With Heavy Stretch of Games Looming, Oklahoma City's Bench Must Stay Ready

Mark Daigneault could call on anyone during the upcoming stretch of games, including the Thunder's two-way contracts.

Oklahoma City has been the beneficiary of a lighter schedule to start the season with a few solid breaks sprinkled into its schedule. Overall, the Thunder has played 11 games against teams with a winning record, going 5-6, and nine games against teams below .500, going 8-1.

It’s been evident that the Thunder can hang with anyone and tend to take care of business against lower-tier teams. It’s a recipe for success in the regular season, and could lead to strong playoff positioning for this young group.

Over the next few months, the Thunder won’t have many long breaks like we’ve seen across October and November. The schedule certainly ramps up and the team will need to step up in a big way. From the top of the lineup to the end of the bench, everyone could be counted on.

Mark Daigneault mentioned being “set” to get Mann minute vs Houston, said you have to view it as an 82 game whole “If you look at our January schedule, 17 games not a lot of practice time, if you don’t think we are going to need a lot of guys in that time, you’re crazy”

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) December 7, 2023

At practice on Thursday, Mark Daigneault mentioned the 17-game stretch looming in the month of January, and how Oklahoma City is already preparing. The team could see a lot of new lineups as the games start ramping up.

Daigneault’s effort to start preparing bench players was evident on Wednesday night as Tre Mann played 24 minutes. He performed well, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and added four assists and two steals. Mann has been in and out of the rotation over the last few seasons, but the potential has always been there.

Other players that could be lumped into the category of needing to stay ready on the end of the bench could include Lindy Waters III, Aleksej Pokusevski, Vasijile Micic, Olivier Sarr and Ousmane Dieng.

Sarr and Dieng have spent plenty of time in the G League recently, taking in a healthy amount of reps and experimenting on the court. The fresh legs could provide a boost to the Thunder’s lineup, and help especially in the front court. Outside of Chet Holmgren, Sarr is the biggest player in Oklahoma City’s roster and could provide an extra reinforcement when needed if he’s called up. Dieng was playing heavy minutes to start the season, and a trip to the G League could provide the confidence he needed.

Pokusevski hasn’t gotten a chance to play meaningful minutes yet this season, but it could come during any given game like we saw with Mann on Wednesday. He would give the Thunder size and versatility on the floor, and if he can knock down 3-pointers at an efficient rate, could genuinely help the team overall.

It was expected coming into the season that Micic would play serious minutes and provide the second unit with a boost. So far, he’s played in just eight games and has mentioned how tiring the NBA schedule is with games every other night. It wouldn’t be surprising if Daigneault was saving his legs for important games down the stretch. The more comfortable Micic gets on the floor, the more he’ll be able to help this team.

Oklahoma City loves to experiment, and with heavy stretches coming up, the entire bench needs to be ready at any given moment — just like Mann was on Wednesday night.

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