With the NBA offseason behind us, and with the NBA season just a little over a month away, fans and teams are excited and preparing for the 2024-25 NBA season. The Thunder blew their expectations last year, won 57 games, and claimed the top seed in 2023-24. With the offseason they have had, the expectations are very high. According to ESPN, they are projected to finish first in the West and have the best odds to represent the West in the Finals. With that being said, what should the expectations and roles be for the four rookies on the Thunder roster?
In the previous seasons when the Thunder were rebuilding, they had a great system to develop young talent. Since the Thunder are one of the better teams now, the luxury they had of being able to focus on development first isn’t quite there anymore. However, this doesn’t mean they will stop developing their young talent. It just means that they don’t have the luxury of letting younger players get the minutes like they were able to in the past. Furthermore, let’s look at what the expectations and roles should be for the four rookies on the Thunder.
Expectations and Roles For The Rookies on The Thunder
Nikola Topic’s Expectations and Role are Similar to Chet Holmgren’s Rookie Year
Nikola Topic was the 12th pick for the Thunder in the 2024 draft. He was projected to be a potential top-10, maybe even top-five pick if it wasn’t for an injury he suffered late last year. Unfortunately for the Thunder, this injury will keep him out for his entire rookie season. However, the Thunder took a chance on him, due to their recent success they had with Chet Holmgren. The Thunder have the blueprint for how to handle a situation like this. To go along with that, Topic’s expectations and role on the Thunder next season should be to follow what Chet did in his rookie season.
Topic should attend every game and practice absorbing all the information he can. This way he gets all the benefits of a rookie without playing, just like Chet did. Then, going into the 2025-26 season, his expectation and role will change. He will most likely serve as the backup point guard to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and be the primary facilitator for the second unit. However, for right now, he should just be watching, learning, and following the same format they did with Chet.
Ajay Mitchell and Alex Ducas Should Have Smaller Roles
Ajay Mitchell and Alex Ducas will be on two-way contracts for the Thunder. This means they will spend most of their rookie season playing in the G League. For the 2024-25 season, the expectation and role for them should be to focus on just trying to get better. Mitchell has shown flashes of his playmaking ability in the Summer League. Ducas has shown his potential to be a knockdown three-point shooter in the NBA.
Being on a two-way contract will allow them to develop these skills further in the G League. To go along with that, it will also allow them to get quality minutes which is something they wouldn’t be getting on the NBA roster. The Thunder are hoping that Ducas can be their next undrafted free agent signing who can develop into an NBA player like Lu Dort. For Mitchell, they are hoping he can turn out to be a second-round steal like Aaron Wiggins was.
Dillon Jones has The Biggest Upside For a Bigger Role
Finally, Dillon Jones is their only rookie on a standard contract that is available for the upcoming season. Jones was asked to do a lot in college at Weber State. This allowed him to have versatility at the next level. He can play positions one through four in the NBA. He has shown the ability to pass, shoot, and score from all three levels. Since Topic is out for the entire season, Jones will have the biggest expectation and role out of all the rookies for the Thunder. Even with the Thunder as deep as they are, with his versatility and how Mark Daigneault likes to run an 11-man rotation, it will be hard for the Thunder to not find minutes for Jones.
However, just because he is on the NBA roster, doesn’t mean he will be excluded from the G League. Jones will also get a lot of chances to grow and develop in the G League with Mitchell and Ducas. However, he will also get the chance to fight for that 11th spot with Ousmane Dieng and Kenrich Williams. He also has a shot of stealing minutes away from Jaylin Williams as well. Furthermore, the expectations and roles for him should be to develop and grow with his chances in the G League.
