2 Thunder who could be key part of opening night rotation, 1 who could be axed

The wait is finally over, Thunder fans! Thursday night, OKC will be on the road facing off against the Denver Nuggets out in the Mile High City for their first game of the 2024-25 season.

Following a highly successful and literally historic 2023-24 campaign, Mark Daigneault and company are looking to take the next step in their trajectory by moving beyond the rising squad jurisdiction and into legitimate title contender territory.

Thursday's bout against the Nuggets will be the first lick of any meaningful action on this aforementioned journey for the Thunder, though, unfortunately, they are slated to be at sub-full strength with several core contributors already being ruled out due to injury.

Because of this, tough rotational adjustments must be made by the coaching staff in an effort to make up for these abundant absences and, in turn, to start things off on the right foot. In doing so, however, coach Daigneault may find himself leaning on a few surprise players more than some may expect while, simultaneously, relegating others to a less-than-preferable role on opening night.

Thunder players who could play key roles on opening night

Ousmane Dieng

With the fact that both Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein are already ruled out for this upcoming matchup against Denver, Oklahoma City could use for whatever help they can get in the size department, especially when going up against a behemoth such as Nikola Jokic.

When looking at the players coming into the exhibition healthy, the only two that measure in at above 6-foot-9 are Chet Holmgren (7-foot-1) and Ousmane Dieng (6-foot-10).

Because of this, and the lack of depth available behind Chet at the five, it should be somewhat expected that coach Daigneault will look to his third-year product to log minutes at the position against this vertically superior Nuggets frontcourt.

What bodes well for this experimental idea is the fact that Dieng managed to put forth a solid preseason, particularly during his final three games played where he dropped impressive averages of 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.3 blocks on 48.4 percent shooting from the floor and 35.3 percent shooting from deep.

Hopefully, he'll be able to put forth a similar level of play on opening night. Against a team like the Nuggets and with OKC limited with reinforcements, they could certainly use it.

Dillon Jones

Though he may not have the size that Dieng does, the lackluster frontcourt depth that the Thunder currently boast could see them call upon rookie Dillon Jones for meaningful minutes in game one of his NBA career.

While he may only measure in at 6-foot-5, the Weber State product made a name for himself throughout his collegiate career for being an unbelievably versatile weapon who can handle the rock as a guard would and bang down in the paint like a big.

With this brand of skill set, he went on to drop impressive, all-around averages of 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.0 steals on 48.9 percent shooting from the floor during his senior season.

Through five games of action in the preseason, the 26 overall selection in June's NBA Draft continued to showcase this style of play, posting 11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.8 steals in 23.5 minutes a night.

As a result, Jones has already gone on record to note that the Thunder have begun to use him all over the place within their lineups, including as a tweener big.

Don't be surprised if you see OKC roll out such sets in spurts Thursday night.

Thunder player who could be axed from rotation on opening night

Ajay Mitchell

Throughout the preseason, Ajay Mitchell proved himself to be yet another intriguing young guard talent on this Thunder squad.

Though selected in the second round of this year's draft, at times the UC Santa Barbara played like a first-round prospect in his four games of action, displaying his craftiness as a ball-handler, willingness to drive the paint to attack an opposing team's big man assortment, and overwhelming confidence on the floor.

Yet, even with all of this along with his solid averages of 11.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game, one should not expect the training camp standout to see any semblance of on-court action against Denver.

Frankly, considering their already astonishingly deep guard rotation consisting of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace, and Isaiah Joe, there seem to be no minutes to spare for the two-way talent.

His long-range shooting abilities also left much to be desired (16.7 percent), so any desire to have him hit the hardwood right away is near zero.

Even though Ajay Mitchell may have caught the attention of Thunder fans with his four-game stint in the preseason, don't expect him to see the floor on opening night.