The OKC Thunder season begins in a little over a month, with the ever-important training camp period ramping up on September 28th and preseason action tipping off on October 4th. Catch your breath, get some rest, and click re-order on your Amazon order of Coffee pods. It is basketball season yet again.
I woke up this morning, took my beautiful morkie dog outside, and began brewing a cup of coffee. Nothing fancy, just my usual, a Starbucks Carmel blend K-Cup in my Keurig, four Splenda packets, and a dash of Italian coffee creamer.
Trying to figure out the OKC Thunder rotation
I got my dog, Gilmore, back inside and carried my coffee and pup back to my office. After loading up a show on my television, starting up my Macbook Pro, and taking that first sip of coffee the Oklahoma City Thunder ran through my mind, which is typical.
Frantically grabbing my favorite pen, pulling up the Thunder roster as I grab a spiral notebook I pondered what will the team’s rotation be this season?
For a squad projected to finish last in the western conference, the OKC Thunder have a ton of interesting rotational battles as training camp opens up.
Second-year head coach Mark Daigneault has to sort out this rotation after doing a nearly flawless job a year ago. Even the starting lineup this year will be up for debate, unlike last season when that unit was pretty cut and dry the entire way through.
Who will crack the starting lineup for the OKC Thunder?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort are locked into the starting unit, but past that, it is up for debate. For my money, Josh Giddey should be a lock to start as well. There is no reason to hold the sixth overall pick on the bench with this current roster.
That leaves two open spots for six candidates. Derrick Favors, Mike Muscala, Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Isaiah Roby, and even Jeremiah Robinson-Earl all have a case to be made that they should be a starter on this team.
Who is on the chopping block first? Well, despite his impressive summer league, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s chance of being in the starting group on October 20th is slim to none.
While Isaiah Roby performed well last year, and the team likes him as a small-ball five, his more natural fit is on the pine coming in with the second unit. Consider him chopped as well.
That dwindles it down to Favors, Muscala, Pokusevski, and Bazley for the power forward and center spots. Given Mike Muscala’s team player attitude and his scoring ability that the reserves will likely not have enough of, let’s chop him as well.
Assuming Derrick Favors takes the veteran route that every other journeyman has that walks through the Paycom Center doors, his experience in the league should give him enough to earn the starting center spot to start the year.
With no reason to believe Favors will be a locker room problem, let’s assume Mark Daigneault rewards his good attitude with the gig until he is eventually traded to a contender during the 2021-22 season.
One spot remains in the starting five for two candidates. Throughout training camp, Darius Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski will be playing a figurative game of musical chairs (and maybe a literal game of musical chairs, I am sure that would be good team building).
Each has a strong case for being in the starting unit but without some shuffling only one can be tabbed with the right to be there for the opening tip.
The 19-year-old is already a fan favorite, and many fans have started projecting a unicorn-like trajectory for Aleksej Pokusevski’s career. After Poku returned from the G-League bubble a year ago, he looked like an entirely different player.
He cracked the starting lineup for 28-games after returning from Disney world and produced 11-points, five rebounds, and two assists per game in that stretch. His field goal percentage took a huge leap, and he shot 31-percent from deep as a 7-footer.
Of the two possible choices, the teenager has a much higher upside and a legit shot at being an all-star caliber player no matter how crazy it sounds on the surface. Darius Bazley on the other hand enters a make-or-break season without the shiny bright upside that Pokusevski has.
While we can agree there is still a path for Bazley to be a quality NBA player, and even solidify himself as an NBA starter, his star potential is significantly less than that of Pokusevski’s.
While I would start Aleksej Pokusevski, ultimately I think Mark Daigneault will trend towards Bazley. Poku does not need a confidence boost, in fact, some would peg him as too confident. There is a chance, from the outside looking in, that Baze could suffer a dip in confidence if he lost his starting gig after starting in all 55-games he appeared in a year ago.
The Thunder starting group: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, and Derrick Favors.
Who will the OKC Thunder play off the bench?
Now, the real fun begins. The leftovers on the roster that did not crack the starting group all present interesting arguments that they deserve a ton of minutes.
Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Roby, Mike Mucala, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon, Ty Jerome, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Gabriel Deck, Josh Hall, and Aaron Wiggins are players that desperately need NBA time.
The other two players on the roster might not get much time with the varsity group. It is unlike Charlie Brown Jr., on a non-guaranteed NBA deal, will survive training camp. That leaves just Vit Krejci as a rostered player, not in the “minutes group” and that is largely due to his ACL recovery and the expectation that he spends the majority of his time with the OKC Blue this year.
Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski will be at the top of the bench group pecking order. Maledon led the team in minutes played a year ago, and Pokusevski is Sam Presti’s prized prospect that he hopes will develop into a star, a foundational piece to the next championship-caliber team in OKC Thunder history.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Isaiah Roby is a fun small-ball five project that I do not think Mark Daigneault and his staff are ready to bail on yet, far from it, I expect he joins Poku and Maledon as one of the first reserves off the bench.
Ty Jerome’s playmaking and scoring threat make him a must-add to the second-stringers, leaving one spot open for the second-teamers. Williams, Deck, Mann, Robinson-Earl, and Muscala all make strong cases for the next five.
With his toughness, leadership, surprise shooting ability, basketball awareness, and defense Kenrich Williams earns the final spot on the next five.
The bench mob: Theo Maledon, Ty Jerome, Aleksej Pokusevski, Kenrich Williams, and Isaiah Roby.
How Mark Daigneault finds time for the two other rookies in JRE and Tre Mann, along with the interesting two-way deals and a fun project in Gabriel Deck is a job I do not envy.
There is not a right answer. If you polled 20 OKC Thunder fans you would get 20 different combinations of who the team should prioritize.
I believe the team will find ways to get Deck, Mann, and JRE minutes in some capacity nearly every game. That leaves Wiggins, Hall, and Krejci spending most of their time with the G-Leauge affiliate, OKC Blue. While Muscala remains sidelined in a leadership role.
Of the group that just missed the cut for the bench mob title, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has the best chance to crack the top line shift. As a small-ball five his ability to rebound and defend while shooting triples at a better clip than Roby could allow him to supplant the Nebraska product.