Thunder in the News: Road trip ends with two victories

Thunder in the News celebrates the first back-to-back victory of the season today. Then we get to a couple roster moves from the OKC Thunder organization that sparked some interesting conversation.

It feels nice winning consecutive games. Especially when both come in the form of blowouts. When both games are at the end of a road trip. And the most recent win was against a Conference Finals contender.

We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves today. But November 1st marks the first day of the year where the Oklahoma City Thunder have some momentum brewing.

Player grades from a dominant performance in Milwaukee

Everything was working for Oklahoma City last night. The starting lineup set the tone early while the second-unit did a nice job of containing any Bucks’ runs. What resulted was a beautiful report card from Thunderous Intentions writer Lawrence George. Although it seems ambitious, every player truly deserves the grade they got – that’s how dominant the Thunder were on Tuesday.

"He kept Antetokounmpo very quiet all game and Donovan integrated him superbly into the offense. Most importantly, Dre HIT FREE THROWS."

Josh Huestis’ 2018 option not picked up

And we go from good news to strange news. Josh Huestis’ strong play has been one of the main storylines from the early season. That didn’t stop OKC from declining his player option for next season. After the game Huestis said he absolutely wants to be with the Thunder, but this decision makes that an uncertainty moving forward.

"Huestis was an unusual pick in the 2014 draft, becoming the NBA’s first ever “domestic draft and stash” player."

OKC Blue 2017-2018 roster is set

Speaking of Josh Huestis, the OKC Blue announced their roster for the upcoming G-League season yesterday. If you are an avid follower of the Thunder you probably recognize most of these names. Besides the two-way players there are legitimate pro prospects (it may take them a couple years) suiting up for the Blue this season. It’s not glamorous, but paying attention to the OKC Blue is the best way to know about future Oklahoma City players.

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back tomorrow – and every day after that – for more issues of Thunder in the News. Make sure to also check Thunderous Intentions daily for pre/post-game analysis, weekly features and much, much more!