Thunder Have ‘Blank Canvas’ in 2021-22 Season
The Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be starting anew.
Although they’ve been long separated from franchise legend Russell Westbrook and top two-way player Paul George, the Thunder have still had lots of talent in recent years.
For the first time in over a decade, Oklahoma City will begin the season with no players who have ever earned an All-Star or All-NBA bid.
Eight players on OKC’s roster have either yet to play in the NBA or don the Thunder blue.
Oklahoma City's 2021 rookies.
Nick Crain / SI Thunder
The shift calls for a “blank canvas,” as general manger Sam Presti and head coach Mark Daigneault both called it.
“We do have a pretty unique opportunity this year with this particular team because we have a blank canvas kind of staring at us in the face.” Said Daigneault. “It's not often that you get that opportunity, especially with a team that's layered with young talent like we are, and we're excited about attacking that challenge and seeing what we can make of it.
“And you can expect us to continue to grow through every experience. The NBA season is challenging and there's a lot of ups and downs, but we're going to be a team that learns from our successes, learns from our adversities, and uses every experience for forward momentum.”
Despite no former All-Stars, the Thunder do have a future one. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s blank slate comes with a hefty contract extension attached, but that hasn’t seemed to slow his work ethic.
“As far as I'm concerned, as much as I know, every single guy that puts on the Thunder jersey for every day that he's with the organization gets better that day.” Gilgeous-Alexander said at 2021 media day.
Luguentz Dort, the undrafted fan-favorite and now a veteran on the extraordinarily young team, knows that the rebuild could be a learning process for many.
“I’m going to say it's definitely a learning process,” Dort said of the young squad. “I mean, there's a lot of young guys, not a lot of experience. The guys that's been there before that have definitely got to set the tone and be ready to compete every night,”
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