It’s an annual tradition, and a valuable time for young players to improve and grow with their teammates. On Saturday, Summer League begins in Orlando and the Thunder will use the week once again to develop the talented players on the roster.
The lifeblood of the Thunder organization has been its seemingly impossible balance of youthful experience. Ever since the first years of the team’s life in Oklahoma City, Thunder players have competed in Summer League to be prepared to make an on-court impact as early as possible in their careers.
As a part of the Thunder’s holistic player development program, the annual offseason week of work in Orlando is the reason players like Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, with just three years of NBA service apiece have been able to emerge as starters and impact the team at a high level.
“What we've tried to do over a period of time is make sure that we always have a continuation of our roster that could continue to improve as well as a sustainable environment and culture that is as organic as possible,” Thunder General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti said.
Since 2008, Thunder players have enjoyed the benefits of Summer League, as the coaching staff gets a reading on where each player is and where they can improve. Thunder rookie Domantas Sabonis, the number 11 selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, would typically be primed for that initial assessment. He will not participate in Summer League, however, because he plans to compete for his home country of Lithuania in the summer Olympics.
Returning players like Cameron Payne, Mitch McGary and Josh Huestis are, though, scheduled to headline a group of hard workers within the Thunder program down in Orlando. Every player, including the three from the Thunder roster, have specific aspects of their skillsets they want to work on during summer league, while also addressing the development of their overall games.
“Things like defense and rebounding, getting deflections,” Huestis outlined. “Those are the biggest things for me, just having energy and effort, and that's something that's just completely in my control, going into every single game and having that mindset.”
“Just attention to detail, not taking possessions off defensively, just staying in games the whole possession and seeing man and ball,” McGary added.
“I've got to work on my defense, still get better defensively,” Payne said. “Offense is going to come. It's going to come with playing defense and getting stops and getting on the break and things like that, and that's what comes out of me when we just get playing just in transition and things like that.”
This week will be a chance for players to focus on their individual games within the framework of a team setting as they compete with other NBA teams throughout the week. For the youngest generation of Thunder players and potential members of the Oklahoma City Blue, a crucial part of the Thunder program, Summer League is a vital step in their journey to honing their NBA skills.
“We feel like their best basketball is in front of them, all of them,” Presti said. “We're hopeful that they'll continue to improve, but not just individually in like individual workouts, but just in their own cohesion together as a team. I think that's what makes those guys unique is I think they fit with the other players on our team.”
Thunder Summer League Schedule: All times Central. Games broadcast live on NBATV
Saturday, July 2, 2016
8:00 a.m. - OKC @ Dallas
Sunday, July 3, 2016
4:00 p.m. - LA Clippers @ OKC
Monday, July 4, 2016
4:00 p.m. - Charlotte @ OKC
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
4:00 p.m. - Indiana @ OKC
Friday, July 8, 2016 *Championship Day*
7:00 a.m. - 6th place @ 5th place
9:00 a.m. - 4th place @ 3rd place
11:00 p.m. - 2nd place @ 1st place
1:00 p.m. - 8th place @ 7th place
3:00 p.m. - 10th place @ 9th place