OKC Thunder: Ranking the Thunder’s projected starting lineup
By Ryan Love
The OKC Thunder has turned its roster over again. The projected starting lineup will be young, talented and potentially fun to watch.
The OKC Thunder is going to look a lot different this season after another offseason makeover.
The Thunder traded away veterans Chris Paul and Steven Adams, taking on several draft picks and an assortment of contracts in return.
Left behind is a mix of young talent and reliable veterans that makes up the ideal roster for a team with low expectations in the middle of a rebuild.
New head coach Mark Daigneault will have to mold those young players while keeping the veterans like Al Horford and Trevor Ariza involved — if only to keep their value high for potential future trades.
Related Story. Ranking the top 50 NBA players of next season. light
Daigneault has experience working with a variety of players of different ages and standing after spending five seasons as head coach of the G-League Oklahoma City Blue.
He’ll now have to make his first NBA starting lineup out of the new mix.
Last season, the Thunder chose to start Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alongside Chris Paul in the backcourt — allowing the former Kentucky Wildcat to shine in an expanded role.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander looks to be the only returning starter — but he won’t be completely surrounded by new faces when tipoff comes around.
Despite all the offseason changes, some of the bright spots from the Thunder bench of last season will likely see significant playing time both as starters and coming off the bench for this new version of the team.
The team hasn’t announced a starting lineup for their season opener, but we’ll take a look at who to expect — and of course, we will rank them as well.