OKC Thunder roster projection for the 2021-22 season

The OKC Thunder and the NBA are racing toward the 2021-22 NBA regular season and with that comes the annual roster cut down day. The National Basketball Association allows teams to carry 20 players on their roster during the training camp and preseason portion of the league calendar but on October 18th, a day before the regular season, each organization must trim their roster to 17 players, in the form of two two-way players, and 15 NBA pacts.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have already waived Rob Edwards, Jaylen Hoard, Scotty Hopson, DJ Wilson, and Melvin Frazier Jr to earn their NBA G-League rights this offseason. Soon, they will waive Zavier Simpson to shuffle them to the OKC Blue as well.

OKC Thunder 2021-22 Roster Projection

Oklahoma City has a relatively simple roster cut down day ahead. While Thunder general manager Sam Presti can always pull a rabbit out of his hat, the three roster moves seem like a foregone conclusion.

Guards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Theo Maledon, Ty Jerome, and Tre Mann.

Forwards: Darius Bazley, Vit Krejci, Aleksej Pokusevski, Kenrich Williams, Gabriel Deck, Aaron Wiggins*, and Paul Watson Jr*.

Center: Mike Muscala, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Isaiah Roby, and Derrick Favors.

Cuts: Mamadi Diakite and Zavier Simpson

The OKC Thunder releasing Mamadi Diakite makes the most sense despite his recent claim off waivers. Diakite was having an impressive camp until he suffered a hip fracture during the second preseason game for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Milwaukee Bucks.

While Diakite may have more upside than players currently on the OKC Thunder roster, cutting bait with 1.5 million dollars this year and 1.7 million dollars next season is a drop in the bucket for a team struggling to get above the salary cap floor.

We will be tracking the roster moves all weekend long here at Thunderous Intentions, check back on Monday, October 18th to see how right we were on our roster prediction for the 2021-22 NBA season. Who would you like to see make the Thunder squad?