January Stretch Could Provide Opportunities for OKC Thunder Prospects

From Christmas day through the end of January, Oklahoma City will play a whopping 29 total games. The hardest part for this Thunder team is that entire stretch doesn’t consist of any consecutive days off. They’ll play three back-to-backs and experience very little rest over the month long stretch.

It seems daunting for sure, but it could actually end up providing the perfect prove it opportunity for some of Oklahoma City’s young players looking to break out. The perfect example of this dates back to last season, as Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe experienced serious success when the stars needed a day or two off. It was a huge confidence builder for the Thunder’s role players, and could serve the same purpose this season.

Veterans like Alex Caruso , Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein could certainly use a few days off. Even the stars, although still young, could benefit from a breather too. Wi th the load that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams have to carry, combined with Chet Holmgren needing fresh legs, could open the perfect path to meaningful minutes for some of the guys that won’t play every night.

One player who could benefit most from rest in the rotation is Ousmane Dieng . He didn’t get the same runway that some of the Thunder’s prospects did during the rebuild simply because the Thunder got good in a hurry. Dieng has shown flashes, and has dominated in the G League at times, and could really use a stretch of heavy minutes. He could also experiment with different roles, too, as a connector and a scorer.

Other young players like Ajay Mitchell could really benefit from an elevated role, too. Mitchell has had to shoulder the scoring load in the Summer League and could probably put up huge numbers with more volume. Thomas Sorber , the Thunder’s rookie, could step in if the big men need a night or two off as well. 

Of course, Nikola Topic is another young player who could use all the minutes and opportunities possible. If SGA and Williams need a night off, Topic can experience what it’s like to run the show by getting his teammates involved and initiating offense.

It allows those players to experience different roles than just trying to fit in, too. They’ll get to run the show in the Thunder’s effective system and put their own twist on things.