Three Important Things to Watch For Heading Into Oklahoma City's Weekend Stretch

Oklahoma City has been an inconsistent team ten games in, but the strong flashes of potential have been evident.

After the NBA took Tuesday off to encourage fans to get out and vote, Thunder basketball returns on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Paycom Center. Oklahoma City traveled to Milwaukee last weekend in a losing effort, but this team around, the Bucks add former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo back into the lineup.

After a fun start to the season, rattling off four straight wins to a record over .500, Oklahoma City has returned to earth. The team has dropped three-straight, all by nine points or more. It’s clear that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s heroics were the main reason for the Thunder’s success, and it might just not be all that sustainable. SGA is good enough to continue to get his own every night at this point, but teams can now better scheme for how to beat the Thunder even on his big nights.

Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander’s, OKC’s progression across the board has been slightly disappointing. Aleksej Pokusevski has clearly improved as a player even if the statistics haven’t caught up yet and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s 3-point shooting spike highlight two internal positives for the Thunder. Outside of that, though, there’s much to be desired.

After the brief NBA pause yesterday, it’s a new stretch of games for the Thunder. All things considered, a 4-6 record is probably better than most people expected through ten games in Oklahoma City.

Here are three things I’ll be watching for on Wednesday that would also go along way in Oklahoma City’s path to success:

Jalen Williams’ Offensive Assertiveness

Williams had his full bag on display over the course of Oklahoma City’s summer league run. He was all over the place on defense and running the show on offense.

So far during his rookie season, Williams has already received heavy playing time and even a few starts. He’s playing efficient basketball and doing what’s asked of him, but Oklahoma City would benefit from an uptick in his shot attempts. When he’s being aggressive on the offensive end, getting to the rim, his talent will really start to shine through.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-Point Shot

SGA has never exactly been known for his outside shot, but that’s never stopped him from taking triples. Up until last season, Gilgeous-Alexander had a respectable 3-point shot percentage-wise, and even after the slump, it was still widely viewed as just that. A slump.

Now, ten games into the 2022-23 season, Gilgeous-Alexander is almost refusing to take 3-pointers. It’s obviously not having much of an effect on his scoring ability, still good for a nightly 30-piece, but it’s big for the development of the team. Gilgeous-Alexander needs to develop a consistent 3-point shot at some point in his career, and the only way to do that is by taking them. And any SGA shot is a good shot for the Thunder.

The 2021 Draft Class

Oklahoma City’s rebuild has reached the point where it’s easy to see the core starting to form. Adding another likely top ten pick in next year’s draft, plus Chet Holmgren and any other free agents, and next year suddenly becomes very interesting.

Playing time is already limited, but next year a rotation will most likely be set. It’s time for guys like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins to separate themselves from the pack. We’ve seen flashes this season, but nothing consistent. Oklahoma City is searching for late-game help for Gilgeous-Alexander, now would be a great time for one of the Thunder’s second year players to step into a bigger role.

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