Bleacher Report released an article on Thursday that handed out grades for each team’s rookie class this past season. With the Oklahoma City Thunder currently in a rebuilding situation, this gives the team the luxury to play its young players heavy minutes as player development matters more than actual wins.
This is reflective of the fact that its entire rookie draft class in Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins played significant minutes when healthy. Other rookies such as Lindy Waters III and Vit Krejci also made their NBA debuts this season.
With that said, Bleacher Report handed the Thunder an “A-” grade for its rookie class, citing Giddey’s phenomenal rookie season despite missing a third of the season due to hip soreness along with contributions from the rest of its draft class.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder closed the campaign with a tank-tastic six rookies on the roster, including four 2021 draft picks, a 2020 pick who missed last season with a torn ACL (Vit Krejci) and a 24-year-old who inked a two-way deal in mid-February and still saw 465 minutes (Lindy Waters III).
Josh Giddey, the No. 6 overall pick, served as the crown jewel and might have pushed for Rookie of the Year honors had he not been forced off the floor in February by a season-ending hip injury. Even with the ailment, though, he finished as the lone freshman to tally at least 500 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists. In another nod to his across-the-board contributions, he had four triple-doubles—or one more than the rest of the NBA’s rookie class combined.
Tre Mann finished with a sub-40 field-goal percentage, but his streak scoring yielded seven 20-point outings. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl did a little of everything while nestling into a glue-guy role. Aaron Wiggins made 35 starts and popped for 20-plus points four times. Krejci played just 30 games and recently underwent knee surgery. Waters, an Oklahoma native, splashed 36.3 percent of his threes.”
It’s a win for the organization that the rookies were able to play a ton of minutes and contribute this season. With that said, that doesn’t mean all of these players will be on the next contending title team as one solid rookie season doesn’t mean a solid NBA career, but it is a nice first step to make.
