2023–24 Oklahoma City Thunder season
The 2023–24 Oklahoma City Thunder season will be the 16th season of the franchise in Oklahoma City and the 58th in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
| 2023–24 Oklahoma City Thunder season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mark Daigneault |
| General manager | Sam Presti |
| Owners | Professional Basketball Club LLC Clay Bennett (Chairman) |
| Arena | Paycom Center |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Local media | |
| Television | Bally Sports Oklahoma |
| Radio | KWPN and WWLS-FM |
Previous season
The Thunder finished the 2022–23 season 40–42 to finish third in the Northwest Division, tenth in the Western Conference and qualified for the play-in tournament. The Thunder won its first game against the New Orleans Pelicans but were eliminated against Minnesota Timberwolves in the second game. This marks the third consecutive season that the Thunder failed to qualify for the playoffs since moving to Oklahoma City.
| Season | Record | Seeding |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 22–50 | 14th |
| 2021–22 | 24–58 | 14th |
| 2022–23 | 40–42 | 10th |
In their third year of the rebuild, the Thunder exceeded their win expectations behind the All-Star play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, second year guard Josh Giddey, and rookie Jalen Williams. Gilgeous-Alexander broke out for the Thunder averaging a career-high 31.4 points, becoming one of the league's top scorers and notched his first All-Star selection.[1] Gilgeous-Alexander was later named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time.[2] With Giddey and Williams becoming the second and third leading scorers, the Thunder improved offensively and were fifth in points per game as a team after finishing last in the league last season.[3]
In his rookie season, Jalen Williams – the 12th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft – led the team in field goal percentage at 52.1% while averaging 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals a game.[4] Williams finished the season winning two Western Conference Rookie of the Month and was named to the All-Rookie First Team.[5]
The Thunder finished the 2022–23 season in the play-in tournament seeing their first postseason action since the 2019-20 season. Behind Gilgeous-Alexander's 32 points, Giddey's 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists, and Luguentz Dort's 27 points, the Thunder won its first ever play-in game before being eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves with a chance to make the playoffs.[6][7]
Offseason
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | ||||
| 2 | 37 | ||||
| 2 | 50 |
The Thunder had one first-round pick and two second-round picks entering the draft. Their sole first-round pick had a 1.7% chance to win the first overall pick and a 8.1% chance to jump in the top four after losing the tiebreaker with the Chicago Bulls for the eleventh best odds.[8] Sam Presti represented the Thunder in the lottery drawing room while Nick Collison represented the Thunder at the draft lottery for the second consecutive year. Since retiring, Collison has served a position within the Thunder's front office, recently being named an amateur evaluation scout.[9][10] With an 85.2% chance at staying at twelfth, the Thunder ended the night with the 12th overall pick.[11] After the lottery, the order of the Thunder's two second-round picks were revealed. Due to the San Antonio Spurs picking ahead of the Houston Rockets in the draft, the Thunder's second-round pick that would have been conveyed from the Portland Trail Blazers at 35th overall, was instead conveyed to the Boston Celtics. The Thunder instead, acquired the 50th overall pick from the Miami Heat.[12] The Thunder's other second-round pick, originally from the Washington Wizards via New Orleans Pelicans from the Steven Adams trade, landed at 37th overall.[13]
Roster
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Roster |
Salaries
Unrestricted free agent |
Restricted free agent |
■ Team option | ■ Player option | (TW) Two-way affiliate player | ‡ Waived with guaranteed money |
| Player | Salary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | $33,386,850 | $35,859,950 | $38,333,050 | $40,806,150 | UFA |
|
| Luguentz Dort | $15,277,778 | $16,500,000 | $17,722,222 | $17,722,222 | UFA |
|
| Chet Holmgren | $10,386,000 | $10,880,640 | $13,731,368 | RFA |
||
| Dario Šarić | UFA |
|||||
| Josh Giddey | $6,587,040 | $8,352,367 | RFA |
|||
| Ousmane Dieng | $4,798,440 | $5,027,040 | $6,670,882 | RFA |
||
| Jalen Williams | $4,558,680 | $4,775,760 | $6,580,997 | RFA |
||
| Aleksej Pokuševski | $5,009,633 | RFA |
||||
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | $1,900,000 | $1,988,598 | UFA |
|||
| Kenrich Williams | $6,175,000 | $6,669,000 | $7,163,000 | $7,163,000 | UFA |
|
| Jaylin Williams | $2,000,000 | $2,019,699 | $2,187,699 | UFA |
||
| Lindy Waters III | $1,927,896 | RFA |
||||
| Isaiah Joe | $1,997,238 | $2,164,993 | UFA |
|||
| Aaron Wiggins | $1,836,096 | $1,988,598 | UFA |
|||
| Jared Butler (TW) | RFA |
|||||
| Olivier Sarr (TW) | RFA |
|||||
Source: Spotrac
Staff
|
| |||||
References
- "Season Recap: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken an All-NBA leap". thunderousintentions.com. April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- "Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic lead 2022-23 Kia All-NBA 1st Team". nba.com. May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- "Team Points Per Game - 2022-23 Season". nba.com. May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- "Season Recap: Jalen Williams is a Future Star". thunderousintentions.com. April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- "Jalen Williams Named to All-Rookie First Team". nba.com. May 8, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- "Thunder vs Pelicans - April 12, 2023". nba.com. April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- "Thunder vs Timberwolves - April 14, 2023". nba.com. April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- "Ties broken for order of selection in 2023 NBA Draft presented by State Farm". nba.com. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- "Nick Collison to represent OKC Thunder at 2023 NBA Draft Lottery". oklahoman.com. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- "2023 NBA Draft Team Drawing Room Representatives". twitter.com. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- "2023 NBA Draft: Complete 1-58 order of picks". nba.com. May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
- "The Oklahoma City Thunder's pick fell from #35 to #50 by virtue of the Spurs moving ahead of the Rockets in the lottery". twitter.com. May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
- "Thunder Acquires George Hill, Zylan Cheatham, Josh Gray, Darius Miller, Kenrich Williams, One First and Two Second-Round Draft Picks and a Trade Exception". nba.com. November 24, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2023.