OKC Thunder player grades: Franchise secures fourth-best lottery odds with 50-point loss to Clippers

The Oklahoma City Thunder wrapped up its 2021-22 season by securing the fourth-best lottery odds with a 138-88 blowout loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday.

The Thunder entered the game with its best-case scenario being attaining sole possession of the fourth-best odds due to a Detroit Pistons loss with the worst-case scenario being it ties for the fourth-best odds with the Indiana Pacers.

The Clippers — who were without Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris Sr. and Norman Powell — thoroughly dominated this game. There was no funny business this time around as the Clippers led by double digits for almost the entirety of the game.

Meanwhile, the Thunder stuck by its extremely shorthanded rotation by only playing six players with five of them playing over 40 minutes. In all likelihood, most — if not all — of the players who touched the floor this game will not return for the Thunder next season. But give them credit for going out there and playing heavy doses of minutes recently as the team tried to lose as many games as possible to maximize its lottery odds. Let’s take one final look at player grades for the regular-season finale.

Isaiah Roby: B+

When you reach being sat down due to a fear of winning a game territory, then that’s a good indicator on where you stand with your NBA career. Isaiah Roby experienced this on Sunday as he played just 18 minutes due to him scoring 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

The Thunder needed to lose this game to secure the fourth-best lottery odds and the team could not afford for Roby to win them another game. No half measures for the Thunder this time around.

Zavier Simpson: B

To Zavier Simpson’s credit, he finishes his 10-day tenure with the team on a high note as he collected 17 points, eight assists and nine rebounds in 45 minutes. Simpson’s signature hook shot was well on display during his short tenure with the team as most of his shots were those. Simpson likely won’t be back on the Thunder roster for next season but don’t be surprised if he returns back with the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue.

Vit Krejci: B+

Vit Krejci finally realized that he was probably the best player on the court for the Thunder and had his best game in weeks with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting in 40 minutes.

It’s a little bit disappointing that Krejci wasn’t able to take more advantage of the current opportunity presented to him in recent games. The Thunder have been essentially running G League lineups while playing the least amount of guys as possible; if Krejci was ever going to have a green light to score in NBA games, this recent stretch would’ve been it. What makes this a bit more bitter is the fact that Krejci will most likely undergo knee surgery in the offseason, so he won’t have this opportunity again against legit NBA competition for a while due to it.

It’s a good finish that Krejci was finally able to look for his shot more aggressively this game, but it’s a little bittersweet that this mindset didn’t develop sooner for the second-year-player.

Jaylen Hoard: B-

Jaylen Hoard collected his fourth double double in his last six games with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Hoard left no meat on the bone during his 10-day stint with the Thunder as he was arguably the best player on the team these last six games. I doubt this streak of games means that Hoard will start on the Thunder next season, but it’s some nice tape to show around the league that perhaps Hoard can carve out a nice career.

Georgios Kalaitzakis: C

Bless Georgios Kalaitzakis as he trended for this game for all the wrong reasons as he blew a wide open dunk. Kalaitzakis finished with 17 points and six rebounds in 47 minutes.

Much like the majority of the guys on this list, Kalaitzakis probably isn’t coming back next season but there’s a solid chance that he is on the Blue next season as the 60th overall pick still has some room for improvement.

Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire