OKC Thunder quotes: Some players believe the team could make the playoffs next season
During Monday’s Oklahoma City Thunder exit interviews, several players spoke about playoff aspirations for next season. The Thunder missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season after going 24-58 and finished with the fourth-best lottery odds. The Thunder last went to the playoffs less than two calendar years ago in The Bubble during the 2019-20 season, where it lost in seven games in a First Round series against the Houston Rockets.
Let’s take a look at some of the more significant quotes from players who showed their full confidence in the team’s ability to make the playoffs next season if fully healthy.
Lu Dort
“I feel like if we keep building the way we do, I feel like next year we’re going to be in a way better position. I feel like it’s just experience. I feel like every player is going to get older and is going to be able to bring more to the team, and I feel like a lot of games we played this year came down to the wire. We had a lot of comebacks, and I feel like we didn’t really end the game well, and I feel like that’s just experience. I feel we’re definitely going to get better at that.”
“[The playoffs] got to be the goal. Then we’ll go from there. I feel like we’ll be a team that’s going to shock a lot of people and just the way we compete and play hard, but the goal is definitely a playoff.”
Kenrich Williams
“Well, I feel like as a whole we’re a competitive group, so anytime we step on the court, we want to win. Things will be different next year. I’m sure they’ll be different. But as a whole, competitive, we want to compete from the start. We want to win games. I’m not just speaking for myself, I’m speaking for the whole team. We want to win just because we’ve got a competitive group.”
Isaiah Roby
“Yeah, obviously the comebacks are really encouraging. Something that’s even more encouraging is just the experiences that we all gained from this year and hopefully not having to come back in as many games. That would be an even better situation for us.
I think that we all learned a lot about ourselves, and I think going into next season, I’m not sure exactly what — obviously everybody wants to make the playoffs, and that’s a goal — that’s something that we all want to experience. Coach Daigneault talks about that a lot and how he’s been a part of a lot of playoff series as an assistant.
Every time he speaks about it you can tell it’s special, it means a lot, and that’s something we all want to experience. I would say that’s the ultimate goal, and that’s something that we’re all working towards, but it’s not going to come easy, and we know that.
So I think that’s more of — that’s the goal, but I think the process is what excites me the most.”
Josh Giddey
“I think [our goal next season is] to be better than this year, whether that’s make the playoffs or not. I’d be lying — everyone wants to make the playoffs, but for our guys with such a young team, to be better than this year’s is what we look to do, and I think the more we work together this summer, the better everyone gets, we can make that next jump. As I said, playoffs or not, as long as we’re better than what we were this year we’re heading in that right direction.”
