The Thunder were able to fast-track their timeline for contention by establishing a firm culture under head coach Mark Daigneault that focused on skill development and small details, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon writes.
“I think that’s why we’ve been able to accelerate our development,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All those little things that go into winning, they mean a lot to us because of our competitiveness and what our common goal is as a group.”
Oklahoma City saw success last season but was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, falling short of the Western Conference Finals. Instead of sending out their assets for another star or big name, the Thunder targeted role players in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso who could help push their core to the top of the league.
“They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Daigneault said. “I think that’s one of the things that [Thunder general manager Sam Presti]’s nailed in this process. The types of people that we’ve brought in the door, regardless of whether they’re still here or they’re not, by and large, have been committed professionals that are ambitious, but they’re also willing to complete the team.”
We have more from the Thunder:
- After emerging as a rookie contributor on a contending team last season, Cason Wallace began this season in a slump, averaging 6.5 points on 41.8% shooting through his first 33 games. But as Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman writes, it looks like Wallace is out of his funk after averaging 13.2 points on 58.7% shooting in his last five outings. It’s obviously a small sample, but Wallace’s mentality helped break him out of the dry spell. “Just being a hooper,” Wallace said. “Knowing that you’re gonna have shooting slumps. And I had mine early. I had one last year, just wasn’t as loud as this. Just sticking with it, knowing it would come back.“
- Jalen Williams has a solid case to make the All-Star Game according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, which would make him one of two players from the 2022 class to do so so far (joining Paolo Banchero). Entering Thursday, Williams held averages 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game for the contending Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander believes Williams is worthy of the honor. “For our team to be as good as we’ve been, obviously coming up on the All-Star Game, I think it’d only be right for him to be an All-Star,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You don’t have this record because of one All-Star. You don’t have this record because of one good player.”
- Branden Carlson got his first shot at extended minutes in a big matchup against the Cavaliers on Thursday, Lorenzi writes. He scored 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench, playing in the first quarter. After going undrafted in 2024, Carlson signed a two-way contract with the Raptors, but was waived before the season began. The big man joined the Thunder on a non-guaranteed contract, was cut again, and was brought back last week on a 10-day deal. Although he’s only under contract for 10 days, Oklahoma City relied on Carlson with their frontcourt depth depleted as a result of injuries to Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren.
The Thunder did their rebuild correctly, which can’t be said for a lot of rebuilding teams. And they didn’t just get the high picks and call it a day. They hired a good coach, held the young players accountable even when they were losing, and had a good structure in place. Too many rebuilding teams are content to lose games and throw lots of minutes at their young players without any sense of purpose or cohesion, as if those rebuilding years hold no value beyond amassing high draft picks. The little things learned then pay off down the line.
Always enjoy your posts Shea but I disagree a little here
Luck is probably the most important variable in a rebuild and OKC hit triple 7’s here
I don’t think Okc had much purpose other than to willfully lose for years upon years while making obv low hanging tank trades that are pretty paint by numbers
They did nail a good coach, have set a nice culture (even if it was built on L’s)
Im going to judge Presti on what he does going forward from today, that AC ext (who I love) already has him on the wrong side of the ledger in my books……..I know the man can lose with the best of um but Im curious to see if hes got a 2nd act ,aka making winning moves
Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. Didn’t mean to imply that luck wasn’t a huge factor for them. If anything, I guess you could say my post was more of a general comment on rebuilds and a little less about OKC specifically. It also helps, as the post mentions, they drafted smart players to pair with the good coach. Meanwhile, teams like the Hornets are drafting guys like Ball and letting them run wild without any sort of accountability. A duel problem of low BBIQ player and bad coaching that will be hard to clean up in subsequent years.
Obviously if you miss on your picks none of that would matter, but the better run organizations seem to generally be able to do both while the inept ones can do neither. And the little things still matter when pursuing the ultimate prize of a championship.
Going to HEAVILY disagree on the luck aspect.
OKC develops all of their fringe guys into respectable role players (similar to Miami). The only player on their roster who was drafted in the top 10 is Chet.
They are flat out smarter than everyone else.
