Tag: Mark Daigneault

Klay Thompson floated as potential free agency target for Thunder

Klay Thompson could emerge as a free agency target for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Klay Thompson is entering free agency this summer. The four-time NBA champion has yet to sign a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors and will likely field multiple contract offers from around the NBA.

According to ESPN’s Chris Herring, the Oklahoma City Thunder should consider testing the waters to acquire the veteran sharpshooter.

Herring believes Thompson would give Mark Daigneault another dimension to use. His presence in the rotation would ensure teams don’t help off Josh Giddey as frequently while thinking twice before blitzing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the pick-and-roll.

“Even if he was a hair under 39% from 3 this past season, the 34-year-old still canned 268 triples,” Herring reasoned. “…Gilgeous-Alexander was already throwing kickout passes a longer average distance than anyone outside of Luka Doncic, per Second Spectrum, because of how much space he had to work with. (Oklahoma City also uses its guards to screen off the ball in a way that’s similar to what Golden State does.) Thompson would amplify all that.”

Thompson is rumored to have interest from the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. However, the Thunder could offer the veteran a legitimate role on a contending team in the West.

His sharpshooting could be the missing piece in Oklahoma’s rotation, providing a level of spacing that was missing throughout the season.

Of course, tempting Thompson away from the Warriors will not be easy. They’re still favored to re-sign him during the summer and continue fielding their veteran core.

Nevertheless, the Thunder should certainly kick the tires on potentially poaching him away from the Bay Area. Not only would they be improving their rotation, they would be weakening a conference rival.

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Mark Daigneault tells story on discovering Thunder’s uncommonness

Mark Daigneault tells story on when he discovered Thunder’s uncommonness.

Throughout the season, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault heavily leaned on a two-word phrase to describe his group — uncommon maturity.

It’s a quick and accurate way to detail the Thunder. They were the youngest first seed in league history and the youngest squad to win a playoff series with their Round 1 sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans.

At 25 years old, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has turned into one of the best players in the league. In just their season seasons, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren round out one of the best trios.

Daigneault has been part of the Thunder’s journey back to being a title contender. The 39-year-old was hired in 2020 as the rebuild began. He suffered through two losing campaigns before slowly turning the ship around these last two years.

The Coach of the Year winner is now regarded as one of the best head coaches in the league. In his exit interview, Daigneault pinpointed an exact moment when he realized how uncommon the Thunder were.

He answered with his first season as several players on the roster back then who are still with OKC were building blocks of the foundation they’ve established over the years.

“I feel comfortable saying this now, but in my first year — I referenced this with our team recently — we were going through a rough skid,” Daigneault said. “We had a home game. We had an arena walk-through, and I was talking about — we were in the empty arena before a game. This was my first year. And I was talking to them about putting T-shirts in the seats.

“We’re going through a tough time now, but the habits, the standards, whatever I was talking about back then — is eventually going to put T-shirts in the seats if we just stay on it and stay with it.”

Daigneault is referencing the playoff shirts the Thunder deck out during home playoff games. It’s been a tradition in OKC since its arrival and this year saw that materialize for the first time with this core.

“Lu Dort, Shai, Kenrich Williams, Muscala were there, and the snowball was rolling at that time slowly,” Daigneault said. “It didn’t feel like it was picking up a ton of steam, but over time it’s just rolled faster and faster and faster, and it’s been an incremental thing that has now put T-shirts in the seats.”

This was a very introspective answer by Daigneault that showed a peek behind the curtain of the Thunder’s operation. The Thunder’s ascension this season wasn’t spontaneous. It was something that was worked on over the years.

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Mark Daigneault believes Chet Holmgren will have a big offseason

Mark Daigneault believes Chet Holmgren will have a big offseason.

Even though the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion, optimism quickly grows when zooming out to the big picture. It’s hard not to be excited for OKC’s future because this was likely the first of several playoff runs with this core.

It sounds like the people within the building feel the same way.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander concluded his best season yet with a runner-up MVP finish. At 25 years old and under contract until 2027, the Thunder will have one of the league’s best players during his prime.

Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren round out one of the best trios in the league. The pair of second-year players had stellar individual seasons.

