With unprecedented depth, the Thunder face a playoff rotation puzzle. Discover who earns crucial minutes and who sees their role shrink.
The general consensus and accepted truth is that the Oklahoma City Thunder are the deepest team in the NBA.
The only two players on the entire 15 man roster who do not receive regular rotation minutes are Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber. And the only reason neither of them see the floor is due to injury. Topic missed his entire first season due to an ACL recovery and missed most of this season battling through a testicular cancer diagnosis and three bouts of chemotherapy. Sorber is out for his entire rookie season due to ACL recovery. But both are highly regarded prospects with a bright future.
Each one of the remaining 13 players on the roster are talented enough to deserve minutes on a nightly basis. But there are only so many minutes to go around. Those minutes start shrinking even more in the playoffs when rotations tighten and coaches tend to play their best players for larger portions of the game.
Which begs the question: on a team as talented and deep as the Thunder, what will their rotation look like in the playoffs? Who is headed for a postseason minutes bump? Who is headed for a postseason minutes decline? Let's rank the roster player by player by probable playoff minutes.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The reigning MVP and best player in the world will play as minutes as need be in every competitive playoff game.
2. Jalen Williams. OKC's second leading scorer and playmaker through last year's playoff run is rounding into form at the perfect time. Assuming no managing minutes due to injury, Williams will play 35 plus minutes nightly.
3. Chet Holmgren. The first time All-Star is a matchup nightmare in the playoffs with his elite rim protection on one end and ability to space the floor at the other end. He will join Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams in the 35 minutes a game club.
4. Isaiah Hartenstein. The Thunder's starting center and best rebounder will play a healthy amount of minutes. But there will be nights or maybe even series when OKC wants to space the floor or go small a bit more than usual.
5. Lu Dort. There's a reason why OKC fans have dubbed him "Big Game Lu." The lockdown defender tends to show up on the biggest stage with timely buckets. The Thunder have plenty of options in the 3&D guard spot, but Dort is still the top guy.
6. Ajay Mitchell. Expect a plethora of minutes for OKC's third best shot creator and playmaker. Mitchell is the Thunder's playoff X factor that they didn't have last year.
7. Alex Caruso. Probably the player that should arguably be ranked higher. Caruso's impact on winning goes to a completely different level in the postseason.
8. Cason Wallace. OKC trusts their third perimeter defender fully to take on the Lu Dort role any given time. Wallace's two way play will find a big role in the Thunder's quest to go back to back.
9. Jaylin Williams. The Thunder's third big has maybe taken the biggest leap on this team outside of Mitchell. Williams has proven to no longer be a luxury, he's become a necessity.
10. Isaiah Joe. The bench sharpshooter will swing a game or two with his 3 point shooting.
11. Jared McCain. The bench sharpshooter will swing a game or two with his 3 point shooting.
12. Aaron Wiggins. Despite his role being in question with the additions of Mitchell and McCain to the playoff rotation, the man who saved basketball had a handful of important moments during OKC's postseason championship run. He'll get some opportunities.
13. Kenrich Williams. There will be a moment or two in the playoffs when Mark Daigneault wants an interjection of high level energy and hustle and he'll call on OKC's vet to do the job.
14. Nikola Topic. This season has already been an overwhelming success story for Topic. Any minutes he gets in the playoffs will be icing on the cake.
15. Thomas Sorber. He will try to join Topic as the only players in league history to win an NBA championship before playing an NBA minute.