OKC Thunder youngsters impressive in victorious preseason debut – Player Grades
The OKC Thunder fresh faces delivered an impressive first performance in the win versus the Spurs. TI selects a trio of standouts in our grades.
Prior to Saturday, the last time the OKC Thunder were on the hardwood it was September 2nd in the Disney bubble. The club was embroiled in a knockdown winner take all Game 7 in the postseason.
Although the game and series were lost the match was representative of the season. No contest ever felt out of reach. That 2019-20 iteration of the Thunder wasn’t the most successful in the dozen seasons of the franchise but they sure were entertaining.
To wit, the roster didn’t feature a top 15 NBA talent and in the preseason most analysts wrote OKC off as a lottery team. They were the ultimate underdogs comprised of a handful of youngsters, several players who had been underestimated at some point or written off as being on the downsides of their careers.
They defied logic, created a familial vibe, and served up one of the most satisfying campaigns in recent history.
Final. 121. 149. 108. 29
OKC Thunder youngsters serve up victory in preseason debut
Last night in what was a little over two months since that game in Orlando the next iteration of the OKC Thunder played their first preseason match in San Antonio. This iteration is drastically different with only six returnees and just four on hand for this match.
As such, new head coach Mark Daigneault started that quartet of returnees including franchise cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The lone newbie to start was George Hill. Numerous Thunder players were out due to injury or circumstance including Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley, Justin Jackson, Al Horford, Ty Jerome, Darius Miller, and Trevor Ariza.
The Spurs were missing Derrick White and Keldon Johnson. Popovich started his veteran trio of DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Rudy Gay who played 24, 25, and 26 minutes respectively.