The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped on an NBA court for the first time in 175 days after defeating the Charlotte Hornets last Saturday, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hitting the game-winning shot.
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This young Thunder team will have different challenges and goals from last year. But besides the fact that this is a rebuilding year for OKC, their first three game — a win over Charlotte and two losses to Utah and Orlando — showed us that this team will still be fun to watch.
Here are five quick takeaways from OKC’s start of the season that will give Thunder fans some reasons to pay close attention to this team.
SHAI WILL BE THE MAN
Scoreboards won’t be the main focus of the season. For new head coach Mark Daigneault, it’ll be a challenge to develop his players and start building the franchise’s future. SGA will be the main focus. Shai is now the franchise player after Chris Paul’s offseason departure. He’ll be the guy with the keys to the offense and the game-closer for this squad.
He also seems to have a knack for making the right decisions every single play. Since he’s one step slower than most young players, SGA uses that extra time coming off screens to research the floor and check on his teammates.
Besides the 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists (plus the game-winner) in Charlotte, Gilgeous-Alexander had 23/3/7 hitting 42.9% of his shots against the Jazz and 23/7/7 on 80% against the Magic. His only two early flaws may be his three-point shooting (combined 5-15 on these three games) and his passiveness. When you are the number one option on your team, you need to be more aggressive when your team needs you. Once Shai realizes how much this offense relies on him, he’ll start playing like that. So far, so good.
THIS IS DARIUS BAZLEY’S YEAR
Bubble Baze was real. Despite having a very unusual rookie season, Darius Bazley still found a way to get better during and after the hiatus. During the restart, Bazley looked like a completely different player; very aggressive on offense, showing no hesitation to attack the basket and also shooting with crazy efficiency.
That’s not a typo: he shot FORTY-SEVEN percent from deep. He was a presence on the boards as well. In the preseason, Bazley only played two of three games, posting only seven points in Game 1, but followed with a stronger 10-point, 11-rebound double-double in Game 2.
Moving into the real deal, Baze started strong, scoring 15 against Charlotte, but then combined for only 15 against Utah and Orlando. He’s started off cold from deep (3/13), but there are signs of improvement already. His finishing looks so much better, and his high-post footwork seems like it will bring new moves to his bag. Bazley will have the chance to be a starter and solidify himself as an important piece of the young Thunder core alongside SGA and Lu Dort.
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LU DORT ISN’T A ONE HIT WONDER
Dort was the biggest question of OKC’s preseason. He missed the beginning of training camp. He didn’t give any details on why, but after Coach Daigneault announced that two players tested positive for COVID-19, Dort was thought to be one of them. Maybe this can explain his performances on the preseason games, finishing 0/7 on the first contest and 1/4 on the second one.
That’s exactly the area Coach Daigneault wants to develop: his shot. Dort introduced himself to the league in the playoffs with his lockdown defense on James Harden, but he connected on only 28% of threes labeled as “wide open.” Despite this, he had a 30-point outburst against Houston on 6/12 three-point shooting in Game 7 of that series. He’s already a good cutter and can finish around the rim, but he must learn to control his body to finish through traffic and contact.
Despite the early struggles, he dropped 15 points against Charlotte and Orlando, while increasing that to 26 — his second-best mark behind that Game 7 — against Utah. His long-range shooting has been very good so far (9/19 from deep), and has shown his usual defensive tenacity.
Once again, the whole league is talking about him. He wasn’t just a one-season phenomenon. He has the tools to become a star.
WHO SAID AL HORFORD WAS WASHED?
This team may seem to be filled with 15 young guys, but there is some great veteran presence on this roster. If Thunder fans had to name the best player of this preseason, they’ll probably say Al Horford. His pick-and-pop plays with Shai were a thing of beauty, making them like they have played together for years.
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Horford scored 15 points in game one and 17 in game two of the preseason, shooting a combined 6/9 from deep. Big Al started the season with three points and 13 rebounds against the Hornets, and with 11 points, five boards and four dishes against the Jazz (rested against ORL). It’s safe to say that, if he keeps posting good numbers, he’ll draw some interest from contending teams around the trade deadline. Meanwhile, he’ll be a good vocal presence in the young Thunder locker room.
DRAFT STEALS MAY STILL BE A THING IN OKC
The Thunder rookies also had a chance to introduce themselves in the preseason, and they didn’t disappoint.
The Aleksej Pokusevski experience was a good one. A seven-footer that can handle the ball and shoot pull-up jumpers is always fun to watch. Poku had a lot of confidence on these games (14 and 8 against the Spurs, 12 and 13 against the Bulls), showing some flashes of his potential as an all-around scorer.
He’s had a rough start to the regular season, however, shooting just 1-16 in the three games combined. Defensively, he lacks many things (mainly strength), but the offensive upside is there. And it’s scary.
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Théo Maledon also did his thing. He scored 20 points against San Antonio and 11 against Chicago. The French guard who has been mentored by Tony Parker over the last few years showed why OKC gave him a four-year contract as a second-round pick. He has great court vision, good passing, can shoot and is very crafty around the rim. In these three games, Maledon scored four points against Charlotte, six against Utah and seven against Orlando. His shot (his mechanics specially) is a work in progress, but he’ll keep launching those deep jumpers. Confidence doesn’t seem like a problem to him.
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This team may not be getting a playoff spot, not even a play-in tournament one. However, these players have shown that this Thunder team, besides having 21 first-round picks for the next seven years, already has many pieces to develop. This season will be a long one, but not so tedious after all. Time to watch the youngsters grow.
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