The Thunder will have a lengthy title window that should span several seasons. The OKC trio’s tenures are perfectly aligned, and the guard-wing-big three-man show complement each other well.

In his exit interview, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is excited to see what the latter can accomplish with an offseason to look forward to.

“This is the lowest level of Chet Holmgren we’re going to see, which is pretty exciting,” Daigneault said. “The reason I’m so confident saying that is because of his appetite for improvement. He’s a guy that is incredibly focused. Basketball is his No. 1 priority. He sleeps in his sneakers. He will have a great summer physically and skill-wise.”

Offseasons are when most of a player’s development occurs. The four-month break allows players to decompress and work on their weaknesses. Holmgren’s openness to working out with NBA legends should bolster his odds of improvement.

After a stellar rookie season, the 22-year-old has already established himself as one of the best defenders in the league. His outside shot and handle make him a viable offensive threat, too.

“He’s done a great job of working with us as an organization on a plan and sticking to that plan. He did that last summer through the season. He’ll do that again this summer,” Daigneault said. “When you’ve got a guy with that kind of drive. … that plan is that focused and he’s willing to execute it the way he is, improvement is very predictable.”

If Holmgren continues to develop at the rate he has, the Thunder’s notable improvements will be internally instead of adding outside help. This is the most organic approach if OKC wants to be a constant title threat.

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Mark Daigneault shushes roster construction criticisms following playoff exit

Mark Daigneault shushes roster construction criticisms following playoff exit.

Following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the roster construction criticisms were loud.

The rebounding issues raised their ugly heads again in OKC’s Game 6 loss to Dallas. It was outrebounded, 47-31. That resulted in the Mavericks scoring 27 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.

As Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington played massive roles in the Thunder’s second-round demise, many wondered why OKC didn’t go after either player ahead of the trade deadline.

The criticisms were even louder considering the Thunder facilitated a three-team deal to help the Mavericks land Gafford. Considering Gordon Hayward was out of the rotation, a lack of more moves to upgrade the roster turned into a talking point.

According to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault in his exit interview, he believed they had everything they needed to maximize this year’s roster.

“I thought we had everything we needed with this team to be the best team that we could,” Daigneault said. “We proved in the regular season with the season we had, that there’s no one we couldn’t beat literally.”

The Thunder finished as the top seed and top-four in net, offensive and defensive ratings. The 39-year-old said he shouldn’t waste time thinking about possible what-if situations.

“It’s just never my mentality to look left and right. Looking right in front of me, we had everything we needed,” Daigneault said. “We had a special group of guys. Part of what made them special is how they operated collectively.”

After their season-ending loss, Daigneault admitted the Mavericks were the better squad all series. Dallas’ defense did an excellent job bogging down OKC’s offense and funneling 3-point attempts to the players Dallas likely wanted to take them.

“I thought from a team standpoint we had what we needed to win this series, and we ran into a team that played better than we did,” Daigneault said. “But I don’t think that’s an indictment on the roster. I don’t think that’s an indictment on any individual person or where we are.

“It’s simply we could have played better in the series, but it wasn’t an indictment on anything else.”

The Thunder will have more shots at a championship over the next few years. Most of the roster is still on rookie deals, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is under contract until 2027.

The youngest first seed in league history will have plenty of cap space and draft capital to work with in the offseason if they seek outside improvements to this roster. No other team in the league is set up for better long-term success.

This will be the first offseason where the Thunder are viewed as serious title contenders heading into the next season since Russell Westbrook was in town. While their playoff exit was a heartbreaker, it’ll be the first of many deep postseason runs.

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Mark Daigneault explains decision to bench Josh Giddey in Game 5 loss to Mavericks

Mark Daigneault explains decision to bench Josh Giddey in Game 5 loss to Mavericks.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made the surprising move of benching Josh Giddey in favor of Isaiah Joe ahead of their Game 5 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.

This marked the first time in Giddey’s career he’d come off the bench. It’s been a heavily-discussed possibility all series as the Mavericks have elected to ignore the 21-year-old from the perimeter, daring him to shoot.

Alas, the change in starters didn’t change much. The Thunder had another slow start and offensive woes continue to plague them. Joe had six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Giddey actually had a decent game off the bench, racking up 11 points and three rebounds. In a twist of irony, he was arguably OKC’s second-best player in its Game 5 loss.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault talked about the decision to bench Giddey, saying it was to give the rest of the starters more space to work with as the Mavericks would respect Joe’s outside shot.

