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Oklahoma City Thunder 2022-23 NBA preview: Key injuries have OKC eyeing the lottery yet again

Oklahoma City Thunder 2022-23 NBA preview: Key injuries have OKC eyeing the lottery yet again


Just when you thought the Thunder were ready to emerge from their two-year tank as one of the NBA‘s most exciting young teams, the injury gods decreed that Oklahoma City would spend one more year in lottery land. No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren lit up Summer League … and then suffered a season-ending injury in a pro-am game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appeared primed for his first All-Star appearance … and then he suffered an MCL sprain. No wonder the Thunder held folk hero Aleksej Pokusevski out of EuroBasket. They couldn’t risk any more losses. They’ll see plenty of those on the scoreboard over the next seven months.

That won’t bother the Thunder all that much, of course. We’re talking about a team that is currently hoarding 15 first-round picks spanning the next seven drafts. They won’t say no to a few more ping pong balls, especially when they might yield Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson. But that does temper some of the fun this season could have provided.

So what will Oklahoma City’s final gap year look like? With Holmgren out and Gilgeous-Alexander hobbled, what is there to watch for on one of the NBA’s youngest rosters? Here are three key storylines as Oklahoma City embarks upon what will hopefully be its last tank for a long, long time.

Key changes

  • Drafted Chet Holmgren No. 2, Ousmane Dieng No. 11, Jalen Williams No. 12 and Jaylin Williams No. 34.
  • Signed Lu Dort to a five-year, $87.5 million extension.
  • Signed Kenrich Williams to a four-year, $27.2 million extension.

Roster

Player

Position

Age

Darius Bazley 

Forward

22

Ousmane Dieng 

Forward

19

Luguentz Dort 

Forward

23

Derrick Favors 

Center

31

Melvin Frazier Jr. 

Guard

26

Josh Giddey 

Guard

19

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 

Guard

24

Jaylen Hoard 

Forward

23

Chet Holmgren 

Forward 

20

Ty Jerome 

Guard

25

Georgios Kalaitzakis 

Forward

23

Vit Krejci 

Guard

22

Theo Maledon 

Guard

21

Tre Mann 

Guard

21

Mike Muscala 

Center

31

Eugene Omoruyi 

Forward

25

Aleksej Pokusevski 

Center

20

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 

Forward

21

Lindy Waters III 

Forward

25

Aaron Wiggins 

Guard

23

Jalen Williams 

Forward

21

Jaylin Williams 

Forward

20

Kenrich Williams 

Forward

27

Top of the key: Shai it ain’t so

For now, the Thunder have only said that Gilgeous-Alexander will be out for the beginning of training camp. Beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see. He’s dealing with an MCL sprain, a tricky injury that hobbles some players longer than others. A useful Reddit post from 2018 tracked the length of…

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