How the Thunder Could Reinvent the Three-Guard Lineup
When the Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to begin their rebuild in the 2019-20 NBA season, following the trades of Paul George and Russell Westbrook, we saw Billy Donovan experiment with a roster he was handed for the season.
The expectations for the season were gone, and the Thunder had a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs, which they surpassed. While we saw many interesting things happen, which include the famous game seven from Lu Dort, the most strange of them all may have been the three-guard lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder.
The three-guard lineup was one of the most efficient that we saw on the year, and for three ball dominant players that thrive the best as the number one option, they found themselves succeeding while on the court together. They also made the mid range jump shots look easy as they all could knock down mid range jump shots with ease.
Fast forward to the 2022-23 season, where Paul finds himself with the Phoenix Suns and Shroder with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault could roll out a similar weapon in a four-guard lineup.
We saw Tre Mann, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Jalen Williams all get the start in the second to last preseason game in a win against the Detroit Pistons. Each of the four players finished with a solid game, but come regular season, that won’t be the four-guard lineup that could put the fans on notice.
When Gilgeous-Alexander returns, it’s possible that we see him start alongside Giddey, Dort and one of either Williams or Mann. The most likely fit of the two would be Williams, as Mann would fit better as a spark plug as the sixth man, as Williams 7-foot-2 wingspan would help the team overall on defense and with rebounding.
If Mark Daigneault wanted to get weird this season, this could be a potential threat of a lineup that would be even scarier when Chet Holmgren is able to make his NBA debut. Giddey’s 6-foot-8 frame and Williams’ wingspan both will help on the boards, and both Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort are big enough bodies to help in that aspect as well.
There’s a world where the three-guard lineup takes a step forward with yet another guard.
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