“It gave us a chance to get back into some normal attacks on offense,” Daigneault said on the decision to bench Giddey. “Shake the game up a little bit with the opponent and try to generate some flow to start. … It also gives Josh second-unit minutes to playmaker a little bit.”

So what changed between the first four games of this series and Game 5 to force Daigneault’s hand to make the lineup adjustment? He didn’t reveal the exact details but explained the timing of the choice.

“Considering all the information before every single game and treating every game as its own life, I just wasn’t comfortable doing it up until now,” Daigneault said. “At the end of the day, I’m making a lot of different decisions. They’re not all gonna be right or wrong.”

The Thunder will try to stave off elimination as they head to Dallas with a 3-2 series deficit. How OKC handles its starting lineup in that contest will be an interesting storyline to watch.

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Mark Daigneault impressed by Cason Wallace’s playoff contributions

Mark Daigneault impressed by Cason Wallace’s playoff contributions.

As Kyrie Irving sprinted down the court, the multitime All-Star stopped at the left-wing spot for a pull-up 3-pointer. Cason Wallace contested early enough to block the outside shot attempt.

It was a massive stop during the fourth quarter of a close contest. It also encapsulated the type of contributions Wallace has made for the Thunder.

The defensive stop was one of several the Thunder collected in their 14-point comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 to tie the series at two apiece.

Wallace finished with six points in 19 minutes and was a plus-five. The 20-year-old rookie is OKC’s second-best perimeter defender behind Lu Dort, which means it has the luxury of having at least one out there at all times to match up with either Luka Doncic or Irving.

Despite being a rookie, Wallace has played a major role in the Thunder’s playoff run. He’s been one of the top players off the bench and averages the sixth-most minutes in the postseason.

In the playoffs, Wallace has limited opponents to 14-of-54 (25.9%) shooting when guarded by him, per ESPN. That’s the lowest field goal percentage allowed of any player to defend at least 50 shots in the postseason.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault spoke highly of Wallace’s performance in the playoffs, noting he hasn’t allowed his youth or inexperience to get the best of him despite the rise of circumstances.

“Just how easy he is to trust as a 20-year-old player in that game,” Daigneault said about Wallace. “He’s guarding Irving, he’s guarding Doncic, he’s banging threes, he’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s just doing exactly what we’re trying to accomplish in the game plan and the system on both ends of the floor.”

Wallace has been a key rotation player for the Thunder. He might see his role increase if Josh Giddey’s minutes gradually decline to zero. In that case, Wallace is a prime candidate to substitute him as a starter and seamlessly fit in with the starting lineup.

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Mark Daigneault explains why he lets players play through foul trouble

Mark Daigneault explains why he lets his players play through foul trouble.

Separated by a screen, Lu Dort quickly caught up to Luka Doncic, who tricked the defensive stopper into bumping into him and drew the shooting foul.

Less than three minutes into Game 4, Dort picked up a costly second foul. Conventional wisdom would suggest the 25-year-old would get subbed out.

Traditionally speaking, the risk of Dort picking up additional fouls in the first half doesn’t outweigh the benefits. A nightmare scenario for the Thunder was on the horizon. Being without their best point-of-attack defender down the stretch of a close fourth quarter against Doncic could’ve been detrimental.

But Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has always been a very calculating coach, absorbing data and figuring out the best course of action depending on potential outcomes.

Instead of removing Dort early in the season’s biggest game, Daigneault stuck to his philosophy of playing players through foul trouble.

The calculated risk paid off tremendously.

Dort flirted with fouling out but ultimately logged 40 minutes. He was part of the Thunder’s closing lineup in their 14-point comeback win over the Mavericks in Game 4 to even the series at 2.

Dort’s been superb in the playoffs. He continues to add to his mythos of being a postseason riser. After limiting Brandon Ingram to 14.3 points on 34.5% shooting in a first-round sweep, he’s held Doncic to a pedestrian 22 points on 39% shooting through four games of the second round.

The multiple time All-Star had his worst outing yet in Game 4. Doncic finished with 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He shot 2-of-9 from 3 and committed seven turnovers.

