OKC Thunder: What to watch for in preseason opener
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder return to the hardwood Monday Night against the Hornets to tip-off the preseason. The coffee tastes a bit sweeter today, not only due to my Italian sweet creamer but because tonight marks a return to my happy place. Basketball season. Game previews, storylines, recaps, takeaways, overreactions, underreactions, returning to the arena, late nights, all that goes into basketball season, it is here.
Creating content is fun! Below will be a link to join the team if you are interested! At Thunderous Intentions we already have a game preview up, but what storylines should you specifically be watching for in the preseason opener for the OKC Thunder?
OKC Thunder tip-off Preseason slate
Tonight, the Oklahoma City Thunder will welcome fans back into the arena for the first time since March 11th, 2020 with a new name on the side of the building, fans will enter the Paycom Center to see a new-look roster. Headlined by max contact point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dominate defensive guard Lu Dort, the international man of mystery Aleksej Pokusevski, Building Block Bazley, their new shiny sixth overall pick in Josh Giddey, and a ton of youngsters looking to solidify themselves as NBA players.
Mark Daigneault, in his second year as the OKC Thunder head coach, will pace the sidelines in front of fans tonight for the first time. He has already alerted the media that no one will play “crazy minutes” in the rotation tonight.
The bench boss also pleas with fans not to overreact to the preseason rotations. Pointing out the team knows how much work the players need to get ready for the regular season and will shuffle the minutes accordingly including at times featuring did not play coaches decision, for some players.
These games do not count, why would you watch them? Why would you care about what happens in early October when the regular season is still three weeks away? Well, since the scoreboard does not matter, let’s lay out storylines to follow while you kick back and watch the OKC Thunder preseason opener.