Each NBA season brings its share of questions and intrigues. It’s the same thing all the time, a few days before the recovery. Which player will perform? Which coach will be fired? Who am I ? In which shelf? Where squash? For each of the 30 franchises, we have selected the 5 big questions for the 2022-23 edition: the seat of the day is awarded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
#1 : Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the backcourt of the future?
We have known impregnable duos.
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry, Vincent Poirier and Stéfanos Tsitsipás. One of these three pairs hasn’t made history – at least not yet – can you figure out which one? Many athletes, at the end of their career, draw more than a simple individual assessment of what they have accomplished and – on the contrary – of what they regret. A career is not built alone, you have to be able to count on the shoulder of a friend to achieve your goals. In the best of all worlds, one where disillusion does not exist, Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set off together in the summer of 2034, heading to Cancun to celebrate winning a seventh consecutive title. On paper, the 6th pick of the 2021 Draft and the 11th of the 2018 vintage are two big ball keepers. How will they manage this cohabitation in the long term, when the first collective ambitions knock on the door? The association is bankable as ever, the coming season will tell us a little more regarding potential compatibility.
#2: Are we going to stop the Thunder tanking jokes?
Every year, it’s the same tune.
The Thunder is the subject of old, unoriginal jokes, made of tracks, military helmets and khaki fatigues: everything that brings back to “tanking” what. What will happen during this 2022-23 season? Does the Sam Presti franchise plan to rub its coat of arms with a positive balance sheet, thus dusting off a reputation that has stuck with it since the departure of Russell Westbrook? We already know that will not be the case. Chet Holmgren’s injury – announced out for the whole season – came to deal a blow to the liver of their meager ambitions. He was one of the lads to watch, the kind of youngster who holds a franchise season in suspense and finally brings some inter/exter balance to the Thunder roster. We will have to do without him, but also without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for “at least” two weeks, which risks starting the season weaker or late.
Therefore ?
The Thunder workforce is still very young with a average age of 23.3 years, the lowest in the entire NBA, and lacks old sea dogs capable of unlocking situations with experience or starting a momentum. Add to this a parameter that starts with « Victor » and ends with « Animal »and it seems very unlikely that the Thunder will trade its tank for an F1.
#3 : What season for Théo Maledon and Ousmane Dieng?
No, Theo Maledon is not dead.
His end to the 2021-22 season may even have saved his skin. Around him, only cracks. It was therefore necessary to send a strong enough message to his management not to start the 2022-23 financial year with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League. His month of March? 11.1 points at 42% shooting including 32% from the parking lot, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists on average. His penultimate performance for the reception of Detroit is to be highlighted in red marker: 28 points at 46% shooting, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 1 interception. High class. However, he was not selected by the Thunder to play in the Summer League. At 21, it’s a bit weird, especially since the France team hadn’t even assembled yet. This 2022-23 season will be his last guarantee on the contract. Next summer, the Thunder will decide whether or not to activate their team option up to $1.9 million per season. Well, normally, no risk that this will not happen.
And Ousmane Dieng then?
The 11th choice of the Draft 2022 is a real project to be developed over the long term. His Summer League was not insanevery clogged with percentages of 35% shooting and 20% 3-pointers. He will have minutes, probably twenty, and will have to get into the habit of drawing without asking permission. Beware of the shyness with the ball in hand and the natural withdrawal: this has only very rarely succeeded for the French.
#4: How will Chet Holmgren’s rehabilitation go?
Since the announcement of his injury, Chet Holmgren has looked like a lion in a cage. He keeps tweeting and expressing… his impatience. We feel a real desire to shock his world in this kid, although Lisfranc’s sprain is not the “best” injury to achieve this. The whole analysis of Doctor Q is also to be found just ICI ! The best we can hope for? A clean debut for the first match of the 2023-24 season, alongside… Victor Wembanyama? A scenario that only exists in the best of worlds, the very one where Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leave together for Cancun.
#5: Can Mark Daigneault survive another broken season?
He has the blaze of a PE teacher in senior class and is at the head of the most promising project in the NBA. Only cracks at his disposal, and a velleda that we have to judge over the longer term. We have not yet felt the game identity “Mark Daigneault”. We didn’t watch the Thunder game either, but that’s up to us. What do we wish him? A season with a very nice background, defeats, all the same, and a lot of success in his individual development projects. That some of his foals pass a milestone thanks to him, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the zétoiles match.
