We delve now into the Oklahoma City Thunder and what the 2022-23 season may hold for a franchise desperately hoping to add more talent to their already talented core in next summer’s draft whilst continuing to develop said core and keeping their pillars content. Last season, the Thunder went 24-58 and finished second-last in the Western Conference. In these previews, we will take a look at the key acquisitions, fantasy stars and predicted finish.
Key Acquisitions
A majority of Oklahoma City’s re-tooling this offseason came through the draft adding lottery picks Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, and Jalen Williams to their core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Lu Dort.
News broke in August that Holmgren, who they drafted second overall out of Gonzaga, would miss the entire season with a Lisfranc injury in his foot that he picked up in a Pro-Am game. Thunder fans will have to wait 12 months before they see their highly-anticipated rookie, who averaged 14.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg and 3.7 bpg in 32 games as a freshman at Gonzaga, make his NBA debut.
Focus will instead shift to the likes of Dieng, who was drafted with the 11th pick in this summer’s draft, and Williams, who was drafted the pick after.
In 23 games as an 18-year-old with the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL, Dieng averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 20.8 mpg. He shot the ball poorly and was noticeably raw in his lone season in the NBL but Thunder scouts were wooed by his scoring, playmaking, and defensive upside. At 6-9 and 185 lbs, the French-native is a work in progress and is expected to be given a long leash this season by head coach Mark Daigneault.
Williams, meanwhile, averaged 18.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 4.2 apg in 33 games as a junior at Santa Clara and the shot the ball well from all areas. A skilled shot creator and playmaker, Williams offers the Thunder an exciting offensive option to plug in alongside the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey but has strides to make as a defender.
Fantasy Stars
Gilgeous-Alexander rates as the 10th best shooting guard in fantasy and is due for another leap in production this season. In 56 games last season, he averaged 24.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 5.9 apg on .557 TS%. One of the league’s elite drivers, Gilgeous-Alexander has ascended towards stardom since being traded to the Thunder in 2019 and will hope to stay on the court after playing in just 91 games over the past two seasons.
Projected Finish
Jeremy and I both project Oklahoma City to miss the postseason and vie for higher lottery odds as the season progresses. After prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson showed out in a pair of exhibition games between French side Metropolitans 92 and the G-League Ignite last week, many pundits are expecting teams on the outside of the play-in race looking in to shift their attention to the 2023 draft class earlier than usual. Oklahoma City have an enticing core of young guys to work with but winning games this season may prove counterproductive to their long-term goals.
