Grading the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder bench unit
By Rylan Stiles
The Oklahoma City Thunder wrapped up their 2021-22 NBA Season that featured a ton of highs and lows. So, let’s grade the squad as the team heads into a very important offseason in this rebuild. We started by grading the OKC Thunder head man Mark Daigneault following his second year at the helm in Bricktown, then moved on to the starting unit headlined by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.
Now, let’s dive into the bench unit that will include Tre Mann, Aaron Wiggins, Aleksej Pokusevski, Ty Jerome, and Isaiah Roby. Then, we will dive into the veterans on the squad such as Derrick Favors, Mike Muscala, and Kenrich Williams.
The series will conclude with the “misfits” players who do not have a clear future with the team such as Lindy Waters III, Vit Krejci, and Theo Maledon. As always make sure you drop your grade for each player in the comment section down below.
Grading the Oklahoma City Thunder Bench Unit, who is part of the future core in Bricktown?
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the NBA season with a 24-58 record, fourth-worst in the NBA and second worse in the Western Conference. The team was four wins better than the worst record in the NBA and did not have clear “roles” as their starting lineup changed over 20 times.
Like most of the team, the bench unit was led by youngsters including two players from the 2021 NBA Draft, Aaron Wiggins, and Tre Mann. Those two of course show just how valuable the 2021 draft class was for the Thunder rebuild giving Sam Presti four players who feel like they can survive this rebuild and make it to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
How did Aleksej Pokusevski progress in his second season? Is Isaiah Roby legit? Can Ty Jerome carve out a niche in the NBA? Let’s dive into it!