Thunder Set for Ultra-Competitive Training Camp, Could Unlock Next Star This Summer

With limited opportunity and careers on the line, Oklahoma City’s next training camp should be highly competitive and could help them discover their next star.

No one knows exactly how the Thunder’s roster will shake out, or what the team’s on-court production will look like next season. But if there is one thing fans should be confident in, it’s that Oklahoma City will have a better NBA team in 2023-24.

The front office has handled this off-season beautifully, so far. They’ve leveraged their cap space to acquire an assortment of picks, prospects, and other trade chips, adding to what is already a behemoth pile of draft capital and an embarrassment of developing talent already on the roster.

And, arguably, most importantly, Oklahoma City has doubled down on their commitment to head coach Mark Daigneault, who has overseen the successful development and utilization of talent throughout the Thunder’s rebuild thus far.

The result? Maximum flexibility… and what is sure to be an insanely competitive training camp.

At minimum, there are exactly 19,680 minutes of playing time a coach can dole out in an 82-game schedule. At least half, if not more of those minutes, will generally go to the five best players, barring unfortunate injuries, etc.

For example, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Josh Giddey, and Luguentz Dort’s combined to account for 9,331 minutes, or about 47 percent of all available playing time in 2022-23. That’s with all four players missing a combined 35 games, to boot.

Assuming that somewhere between 50 and 55 percent of all available playing time will be allocated to five players next season, only 45-50 percent of minutes will be up for grabs for the remaining 10 players on the active roster. That number jumps to 13 if you account for all three two-way contracts.

And any playing time allocated for Chet Holmgren, which presumably will be quite a lot, hasn’t even been factored in yet.

“Much ado about minutes,” you must be thinking. “What’s this about?”

The Thunder’s roster is full up, with an allowed maximum of 20 players on contracts heading into training camp. By the time regular season rolls around, that number will need to be 15. Five players will have to resume their careers elsewhere.

Basically, if a player wants to play for the Thunder next season, they will have to stand out amongst the crowd in what might be the most competitive training camp by far in the NBA this summer. Additionally, they will need to continue to impress in any opportunities given in the regular season to continue to see the floor.

There’s just way too much talent on the roster vying for those precious minutes.

Any player not making enough impact, or showing enough skill, effort, development, etc., will most assuredly find themselves on the chopping block in some form or fashion. But, as the cream rises to the top, and iron sharpens iron, the Thunder will reap the benefits of an ultra-competitive training camp and could even unlock their next star player as a result.

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