POINT GUARD
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11th pick): Acquired in George trade, developed into All-NBA
Ajay Mitchell (38th pick): On a Two-Way, will get a standard in April
Nikola Topic (12th pick)
SHOOTING GUARD
Cason Wallace (10th pick)
Isaiah Joe (49th pick): Cut by Philly, signed Hinkie special, now making 13M.
SMALL FORWARD
Lu Dort (Undrafted): Began on Two-Way, has been starting since 2020
Alex Caruso (Undrafted): Acquired for Giddey
Aaron Wiggins (55th pick): Started on Two-Way, now making 10M
POWER FORWARD
Jalen Williams (12th pick)
Kenrich Williams (Undrafted): Acquired in Adams trade
Ousmane Dieng (11th pick)
Dillon Jones (26th pick)
CENTER
Chet Holmgren (2nd pick)
Isaiah Hartenstein (43rd pick): Signed as Free Agent
Jaylin Williams (34th pick)
Branden Carlson (Undrafted): Signed 10-Day
To put it simply, when you tank, ensure you get the picks right.
Accumulate enough right picks, get the right coach in place, results should be forthcoming.
OKC is bearing fruit the past few seasons, while ORL, HOU, DET, SAS, etc are on similar paths.
Take a bow Presti.
SAS have made terrible wasteful moves for 5 years now then the magic ping pong ball landed
How’s that a path? Whats to learn from it for other teams?
Det was just one of the worst teams ever last year
Id be careful thinking there’s some magical yellow brick road out there that assures rebuilding as a surefire path any time your organization has a down year.
OFC losing has never been so fruitful thanks to Silver and we will see a lot of teams try but I think we will see a lot more trainwrecks (Think Baby Lakers mid 10’s DLO iNGRAM rANDLE ) than success stories …and those will span a decade+ rather than 3~6 years) and leave you back at square one
Tonight’s bear-down of the Cavs by OKC may have been the most significant game of any in the NBA this season. OKC led by 26 at the half, and 38 after 3. This loss will stick with CLE, which failed every test.
Nationally televised, the two leading teams at the halfway point, with OKC missing both Hartenstein and Holmgren. CLE was at full strength.
OKC took the Cavs’ soul. SGA did whatever he wanted, Donovan Michell shrunk in the moment (again), and the Cavs bigs, Mobley and Allen, were too soft to impose themselves on OKC’s undersized lineup.
If these teams meet again, OKC will also have Holmgren and Hartenstein. And a big psychological advantage.
IDK if Mitchell shrunk in the moment. He’s came up big in important games before against great defenders like Holiday and so forth but Dort seems to have his number. Mitchell relies on his strength to carry through on contact but Dort is like cinder block. You can’t move the guy.
Taco , agreed Dort gives Mitchell problems. My point is that if Mitchell is that superstar a team must have to win a Chip, then nobody should be able to shut him down so well as Dort and the Thunder have the last 2 games. That doesn’t happen to Steph or Luka or SGA or Jokic.
I thought Mitchell might finally break through this year, but the last 2 games suggest otherwise.
You just listed a lot of things, but to me it really looked more like OKC just made field goals – one after another – all through the first half and kind of put the game out of reach. Sometimes you just end up facing a team that can’t miss.
Talk about statements. Just like when Cavs won. Then Thunder took it out on Knicks. Following gm at MSG with a total beat down. Thunder were ready for Cavs. It was over at halftime. Cavs starters played 23 mins or less. DM played 21 mins with 8 pts.
Thunder took 105 shots to Cavs 90. Thunder took more threes than twos. This was payback.
Cavs will remember……. Next gm is at the Finals.
When teams are shooting well today. Games can be over early. In the playoffs you have to beat same team 4 times. Good teams can bounce back.
Most impressive to me. No Chet and no IHart.
Nice win …….
Al, keep in mind that Cavs won at home in a squeaker. Hardly a squeaker. And OKC was undermanned. OKC with Hartenstein and Chet make this defense way too tough Cleveland. Cavs also know that SGA will cook them.
We’ll see if Cavs can make the Finals, as you say. I thought so 10 days ago. But I’ve been reminded about how soft Mobley and Allen are, and that’s not going to change. Boston beats the Cavs with the 3 pointer and toughness.
