Seven players on the Oklahoma City Thunder will not travel to San Antonio for the first preseason game against the Spurs on Saturday.
Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, Al Horford, Justin Jackson, Ty Jerome, Josh Hall and Darius Miller will not be joining the team, head coach Mark Daigneault said.
Explanations for specific players were not provided. Daigneault said that the reasons for absences varied from “NBA guidelines to our own internal camp management to some nicks and bruises.”
On Dec. 6, two players were held out of Thunder practice after receiving positive coronavirus tests. It is unclear who they were and if they are still missing time because of these protocols.
Oklahoma City has 20 players listed on its training camp roster. Without those seven and Trevor Ariza, who The Oklahoman reported has not reported to training camp due to family matters, the Thunder should have a 12-man group.
Even though this will prevent the team from seeing its whole group of players against a different team for the first time, including three guys who will likely be starters, Daigneault said this gives other guys a chance to get real playing time in the opening exhibition game.
“You’re not going to play 20 guys in a preseason game, so it’s an opportunity to get some guys out there and give them some experience or an opportunity to try to make the roster,” he said.
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