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After a variety of offseason moves, the Oklahoma City Thunder look completely different heading into training camp than at the end of last season. Most notably, they traded away Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams, leaving quite the void to fill.
Late this afternoon, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced their finalized twenty man training camp roster. This includes 18 guys on standard NBA deals and the pair of two-way players they recently signed.
This roster is compromised of primarily young players who are still early in their NBA career.
- Three rookies
- Six players entering their second NBA season
- Four players entering their third NBA season
- Two players entering their fourth NBA season
- Five players entering their fifth NBA season or more
It’s worth noting that Oklahoma City cannot carry this many players into the regular season, meaning at least three members of their training camp roster will be waived in the near future.
With the way the roster is currently built, the Thunder aren’t projected to be a playoff team. For Oklahoma City in the 2020-21 season, it will likely be more about developing players and obtaining a high first-round pick rather than being about winning games and making a playoff push. Additionally, new Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault will spend the upcoming season getting acquainted to the new role.
With the help of veterans Al Horford and George Hill, guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Darius Bazley will look to take over the team this season. Over the course of the offseason, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has talked a lot about the faith and responsibility he is putting in guys like Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, and Bazley as they pivot towards the next generation of Thunder basketball.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will kick off their preseason campaign against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday evening.