As the Thunder returned home to Oklahoma City from Minneapolis in the early hours of Saturday morning, they were met with a large, roaring crowd of loyal Thunder fans at the airport. It may have been 3 a.m. but that didn’t stop the chants, signs and passionate cheers from the proud fanbase who celebrated what was a valuable, exciting and high-achieving season for the youngest team in the NBA.
The team racked up 84-games worth of new experiences and lessons including two road matchups in the postseason against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Minnesota Timberwolves. It wasn’t a linear path for OKC this season – it was a year full of breakthroughs as well as regression, but ultimately resulted in a team that was better at the end of the season than they were at the beginning.
Even with the impressive growth that the Thunder demonstrated this year, the team recognizes that it is far from a finished product. Armed now with the lessons and meaningful experiences from this season, the squad will roll up its sleeves and get to work in the offseason. Before they set out on their ways, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and the entire roster made their way back to the practice facility on Saturday to reflect on the year and all of those valuable lessons in their end-of-season interviews.
Veteran Dario Šarić joined the Thunder in February as a part of a trade with the Phoenix Suns. Even with just a couple of months experience with the team, Šarić fit right into the Thunder’s style of play with his shooting and his high basketball IQ and as the oldest member of the young Thunder roster, Šarić offered his perspective on the closeness that he witnessed with the group.
“It’s a very close team. Most guys are similar age. Of course, they have a similar interest and that kind of stuff. But high-quality group of people,” said Šarić. “Competitive – they want to come on the court even if it’s off day. They want to work out, they want to be the best version of themselves.”
Šarić brought value to the Thunder with his veteran NBA experience and 3-point shooting ability. The thing he tried to bring each day, regardless of his role in the rotation that night, was his professionalism and consistency.
“I bring my toughness, my professionalism every day,” said Šarić. “I try to be the best that I can and show it even if I don’t play. Try to be who I am and healthy part of the organization.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat down at the podium just a few hours removed from the Thunder’s final game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had a bandage under his right eye from an elbow that he took from Rudy Gobert. Just like that didn’t stop him from playing the rest of that game, it didn’t stop him from smiling in his end-of-season interview.
“I may not look good, but I feel good,” he reassured the media.
Gilgeous-Alexander played a large role in the Thunder’s success on the floor this season, but his focus as a player was always to play well within a great team. As he reflected on the season, it was the relationships and the connection that the team built up this season.
“The relationships I think I’ve built, I think we’ve built throughout the season have been great. Obviously it’s a business, and you have guys that are beside you like that you can tell they have your best interests, and it’s like a family,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think you enjoy the season and you enjoy the travel and all the stuff that doesn’t make it fun a little bit more, and it makes everything better.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was named a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Award for the season he put together – the best of his career. From leading the league in 30-point games this season to ranking fourth in steals per game, but it came with a consistent dedication to improvement and growth both throughout the year and in the offseason. With each offseason, Gilgeous-Alexander has come back a more improved player and the Canada native intends to attack this offseason with the same approach.
“I try to get better at everything. I try to be the most complete basketball player I can be,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “There’s some things I know that I can feel to work on, but I’ll go home, chill for a bit, and then attack the program with a couple of my skills coaches and then go to work. I should be better by next year, too.”
As one of the most respected guys in the Thunder locker room and one of the fiercest competitors, Kenrich Williams admitted that it was difficult for him to have to watch as his team fought and competed down the stretch of the season. Even still, the 28-year-old showed a lot of pride in how the group handled itself and the growth it showed throughout the year.
“Just our growth as a team is what I saw, from sitting on the sideline,” said Williams. “Just from the beginning of the year, even training camp, to the end of the year, the last game last night, just our growth as a team, the steps we took.
“Super proud of the guys that they bought into everything that this organization is about, and I’m looking forward to the following years.”
In his fourth year with the Thunder, Williams played 53 games, missing the last 20 of the season after sustaining a wrist injury that required surgery. That didn’t stop him from continuing to be a strong, veteran presence for the group with his voice on the sidelines.
“It’s super hard when you’re not playing just to try to be like a continuous part of the team even when you’re not in uniform,” said Williams. “But I know that my five years of being in the NBA that I do have a voice, so I was able to kind of share some pointers and a little game plan stuff with the guys that translated to the game, so I think overall I did a pretty solid job.”
