Top five Oklahoma City Thunder reserves in franchise history
By Joshua Lea
The OKC Thunder bench is often under the microscope. Some would even argue that the bench is more important than the starting five.
The Oklahoma City Thunder at times have had a strong bench. They’ve also at times had an extremely thin bench. Such as life in the NBA. If you can master this conundrum, it generally leads you to an NBA Championship.
Over the years, the Thunder have added veteran players to its roster to help strengthen the bench. Ronnie Brewer, Nate Robinson, Caron Butler and Sebastian Telfair have all donned the blue and orange at one time. Since then, however, these players have moved on.
Now, the Thunder bench includes veteran point guard Raymond Felton, sharpshooters Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott, low-post threat Enes Kanter and high flying forward Jerami Grant. The expectation for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season is somewhat high. The bench play will be the common denominator in the team’s success.
Whenever you discuss the Thunder’s bench, many will compare it to the 2012 team – the bench that consisted of multiple play makers that helped propel the Thunder to the NBA Finals. It’s unclear if the Thunder have enough to return to the Finals, but the current team is arguably the deepest we’ve seen since 2012.
Enes Kanter gets an honorable mention nod in this article. This, of course, is due to the fact that he is a monster offensively. I personally believe Kanter’s game could turn a page this season. He’s been in the gym like a man possessed this offseason.
With the preseason two months away, let’s spend a few minutes going back over the best of the best from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s second unit.