The Thunder ended the preseason with a 104-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. They had a successful preseason, going 4-1 in those five games they were playing. In the games and limited minutes that their main guys played, they showed why the Thunder are considered one of the best teams in the league. However, it came at a cost, with them suffering multiple injuries, something they didn’t deal with last year with the Thunder getting ready for their season opener on October 24th against the Denver Nuggets. We will look at the final takeaways from these five preseason games.
Thunder Finish Successful Preseason But At What Cost
Thunder Suffer Multiple Injuries in the Preseason
The main storyline throughout training camp and the preseason has been the injuries. Last year, the Thunder were one of the luckier and very healthy teams. However, that has not been the case this year; their first-round pick, Nikola Topic, had been ruled out for the entire year with a knee injury he suffered overseas. In addition, during the first week of training camp, the Thunder lost Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams to injuries. The good news is they were minor injuries and will be re-evaluated before the season opener.
Finally, during this week, the Thunder suffered their worst injury so far when Isaiah Hartenstein went down with a fracture to his hand. He will be re-evaluated in five to six weeks and miss the beginning weeks of the season. Then, in the Thunder’s final preseason game, Jalen Williams went down with an ankle injury. The good news is it is a minor ankle injury. However, he could miss the first couple of games. The injury bug is something the Thunder hope doesn’t continue throughout the season. The Thunder could have only nine players and three two-way players healthy for their season opener against the Nuggets.
First update on JDub’s ankle is a good one: “not severe.” https://t.co/up5pevg9uZ
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) October 18, 2024
Who Steps Up for The Thunder?
With the injuries that the Thunder have suffered, they will be asking players to step up. The Thunder have a lot of depth, and that will be tested early on with these injuries. The players that will be asked to step up will be Dillon Jones and Ousmane Dieng. Jones is a rookie but has been extremely impressive throughout the preseason and has showcased the ability to play positions two through four. He can pass, shoot, defend, and plays the right way. It’s likely that the Thunder will be asking Jones to play more earlier on than they had previously hoped for.
Ousmane Dieng will most likely serve as the backup big until Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams, and Hartenstein are healthy. He has been impressive throughout preseason and has shown significant improvement going into year three. Dieng will get plenty of opportunities to show the Thunder that he has finally put all the pieces together and is ready to help this team compete for a championship.
Is Shai’s Improved Shooting Going to Last?
Another big storyline going through the preseason for the Thunder is the uptick in three-point shooting. Last year, the Thunder led the league in three-point percentage. However, they were in the middle of the pack in three-point attempts. This is something Mark Daigneault wants to change, even if the efficiency gets affected a little bit. Throughout the preseason, guys like Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and others have been more aggressive in taking three-point attempts. The surprise player in three-point shooting has been Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Last year, Shai only shot 35.3% from three and took it out of his game, mostly with only 3.6 attempts per game. That has not been the case so far, as in the preseason games, he has shown aggressiveness in taking more threes. It also seems that he has a new shooting form, and it looks a lot more fluid and has helped him be more efficient from the outside. During the preseason, Shai was 7-11 on three-point attempts, which is 64%. It is a small sample size. However, Shai has looked a lot more comfortable when he shoots from the perimeter. The Thunder are hopeful that this improved shooting will continue throughout the regular season.
The Starting Center for The Thunder
Another thing Thunder fans were watching for in the preseason was who would be the starting five. In the three games that the Thunder played their top guys, they deployed three different starting lineups. The first one was a Shai-Caruso-Dort-Williams-Holmgren starting five. The next one was Shai-Dort-Williams-Holmgren-Hartenstein. Finally, the last one was Shai-Wallace-Dort-Williams-Holmgren. It seemed like Mark Daigneault and company wanted to test out different lineups.
All three variations had their strengths and weaknesses, but all showed potential. The Thunder will most likely have a match-up-based lineup whenever they are at full strength. However, since they are dealing with injuries, their starting lineup will most likely be Shai-Caruso-Dort-Williams-Holmgren. If Hartenstein was healthy for their season opener, he would most likely have started in Caruso’s place.
Last Word on The Thunder Preseason
The Thunder had a very successful preseason, a preseason that Thunder fans should be happy about. OKC showed plenty of potential, and everything they wanted to work on showed up in the games, like three-point volume. This team is very deep, and that was on full display, especially with the injuries they suffered. The Thunder will begin what they hope to be a very long and successful season on October 24th against Denver. This Thunder team has all the pieces to get a championship and hope that the injury bug doesn’t continue throughout the season.
