OKC Thunder: Roster battles to watch this preseason

The OKC Thunder 2021-22 roster bubble

The Oklahoma City Thunder roster will be interesting to see take shape, the team has a roster full of young, interesting players, we could all pick our favorite top guys and project prospects, and still, all have different answers.

Mamadi Diakite is the easy answer, despite the interest in his game, in all likelihood he is bound for the Blue. However, what if he overperforms in camp and the preseason games? Who is next on the chopping block?

Once the team waives their training camp invites, they still need one more cut, if they decide to keep Diakite, who has to go?

Well, here is the problem, there is not a great answer. Sure, you could throw out Gabriel Deck given the fact he is 26 years old, on a partially guaranteed deal that is easy to get out of, but the organization jumped through a lot of hoops to get him over here a year ago for him to play ten games showing they value him, decided to bring him back this summer, and at the last second will just say nevermind? How likely is that for Thunder GM Sam Presti?

With the way Mark Daigneault, the young players, and everyone talks about Isaiah Roby, he is a lock to make the roster as well. They will not cut one of the five rookies (Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Aaron Wiggins, Vit Krejci), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon, Kenrich Williams, and Mike Muscala are locks as well. Williams would provide value to contending teams but he means a lot to the team’s culture and it is a bit early to make any trades across the NBA.

Besides Gabriel Deck, the only other option could be a move with Derrick Favors. While everyone hopes this entire 82-game season can go off without an injury, the sad reality is injuries are part of the game. What if a big man goes down on a contending team in the preseason? Favors team-friendly contract would sure look appealing to offload Favors for a second-rounder or an easy-to-cut player.

Favors is only owed 9-million dollars this year with a ten million dollar player option next year. If he and his agent feel comfortable with testing the open market, and Mamadi Diakite does outperform projections, it would not be crazy to think the team could buy out the big man.

Ultimately, when thinking out all these moves, it seems pretty obvious that the team has their opening night roster in place. The cuts will be Mamadi Diakite plus the two training camp invites (Rob Edwards, DJ Wilson), let’s play some Bricktown Basketball.

Which players would you release if you were OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti?