OKC Thunder: Summer League takeaways

The Oklahoma City Thunder have learned a lot about some of their upcoming young players over the past week.

Playing five games in the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League, the Thunder would present their four recent draft picks along with several other players. Finishing with a 2-3 record, Oklahoma City’s roster would be shaken up several times, allowing others to outdo themselves and perform at a high level.

With less than two months to go for the preseason games to kick off, the Summer League was an opportunity for players to gain momentum as they made their way to training camp and then have a go. ultimately to land a spot on the 15-player roster, a bilateral deal or even a contract with OKC Blue in the G League.

Although the Thunder won their first NBA Summer League contest, they lost their top pick. Selected sixth overall in last month’s draft, Josh Giddey injured his ankle with three offensive possessions on his NBA debut and would not return to the Summer League.

With that in mind, the very first game of his career was an impressive move to reach the edge and finish with authority.

In just over five minutes of action, most of which to an injured ankle, Giddey finished with two points while converting one of his three shot attempts.

It wasn’t a sample size enough to take anything away, so Thunder fans will have to wait until at least preseason to really see it in long minutes.

Known for being an oversized and intelligent combo guard, Giddey will have high expectations as OKC looks to pair him alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the next half decade or more.

Their other first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft was Tre Mann, who is a flashy guard who can score at a high level. While he didn’t convert on many of his shots in the Summer League, he showed the ability to create any shot he wanted.

A walking reel, Mann will immediately become a fan favorite during his rookie year. Unfortunately for him, his summer league was cut short after two games for personal reasons. After a performance in which Mann produced 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds, his summer would come to an end.

Mann finished the NBA Summer League averaging 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

With their top two picks running out of time, it opened the door for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who was selected 32nd overall in the July Draft. In fact, he was Oklahoma City’s best player in all five of the summer championship games.

The most consistent and complete player on the roster, Robinson-Earl averaged 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 33.3 percent from deep. He has shown the ability to do it all on both sides of the pitch and should be an immediate contributor for the Thunder as a rookie.

With all of that in mind, Theo Maledon was the undisputed leader of the team throughout the Summer League. The most experienced player in the roster, he started in 49 games last season as a rookie.

The second-year goaltender was inconsistent at times throughout the week, but finished averaging 9.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 35.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Looking better physically after a few months of training, Maledon will likely have a huge role with the Thunder in the 2021-22 season. If he manages to control his turnovers, he will have the chance to take a big step forward this season as one of the team’s best contributors.

The two most surprising NBA Summer League players for the Thunder were Aaron Wiggins and Rob Edwards.

Wiggins was selected with the No.55 pick in last month’s draft and signed a two-part deal. However, he has shown flashes of being potentially good enough to convert to a full-time contract in the coming season.

He struggled from threes, but featured highly skilled attacking play and averaged 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in the Summer Championship.

Edwards played for the OKC Blue in the G League last season and has clearly taken another step offensively. While he didn’t do much besides scoring, he did it better than anyone on the list. He has scored 23 or more points in two of the Thunder’s five summer championship games.

Although his 3-point shot was scored, he finished the summer averaging 11.2 points per game while converting 33.3% of his three.

Overall, it wasn’t the Summer League experience that the Thunder’s front office was expecting. While they probably wanted to assess their first two players and gain some experience for them, it was great to see others step up in their absence.

After Desire turns out to be a productive NBA Summer League, training camp will begin soon as teams prepare for the start of the 2021-22 season.