A large reason for the lackluster performance by Dallas’ superstar was Daigneault’s decision to trust Dort’s discipline. He remained in the game and sat only eight minutes.

The Coach of the Year winner is a heavy leaner on analytics. His innovative mindset has helped him become one of the best head coaches in the league.

When it comes to handling players with foul trouble, his approach toward is another example of a long list where Daigneault is ahead of the curve.

“It’s something our data science guide — one of our guys pointed it out to me — as something to think about,” Daigneault said on his philosophy towards players with foul trouble. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had some legs.”

Daigneault quickly realized that the fear of a player fouling out is blown out of proportion. The 39-year-old will not let a small possibility heavily influence how he coaches a game.

“So we did it for a couple of years there. What you learn is there’s a lot of games where they don’t even foul out and (Dort) didn’t foul out last night,” Daigneault said. “He finished with five and yet played physically. He didn’t try to avoid fouls. He guarded Doncic the whole time.”

Daigneault further explained his approach toward players in foul trouble aligns with his general philosophy of being an aggressive head coach. That’s most obvious with his usage of challenges. The 39-year-old seldom leaves them unused, knowing they don’t translate to future games.

“I like erring on the side of aggressiveness with a lot of things. I think chance favors the aggressor. I try to be aggressive with a lot of things. I think it sets a good tone with the team,” Daigneault said. “We want them to play aggressively. I need to coach aggressively if I want to expect that from them.”

The Thunder have developed a gem of a head coach with Daigneault. He spent years behind the scenes crafting how he wants to coach. It’s propelled him into being one of the best in his profession.

Since being named head coach, Daigneault’s stuck true to the principles he’s honed in during the early stages of the rebuild to the playoffs.

Trusting Dort to limit Doncic without fouling out by citing analytics is the latest example of how the 39-year-old is more modernistic than the average NBA head coach.

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Mark Daigneault fully supportive of Josh Giddey amid struggles against Mavericks

Mark Daigneault fully supportive of Josh Giddey amid struggles against Mavericks.

Through two games, Josh Giddey’s struggles against the Dallas Mavericks have carried over from the regular season to the playoffs.

In 28 minutes, Giddey is an eye-popping minus-27. This includes being a minus-20 in a career-low 11 minutes in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 2 loss.

The Mavericks have exploited Giddey’s weaknesses of being a non-shooter. It puts him in an awkward spot of trying to create off-ball looks that simply haven’t worked.

Despite this, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault refuses to back away from his starter. The Coach of the Year winner spoke about Giddey’s performance at length, stating the sample size of being a positive outweighs the sample size where he’s a negative.

“In terms of what I’ve seen, I’ve seen three years of Josh Giddey and he’s a very good player and a very important player to our team,” Daigneault said. “In Game 4 in New Orleans, I don’t know that we close that series if he’s not hitting shots in the fourth quarter. …

“I think it’s important with every player — good, bad, whatever — zoom out and see the big picture and the big picture is he’s been a very productive player for a long time. He’s 21 years old. He’s gonna be a very productive player for a long time moving forward.”

It sounds as if the Thunder will stick with Giddey as a starter for an important Game 3 matchup against the Mavericks. Beyond that, who knows how many minutes he logs.

Daigneault has talked ad nauseam about sticking to his rotation philosophy of going deep into his bench despite the jump in intensity in the environment during the playoffs.

“Last night, I made the best decisions I could to try to help us win Game 2. Tomorrow, I’ll make the best decisions I can to help us win Game 3,” Daigneault said. “We’ll see how the game unfolds tomorrow. As it relates to every decision I make, I can’t predict what’s going to happen tomorrow. But I can tell you that Josh is a very important part of what we’re doing.”

As the series progresses, the Thunder could face a difficult decision with Giddey and others in the rotation. The playoffs usually shorten rotations but through six games, OKC hasn’t been forced to fall in line with that conventional wisdom.

If the Thunder fall behind in their second-round series to the Mavericks, Daigneault might be forced to make drastic adjustments for pure survival.

In the regular season, the Thunder made the right call by riding out Giddey’s struggles. They ultimately didn’t affect the final results of games: OKC finished with the top seed and 57 wins.

The trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren afforded the Thunder the luxury to work it out with Giddey, who adjusted to a new role.

