Despite record, OKC Thunder Summer League was a success

The NBA’s summer block party came to an end Saturday for the Oklahoma City Thunder as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back in Sin City. It was the Thunder’s first win in Vegas in five tries after a 2-1 defeat of Salt Lake City to kick off their eight-game Summer tour.

There are few things in life more meaningless than the scoreboard at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion during NBA Summer League. As players compete for jobs, the last thing on their minds — or the organizations’ — is who will ultimately score the most points.

The real way to evaluate summer league is to look at individual performances and try to see production from the perspective of the NBA. You have to imagine what these players might look like on the NBA court.

For Oklahoma City, in terms of the rest of the roster, there has been a watchful eye on Ousmane Dieng, Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell, Adam Flagler and Keyontae Johnson. While the rest of the roster could compete for G League opportunities or even a training camp spot, their NBA potential is relatively slim.

Johnson is the only player on the list who is not under contract with the OKC Thunder this upcoming season, as he remains an unrestricted free agent after being selected by the organization in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft.

In this exhibition game, the Thunder’s rookies – Mitchell and Jones – showed true NBA talents: they were calm with the ball in their hands and defended better than expected.

Flagler, entering the second year of a two-way contract, has continued to show NBA-level shooting and improved playmaking. Now, coming off a knee injury suffered just hours before the 2023 NBA Draft, he’s vastly improved his defense.

While Dieng fell back into some old habits in his Summer League season opener, the final two games of his three-game Summer Stretch showcased the improvements that made him the NBA G League Finals MVP.

It all adds up to a successful Summer League season for the Oklahoma City Thunder as they enter the few moments of rest left in the NBA midseason.

Song of the day: Bad moonrise by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

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