Why OKC Thunder Organization Was Right Spot For Dariq Whitehead

Basketball has been a wild ride for Dariq Whitehead. He ranked as one of the best players in America coming out of High School. In fact, the recruiting service consensus tabbed him as the No. 1 player in the 2022 High School Class out of Montverda where he played alongside Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Duren, Derik Queen and other future NBA Players.

That led him to Duke, where he shared the floor with Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski, seeing him battle injuries but still wind up as a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, selected with the No. 23 pick to the Brooklyn Nets.

So far in his NBA career, Whitehead has only logged 22 total games, with the injuries piling up, leading him to be waived by Brooklyn this fall.

At still just 21-years-old, the Duke product had an interesting decision to make as a free agent. While he had options to immediately return to the NBA and hope to navigate through the likes of two-way contracts. Instead, Whitehead elected to ink an E10 contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder with the understanding he would be waived in an process to secure his G League rights and shuffle him onto the Blue.

“He’s a great player and I think he is also a great person. That’s something the organization does an amazing job of: identifying really good people. Dariq is one of those people that we brought in, and he is just like everybody else. Adjusting to the environment, he is another guy that we are really excited about. Glad for him that we are able to be with him on this journey,” Blue Head Coach Daniel Dixon said at Media Day of the forward.

The Oklahoma City Thunder as an organization has a longer history than one might expect with Whitehead, dating back to his pre-draft process in 2023 where the connection was first made that eventually led the Duke product to Bricktown.

"Just going through the draft process in 2023, that connection that me and Sam [Presti] had. I would say the way we see each other. Him knowing what I was capable of, me knowing how he operated...We just felt like it was the best situation for me, not thinking now, I am only 21 years old, I am not thinking about right now, I am thinking 2-3 years down the road, and we feel like this was the best situation for me to have a long and stable career," Whitehead explained.

The Thunder have an outstanding track record of elevating players from the OKC Blue to the NBA within not only their own organization but getting their players chances elsewhere. That program has been established and is now catching on around the league with agents and players as a premier spot.

"Their developmental program. The way they develop their guys, and I feel like they don't see you for what you are, they see you for what you can be. I think that is very big for me. They are not looking at me as a guy who came in injured; they are looking at me as a guy who they see being a big part of the team two years from now, whatever it may be, whenever my time is called. That was just huge for me, seeing the amount of belief they have in me. The amount of belief they have in me to get back from this injury and become the same player that I am and that I was. Like I said, just making sure they have that program in place for me to be the best I can possibly be," Whitehead detailed.

Whitehead kept reiterating that this was a decision made with the long-term view in mind. It was never about the instant gratification but rather what sets up the youngster to have a long last NBA career and the biggest runway to develop his game.

"If I am being honest, going through the draft process knowing that this is the place where me and my family wanted me to be. You focus on basketball here, not much to do here, so just knowing this is where I wanted to be throughout the draft process and for this opportunity to come back around and present itself with me coming from Brooklyn, I felt this was a no-brainer thinking 2-3 years down the line," Whitehead said.

What makes Oklahoma City such a special place is the way they treat not only their players but the two entities. While other franchises approach the NBA G League as a seperate thing entirely –– sometimes in a completely different state –– the Thunder and Blue are interconnected at every single level. The two team's have each won their respective league's title in the past two seasons. The pride the organization has in its G League club is rare.

"I feel like everyone when I got here, they surprised me, man. The way they compete. The way they take pride in the OKC Blue and they don't treat it as if it is a different part of the organization, they treat it as the same way they'd be playing if it was the OKC Thunder," Whitehead said. "For Sam [Presti], yesterday for instance, those guys had a game yesterday and to see him in the gym come here, kicking it and talking to everybody else. That was important to see. It feels connected but to see the GM and stuff actually here that is cool for everyone to see. Not just me, that gives everybody a sense of hope, know that he is watching. Anybody's time can be called soon. Just got to stay ready and get 1% better each day and your time will come."

While Whitehead waits for his time to bounce back at the varsity level, he will continue to get healthy, grow and shine in the NBA G League flanked by a great support system and team to help make his life easier. The OKC Blue begin their season on Nov. 7 against Rio Grande Valley before the Duke product and company make their home debut on Nov. 11 against the Birmingham Squadron.