All season long, the OKC Thunder have been ravaged by player absences and health-related ailments. From sporadic DNPs to out indefinitelys, Oklahoma City has seen all kinds of injury statuses during this first quarter of play.
Fortunately, as the campaign progresses, the ball club is starting to inch closer to full strength, as many of their banged-up ballers have recently made their way back to the hardwood and, in turn, have proven to be quite impactful toward the team's winning ways.
Heading into Thursday night's bout against the Toronto Raptors, the Thunder are slated to see yet another player in Alex Caruso make his way back from a long-standing absence. However, despite the excitement from fans and pundits, coach Mark Daigneault is suggested that expectations should be tempered for the veteran's first game in two weeks.
Mark Daigneault not expecting much from Alex Caruso in Thunder return
When asked during a post-shoot around media session earlier in the day about what Caruso would bring to the table in their contest against the Raptors, the Thunder headman admitted that while the team is "happy to have him back," ultimately they're not expecting anything too big from him right out of the gates.
"Similar to any of these other guys coming off injuries, we don't overreact to their individual performance their first game back. Where they restart is where they restart... The season's long, we've got a lot of season left. We're going to need everybody we're certainly going to need him," Daigneault said.
Though Caruso's been in something of a shooting slump throughout the 13 contests he's suited up for with Oklahoma City, as he's shooting just 35.6 percent from the floor and 20.5 percent from distance, his presence on the hardwood has still been deeply felt in all facets of the game.
To Daigneault, energy, defense, wisdom, and systematic offense are all words synonymous with the 30-year-old, which is why he made it a point to note that "we're excited to have him back" and that "having him healthy is a great thing."
In his first season with the Thunder, Alex Caruso has proven to be a tremendous asset both on the hardwood and while on the sidelines during his absence due to a nagging hip ailment.
From his willingness to slot in anywhere on the floor (he even was found playing center at times before Isaiah Hartenstein made his debut on November 20) to his ability to serve as an elite disruptor on the defensive end (currently third in the league in deflections per game), the eighth-year pro has been a highly reliable commodity within coach Daigneault's rotation in 2024-25.
Because of this, while OKC's headman is certainly right to be heading into Thursday night with tempered expectations, having him back in the lineup is overall an objectively good thing for the organization moving forward.