OKC Thunder Reserve Unit will be Critical Throughout Postseason

As the Thunder are set to play in their first playoff bout on Sunday, the team's depth will be leaned upon greatly.

Mark Daigneault will have some decisions to make heading into the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

With the impending matchup between the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans to claim the No. 8 seed and a bid to the playoffs, Oklahoma City will await and assess.

One thing is for certain for this Thunder team, and that is the role that their bench unit and extensive bench will assume into the postseason. But for Daigneault, he'd never truly shored up any specific, strict rotations with assigned players throughout the course of the season. Sure, he had his customary decisions of when his stars would sit and when his bench unit would be deployed, but there was never really a set personnel throughout consecutive contests.

This gave him and the organization a chance to analyze exactly what they had, and how they would mesh with the already established starting five. Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, Jaylin Williams and a late-season acquisition in Gordon Hayward, all six of these reserves bring an immense impact off the bench and can change the course of the game in subtle ways.

Throughout the regular season, it was primarily Wallace who earned the rights to the sixth man spot, serving as the team's spot starter 13 times will playing 20.6 minutes in all 82 games as a 20-year-old rookie. And Joe, who at times could've been considered the sixth man, was handed 18.5 minutes a night throughout 78 games and a single start.

Next down the line has been Hayward, who's slowly but surely established himself in the lineup and assimilated rather seamlessly despite some early bumps, as he's seen 17.2 minutes a night in his 26 games suited up as a Thunder, and also received three starts in that short span.

Wiggins and Kenrich Williams are right on the same edge, as each averaged around the 15-minute mark per game this season, filling niche roles that benefit Oklahoma City on each end of the floor. And lastly, Jaylin Williams, sitting behind Holmgren and fulfilling a bruiser role, a connector at the top of the key, a floor-spacing big and fairly adept three-point shooter, Williams' time on the court throughout the postseason will be limited, but he could be useful versus specific matchups.

There's a lot to unpack with each of these guys, but one thing is common among all; unselfishness, a desire to win and fill in where you're needed. All of these players do just that, and it's why the Thunder's stars have been propped up even further by its bench throughout the regular season.

If I was Daigneault, I'd have some qualms deciding on one over the other, but there's not really a wrong answer. Wallace, Joe and Hayward would seem to get the nod early, but the others down the line will also have promising opportunities to shine, if I had to assume.

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