Stiles Points: Thunder Depth A Requirement, Not Just a Luxury

Mark Daigneault discussed the value of Oklahoma City Thunder possessing depth and how it is required to go the distance in the NBA.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is pictured during the Thunder media day at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Training Camp represents a time of hope for NBA teams. Everyone is undefeated, everyone feels that if things break their way they can be playing in June but in reality only a handful of teams truly conted to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy when push comes to shove.

Currently, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the odds on favorites to win the West and a popular pick at being crowned as NBA Champions for the first time in franchise history.

These expectations are earned as the OKC Thunder ripped off 57-wins a year ago to nab the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and their first playoff series win in 2016. They did not sit on their hands this summer either.

The Thunder went out and bolstered their roster with two massive moves to acquire Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein while keeping their elite young core still intact.

These moves made Oklahoma City even more versatile, especially as a team who can not fight fire with fire in the size department and blanket the game in 48 minutes in rim protection.

No matter if the Thunder want to play big, go small, get out and run or slow the game down, the can flip through the rolodex and find a lineup to accomplish those goes.

That versatility is not just a massive luxury but it is a requirement in the NBA to be able to take home a title as Mark Daigneault explained following the first day of training camp.

"It gives us a lot of flexibility, systematically. It gives us a lot of flexibility with the lineups we can put on the court... You have to do a lot of different things well in order to be good," The Thunder bench boss said.

So as the Thunder kick the can down the role on pigeonholing themselves into lienups and define roles for the newcomers, rest assurd that once again roster exploration will be a theme of this season.

Figuring out to get to victory lane from multiple different avenues and dictate the terms of conditions for other teams will be the most important view point for the Thunder - rather than concrete roles.

Stiles Points

• Excitement is the keyword around the OKC Thunder as they open up training camp.
• Isaiah Hartenstein is already popping off the page physically at Thunder Training Camp.
• Sam Presti's belief in Dillon Jones stood out to the rookie as he starts his NBA journey.
• Former Thunder guard debuted his new threads at media day Monday in Chicago.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed how playing in FIBA competitions the last two summers has helped his game.

Song of the Day: Blame it on the Boogie by Michael Jackson.

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