In terms of this season, no one expects the OKC Thunder to vie for a playoff seed or compete for the play-in tournament. Instead, this campaign will be measured on the team’s ability to finish with a prime lottery pick.
If the Thunder performs at the same pace as they did in preseason (1-3) it would equate to 20 or 21 wins. That would put them in the right wheelhouse to garner their desired placement of a bottom three seed.
Sam Presti has 34 potential draft picks at his disposal in the next seven years but the only pick the franchise truly controls is their own. That puts Mark Daigneault in a precarious position as he can’t afford for his young squad to overachieve. However, simultaneously the coach needs to keep his young charges invested with the goal of constant improvement.
The biggest OKC Thunder offensive tweak of preseason
Offense was OKC’s biggest issue last year as they ranked dead last (102.8) and while there were initial issues this preseason OKC finished ranked 19th (102.4). Maintaining that position will be difficult given the Jazz, Celtics, Hawks, Clippers, Lakers, Hornets, and Blazers all ranked lower which isn’t likely to carry over into the regular season.
As per above, the goal may be to tank but to grow and improve. For that to happen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will need others on the team to become a reliable secondary or third scoring option. Although the preseason was an extremely small sample size one element of the OKC Thunder offense found them in rare company.
Specifically, the Thunder were jacking up 3-pointers at a historical rate. While they weren’t drilling the perimeter shots (34.1 percent) it didn’t stop them from attempting 45.5 deep balls per game. To put this dynamic in perspective. In NBA history, only the Rockets averaged that many perimeter attempts over an entire season and they did it twice in the two seasons between 2018 and 2020. The Mavericks were the only other team to average over 40 attempts in the 2019-20 season.
Nor are the OKC Thunder the only team hosting the 3-ball. It’s not surprising the team with a duo dubbed the Splash Brothers led the way as the Golden State Warriors attempted a mind-boggling 53.2 deep balls on average this preseason. It’s noteworthy the Dubs’ efficiency (34.6 percent) was only slightly better than the OKC Thunder.
Eight clubs averaged over 40 attempts. In addition to the Warriors and Thunder the other six teams were:
- Utah Jazz – 45.8 attempts with 33.9 percent efficiency
- Sacramento Kings – 45.5 attempts with 35.2 percent efficiency
- Denver Nuggets – 45.2 attempts with 34.5 percent efficiency
- New York Knicks – 41.0 attempts with 38.4 percent efficiency
- Minnesota Timberwolves – 40.5 attempts with 30.2 percent efficiency
- Boston Celtics – 40.0 attempts with 36.3 percent efficiency
Interestingly, the Knicks (the last team you’d expect to be an offensive juggernaut) was connecting above the league’s typical average while the Celtics also hit the mark.
Last season only the Jazz (43.0), Blazers (40.8). and Rockets (40.6) averaged over 40 attempts per game. For perspective, the OKC Thunder took 35.1 attempts in 2020-21.
This anomaly may be limited to preseason as 10 clubs took 40 or more attempts in preseason last year. The Thunder weren’t in that group, however, as OKC attempted 35.3 perimeter shots last preseason connecting at a healthy 41.5 percent efficiency.
Given the fact the Thunder replicated their preseason and regular campaign 3-point attempts last year perhaps we can assume that’s Mark Daigneault’s intent again. Eleven OKC Thunder players averaged a minimum of three 3-pointers this preseason. Aleksej Pokusevski was the high attempt man with 5.6 per contest while Luguentz Dort and Ty Jerome were close behind with 5.3 attempts.
They say players become better with repetition and since the Thunder are intent on tanking anyway using real game situations for his youngsters to get accustomed to shooting the 3-ball in games that matter could pay dividends in the future.