How OKC Thunder Get Buy In to Fluid Rotation

Sometimes you face good problems. The Oklahoma City Thunder know that all too well. Of their 18 man roster, including two-ways, at a minimum 14 true rotational pieces that any NBA team would want to toss minutes towards.

Mark Daigneault is known for his lengthy rotations, going 10-to-12 players deep on any given night. Despite that, there are bound to be games in which a player goes from getting 20-plus minutes to being a DNP-CD the very next game, to no fault of their own. Just the embarrassment of riches this roster has, the matchups on the other side and riding a hot hand if someone gets going early.

That takes a unique level of buy in to pull off. It requires an uncommon maturity and selflessness from still one of the league's youngest rosters. At practice on Wednesday, this became a hot topic for the Bricktown Ballers.

“The idea is for those things to be win wins. Theoretically, those things should help us be successful as a team, but they should also help every single player individually build a good career. I think that’s part of the reason why there’s such commitment to it as well because most of the stuff we try to emphasize are things that can also enhance their individual trajectories as well as enhance the team," Daigneault detailed after Wednesday's practice.

The proof is in the pudding. Despite a crowded roster with guys vying for minutes, the entire Oklahoma City Thunder roster has seen individual improvements from top to bottom. The process is working.

“Obviously, there’s the individual aspect of your career that you think about. A big part of that career aspect is being a part of a great team, winning games, getting a championship and having a long career. This organization and this system here has a set way of creating an opportunity for all of those individual things to happen, so guys buy into that and understand what it takes," Aaron Wiggins said Wednesday.

Wiggins has been one of the players who has needed to adjust the most, seeing his minutes trend up and down through out his career with different roles in the mix night to night. That has led the Maryland product to learn an important lesson: Stay ready.

“Mark is gonna experiment… He’s gonna throw you in there when you least expect it. There’s gonna be moments where you might be ready and he doesn’t go to. And there’s gonna be moments when you’re not ready and he calls you. You gotta be as ready as you can be," Wiggins continued.

Though, it is not just the deep cuts that have seen their roles change. Even at the top of the roster, the Oklahoma City Thunder have brought in new pieces and played different styles of basketball and that comes with an adjustment period.

“The fact that guys know what it takes to win and accept that role to be flexible in whatever role it is is good. I think that just makes our team a lot better," All-NBA Swingman Jalen Williams detailed.

Williams is now sharing the floor with a big body traditional center like Isaiah Hartenstein, who can set wipe away screens. He has seen Gilgeous-Alexander get better every year to the point now he is alongside arguably the best player in the world. Sometimes Williams is out there as the primary option while on other nights if Chet Holmgren has his offense clicking he is the third option for segments of games.

Though, the approach never changes, the desire to win and put the team success over individual production is jaw-dropping from this team and has led to great results for Oklahoma City.