OKC Thunder miss seven, plus head coach, against Kings

The OKC Thunder take on the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night, so make sure you have plenty of coffee on hand for the late-night tip-time as this game is slated for 9 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing some of their best basketball right now turning in a 6-4 record in their last ten games on their way to a 12-20 record overall sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference, just a game and a half back of the NBA Postseason Play-In Tournament.

However, it will be an uphill battle for the OKC Thunder in this first leg of a back to back as they tip-off a four-game week, the Thunder will miss seven players and their head coach Mark Daigneault as he enters health and safety protocols along with six of the seven players set to miss tonight’s game. That number seemingly grows by the minute, but given the three replacement player signing, and likely more to come, the OKC Thunder have 13 players available tonight in Sacramento

OKC Thunder missing seven players, head coach against Kings

The Sacramento Kings will miss rookies Davion Mitchell and Neemis Queta tonight with Alex Len questionable as the trio is in Health and Safety Protocols.

The Oklahoma City Thunder see Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Aleksej Pokusevski, Derrick Favors, Darius Bazley, Josh Giddey, and Tre Mann enter the NBA’s COVID-19 Health and Safety protocols as well as their bench boss Mark Daigneault. Thunder General Manager Sam Presti informed the media before the season started that each player on the roster has been vaccinated which helps OKC in this scenario as the NBA shortens the number of days missed in the protocols for vaccinated, asymptotic players.

Vit Krejci will also miss this game for the OKC Thunder as he is still on a G-League assignment with the OKC Blue. The reason Krejci has not been recalled aimed the COVID-19 outbreak is due to the rookie dealing with a sprained ankle.

Available players for the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Ty Jerome, Theo Maledon, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Roby, Gabriel Deck, Mike Muscala, Paul Watson Jr, Rob Edwards, Scotty Hopson, and Olivier Sarr.

Mike Wilks, who played in four games for the OKC Thunder during the 2009-10 season after a stint with the organization in Seattle that lasted 60 games, has served as an assistant coach for Mark Daigneault and will be called upon to be the acting head coach for the Thunder tonight.

The last time Mark Daigneault missed a stretch of games, due to the birth of his child earlier this season, Dave Bliss slid down a chair to be the acting head coach. This time, the organization calls on Wilks. Wilks is the first former-Thunder player to be on the sideline in a head coaching role for the Thunder. Though remember, these wins and losses still reflect on Mark Daigneault’s record rather than Wilks. When Wilks gets promoted to a full-time head coach eventually in his career, he will start clean at 0-0.