The individual improvements that the Oklahoma City Thunder players made haven't gone unnoticed by their head coach, Mark Daigneault, who highlighted a handful of his guys. There are plenty of takeaways from Thunder's preseason, including centers Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams' physiques entering training camp. On the floor, Daigneault recognizes Cason Wallace from a basketball standpoint, and the same could be said about Chet Holmgren.
Daigneault spent time on the gains he's seen in each player throughout the Thunder's preseason.
“Some of it, in a vacuum, are the individual changes guys have made. I think there's a lot of examples of that,” Daigneault said. “Shai, some of his subtleties as a playmaker. Hartenstein's body is bigger coming into the season — Chet [Holmgren] — physically and game-wise. Cason Wallace's game. J-Will, obviously, really tightened his body up. Ajay Mitchell looks stronger. Dort came in with his best body comp in five years, I think. A lot of it is that.”
As the youngest team in the NBA, the Thunder have a handful of guys who've yet to reach the five-year mark of their respective careers, including supporting cast guys such as Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace, and Ajay Mitchell. It's one of the many reasons Daigneault has stressed the importance of improving ahead of the upcoming season.
“More chemistry, nuances — that's where we have to get better,” Daigneault added. “There's no guarantee that the things that were good at will carry over. So, we have to constantly figure out ways we can improve, and then address regressions as they come up,” Daigneault concluded.
Holmgren has yet to make his preseason debut. Daigneault says he's been ruled out due to a sore shoulder.
The ‘trend' Mark Daigneault recognized in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault knows Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's headspace is constantly looking ahead to who he will become. It's how he reached the impressive career milestone last season, including winning the NBA scoring title, a championship, and the Finals MVP.
For Daigneault, none of this is surprising to Gilgeous-Alexander, he explained, per GQ.
“The trend with Shai is that he always knew before any of us,” says Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. “He has always had a very clear vision for himself of not only where he wants to go, but what he needs to do next.”
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will begin the regular season at the Paycom Center on October 21.
