Three Takeaway’s From 2022-23 Thunder Media Day
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Another Thunder media day has come and gone, and with it the newest Oklahoma City season is officially on the horizon.
One of the more interesting teams in the Thunder’s ever-growing tenure in OKC, the roster is made up of several different age groups and archetypes, with two cuts still to be made.
Here’s three takeaways from Thunder Media Day 2022-23:
Lineups Will be Mixed and Matched
Oklahoma City has plenty of players to choose from moving forward, and its lineups should continue to be exploratory in 2022-23, similarly to the last few seasons.
There are established but still developing starters and stars in Shai Gilgeous-Alexnader, Josh Giddey and Luguentz Dort, blossoming role players like Tre Mann, Darius Bazley, Kenrich Williams and more, and an entirely new crop of rookies who will look to fill in the gaps.
Head coach Mark Daigneault has long experimented with lineups, but this upcoming season could be his magnum opus.
Players Focusing on Body, Fitness
Offseason training usually involves plenty of focus on the body, but it was visually clear at media day that several players had taken that to heart.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Tre Mann and Darius Bazley all looked markedly stronger and more lean overall.
Per the roster weights, Giddey and Pokusevski packed on more weight (in muscle, presumably) and several others keyed in on a variety of ways they improved their overall fitness regimens.
Holmgren Injury Won’t Hurt his Future
Whether it was coming from Sam Presti’s presser last week, coach Daigneault or any number of Thunder players in between, one sentiment echoed throughout the week: Chet Holmgren is going to be just fine.
While the year off tactically will present some challenges on-court, the Thunder organization as a whole had nothing but great things to say about Holmgren moving forward with his injury.
“He’s a junkie,” Daigneault said of his film habits. “Control what you can control,” Gilgeous-Alexander added. “It’s part of the game — his mindset, I’m pretty sure he is going to come back better.”
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