SHA is soaring.
I can’t really say much about the Thunder matchup (though calling Allen and Mobley soft based on one game is recency bias and matchup ignorance), but glazing the Celtics when they’ve spent the past month playing .500 ball while the Cavs have continued to be elite is nonsense. Slow your roll. The Celtics don’t look like the same team as last year at all. Much weaker chemistry and lacking consistency on both ends. Still a great team, but they’re not a juggernaut this year.
Mobley and Allen played 18 and 16 minutes, respectively. The Cavs basically just folded the game. Not a single player had more than 24 minutes played. Atkinson put in the bench when they went down early.
Down almost 30 in the first, 40 in the 3rd quarter, especially on national TV, a coach has got to throw in the towel early. It save players embarrassment at that time, but the psychological effect sticks.
Stats are nice, but the Cavs have a lot of doubters. Until they deliver in the playoffs, that will go on. We’ve read articles here lately on coaches around the league questioning whether the Cavs can deliver in the playoffs. It’s a real thing.
I don’t think calling Mobley and Allen soft “is recency bias” any more than pointing out that Mitchell has a reputation for not showing up in big moments. We’ve all seen the Cavs recent playoff performances.
Mobley and are Allen obviously very good players, but, as bigs, they are not physical. When the other team is missing both their bigs, your bigs have got to press their size advantage. Nether player, but especially Mobley, seized the moment.
I’m not alone in calling the Cavs’ bigs soft. Shaq and Chuck have been calling them out, especially last night.
Shaq calls every big who doesn’t attack like him soft, that’s not unusual at all. Chuck hates the Cavs and has for years. That should convince no one.
What moment was there to seize? They were down 20 in the first quarter because the Thunder came out red-hot and Atkinson was already swapping around matchups. Their shots just kept falling. Didn’t matter how contested. At that point, there was little to do. Yes, they could have done a better job, but to call them soft and completely disregard everything they *have* done this season is why I’m calling recency bias. You also can’t get physical with the Thunder in the way you can with some small teams, because they get away with more grabs and flops than most teams. SGA acts like he’s been shot every time you touch him. With the small amount of time they had on the floor, it’s not surprising they didn’t get to show out.
The Cavs had the best results against the Celtics of any team in the playoffs last season despite missing Allen for the whole series and Mitchell for three games, with Garland hobbled, and that was with a coach whose idea of offensive adjustments was to swap between Garland and Mitchell as the primary ball-handler. Final results matter, but the way the Cavs played was better than anyone should have expected.
EonADS, I get it, you’re a Cavs believer! But I don’t follow the logic of forgiving Cavs players for not showing up because the HC goes to the bench early and throws in the towel in the 3rd quarter.
If down 30 pts in the 2nd quarter, and 40 part way through the third, that says your top guys didn’t step up. When the starters come out after half-time and play even worse, that’s called a no-show.
And? You’re basing your *entire narrative* on one game and a bunch of nonsense. If I did that to the Warriors you’d be screaming bloody murder. Get off the high horse you’re on.
Shaq and Chuck haha
> Shaq and Chuck haha
Good thing we got real experts around here, huh?
EonADS, Really? The “entire narrative” is based on one game?
You commented on the thread, so I know you’re as aware as I that this same narrative follows the Cavs everywhere, from TV broadcasts to analysis by our own HoopsRumors analysts. link to hoopsrumors.com
Where does it come from? Here are some of the common facts you’ll see in the ongoing narrative about the Cavs:
2023: heavily favored, lost 4-1 in 1st round to Knicks
2024: lose 4-1 to Boston in 1st round
And all this after trading away a staggering package of assets for Donovan Mitchell, who brought the “not a winner” narrative with him from Utah.
Donovan Mitchell, who lost 5 straight years in the playoffs for Utah, including 3 first round exits, was the main reason the Jazz blew it all up, saying it did not believe Mitchell could ever lead a contender.
It may be unfair, but this narrative isn’t going away until Mitchell and the Cavs win some playoff series.
Never seen a team get away with grabbing wrists and arms as much as the Thunder get away with every night. If SGA is slightly touched he snaps his head back like hes been shot and goes to free throw line.