The month of August is typically bereft of live NBA games.
It’s usually the final respite for players before they re-assemble in their team’s cities in September and October for training camp. Last August, however, the NBA was congregated in Orlando for the resumption of the 2019-20 season and playoffs in a bubble. This year, after a delayed start to the 2020-21 campaign, the Thunder and the other 29 NBA squads will be lacing them up in August once again – this time at Summer League in Las Vegas.
Summer League is reserved as a haven for development for some of the youngest players on each team’s roster, and this year the Thunder will have returners Charlie Brown Jr., Josh Hall, Jaylen Hoard and the number 34 selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, Théo Maledon in action out in Las Vegas. Brown Jr., Hall and Hoard all saw spot rotation minutes throughout the 2020-21 season, but Maledon led the team in minutes played as a 19-year-old, averaging 10.1 points and 3.5 assists per game over the course of 65 games and 49 starts.
Thunder fans will also be flocking to their televisions to catch the newest batch of Thunder players in action. The four rookies, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins will all be suiting up in Oklahoma City jerseys for the first time in their professional careers.
“This is a group of guys that have dynamic talents, different skills, different approaches, come from all over the world,” Thunder General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti said of the 2021 draft class. “But they have one thing in common, which is they know how to work and they know how to put time in, and they understand how to play for one another.”
Giddey, a native of Melbourne, Australia, hasn’t played competitively since his season with the Adelaide 36ers concluded, nor have Mann of the University of Florida, Robinson-Earl of Villanova University and Wiggins of the University of Maryland. There will be some rust to shake off of these new professionals, but the 10 days in Nevada will be a chance to get a baseline reading on each player and where they presently stand in their development arc.
“It’s been a long time for me since I’ve played a game,” said the bubbling 18-year-old Giddey, the number 6 overall pick in the draft. “To get out there with this group, I’m really excited for it.”
“Just being able to compete, get to know the guys and spend time with each and every person, I'm really excited for it,” added Wiggins, the 55th selection in the 2021 Draft.
Each player will have areas to improve upon and dynamics to learn about the NBA game, but that process commences after simply getting the chance to go out there and play with an NBA team’s logo on their chest. The Thunder front office identified these players as human beings who will live up to and enhance the team’s culture, and their first chance to represent the organization comes this weekend.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Robinson-Earl, who the Thunder drafted at number 32 overall. “You just have to soak in everything, just gotta enjoy the process and everything that comes with it.”
While it’ll still be a couple months before these rookies will get to play in front of Thunder fans inside Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City, their welcome to town has helped them understand the type of unwavering support they’re about to receive. For the month of August, they’ll have to pick out the Thunder jerseys in the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. Come October, they’ll have the din of thousands of loyal Oklahomans ringing in their ears.
“The fan base, I've been hearing a lot about it,” said Mann, the Thunder’s selection at 18 overall. “Everybody's saying they're great people here, they want us to succeed.”