Early NBA Finals predictions
Early 2026 NBA Finals predictions
Vit Krejčí was drafted by the OKC Thunder in 2020 but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2022.Despite a torn ACL and other injuries early in his career, Krejčí credits the Thunder with teaching him how to be an NBA professional.After being waived by Atlanta and spending time in the G League, Krejčí rejoined the Hawks on a two-way contract.His strong performance in the 2023-24 season earned him a four-year, $10.2 million contract with Atlanta.
ATLANTA — Deep inside the winding tunnels of State Farm Arena, a commotion can be heard.
It’s coming from the away locker room, where some of OKC’s players are hanging out with just over an hour left until their game against Atlanta on Saturday. The loudest of the bunch is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s chatting freely between bites of spaghetti. He’s jokingly challenging Cason Wallace to score 50 points tonight in a matchup with his older brother Keaton.
It’s also a meaningful game for Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s playing against his cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker. But there’s another Thunder connection on the Hawks’ roster that has flown under the radar of the casual fan.
It’s Vit Krejčí, who was part of the OKC family to begin his career from 2020-22. And as he sat alone in silence within Atlanta’s locker room, just a short walk down the hall from his former teammates, he welcomed the chance to talk about his time with the Thunder.
It’s the team that selected him in the second round (No. 37 overall) of the 2020 draft despite a recently-torn ACL in his left knee. And it’s the team that showed him what it takes to stick in the NBA, which he’s now doing as a rotational piece for Atlanta.
“I appreciate Sam (Presti) for giving me the opportunity,” Krejčí told The Oklahoman before scoring 13 points off the bench in Atlanta’s 117-100 loss. “Once I got injured, I thought I wasn’t going to get drafted, so I was really blessed. … They really helped me through that process and believed in me. … You’ve got to be a pro, and they helped me with that.”
‘It made me stronger’
Krejčí’s torn ACL has healed over time, and so has perspective on the major injury. The Czech Republic native now describes it as something “good and bad” that happened to him.
The “bad” is that it occurred just two games into Krejci’s 2020-21 season with Basket Zaragoza, a team in Spain’s Liga ACB. It was a September game he wouldn’t have played in if the NBA Draft was held in June like it usually is, but it was pushed back to November because of COVID-19.
Krejčí plummeted in virtually every draft board. He even fell out of some entirely. But the “good” is that he landed with OKC, a franchise with plenty of young pieces and even more patience after trading away veteran guard Chris Paul two days earlier to lean further into its redirection.
Krejčí missed the entire 2020-21 season as he rehabbed. He watched the Thunder’s games from the suite level of an empty Paycom Center, which fans weren’t allowed into due to the pandemic.
Krejčí couldn’t sit on the bench because he was still without a contract. And while it wasn’t an ideal situation at first glance, the bird’s-eye view provided a better look at the big picture.
“It was nice to have that one year where I didn’t have that pressure that I had to play and perform,” Krejčí said. “I was just seeing the schedule, seeing how the guys work, how to prepare your body and how to prepare your mental state to always be ready to perform at the highest level.”
Krejčí’s time to perform came the following season. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 23 minutes throughout 30 outings, which included eight starts.
Krejčí delivered solid production as an oversized guard with good instincts, a strong motor and a developing shot. But health continued to be an issue, as he underwent an arthroscopic procedure after the season to alleviate a nagging left knee injury.
“When we drafted him, he was coming off of an injury,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “And he really was never able to get himself totally healthy for a sustained period with us. That’s hard mentally when you’re trying to establish yourself the way that he was.”
Krejčí did what he could to establish himself whenever his jersey number was called. But at around 4 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2022, his phone rang while on his way to OKC’s practice facility.
It was Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, who told Krejčí he’d been traded to the Hawks in exchange for Maurice Harkless and a 2029 second-round pick. And by 7 a.m. the next day, Krejčí was on a flight to Atlanta.
“It was very, very fast,” Krejčí said. “It was another experience for me, getting to know how the league works and how fast it can go in some other direction. But I’m glad I went through it. It made me stronger, and it made me realize you can’t ever count on anything. You just have to put in the work and focus on yourself.”
That fast-paced lifestyle didn’t slow down once Krejčí left OKC.
After struggling to crack Atlanta’s rotation during the 2022-23 season, he was waived. And after signing a training camp contract with Minnesota the following summer, he tore a ligament in his finger during one of the final days of camp. He then spent the next three months rehabbing with its G League team, the Iowa Wolves.
