OKC Thunder announce NBA’s most interesting Summer League roster

The OKC Thunder have announced their 2023 NBA Summer League roster. The Thunder will participate in two Summer Leagues starting in Salt Lake City on July 3rd before heading to Vegas to join the rest of the association from July 7th-17th. The Oklahoma City Thunder summer league roster is one of the most interesting and exciting in the league, so much so it will get an additional update!

While the entire NBA landscape is chopping at the bit to see the top overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and generational prospect, Victor Wembanyama, the Thunder have an argument for the most interesting group top-to-bottom. The Thunder Summer League roster will look like their regular group sans Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, and Lu Dort. That still leaves plenty of buzz around the Summer Thunder.

The OKC Thunder have announced their 2023 Summer League roster, which should rank as the most interesting in the NBA.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will send Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jaylin Williams, Ousmane Dieng, and Keyontae Johnson to Salt Lake City, including a few former NBAers Zhaire Smith, Jahmi’us Ramsey (who spent the last few seasons with the OKC Blue), and Jared Butler (who played for the OKC Thunder a year ago but is currently a free agent). Eventually, this roster will add 10th overall pick Cason Wallace once it shifts to Vegas. Wallace can not be included on the Salt Lake City edition of the Summer squad due to the trade with the Dallas Mavericks not being official until July 6th. Wallace’s Summer League debut? July 8th against…the Dallas Mavericks.

Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, and even Tre Mann (who faces a pivotal summer) will steal the eyes of the fanbase (at least in Salt Lake City), but this roster is deeper than that. Caleb McConnell could be an undrafted gem as a defensive ace out of Rutgers. Zhaire Smith was once a highly touted prospect, and Jahmi’us Ramsey has been carving up the G-League. This is a critical Summer League session for Ramsey, as scouts have expressed to me that the Texas Tech product has not earned another NBA opportunity because of the fear that his scoring will not translate. While the Summer League is not exactly a vast stage, at least the entire league and its executives are in attendance.

Jaden Shackelford was a catch-fire shooter for the OKC Blue a year ago and has fill it up potential in Summer League, especially during the dog days of Vegas. Sooner product Tanner Groves will go the way of Ryan Spangler with this Sumer League invite, but seeing a local connection on the roster is always cool.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann are currently fighting for their spots on a crowded OKC Thunder roster, which has to shed three standard NBA pacts between now and October, so falling flat in Summer League would not bode well in this attempt to impress. However, they are in a no-win situation. Struggling in this environment would nearly be a death nail in their Thunder tenure while performing well does not necessarily move the needle.

Notes: 

• Chet Holmgren has added 13 pounds from his listed weight a year ago
• Ousmane Dieng is officially listed at 6’10
• Jalen Williams claims he is actually 220
• Cason Wallace is not on the roster due to the trade with Dallas not being official. He will play in Vegas but not in the Salt Lake City portion
• Here is the full OKC Thunder Summer League schedule
• The coaching staff includes David Akinyooye (Thunder assistant) as its head coach.
• Grant Gibbs (current Thunder assistant and former OKC Blue head coach), Eric Maynor (Thunder assistant and former NBA player), and Kameron Woods (Current OKC Blue Head Coach and former Thunder assistant/Blue player) serving as Akinyooye’s staff.
• Mark Daigneault told me the plan as of last Saturday was to have Akinyooye and Woods split head coaching duties, so stay tuned for the roster update heading into Vegas.

Stay tuned for wall-to-wall NBA summer league coverage.