Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Playoff Rotation Will be Hot Topic In Round One

The Oklahoma City Thunder playoff rotation will be the talk of Bricktown on Monday following game one, how will Mark Daigneault handle the roster?

Apr 14, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

A lot of talk around the Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25) has been about their youth and inexperience. Part of their inexperience is on the sidelines. While everyone should have confidence in Mark Daigneault's ability to pioneer the Thunder in their first postseason run, one question that has to be answered is how Daigneault will handle Oklahoma City's rotation.

As he unconventionally shuffles in the 11th or 12th player into the lineup each night during the regular season, history tells us the rotation should shrink in the postseason. However, Daigneault has done anything but fall in line with historical expectations.

One thing that is assumed to be status quo is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren seeing a minute uptick. Though, don't be quick to assume it is at the cost of playing 10-plus players.

One of the best traits of Daigneault throughout his Thunder tenure has been his lack of stubbornness. He has been willing to shuffle lineups and rotations to best fit each game night in and night out. While other sideline pacers come into the night with a perceived infallible plan they will not deviate from, the Thunder's head man is willing to adjust on the fly.

It may take a few minutes here and there to figure out which player has the hot hand, especially with Daigneault's love of playing offense-defense at the end of quarters subbing in the likes of Mike Muscala and Lindy Waters III to launch triples with less than 20 ticks less in a frame, the total number of players may remain the same.

However, the percentage of minutes will change. The slices of the rotational pie should get larger for Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren.

Ultimately, it is difficult to predict exactly what the Thunder will do, which will allow this debate to rage on throughout their initial postseason run. There is a good chance though, the Thunder will continue to be unconventional.

Stiles Points

• The Oklahoma City Thunder returned to the practice court on Wednesday with a "First day of school energy" according to Mark Daigneault.
• The Pelicans suffered a massive blow in their play-in loss to the Lakers on Tuesday, with Zion Williamson sidelined for at least two weeks due to a hamstring injury.
• While Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort have played in seven playoff games in a Thunder jersey, due to the 2020 NBA Bubble, they have not played a single playoff game in front of the home crowd. This is something the Thunder players are looking forward to.
• As many draw comparisons from past playoff runs and place them on this team, the present-day Thunder are not focused on matching what happened in the past.
• Mark Daigneault revealed, that despite his squinting, he has perfect eyesight.
• The OKC Blue were able to go to Thunder practice on Wednesday and be celebrated for their G League championship, the first in team history. Mark Daigneault spoke in front of the two teams about the crazy travel schedule the Blue had to endure en route to a title.
• The NBA takes a day off on Thursday before the Play-In tournament resumes Friday. The Bulls will take on the Heat as the Kings battle the Pelicans in a win-or-go-home affair. The winner of each game will be the No. 8 seed for their respective conferences.

Song of the Day: Feels Like the First Time by Foreigner.

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