What to Watch For: Mark Daigneault’s Coaching Journey

When Mark Daigneault took over in Oklahoma City, the team was a team in need of help.

The team had just begun selling off their big name players, acquiring a stockpile of picks and refreshing the roster with young talent.

Now entering year three of his tenure the Thunder has the brightest outlook yet, but remains to be seen how the team will fare this season, with an extremely young roster.

Daigneault made a career for himself in developing youthful talent, and has continued to do the same with OKC, the main reason he was chosen as the one to lead the team through the dark rebuild.

The Thunder are 46-108 in Daigneault's tenure as head coach. He won 24 games his first season, and just 22 last year.

This season expectations aren’t as high as they were before Chet Holmgren’s injury, but the Thunder still have a fresh young lineup who continue to show improvement.

The Thunder were one of the better rebounding teams in the league last season, and should continue that path this season. A top 10 season for the Thunder in rebounding will show the success the Thunder have built with height and athleticism. The Thunder guards have also developed guards with an impressive rebounding repertoire.

On the other end of the spectrum the Thunder were the worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA last season. They were also a less than stellar shooting team overall. With new assistant coach, and shooting guru, Chip Engelland on Daigneault’s staff the Thunder should be able to rise to at least the middle of the pack in shooting efficiency.

Rookie guard Jalen Williams enters the Oklahoma City roster from Santa Clara with an impressive shooting resume from his college career. If OKC doesn’t improve and exit the bottom of the league’s shooting categories it would be a step back in the process and one of the first red marks on Daigneualt’s record.

The Thunder defense hasn’t been the absolute best in the league, but it hasn’t been the worst either. A positive mark for OKC to strive for would be top 12. In fact, were on track for this last season through March. With Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander manning the top two guard positions, Oklahoma City has the potential to reach that mark. However, the paint defense may hinder the potential, but they have the depth and potential to hold their own on defense this season.

Any lower than 22nd in the league would be a disappointment considering the guard and forward depth and defensive potential of the team.

Overall, the Thunder have young potential to move out of the basement of the league. The Thunder should be hoping to move into at least the top 25 overall in the league and in individual statistical categories top 15, especially rebounding and shooting, would show Daigneault has the team on track.

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