The Oklahoma City Thunder has been a very successful team this season. It has won 44 of 54 games, good for the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed by eight games. It has recorded a league-best +12.8 net rating with the No. 1 defense (104.5 DRTG) by almost four points. It is one of six squads with multiple All-Stars.
Things were not always sunshine and rainbows.
Oklahoma City shipped out Chris Paul, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder and Danilo Gallinari in the 2020 offseason after a seven-game first-round exit, fully committing to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the face of the franchise and Luguentz Dort as a vital development player. It went 22-50 in the shortened 2020-21 season and 24-58 in the 2021-22 campaign.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault reflected on the franchise’s multi-year rebuild during his All-Star media availability on Saturday. A turnaround this big, this fast, seemed unfathomable if not impossible.
“Rebuilds are tough,” Daigneault said. “We had the wind at our back because it’s a great organization with great history. As little continuity as we had in the team, we had as much continuity organizationally, so the foundation was really strong.”
The Thunder was not guaranteed certain lottery results for finishing with a poor record, or player breakouts after playing them significant minutes. The life of a rebuilding team brings pressure, uncertainty and monotony.
Some organizations rush the process to try and contend, while others wait patiently to bear the fruits of the journey. Oklahoma City falls into the latter group.
“When you’re going through that cycle of the team, the process of breaking the team down and then building it back up, it takes a long time,” Daigneault said. “You can’t just decide you’re gonna do it. … It’s sometimes a messy process and there’s definitely regressions in there. There’s a notion of taking one step backward so you can take two steps forward.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has always been the Thunder’s ace in the hole — he even led the team in scoring during the surprisingly successful 2019-20 season. Dort has improved from a defensive specialist to a two-way threat. They have experienced growth next to a cast that shares meaningful qualities.
Jalen Williams can make his scoring mark at all three levels, just like Gilgeous-Alexander. Cason Wallace refuses to back down from any perimeter matchup, which also applies to Dort. But more importantly, the will to win games permeates throughout the roster. Starting in October 2022, Oklahoma City improved by 16 and 17 wins in consecutive seasons — and the team is on pace for another double-digit jump this year.
“The character of our players has been the bedrock of the whole thing for us,” Daigneault said. “There’s really nothing that we’ve thrown at them that they haven’t reacted to with hard work, professionalism, optimism and chemistry. That’s really set us in a great direction, even back then.”
Boston Celtics center Al Horford, who won his first championship in his 17th campaign last June, only played 28 games in his lone season (2020-21) with the Thunder after arriving in an offseason trade from Philadelphia. Still, mentors like Horford, whom Daigneault called a “great professional,” helped cultivate the existing roster’s timely and focused development.
“He was just never cynical — that was the best thing about Al,” Daigneault said. “He always looked for the best in everything. He was optimistic, he was invested in the young players. … And it was my first year, so I’ve always been grateful to him. The way that he approached every day, the way he treated me, he was the real deal.”
Oklahoma City’s rebuild has concluded but its principles remain intact. Daigneault looks to maximize the roster with a flexible minutes distribution and combinations, and general manager Sam Presti has not gone all-in with movable assets during the offseason or leading up to the trade deadline. Diligence and consistency are key in an environment Daigneault said is “independent of outcomes.”
“We had a group of guys that were hungry, professional, and we tried to stay very focused on the things we can control,” Daigneault said. “Pouring into them, just getting a little bit better, letting the results be what they are. Those are good foundational principles that we still try to carry with us as we’re one of the better teams in the league so far this season.”