Mark Daigneault: Thunder rookies have had good moments in camp
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault will be tasked with leading the youngest team in the NBA this season but the third-year head coach has been impressed by their incoming group of rookies.
The Thunder, which have an average age of 23.7, welcome four first-year players to the team this season: Chet Holmgren (second pick), Ousmane Dieng (11th pick), Jalen Williams (12th pick) and Jaylin Williams (34th pick).
Of course, Holmgren will miss the season after undergoing foot surgery in August but the team is still eager to see the other three rookies take the court. They each bring something different to the table and further add to the versatility on the roster.
Daigneault said each has proven that they belong.
They’ve done a good job. I think they’ve picked stuff up. They are all really eager and competitive. None of them look overwhelmed mentally, physically or anything like that. They’ve paced well with the practice. They look like part of the team. They have really good moments where they shine and pop a little bit.
The group showed signs in the Las Vegas Summer League of what they can bring to the court. Dieng checks a lot of boxes on both sides of the ball, while Jalen Williams was a tremendous scorer in college and Jaylin Williams proved a great rim protector and rebounder.
Going through a mini-training camp in preparation for summer league helped the group get acclimated to their new system. Daigneault estimated that 90% of the summer league system is being put to use now, which has helped the players.
Jaylin Williams agreed with that notion.
I think going through summer league definitely helped a lot because we learned a lot of the concepts and a lot of the plays. It is kind of like the same thing, we’re just adding a little bit more to it. I think going through that really helped us and put us a little bit ahead.
Said Jalen Williams:
We’re kind of running the same stuff but I think the fact that almost everybody played in summer league kind of already gave me a lot more confidence to go out here but it has been fun.
With Holmgren sidelined for the season, the other rookies will have the opportunity to showcase themselves and it appears as though they are doing just that in the early going.
The Thunder begin the preseason on Monday versus the Denver Nuggets.
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