Krejčí is ‘really starting to find a home’
Krejčí was certain he’d be spending Christmas of 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa, where the Wolves are located.
He was so certain that he booked a flight for his family to visit for the holidays. He was supposed to meet up with them following a pair of NBA G League Winter Showcase games in Orlando from Dec. 20-22.
But before Iowa tipped off against the Long Island Nets on Dec. 22, Krejčí received a call from Atlanta assistant general manager Kyle Korver. The Hawks were signing him to a two-way contract, and they wanted him to join them in Miami that day for their game against the Heat.
“During the time my family was on a plane, I had to reschedule and buy them tickets to Atlanta,” Krejčí said with a laugh. “It was a whole crazy, crazy thing. Again, another example of how this league works and how fast it can go another way.”
But for the first time in a while, it felt like something was going Krejčí’s way. And as he walked into the away locker room inside Miami’s Kaseya Center, he hollered “We back” before dapping up each of his Atlanta teammates.
“I was in a rough spot at the time, being in Iowa,” Krejčí said. “I didn’t play, and I was just coming off of an injury. Just having (Atlanta) trust in me and give me another opportunity was huge.”
Krejčí knew he had to make the most of his second chance. But the question was how he’d do it.
He turned to Zephaniah Moore, a player development coach Krejčí had been working with since he was drafted. They’d spent countless hours working together in a hidden gem of a gym in Moore while Krejčí was with the Thunder, and that relationship never halted throughout Krejčí’s numerous stops.
Moore described Krejčí as a “B-plus in everything” early on. But while C’s get degrees, A’s earn a raise in the NBA. And the key was to find a role Krejčí could thrive in to reach that next contract. That proved to be a stretch forward who can guard multiple positions, all while showing flashes of the downhill playmaking that helped him stand out as a 19-year-old pro in Spain.
“That’s been a very unique journey for him,” Moore, the founder of Get Moore Game, told The Oklahoman. “I think now he’s really starting to find a home in that role and that identity as a basketball player. It’s taken years, but it’s been a fun journey.”
A typical offseason training day for Krejčí starts with a weight-room session from around 9-10:30 a.m. Next is a film and skills session on the court until about 12:30 p.m. Then, after resting for a bit, he’ll return to the court from around 4:30-5:30 p.m. to focus on specific shooting actions and sets.
And the work doesn’t end in the summer. Krejčí will sometimes turn to Moore during the season to prepare for a tough matchup, like when he was tasked with defending Brandon Ingram in a game against New Orleans on March 10, 2024.
Krejčí reached out at around 2 p.m. on the day of the 7 p.m. contest, and Moore sent clips of Ingram for them to study within an hour. The Pelicans ultimately won that game, but Krejčí helped hold Ingram to a season-low seven points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field (0 for 1 from deep) in 32 minutes.
Performances like that helped Krejčí earn a consistent role during the 2023-24 season, averaging 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 24.6 minutes on 41.2% shooting from deep. And it helped him earn a four-year, $10.2 million contract with Atlanta the following summer.
“You’ve seen Vit’s confidence grow,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said of Krejčí’s development. “There are some things he just does naturally that are really hard to teach. He’s got a really good feel for the game. He makes other people better when he’s on the floor, and that’s maybe the best compliment you can give to a player.”
Krejčí’s former Thunder teammates are ‘happy for him’
Krejčí received plenty of congratulatory calls once he signed his new contract.
That included Aaron Wiggins, who reached out the minute he heard the news. It was a special moment between the former teammates, who both joined the Thunder as second-round picks. They also played together on the OKC Blue, and they even lived in the same apartment complex for a brief period.
Now, they’ve both found a home in the league.
“I was happy for him,” Wiggins told The Oklahoman. “I pointed out where we were at early on in our careers and how far we’ve come to this point. I’m happy for him, man.”
Krejčí is equally happy to see his former teammates succeed.
A smile spread across his face when he talked about Wiggins, who signed a five-year, $47 million contract just seven days after Krejčí signed his deal. And he smiled even harder when he talked about the Thunder’s championship last season.
Krejčí continues to follow OKC as it makes some noise in the NBA, regardless of how far his basketball journey takes him from his former home.
He’s still within earshot of it all.
“I’m super happy for them,” Krejčí said. “It’s nice to see everybody twice a year.”
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.