The calendar has hit 2025 and I’m officially ready to jump on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s bandwagon.

Behind Canadian superstar and current MVP favourite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC is off to the best start in franchise history. The Thunder are riding a 15-game win streak that has seen them go 13-1-1 against the spread and they lead the Western Conference with a 30-5 record.

Here’s why you should join me on the OKC’s bandwagon.

The Thunder are back in action on Wednesday night in a heavyweight tilt with Cleveland and don’t forget to check out our complete list of NBA game odds, NBA futures and NBA specials and props.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Gilgeous-Alexander has been sniffing around the MVP race for a few seasons now, but he’s really stood out in 2024-25. The 26-year-old Hamilton, Ontario native sits third in NBA scoring, averaging 31.3 points per game. That’s nearly a dead even tie with his closest MVP competitors, Giannis Antetokounmpo (31.6 ppg) and Nikola Jokic (31.5 ppg). Gilgeous-Alexander also leads the team in assists (6.1), steals (2.0) and blocks (1.1) per game while coming up big in clutch moments.

I would argue that what really sets SGA apart from Giannis and Jokic is the lack of supporting help. Damian Lillard is the Robin to Giannis’ Batman and Jokic has Jamal Murray (another Ontario native). All due respect to Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, but they don’t provide anywhere close to the level of support that Lillard and Murray offer.

If OKC keeps rolling and locks up the Western Conference’s top seed, how can Gilgeous-Alexander not win MVP?

Bettors are thrilled

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of why you should be all over the Thunder: bettors absolutely love this squad. Just because a team is rocking at the top of the standings, doesn’t mean they can cover spreads. That’s not the case with OKC. The Thunder are an outstanding 23-11-2 against the spread this season (66.7 per cent), the second-best mark in the NBA, including 13-1-1 ATS on their current 15-game win streak.

OKC is making the Western Conference look like a joke this season. The Thunder’s seven-game lead over second and third place Houston and Memphis in the standings is a bigger gap than the Rockets and Grizzlies hold over 12th place Phoenix (6.5 games). And don’t expect this team to run out of gas anytime soon as most of the rotation is 26 or younger.

Whether it’s against the spread or on the moneyline, OKC has made bettors very happy this season.

Second half team

There’s also sneaky-good value in live betting the Thunder as they have proven to be more of a second half team. Sunday’s win over Boston is a perfect example of that late-game domination. The Celtics went off for 65 points on 51 per cent shooting from the floor in the first half before Oklahoma City’s defence held them to just 27 points on a brutal 20 per cent shooting in the last two quarters.

The youth movement I mentioned earlier could have a lot to do with that second half success. The Thunder always do enough to hang around at the half, which allows them to gauge opponents’ game plans and pull away in the second half, especially against older teams with more miles on their bodies’.

Whatever the reason for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s success this season, it’s clearly no fluke. I’m taking SGA to win MVP and OKC to win the Western Conference championship on my futures bingo card.