Chris Paul, who reportedly had a falling out with the team and head coach Tyronn Lue.
The Clippers haven’t had a losing season since 2010-11— the year before Chris Paul first joined the franchise and established Lob City with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin.
Their starting five of James Harden, Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins and Ivica Zubac has no business losing three times as many games as wins.
Time is running out for LAC to be competitive this season, and every loss looks more and more similar to last year’s Philadelphia 76ers, who had multiple stars but couldn’t figure anything out.
2. Milwaukee Bucks
Few teams evoke recent glory — or current frustration — like Milwaukee.
Every dribble echoes with ghosts of banners nearly hung: Giannis Antetokounmpo towering above the fray, and an offense that, when humming, looks nearly untouchable. But as December carries on, the Bucks languish at 10-15, with their sights set not on the championship, but on mere survival.
It’s a collapse paved by subtraction as much as injury. The Khris Middleton trade ripped away a stabilizing veteran presence in the backcourt. The injury bug prevented us from seeing what the Giannis, Middleton and Damian Lillard trio could have done together. Pat Connaughton, a symbol of continuity, was traded last season as well.
Giannis, now 31 and nursing yet another calf strain, remains a marvel, but is projected to appear in no more than 65 games—putting him in danger of ineligibility for end-of-season awards.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Bucks are in a position to lose the Greek Freak if they don’t act fast.
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3. Indiana Pacers
This is not just a fall— it is a plunge into the abyss. The Pacers were last season’s darlings, electrifying Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a run to the Finals that few outside Indiana dared dream. Tyrese Haliburton wasn’t just good— he was sorcery with a basketball, orchestrating an offense that blitzed even the best defenses.
Now, the Pacers are struggling at 6-18 and sit near the bottom of the NBA in three-point percentage (33.2%), with a sense of a cursed season.
The turning point was cruel fate: Haliburton, their engine and soul, ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the Finals. His absence gaped wider when Myles Turner bolted for Milwaukee, and a wave of injuries struck both rotation and depth— Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, each losing weeks to the healing table.
Pascal Siakam wages a one-man war (nearly 25 points a night), but without Haliburton to stretch and scramble defenses, the Pacers’ “pace” has slowed to a crawl. Every loss is another step further from that fairytale spring.
There’s a kernel of hope, though. The Pacers tank their way to a high draft pick who comes in alongside Haliburton’s return at the start of the 2026-27 season.
It’s still a dim future, but many fans believe there is a light at the end of their ongoing pitch-black tunnel.
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