There had been a lot of highs and lows for Lu Dort throughout his fourth NBA season. The Thunder’s defensive ace encountered the highs of an NBA Play-In tournament win and the lows of injury midway through the year. Even still, Dort looked back on the season with a big smile.
“It was really fun. Just how close we were and the group of guys we had, it was just fun,” said Dort. “We had so much fun in everything that we did together and overall I feel like we had a good season so there’s a lot to be happy about this season.”
When looking back at his own game, there’s plenty for Dort to be proud of as well. The defensive ace took on his usual load of hefty defensive assignments and shut down the likes of Luka Doncic, Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard. However, the biggest area of growth that Dort felt like he made this season wasn’t on one specific end of the floor – it was a mental jump.
“Really being patient and let the game come to me. It was we really made a big jump and it was kind of hard for me to adjust at first, but just watching film and having talked with the coaches. I felt like I just had to stay efficient, let the game come to me and I felt like the season was way easier towards the end of the season for me to really dig into that.”
For Aleksej Pokuševski, this season was far from ideal. Hampered by injury that kept him out for a significant portion of the season, the 21-year-old played just 34 games this season. Even with that adversity, Pokuševski credited the closeness of the team for his ability to navigate his injuries.
“It’s been great. This team is special because of how young we are and we understand what we’ve got to do to win. We’re into that,” said Pokuševski. “It was pretty tough, but I was inside the team a lot, traveling with the team helped me a lot. Guys were supportive.
Before his injury, Pokuševski had shown his ability to guard multiple positions on the defensive end, including significant time at the center spot. Once he recovers from his knee contusion that kept him out the last four games of the season, Pokuševski intends on continuing his growth in defending those bigs.
“Every summer is the same. I want to get stronger. I want to try and be able to guard all the positions,” said Pokuševski. “This year I was on the 5, and I have the option now, so wherever Coach puts me I want to be able to do the work.”
The Thunder saw large strides in Josh Giddey’s game this season. The second year-guard averaged a career-high in scoring while also dishing out 6.2 assists and pulling down 7.9 rebounds. Perhaps the most visible area of growth for Giddey was the physicality and force that he played with on the offensive end. It was an area that he’d focused on last offseason with extra time spent in the weight room.
“I started to figure out that I’m typically going to be a lot bigger than the guys that are guarding me,” said Giddey. “Just trying to use that to my advantage. That’s something that I’m going to continue to do this summer, get stronger, work on those things.”
At just 20 years old, Giddey still has a long runway ahead of him, just like the young Thunder roster as a whole. The Australian guard felt encouraged by what he saw from the team this season – the youngest in the NBA – and how they handled and navigated the highs, lows and new experiences thrown at them this season.
“The best part about this group is we put the past in the past. Previous games don’t matter, we move forward so the morale is always higher around the team. I think through an 82 game season it has to be that way. You can’t ride all the highs and lows,” said Giddey. “The way we conducted ourselves throughout the season I think was impressive for such a young group and that’s what we need to continue to do going forward.”
Tre Mann found himself in an inconsistent role in the Thunder’s rotation this season. The second-year guard spent time in the starting lineup, time in the g-league with the OKC Blue and stretches without playing at all, but as he sat at the podium for his end-of-season interview, Mann explained how he approached the season and why he feels like he’s better for it.
“I do feel like I’m a better player this year. I was an even better player now than the start of this year just from going through a tough time and learning from it,” said Mann. “A situation like this can break people or it can make people and I feel like this one definitely made me. I’m going to use this whole season, this whole experience going into this summer and then going into next year like a learning process.”
Through the tough year, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gave a lot of credit to Mann for his approach and his mentality through his fluctuating role. Mann said it was his teammates and coaches that helped keep him remain positive and mentally ready each day. The closeness of the team made the season fun for Mann even if it didn’t pan out exactly how he had expected.
“It was fun to be a part of. It just shows how dedicated and how together we were. I feel like we had a great bond and it was just fun coming to work every day and being around the same guys,” said Mann. “I feel like we did a really, really good this year and it was just fun coming to work every day.”
In all of his time as an athlete, in high school or college, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl hadn’t faced an injury that kept him out as long as the ankle injury he sustained this season with the Thunder. The second-year forward missed nearly two months with an ankle sprain and on his return, wasn’t able to find his way back into a regular rotation spot. Looking back on it, Robinson-Earl described his time this year as a “season of growth.”
