From Head Coach Mark Daigneault to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder roster grapples with a "weird" new reality as the foundational trio’s departure leaves a massive void.
It's official, Thunder fans: we are back.
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti's preseason press conference, the first of the two annual events that unofficially kick off the OKC hoops season, took place last Thursday morning.
Thunder Media Day, the second of the two annual events, took place on Monday afternoon at The Paycom Center. Now that Media Day has been marked off the calendar, training camp officially begins.
But before we jump into breaking down practices and preseason games, let's take a moment to highlight arguably the biggest running them of the 19th Thunder Media Day. The departure of longtime beloved OKC players Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins was a subject on which every player spoke.
OKC Head Coach Mark Daigneault, of course, had nothing but glowing things to say of the former Thunder trio. He says that while everybody talks about the NBA being a business, it's personal. Daigneault highlighted all the behind the scenes time the group spends together before bragging on Dort, Joe and Wiggins.
"Those guys.. unbelievable points of pride for the program," Daigneault said. "You talk about a mutually beneficial professional relationship, I mean, those guys came at the back of the draft. They were not established when they came here. Helped build the identity of the team. Helped build the success that we now have and contributed to our rise and have their fingerprints all over a ton of success. It set them up to be decade-long NBA players and set them up to be great contributors in their new situations, and they have left an unbelievable imprint on us as well."
The reality of Dort, Joe and Wiggins being gone hasn't hit the back to back Most Valuable Player quite yet.
"I was saying to somebody yesterday that it feels like they are not even gone," Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Like it feels like we are going to see them in a few minutes at team pictures, just because those guys, all three of them, were like so embedded in our group. Obviously we're a really close, tight-knit group, and those guys had a big hand in not only our success on the court but the relationships and the brotherhood off the court. And that will never change. Those guys will only be one call away from me and vice versa."
Weird. That's the word that Jalen Williams kept going back to when asked what it was like not having Dort, Wiggins and Joe around.
"It's the weirdest thing ever. And I've been part of trades before. It's just very weird," Williams said. "Lu was my locker mate, and then Wiggs is across from me and Isaiah is over there like kind of far end."
While Gilgeous-Alexander imagined seeing the trio for media day pictures, Williams was already envisioning them at future Thunder events.
"I don't even know how to describe it. It's just weird," Williams continued. "Me and Shai were talking about it yesterday, and it's like I'm picturing Lu going to our team picnic. In my head I'm like, all right, I'm going to see Lu there or Wiggs there or what am I going to say to Isaiah."
Williams echoed the overarching sentiment that Dort, Wiggins and Joe will be missed due to their close bonds within the team. Their contributions on the court will be missed, of course, but every Thunder player is excited about the state of the team and players stepping up into the roles vacated.
"It's very weird, and I feel like it's one of those things where like when you win championships with people, and those are guys that have been there the whole time I've been there, you grow like a really deep connection," Williams concluded. "It has been weird, but I'm also excited about what our team looks like and just our new look. I'm really excited to have other guys fill those shoes and do really well in that role. So I'm excited. But it is very weird."
