Oklahoma City Thunder 2021-22 NBA Roster: Can Gilgeous-Alexander Fire the Thunder Into the Playoffs This Time?

Oklahoma City Thunder has been struggling for an NBA championship for a long time now. They won their only NBA title in 1979, but they were the Seattle SuperSonics back then. However, since moving to Oklahoma, the franchise has missed out on the playoffs on just three occasions. Last season, they finished 14th in the Western Conference and posted a 22-50 record.

After a disastrous season under a newly appointed coach, Mark Daigneault, everyone expected the Thunder management to make some important signings for the new season. However, Sam Presti and co. have added little experience to their roster for the 2021-22 NBA season.

Out of seven additions by the Thunder, five are rookies. Last season, the Thunder had the lowest win percentage since the 2008-09 season. But despite that, they have failed to make some noise in the off-season.

Incoming players

Derrick Favors

The Thunder acquired 30-year-old power forward Derrick Favors from Utah Jazz for a 2027 2nd-round pick and cash considerations. The veteran has spent most of his career at Utah Jazz. He was traded to New Orleans Pelicans in 2019, but he signed with Utah again last year.

He has featured in the playoffs for five seasons, all of them coming with the Jazz. Derrick joins the Thunder after starting 11 playoff matches for the Jazz last season.

Charlie Brown

Brown signed a two-way contract with Atlanta Hawks, after going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft. He last played for Iowa Wolves in the NBA G League and averaged 12.5 PPG. Charlie signed a 10-day contract with the Thunder In April this year. He recently penned down a multi-year contract with the Thunder after signing his 2nd 10-day contract. However, he doesn’t have much NBA experience and has featured in just 10 NBA games.

Vit Krejci

Washington Wizards drafted the 21-year-old Czech point guard 37th overall in the 2020 NBA draft. However, he was traded to the Thunder and was signed by Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate, Oklahoma City Blue. Krejci has signed with the Thunder earlier this month on a multi-year deal.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Rookie)

Josh Giddey (6th pick- 2021 Draft), Tre Mann (18th pick- 2021 Draft), Aaron Wiggins (55th pick- 2021 Draft)

Outgoing players

Tony Bradley (Chicago Bulls)

23-year-old Tony has signed a one-year contract with Chicago Bulls. He was traded to the Thunder in March 2021 in a three-team trade. He featured in 22 games for the Thunder, all of them coming from the bench.

Moses Brown (Dallas Mavericks) and Al Horford (Boston Celtics)

Moses Brown and Al Horford were traded to the Celtics in June 2021. While Horford remained at the Celtics, Moses was traded to Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Josh Richardson.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Toronto Raptors)

Jaylen Hoard

Oklahoma City Thunder 2021-22 NBA Roster

Frontcourt

Darius Bazley

Gabriel Deck

Derrick Favors

Josh Hall

Mike Muscala

Aleksej Pokusevski

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Isaiah Roby

Aaron Wiggins

Kenrich Williams

Backcourt

Charlie Brown

Luguentz Dort

Josh Giddey

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Ty Jerome

Vit Krejci

Theo Maledon

Tre Mann

Oklahoma City Thunder hasn’t been very busy during the off-season and most of their additions are rookies. Mark Daigneault had a poor first season with the Thunder, who missed out on the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

However, some of the rookie additions are very talented and could become the next big thing in the NBA. But the additions don’t bring much experience to the roster. It’ll be interesting to see how the Thunder performs in the coming season with a young roster.

ALSO READ- “Huge Fan of His”: Oklahoma City Thunder’s New Australian Prodigy Josh Giddey in Awe of Luka Doncic