The OKC Thunder went into the 2021 NBA Offseason with a ton of potential. With six 2021 NBA Draft picks, all the cap space in the world to take on bad salaries and gain additional assets, the ability to hand a max contract their star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and set the rebuild in the right direction.
At almost every turn, the offseason has been a dud. It started with awful NBA Lottery luck, seeing the Houston Rockets not only keep their pick but earn the second overall pick as The Thunder falls out of the top five to pick-six.
A surprise pick in Josh Giddey, a surprise trade involved Alprene Sengun, and an interesting selection in Tre Mann forced Oklahoma City fans to leave NBA Draft night with more questions than answers. A lowkey free agency period that saw just two moves from Sam Presti set the NBA summer league stage.
One thing that can save the summer for the OKC Thunder
A week ago, we all huddled around the television, flipped to ESPN2, and got set for the first OKC Thunder summer league contest. After Sam Presti shocked the NBA world with the sixth pick, we were waiting to watch Josh Giddey go head-to-head with the top Pistons Pick, Cade Cunningham.
Five minutes in, before you could even polish off your cold beverage and popcorn, Giddey went down with an ankle sprain. He has not returned to the floor since. As the Summer League progressed, Tre Mann departed from Vegas due to personal matters.
Oklahoma City Thunder fans are growing frustrated. They look around the NBA Summer circuit and see Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, Scottie Barnes, James Bouknight, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Alprene Sengun, Kai Jones, Jalen Johnson, Cameron Thomas, and Davion Mitchell lighting it up on the Vegas strip. OKC has had no such flashes.
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While Theo Maledon has had some great games in Vegas, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins look like valuable rotational pieces, there has not been that jaw-dropping development we all hoped for.
Josh Giddey being held out again against the Indiana Pacers leaves one final contest for him to step on the floor. The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at 4 p.m. central time featured on ESPN2.
With reports that Josh Giddey was close to playing in the Pacers contest, there at least is some hope that the Thunder will play the NBL product in the final Vegas venture.
While you should not put too much stock into the NBA Summer League, glorified exhibition games have turned into a spectacle in Vegas after being forgotten about events in poorly lit gyms in Orlando for years, it is still worth getting excited over.
Thunder fans hope Josh Giddey can suit up and give them some excitement to tide them over until early October when the NBA Preseason begins. However, if the Thunder hold out Giddey in the final game, remember that Summer League is not the end date, it is a starting point. Let’s allow a few NBA seasons to pass before crowning or dethroning prospects.