OKC Thunder: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl enters starting lineup

The OKC Thunder are set to play their second of four preseason games tonight, this time on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. The head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder Mark Daigneault met with the media for his usually pregame media session and announced his starting lineup for game two.

Before the lineup, the Oklahoma City Thunder bench boss confirmed the injury report, Vit Krejci, Derrick Favors, and Kenrich Williams are all being held out of this contest.

OKC Thunder announce the starting lineup for preseason game two against the Milwaukee Bucks

The Oklahoma City Thunder will roll out four of the same starters they did against the Charlotte Hornets in the preseason opener. The rookie and birthday boy Josh Giddey remains in the starting lineup, joined by the trio of usual suspects Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Darius Bazley.

Instead of Isaiah Roby being the man in the middle for the first five, it will be Villanova product, Rookie, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. He starts over Roby, who started for most of the season last year during Al Horford‘s absence.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl brings a similar skillset as Roby though JRE is three years younger, a better defender, and a better three-point shooter. Robinson-Earl got into foul trouble early during his NBA debut, but after four quick fouls, he settled in and did not get whistled again.

Of course, do not look too much into the OKC Thunder starting lineup and rotations in the preseason, Mark Daigneault cautioned against that a week ago, but it is interesting to note that two of the OKC rookies are in the first five.

Mark Daigneault proved a year ago he is not scared to throw rookies into the lineup with his handling of Theo Maledon, who led the team in minutes a year ago, and Aleksej Pokusevski once he returned from the G-League bubble.

I would expect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, and Darius Bazley to be the starting group in Utah to start the season on October 20th, but the center spot is certainly up for grabs. Will it be Isaiah Roby, the veteran Derrick Favors, or even the rookie Jeremiah Robinson-Earl? Feel free to make your pick.

The Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer announced before the game that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday are likely to play tonight on this ESPN Primetime exhibition game. It will interesting to see how the OKC Thunder adjusts their scheme against the NBA champion Bucks. For more details on the scheme, the Thunder used against the Hornets check out the film review!