“The beginning of the season being in the mix, then getting hurt, just kind of finding that flow again. It definitely shows that you just have to be ready for every single day, and what can you keep doing to better yourself despite the situations and staying mentally strong. Making sure you’re always ready for when your number is called.”
That season of growth was how he described the year for the team as a whole as well. In his second season, Robinson-Earl recognized the value of the wide-ranging experiences the team was able to gather this year and how it felt going through it with a squad that is as close as the Thunder.
“It was definitely a season of growth for everybody. For the good, for the bad, I think you can learn from all the experiences that everybody went through this season and it definitely was a lot of fun,” said Robinson-Earl. “It’s definitely a group I love doing it with, going through the ups and downs. We have a unique bond that a lot of teams don’t have because of how young we are and the stage of our career where we’re at. It’s definitely a lot of fun being able to go through all the things we do with this team.”
Aaron Wiggins sat down at the podium and couldn’t stop smiling. The second-year wing couldn’t believe that he had just wrapped up his second season and all of the joy that came with playing with this team.
“I was sitting here last year as a rookie and now it’s my second year. I’m speechless,” said Wiggins. “As close knit of group as we are and the different personalities and characteristics that everyone brings to the table made this season super fun. And then being able to have postseason play, being able to play on that in that atmosphere and compete for something was super, super fun.”
In his two seasons with the Thunder, Wiggins earned the reputation of being an unflappable professional. He’s experienced everything from starting roles to coming off the bench for the first time in the fourth quarter to logging strings of DNP’s. In each of those situations, Wiggins made an impact in whatever area that was needed – offensively, defensively or just energy whenever his number was called. Heading into the offseason, Wiggins’ focus is on continuing to hone that well-rounded versatility and building on the growth he made this year.
“Defensively, continuing to just get better maneuvering and getting through screens, guarding the ball one-on-one,” explained Wiggins. “Physically I do want to get a little bit stronger, continue to grow there and then offensively, just continuing to work on my shot. I think I made a big jump from last season to this season with my jump shot. So continue to touch up on that and tie in little things here and there to add to my game.”
It had been a long journey for Oklahoma native Lindy Waters III to sit at the podium at the end of the season as a full-time roster player. Waters started the season on a two-way deal, but was converted to a full-time contract in February. Just two years ago, Waters was playing for the Enid Outlaws of the TBL and as he sat at the podium to address the media, he expressed his appreciation for the journey.
“A lot of ups and a lot of downs. I’m grateful for the opportunity. Grateful for every chance I get to step on that court and every chance to put on that jersey. Just looking forward to putting in the work for the summer.”
Waters played in 41 games for the Thunder this season as he worked to build up his cache of experiences on the NBA floor. After a season and a half in an OKC uniform, Waters has a clear vision for what he wants to accomplish in the offseason.
“My conditioning,” said Waters. “I want to come back in world-class shape. This is probably the biggest summer for me in that sense.”
When Isaiah Joe joined the Thunder in October, training camp had already come and gone. The preseason was right around the corner and both Joe and the Thunder were working to learn more about each other. By the time the third-year guard sat at the podium following an 84-game season, he had carved out a solidified role in the Thunder’s lineup and rotation as both a sharp-shooter and a scrappy defender.
“Whenever I first got here, they welcomed me with open arms. All the guys, we all got acquainted really fast. I think this team as a whole we just have a bond that’s very strong and I’m really thankful for the opportunity that they’ve given me,” said Joe. “It’s meant a lot I think everybody that plays this game is playing for a reason and whatever that reason may be and OKC done a really good job of implementing me into their system.”
Joe shot a career-high 40-percent from the 3-point line while knocking down a career-high 161 3-pointers. Heading into the summer, Joe is keeping his offseason plans simple, “Keep the main thing, the main thing – being able to shoot the rock.” Additionally, the Arkansas native explained that he’d also like to work on his strength, durability and endurance heading into another 82-game season.
It’s been a long season for rookie Chet Holmgren who missed the entire season after foot surgery. The 7-footer sat down for his end-of-season interview with a basketball in his hands after spending the year working through his rehab and recovery. In addition to making strides physically, Holmgren explained that he learned a lot from the sidelines and watching the NBA up close and personal each night.
