OKC Thunder Training Camp notebook day 4

The OKC Thunder continue Training Camp as they begin day four of four, with the NBA Preseason looming on Monday, this is where camp might become a grind for players as they are looking forward to competing against a different colored jersey.

When practice wrapped up those of us in the media got to talk with Mark Daigneault, who let the cat out of the bag on Thursday that after Friday’s practice the bench boss would announce the top five songs from the team’s training camp music playlist. We have documented each day of training camp and are not slowing down anytime soon.

OKC Thunder training camp notebook day four

The team prepares for their preseason opener Monday Night in the Paycom Center when they welcome in the Charlotte Hornets and LaMelo Ball to Bricktown, which will provide a real test and serve as an appetizer for the season depending on how long Mark Daigneault and James Borrego allow their rotational players to stay in the contest.

Mark Daigneault gave us a slight glimpse into the preseason rotation on Friday, mentioning that he will bounce players back and forth cautioning fans not to read too much into the rotation in any of the four preseason games.

The head coach says the team has players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Bazley, and Lu Dort who they know exactly how to get their work in, whereas players with larger bodies of work like Kenrich Williams, Mike Muscala, Ty Jerome will bounce around in the rotation sometimes in the preseason not even playing for a half to allocate those minutes elsewhere.

We also got an OKC Thunder injury report, Tre Mann practiced for the second straight day dealing with groin soreness earlier in the week he appears to be good to go. Derrick Favors and Vit Krejci were limited today, Vit Krejci is dealing with an injury unrelated to his previous ACL tear but it is not so bad that he can not practice. Krejci took part in some drills Friday but was not a full participant.

Mark Daigneault also praised Josh Giddey, saying he has true potential on the defensive end, while also mentioning today Giddey was on the same team as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during the scrimmage period and the two played well together “Not in an awkward your turn my turn way, they had good chemistry.”

That is one of the biggest storylines for years to come within the OKC Thunder fanbase. For the organization to achieve its goal of building a championship-caliber squad, you must hit on your sixth overall pick. To nail the pick, Giddey has to be able to play next to another lead guard like SGA. It appears the two are off to a great start.

Both the bench boss and Aleksej Pokusevski himself mentions the second-year forward has built better stamina this season. It is hard to believe Aleksej Pokusevski at this time a year ago, was not even in the NBA, he had yet to hear his name called. Mark Daigneault was not even named head coach of the franchise yet.