OKC Thunder Stick With 10-Man Rotation in First Round Series Against New Orleans

Oklahoma City's depth has proven to be a key factor against the Pelicans in Round 1, as Mark Daigneault has not hesitated to continue his rotations from the regular season.

Apr 24, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) drives to the basket. / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder proved to be one of the deepest teams in the NBA.

With multiple stars in the starting unit who can score in a variety of ways and solid all-around players off the bench who can pass, defend and knock down shots, OKC and Mark Daigneault used their deep rotation to win 57 regular season games and earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Once the postseason starts, however, a team's rotations usually get shorter, as coaches make a concerted effort to give more minutes to their top bench players. For example, in Game 3 of the first-round series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers, just eight players on each squad played more than 10 minutes.

For Daigneault and company, however, the Thunder's depth has allowed Oklahoma City to continue running their typical 10-man rotation.

In Game 1 of its series against the Pelicans, OKC played six players off the bench, with Cason Wallace getting 19 minutes, Aaron Wiggins playing 16, and Isaiah Joe playing 15 minutes. Gordon Hayward and Kenrich Williams both saw nine minutes of action while Jaylin Williams played just under seven minutes.

Since the first game of the series, however, Daigneault has slightly altered his lineup, favoring Jaylin Williams over Kenrich Williams.

In Game 2, the second-year center was on the floor for 17 minutes compared to just three garbage-time minutes for the TCU product. This trend continued in Game 3, as "Kenny Hustle" played just two minutes at the end of the game while "J-Will" played 10 minutes throughout the contest.

In the Thunder's two big wins over the Pelicans, Wallace, Wiggins, Joe, Hayward and Jaylin Williams have become Daigneault's bench rotation with Wallace and Wiggins playing more than the other three players.

There he goes, saving (the) basketball 🫡 pic.twitter.com/6fYCS1abex

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 27, 2024

Despite Hayward not being much of a scoring threat, the veteran wing still has gotten decent playing time in each of the first three games of the series.

Oklahoma City being able to successfully run a 10-man rotation in the playoffs not only speaks to how well Sam Presti and company have built OKC's roster with solid depth but also illustrates that each of the Thunder's bench pieces knows and has accepted their role on the team.

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