As the Oklahoma City Thunder head into the final week of the preseason, head coach Mark Daigneault says the plan is simple: keep things individualized and intentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really just about readiness,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cGet them what they need from a rhythm standpoint, conditioning standpoint, and just get them ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some players, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Jalen Williams, that means maintaining rhythm and health. For others, it\u2019s about stacking valuable developmental reps. The Thunder\u2019s trip to Milwaukee this week features a notable traveling group including Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Jaylin Williams as the team continues to mix in game work with targeted rest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Daigneault emphasized collaboration with veterans to fine-tune how much preseason action they need.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re so experienced,\u201d he said. \u201cThey understand how to pace themselves into a season \u2026 and I do way more listening than talking in those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Development Focus<\/p>\n
One player Daigneault singled out was AJ Johnson, who\u2019s showing promise defensively after adding muscle this offseason. \u201cHe\u2019s got high intellect and he competes,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cSometimes you just gotta wait it out and let the reps catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chemistry and Conflict<\/p>\n
Asked about team chemistry, especially as a young core grows together, Daigneault noted that healthy tension can actually be a strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of what makes these teams that are together for a long time viable and stronger is also conflict and adversity,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s how you grow \u2026 every time there\u2019s adversity, it\u2019s either a threat or an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Thunder will wrap up preseason play this week before opening the regular season next Wednesday night. It\u2019s a group looking to balance youth, depth, and confidence heading into a year with real expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Oklahoma City Thunder head into the final week of the preseason, head coach Mark Daigneault says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[1289,4008,328,7,205,366,949,364,6563,182,1622,102,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,209,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-339622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-aaron-wiggins","9":"tag-aj-johnson","10":"tag-alex-caruso","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-cason-wallace","13":"tag-chet-holmgren","14":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","15":"tag-jalen-williams","16":"tag-jaylin-williams","17":"tag-lu-dort","18":"tag-mark-daigneault","19":"tag-milwaukee","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-oklahoma","22":"tag-oklahoma-city","23":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","24":"tag-oklahomacity","25":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","26":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","27":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115370097621121732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}