The only additions the Oklahoma City Thunder made to their roster were through the 2022 NBA draft.
The Thunder ended up selecting four rookies: Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.
Outside of those four, the Thunder had a relatively quiet summer where their headline moves were handing out extensions to Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams while bringing back Mike Muscala.
The summer the Thunder had makes sense as the team is currently undergoing a rebuild. The only players the team should add come from the draft because of this.
Let’s take a look at four bold predictions for the newcomers and their rookie seasons.
Chet Holmgren leads the team in blocks
OK this one might not be that bold but still. A large reason Holmgren went No. 2 in the draft was because of his elite rim protection skills that see him take advantage of his lengthy frame.
At Gonzaga, Holmgren averaged an eye-popping 3.7 blocks in just 27 minutes of action. While he probably will not average anything close to that number his rookie season, he should collect enough blocks to be the team leader on the Thunder — whose block leader from last season (Darius Bazley) averaged just one per game.
Ousmane Dieng records multiple 20-point performances
Drafting Dieng came with the caveat that he will be a long-term project for the Thunder. This was seen last year, his lone season in the NBL, where a terrible first half of his season labeled him undraftable before a strong finish boosted him into the lottery.
Dieng is unlikely to offer much impact during his rookie seaso. Odds are he will spend significant time in the G League. However, I can see Dieng have a few scoring outburst games — especially in March/April, when teams are resting players.
If Dieng does, that should be plenty of evidence to excite the fan base on the 19-year-old’s potential as he develops and improves.
Jalen Williams becomes a starter
While this isn’t a long shot, it’s a reach. Jalen Williams is seen as a more ready-now player who can make an immediate impact.
Williams definitely has both the on-ball and off-ball skills to seamlessly fit into the starting lineup. While he will likely start the season off the bench, there is a spot in the starting five that will be up for grabs all season.
Jaylin Williams avoids the G League
Honestly, this might be the boldest prediction of the bunch. Williams was drafted in the second round and is a work in progress on offense, but he has certain skills that can easily translate to the NBA very quickly.
Williams will likely spend the most time out of the four rookies with the Oklahoma City Blue, but if he can immediately contribute as a solid defensive frontcourt player off the bench, maybe there’s a chance the team deems him too valuable to hand him G League assignments.
