The Western Conference final between the defending champion Thunder and second-seeded Spurs has already lived up to the billing as an all-time matchup. It's also provided a glimpse into the NBA's spectacular future.
Oklahoma City and San Antonio are the league's two best teams by a comfortable margin, with this year's West final marking the first time since 1998 that two 62-win clubs have met in the postseason. What's terrifying for the 28 teams chasing them is that both are built to last.
Of the 64 teams in NBA history that won at least 75% of their regular-season games, the 2026 Thunder and 2026 Spurs are the second- and fourth-youngest, respectively. In fact, the only such team younger than this year's Thunder squad was ... last year's Thunder, who also became the second-youngest champions of all time. Meanwhile, the 2026 Spurs would be the least experienced champs since 1977.
On one side of the ring stands two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, flanked by All-Star big man Chet Holmgren, All-NBA-caliber swingman Jalen Williams (when healthy), and the league's deepest supporting cast of two-way difference-makers. That depth was on full display in a Game 3 win, when OKC got 76 points from its bench. Across from them, an unfathomable phenom in Victor Wembanyama - who might've usurped Gilgeous-Alexander as the planet's best baller this spring - and a stable of youngsters such as Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, who've only begun to scratch the surface of their capabilities.
As if that wasn't enough, the Spurs and Thunder have 50 picks between them (including 20 first-rounders) over the next eight drafts, with both placing in the top five of ESPN's draft-asset rankings. These aren't veteran teams that have accrued years of postseason scars and cashed in most of their chips. San Antonio and Oklahoma City have ascended to greatness while most of their stars are still on rookie-scale contracts and their front offices sit on treasure troves of assets. The league's two best teams today are also the ones most sustainably built for tomorrow.
Perhaps if lottery luck had delivered Dallas a second generational star to pair with Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, there'd be a glimmer of hope for the competition. But it appears the Western Conference and the path to the Larry O'Brien Trophy runs through Oklahoma City and San Antonio for the foreseeable future.
The Thunder will have to navigate the complexities of the salary cap sooner than later. Oklahoma City projects as a second-apron team (and the league's most expensive) as soon as next season, when max extensions for Williams and Holmgren kick in. A mammoth extension for Gilgeous-Alexander takes effect the following year (2027-28), when the reigning Finals MVP becomes the NBA's highest-paid player.
There are ways around those apron-related complications. The Thunder could ditch both aprons entirely by declining team options on starters Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort (plus little-used reserve Kenrich Williams). OKC's depth would take an obvious hit, but the Thunder could still go into next season with Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and prospects Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber, plus the 12th pick in this year's draft. And they'd just barely be in luxury-tax territory.
They could also bring either Dort or Hartenstein back on a cheaper deal. Such a decision would likely see the Thunder enter next season as a first-apron team, but it would delay the team-building restrictions of the second apron for at least another year.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, and Jalen Williams will combine to eat up roughly 75%-92% of Oklahoma City's cap space over the next five years, which is why the team's enviable collection of future picks is so valuable. The Thunder have a clear line to cheaper, cost-controlled players who can supplement and support the team's star trio. General manager Sam Presti and head coach Mark Daigneault can continue to draft and develop rotation players, who in turn can replace more veteran role players when they become too expensive.
The apron concerns are real, but they pale in comparison to the massive advantage it is to have a championship trio - all between the ages of 24 and 27 - under contract through 2031.
The Spurs have no such concerns for the time being. Wembanyama becomes extension eligible this summer but still has one year remaining on his rookie-scale deal. Castle, Harper, and 3-and-D rookie Carter Bryant each have multiple years remaining on their first contracts. That trio and starting forward Julian Champagnie - all 24 or younger - will combine to earn just 18.8% of the team's cap next season. San Antonio has the flexibility to replace impending free agent Harrison Barnes with a better player and the assets to go big-game hunting for another star should the need arise.
De'Aaron Fox's contract won't age well, but the Spurs are equipped to deal with the ramifications of one bad veteran contract. In the meantime, Fox's ball-handling and experience as a lead guard remain valuable to a young team, as evidenced by San Antonio's turnover issues without him earlier in the series. Harper's eventual rise to stardom will negate the need for Fox, with the Rutgers product and Castle expected to form a tremendous two-way backcourt. For now, the collective ball-handling, rim pressure, and shooting of the Spurs' impressive group of guards will continue to compromise opposing defenses while Wembanyama warps the floor with his own unique form of gravity.
Defensively, head coach Mitch Johnson's ability to layer all those guards in front of and around Wembanyama's impossible reach makes San Antonio the best-equipped team to deal with Gilgeous-Alexander's three-level brilliance.
And in Holmgren (plus the bruising Hartenstein, for now), the Thunder have the rare breed of big man who should be able to hang with Wembanyama on some level, though the mere mention of Holmgren's name seems to drive the Frenchman mad. That mysterious disdain adds another gripping element to this budding rivalry.
Though he's yet to officially dethrone Gilgeous-Alexander or the Thunder, Wembanyama is the main character in this story. The big man is coming for every accolade, individual award, and team trophy out there in the coming years. The squad currently standing in his way figures to be the only one capable of doing so for the foreseeable future.
It's the classic story of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. The Spurs and Thunder are two freight trains moving at supersonic speeds. The only thing that can stop them is colliding with each other.
Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.