To OKC’s credit, it paid off with a strong finish to his season. Giddey played a pivotal role in the Thunder’s sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans. But the level of competition has multiplied tenfold in the second round.

Against the Mavericks, the Thunder likely don’t have the same margin for error with Giddey’s struggles. As the series progresses, that wiggle room will slowly disappear. If the 21-year-old doesn’t quickly turn it around, this might not be the playoff series for him.

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Mark Daigneault addresses Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 2nd-place MVP finish

Mark Daigneault addresses Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2nd-place finish for MVP.

Before the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 2 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Daigneault addressed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s runner-up finish for the 2023-24 MVP award.

The 25-year-old finished a distinct second behind three-time winner Nikola Jokic, who won the award by a landslide. This marks back-to-back top-five MVP finishes for Gilgeous-Alexander.

Daigneault said while he had hoped his franchise player won the prestigious award, falling short of it doesn’t discredit his ascension over the last two seasons as one of the best players in the league.

“I was really rooting for him. … I don’t think individual awards validate anything in terms of the work that’s been done with any of our players,” Daigneault said. “It doesn’t change the fact he had a great two-end season, great regular season, unprecedented numbers and impact he has had on our team not only this season but over the course of this build. You can’t even measure.

“An award wouldn’t change any of those things those things all exist and stand on their own two feet.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and Daigneault headline the Thunder’s dominant season as they captured the first seed. The duo has been linked since their tenures started, and they form one of the best coach-star duos in the league.

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Mark Daigneault won’t back down from rotation philosophy in NBA playoffs

Mark Daigneault will not back down from rotation philosophy in NBA playoffs.

Through five games in the playoffs, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has stuck to his philosophy.

The Coach of the Year winner is known for having expanded rotations. During his tenure, Daigneault has discussed ad nauseam the benefits of keeping everybody warm.

It rewards players for sticking to the Thunder’s brand of basketball and keeps everybody engaged. Daigneault stuck with this mindset in his playoffs debut.

Nine Thunder players have averaged 12-plus minutes in the playoffs. Ten have averaged over seven minutes per contest. The approach has worked: OKC is 5-0 in the postseason so far.

Daigneault discussed his reasoning for keeping his playoff rotation lengthy instead of cutting it to the essential players.

“Every team is different. This particular team is deep. The difference between Player X and Player Y is not very much,” Daigneault said. “A lot of guys bring different things to the table. I’m of the mentality we may eventually need (someone). I think we can need Kenrich Williams in a series — maybe this one.

“I’ve had conversations with him about keeping himself ready. Just the mindset of expanding our options. It’s unfair to a guy to need him and go to him in a big spot when you have to dust him off to get him there.”

The 39-year-old referenced Aaron Wiggins’ monster performance in the Thunder’s Game 1 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He totaled 16 points in three quarters in OKC’s blowout win.

The backup wing has dealt with inconsistent playing time, but he’s averaged the seventh-most minutes on the Thunder since the playoffs started. When push comes to shove, Wiggins always shows out.

“Trying to keep everybody engaged. Trying to keep everybody ready. Give everybody a chance,” Daigneault said. “Wiggins is a great example last night. He was huge for us last night. I didn’t go into the game knowing that was going to be the case.

“He didn’t play until the second quarter. If you cut down to seven, maybe you’re not playing him on a given night. It’s what we’ve done all year. It’s what we trust.”

It’s an interesting and unconventional approach toward the playoffs that has worked so far. Daigneault has stuck to his guns and continues to coach postseason games as he did in the Thunder’s 57-win campaign.

That doesn’t mean Daigneault is locked into this mindset though. If the situation calls for it, the Coach of the Year winner is not afraid to shake up his strategy in hopes of collecting wins.

“There’s no shame in adjusting to your opponent. Sometimes, if the cost outweighs the benefit, you adjust based on what your opponent is doing,” Daigneault said. “We don’t really care who dictates the terms. Sometimes we do it, sometimes the opponent does it. We’re trying to figure out what the best thing for the team is.”

The Thunder are off to a hot start in their core’s playoff debut. They haven’t lost a game in over a month. Daigneault deserves a significant chunk of the credit for OKC’s success as his outside-the-box thinking gives it an edge.

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