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Oklahoma City Thunder: 2019-20 NBA season preview

By Jacob Kniffen

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - SEPTEMBER 30: Steven Adams #12, Dennis Schroder #17, Chris Paul #3, Head Coach Billy Donovan, Danilo Gallinari #8, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder pose for a portrait during media day on September 30, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - SEPTEMBER 30: Steven Adams #12, Dennis Schroder #17, Chris Paul #3, Head Coach Billy Donovan, Danilo Gallinari #8, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder pose for a portrait during media day on September 30, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2019-20 roster

Key additions: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (trade), Chris Paul (trade), Danilo Gallinari (trade), Darius Bazley (draft), Mike Muscala (free agency) and Justin Patton (free agency).

Key subtractions: Russell Westbrook (trade), Paul George (trade), Jerami Grant (trade), Markieff Morris (free agency), Raymond Felton (free agency) and Patrick Patterson (waived).

The Thunder’s roster — and the entire franchise — experienced the violent tremors of NBA free agency in the summer when none of their core players were free agents.

In the early hours of July 6, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Oklahoma City would trade Paul George to the LA Clippers, turning that other LA team into the title front-runners and unmistakably setting the Thunder on their course to the team’s first rebuild.

Trading George was the catalyst for the rest of the summer. Within the next week, OKC general manager Sam Presti traded budding power forward Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets and franchise cornerstone Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets.

While the team received high-quality veterans Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari in those trades, the coveted prizes were the slew of first-round draft picks and promising young guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With the draft picks and now four players on the roster under the age of 22 — Gilgeous-Alexander, Terrance Ferguson, Hamidou Diallo and Darius Bazley — the team can begin to focus on the future rather than the present.

At the time of the 2019 NBA Draft, many Thunder fans and NBA analysts questioned the front office’s decision to select 19-year-old Bazley, a player who skipped out on going to college in favor of a one million New Balance internship and training for an NBA career. Bazley represented a high-risk, high-reward gamble that would take time to develop when it seemed clear that Oklahoma City needed immediate help with Westbrook and George on the roster.

In hindsight, the draft selection seems to have been a smart one. Bazley has the potential to be an excellent fit in the modern NBA as a lengthy small/power forward who can handle the ball and has solid court vision. Now with the team’s core gone and the beginning of a new era, Bazley will have time to develop without facing the expectations of deep playoff runs.

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