Tre Mann's Development Remains an Investment Worth Taking

After a rocky sophomore campaign, Tre Mann needs a bounce back season in Oklahoma City.

After a promising rookie season in Oklahoma City, Tre Mann wasn’t able to capitalize on an extended opportunity during his second year.

The microwave scorer fluctuated in-and-out of the rotation after struggling mightily over the first month of the season. Across 13 contests in November, Mann received over 20 minutes of court time a night and simply couldn’t find his shooting stroke. The young guard averaged 8.1 points over the course of those matchups, shooting an alarming 38.7% from the floor and 29.2% from 3-point range. After that stretch, his minute distribution was inconsistent the rest of the year.

“This was probably the toughest year I had,” Mann said in his exit interview. “I mean, I had a similar situation at Florida, but this was tougher on me.

“But like I said, my teammates and my coaches made it easier for me to manage.”

Mann’s shot creation was there, dazzling the fans with his dribble combo’s, but couldn’t ever quite finish the play. His separation and scoring ability, however, is still uncommon in the NBA and offers plenty of untapped potential. The Thunder could regret giving up on him a season too soon.

“I’d say it’s more knowledge and learning from it than it is fuel," Mann said. "I’m not gonna be mad about it or anything, I’m using it as a growing tool and something to learn from more than fuel.”

Mann seems to be a vocal, friendly voice in Oklahoma City’s locker room and has earned the respect of his teammates. Mark Daigneault and the team’s leaders still believe in his capabilities, which is why everyone is on board trying to help.

“The thing that can be an optical illusion, is that he’s a better player today than he was a year ago,” said Daigneault following Mann’s 24-12-12 triple-double in the season finale. “The year hasn’t gone as well, relative to his expectations for sure, as it did last year, but he’s definitely a better player than a year ago.

“You’ve seen players on our teams and other teams use choppy waters to become mentally and physically stronger and improve. That’s his challenge. Take what may be considered a disappointing season and leverage it into momentum and improve.”

In 2021-22, Mann found a serious stride late in the season. In 15 games following the All Star break, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists, while shooting 35.3% from 3-point range. It’s a small sample size, but the talent on display made it impossible to not be excited.

The reality is, Oklahoma City’s ascension as a team made it much harder for Mann to find his groove. The Thunder’s rapid improvement wasn’t able to offer him the same level of patience and forgiveness, and that’s a good thing — the team is ahead of schedule. Now, Mann has the entire offseason to pinpoint the exact improvements he needs to make and clear his mind from a taxing 82-game schedule — and a few trips to OKC’s G League affiliate.

He was able to weather the storm of his sophomore slump by leaning on his teammates and learning from the Thunder’s rising superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There’s a reason why someone of Gilgeous-Alexander’s prestige is so invested in Mann’s development as a whole. He understands the potential.

“Aaron (Wiggins) is somebody I talk to a lot, but me and his conversations are more happy, joking, still having fun with it,” Mann said. “I feel like the learning part, stuff was coming from Shai and Kenrich [Williams].”

“Just showing how tough I am mentally. I know a situation like this can break people or it can make people. I feel like this one has definitely made me. Like I said, I’m gonna use this whole season and whole experience going into this summer and next season as a learning process.”

Mann’s abilities on the court are special, and the second that his shot clicks, he can be an impact player immediately. Roster spots are thinning out in Oklahoma City, but letting Mann improve over the course of the summer and come back a better player would be a wise decision in the long run.

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