I’m lucky enough to be a healthy 19-year-old with a full life ahead of me. However, I daily cosplay as an 85-year-old on my deathbed with the future ahead of me being nothing but grim. Because when I face the reality of the next 5-10 years of the NBA, it is dominated by one man in a candy ass blue uniform shooting free throws.

Dramatic? Yeah maybe. I mean, at least the man on the deathbed might be minutes away from eternal happiness waiting for him at heaven’s gates. I actually know there is no escaping the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before I explain how I will attempt to cope with this reality, let me explain why I’m so certain of my prognosis.

The Thunder have currently reached the point where when they lose a regular-season basketball game, it feels like an event. As I write this, they are 26-4, have a +14.9 Point differential, are -110 to win the NBA finals, and +880 to break the wins record. Accomplishing those last two will make them undoubtedly the best team of all time, and they would be the first team to go back-to-back since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. All of this is impressive, but it doesn’t quite warrant the level of crisis I’ve reached. It’s the fact that this is almost certainly not the team’s final form.

Even if they had 0 draft capital over the next 5 years, they would still improve. Shai is only 27, Chet 23, JDub 24, Ajay Mithcell 23, Aaron Wiggins 26, Lu Dort 26, Casan Wallace 22, Hartenstein 27. In fact, their only impact player over the age of 30 is Alex Caruso (31), and even he has room to grow. However, we do not live in a world where they have 0 draft capital; we actually live in a world where they have 15+ first-rounders and 20+ second-rounders through 2031.

In the upcoming draft, the Thunder holds the Clippers’ unprotected 1st-round pick, who sit at 8-21 as I write this. If this pick were to land in the top 3, the Thunder would be guaranteed one of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, or Cam Boozer. We CANNOT let this happen, but I’m afraid that if they fall in love with one of those 3 guys, there is no stopping them. It would be insanely unlucky if that Clippers pick fell farther than 8, and even if it did, the Thunder have more than enough future picks to move up in the draft. As if we don’t have enough rich people getting richer in America, we have to watch the sport we love be crushed by this same concept.

Now I know you’re probably thinking something along the lines of “Wow Mr ChasPicks, you were right to be so dramatic. I, and honestly nobody else, should ever doubt you again!”

I’m flattered by the way.

After months of coping in my head, here is the spin zone I have landed on.

When faced with an unfathomable evil, a hero of an even greater good presents itself. This hero can take the form of an orphaned billionaire, a teenage boy bitten by a radioactive spider, or a 7’4″ French guy who can shoot threes. The San Antonio Spurs account for half of the Thunder’s current losses, having beaten them 130-110 today and 111-109 10 days ago. Victor Wembanyama, who we once feared would destroy the league now might be the only one who can save it. He’s currently on track to hit the ceiling scouts thought he could reach. Wemby is primed to be the DPOY favorite every year when he’s healthy and can still give you the most impressive-looking 30-point triple-double you have ever seen. What he has the potential to do gravity-wise on an NBA floor is unlike anything seen before. And his arrival in the league could not have come at a better time.

The NBA is currently suffering a ratings dip and falling deeper and deeper into the NFL’s shadow. The 2025 NBA finals averaged just 9.18 million viewers ( 19% dip from the previous season) and are currently seeing the worst regular-season viewership since the pandemic. The NBA is no stranger to shaky viewership, and they have been seemingly bailed out every time. Most famously, the Magic Johnson V Larry Bird rivalry. Pre-Magic V Bird, the NBA Finals household rating was 7.2 (1979). In the peak rivalry era (1982-’87), the ratings ranged from 13 to 15. Not to sound like mr capitalism, but greater competition will breed greater performance, which will equate to better television. GMs will design their teams around beating the thunder, coaches will grind tape to find holes in their system, and players will play with a chip on their shoulder at all times.

We must trust the process here (spoken like a true 76ers fan). We should be so lucky that Thunder have reached the point of pure supervillain. This breeds rivalry, and rivalry breeds great television. I choose to believe we are just in the middle of Infinity War, and yeah, Thanos is going to win and look unstoppable, but Endgame is on the horizon, and when the Thunder get taken down, it will be nothing short of cinema.