3 lineups OKC Thunder fans are dying to see in Summer League
By Rylan Stiles
How the OKC Thunder could put out the most fun, young, and wild lineup of the Summer.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a ton of young talent on this roster. All four 2022 NBA Draft picks, both of the 2023 NBA Draft class members and two of the four members of the 2021 class are currently on the OKC Thunder Summer League roster.
For the Thunder, the names you will always hear are Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, and the like. However, it does not appear Jalen Williams nor Chet Holmgren are long for Summer League. So if the Bricktown boys wanted to pivot, they have the chance to roll out a fun, young, and wild lineup on the rest of the NBA.
What if Oklahoma City throws Cason Wallace, Tre Mann/Jared Butler, Ousmane Dieng, Keyontae Johnson, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl/Jaylin Williams? Given how much Jaylin Williams played in Salt Lake City and the fact Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had to miss the entire three-game stretch with an ankle injury, if Robinson-Earl is healthy enough to play, you would imagine Kameron Woods and his staff would prioritize his minutes during Vegas. There also is not much left for Tre Mann to prove in this type of Summer League environment, so his minutes might give way to two-way hopeful Jared Butler.
Whoever plays that small ball five position does not really matter when you look at Tre Mann’s explosive scoring, Cason Wallace’s lockdown defense accompanied by his versatile offense, Ousmane Dieng’s length and newfound offensive groove, and the juice from rookie Keyontae Johnson makes my mouth water thinking about the possibility on both ends of the floor.