“I had a front row seat to the class of getting buckets every night,” said Holmgren. “Obviously it looked a lot different than what was expected, but I just tried to work with what I was given and make sure that I was staying within the team and my focus was on the team and trying to help them succeed.”
The rookie said he was past the rehab portion of his recovery and is shifting into more 5-on-5 action. There will be a plan in place for Holmgren heading into the offseason as he works back to his return to the floor and the rookie gave a lot of credit to the Thunder’s medical staff and the organization for how he’s feeling heading into the summer.
“I feel great,” said Holmgren. “I’ve had a great team around me helping me get back to a great point and there’s been a great plan in place. I feel like I followed that to a tee and it’s gotten me in a great spot.”
It wasn’t until rookie Jalen Williams loaded up the plane back home from Minneapolis that he was able to reflect on the experiences he had gone through in his rookie season. Williams played the most games he’d ever played in a single season with 77 under his belt to go along with 64 starts. Despite the long season, it flew by for the brand-new 22-year-old.
“It just went by incredibly fast,” said Williams. “This time last year, I was preparing to get into the NBA. So just kind of reflecting on that and being grateful for the stuff that went into doing that.”
While most rookies hit a rookie wall throughout the long NBA season, that wasn’t the case for Williams who increased his scoring with each month throughout the season while also increasing his capacity for bigger assignments defensively. The rookie gives credit to the organization for how he was able to navigate his eventful NBA season.
“The organization – you forget that it’s a business here just because of how family oriented and you know, I think everybody here wants you to succeed,” said Williams. “To play 77 games, I just attribute that to the organization for me being comfortable to come in here and use the resources that they put out.”
Williams was named a finalist for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award for his debut season. The rookie ranked in the top 10 among all rookies in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and field goal percentage this season. All the while, Williams continued to rack up high-level defensive assignments including Domantas Sabonis, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant – showcasing his versatility on both ends of the floor which is something he’s focused on improving heading into his first NBA offseason.
“I want to obviously increase my three point percentage. I think that’s just the way the game is evolving. There’s something that can always get better,” said Williams. “I think defensively I want to watch what Lu [Dort] does a lot more and kind of be that secondary and help them out in that way. I’ve gotten a lot of experience to be able to guard different types of players this year, so kind of taking that and to improve on that.”
Rookie Ousmane Dieng was 19 years old when he was drafted out of France to join the Thunder this summer. The forward logged 39 games of action while going through various ups and downs in the season. Dieng encountered a wrist injury that kept him out a significant stretch of the season. He also spent time with the Thunder’s G League affiliate OKC Blue. It was the help of his teammates and the organization that allowed the rookie to navigate the rough seas of his first ever NBA year.
“it was a big help that [Lu Dort] speaks French, too. That was a really big help for me,” said Dieng. “Even other teammates were really cool, and they’re here for me, so that’s good.”
Dieng attacked each of those experiences with intention whether it was with the Blue, the Thunder or on the sidelines. As a result, Dieng has felt significant growth within his game from the start of the year to now.
“I think it’s helped me on the court and off the court. That was a very long season, the longest I’ve played,” said Dieng. “I learned to never get too low and never get too high after the games.”
Rookie big man Jaylin Williams flashed his smile wide as he sat in front of the microphone. As a child, his family nicknamed him ‘Smiley’ for his contagious grin. That smile was present as the rookie recapped what had been an eventful season both in his journey and the team’s experiences overall.
“I was grateful for whatever happened this year,” said Williams. “All the learning curves I went through, I started and it was incredible. Playing with those guys, playing with one of the best players in the NBA – it’s incredible playing every night.”
Williams started the year fighting for a spot in the rotation. With several big men on the roster, Williams spent time with the OKC Blue early in the year to maintain his reps and sharpness. Injuries to the Thunder’s frontline midway through the season gave the rookie an opportunity in the starting lineup where he carved out a solid role as pick-and-pop threat ranking fifth among rookies with a 40-percent clip from 3, a master charge-taker who led the league in charges drawn this season and a physical body under the rim.
Even with all of that, the area that Williams felt he grew the most this season was in the connection and the bond he was able to make with his teammates.
“Just getting to know guys. The team is very connected and when we’re on a plane or when we’re back here, we all go to somebody’s house with our dogs or do something like that,” said Williams. “We’re connected as a team and I felt like I grew at that level of just being close with my teammates.”