Frontcourt Spots Up For Grabs In Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 1-3 through their first four games of the season. Injuries have already played a role in the outcome of these contests, as Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams have missed the majority of the early season.

With that in mind, the backcourt rotation is already pretty firm. When fully healthy, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and Giddey are essentially locked into stating spots. From there, Tre Mann and Jalen Williams appear to the primary guards that will play major minutes off the bench.

On the flip side, the frontcourt rotation is completely up for grabs. Both the starting power forward and center spots are waiting for one of the Thunder’s young prospects to take as their own. To this point in the season, the minutes at those two frontcourt spots has been extremely variable as the team explores rotations and lineup combinations. The minutes distribution and starting lineups have changed significantly on a game-to-game basis.

With that in mind, it’s really been the same six players that have earned the bulk of the time on court. Let’s take a look at the minutes breakdown for each of these rotational pieces through the first four games of the 2022-23 campaign.

Aleksej Pokusevski

• Game 1: 24:48 (Starter)
• Game 2: 12:05 (Starter)
• Game 3: 13:11
• Game 4: 16:37

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

• Game 1: 12:24
• Game 2: 18:21 (Starter)
• Game 3: 25:34 (Starter)
• Game 4: 22:46 (Starter)

Kenrich Williams

• Game 1: 22:00 (Starter)
• Game 2: 16:03
• Game 3: 18:23 (Starter)
• Game 4: 25:25

Darius Bazley

• Game 1: 16:52
• Game 2: 21:02
• Game 3: 04:27
• Game 4: 19:30

Ousmane Dieng

• Game 1: 09:05
• Game 2: 07:03
• Game 3: 23:27
• Game 4: 10:19

Mike Muscala

• Game 1: 07:31
• Game 2: 18:49
• Game 3: 11:16
• Game 4: 17:59

This doesn’t even take into account Aaron Wiggins, who started a game at power forward, Eugene Omoruyi or Jaylin Williams who have also played front court minutes.

This variability in the front court minutes should be expected, as Thunder coach Mark Daigneault alluded to this being something the team was going to explore early in the season. Without an experienced, traditional center on the roster, the coaching staff is having to get creative with their lineups.

What’s interesting is that despite being undersized in every game this season and going up against three of the most dominant centers in the league already through the first few contests of the season, Oklahoma City actually leads the league in rebounding.

Expect the frontcourt rotation to continue changing quite a bit until someone steps up as the clear best option.

Robinson-Earl has notched three-straight starts, which gives him the most of any player in this group. There’s a chance he’s already started to solidify himself as a regular starter.

The fact that Pokusevski is a 7-footer gives him an advantage as it relates to being a starter, as he’s the tallest player on the roster.

Dieng will likely play significant minutes in the G League once the Blue’s season kicks off, but so will Omoruyi and Jaylin Williams. This will only open more minutes for the other guys that are currently in the Thunder rotation.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of rookie Jalen Williams becoming a starter in the frontcourt. Although he’s more of a guard, he’s got the size and skillset that gives the Thunder flexibility to slot him into the starting lineup, especially if Giddey is playing alongside him for extra size.