OKC Thunder will see core four play together for first time tonight

The OKC Thunder made their preseason debut on Monday against the San Antonio Spurs as Chet Holmgren finally returned to the court after a year-long absence for his rookie season redux. Holmgren matching up with Victor Wembanyama was the story of the night, but for Thunder fans, they had to wait yet another game before seeing the “core four” play together.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing all the way through the FIBA World Cup, his offseason was nearly nonexistent, with only a month between his bronze medal game and OKC Thunder training camp. The team is cautious of that and rested him against the Spurs.

The OKC Thunder selected Chet Holmgren second overall in the 2022 NBA Draft and saw him suffer a Lisfranc Fracture last August, which held him out all year. Following the emergence of the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Jalen Williams, fans have been chopping at the bit to see the core four play together.

The OKC Thunder announced Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the core four are available for the second preseason game.

Tonight, in Montreal, the OKC Thunder will finally get to unleash Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren together.  After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed Monday’s tilt to rest, he is ready to go to his home country on Thursday.

Chet Holmgren was stellar in his NBA (preseason) debut, but since draft night, we have yet to see the dynamic between him and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Even Before Monday, Holmgren had shared the floor with Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams in Summer League.

Along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (rest). The OKC Thunder have also deemed Vasilije Micic healthy. Micic missed Monday’s matchup with an ankle sprain described as day-to-day by Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault.

However, given the nature of the preseason with 21-player rosters, someone has to sit out. Mark Daigneault announced that Jaylin Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and Davis Bertans will be healthy scratches tonight. Wiggins and Williams earned a lot of burn on Monday, while Davis Bertans was a flame thrower, tossing in four triples in his first four minutes against the Spurs.