Thunder Bench Boss Explains Benefit of Revolving Starting Five

The Oklahoma City Thunder have only repeated their starting five once this season through four games, Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault explained the benefits of that strategy following the Spurs game.

Oct 17, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gestures to his team during a play against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Through the first four games of the 2024-25 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have rolled out three different starting lineups flipping through their rolodex of perimeter players to flank their core four members of the starting unit, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

On Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs, the OKC Thunder repeated their starting five for the first time all season, with Cason Wallace re-entering the fold as he did in Saturday's lopsided win over the Chicago Bulls.

This is a stark contrast to the how Mark Daigneault and company handled the starting five a year ago in the regular season where Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams, Holmgren and Josh Giddey started every game together that they were all healthy for.

Following the game on Sunday, the Thunder bench boss explained the decision to rotate through starting fives to this point in the year.

"We have had a constant in the past, so we are not married to one thing or the other," Daigneault explained "With this team, at this particular time, we think it is the best thing. Mainly for the internal growth of the team. It allows multiple players to feel the weight of starting minutes, the confidence that comes with starting minutes, it also gets the more consistent starters playing with different combinations. So developmentally we think it is really good for our program. Then, a secondary benefit from it is that your opponent does not know exactly what you are going to do every night."

While everyone focuses on the final benefit of the decision, the first two are equally as important for gaining flexibility, especially in the biggest moments of this season such as the NBA Playoffs. With the core four comfortable playing with a multitude of players, it allows the Thunder to play a mixture of players in the biggest spots.

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