The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the most active teams in the 2021 offseason but given the nature of their transactions, it doesn't come as a surprise why they didn't steal the spotlight. Signing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a maximum contract extension was perhaps their biggest splash.
The franchise lost a majority of their players this offseason via trades and free agency, doubling down on their rebuild by adding a majority of their players through the draft How does this factor into the team's rotation and depth chart? Let's take a look.
The Thunder begin their season in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Depth chart
| Starters | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | |
| PG | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Theo Maledon | Tre Mann | Vit Krejci | |
| SG | Luguentz Dort | Ty Jerome | Aaron Wiggins | Paul Watson | Rob Edwards |
| SF | Josh Giddey | Aleksej Pokusevski | Kenrich Williams | Gabriel Deck | |
| PF | Darius Bazley | Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | D.J. Wilson | Mamadi Diakite | |
| C | Derrick Favors | Isaiah Roby | Mike Muscala |
Key additions and subtractions
The Thunder selected four players in the 2021 NBA Draft: Josh Giddey (No. 6), Tre Mann (No. 18), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (No. 32) and Aaron Wiggins (No. 55). The franchise also acquired veteran center Derrick Favors from the Utah Jazz along with a future first-round pick in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick.
Oklahoma City traded Al Horford and Moses Brown along with a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for Kemba Walker, No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick. Brown was later traded to Dallas.
Later in the offseason, Walker and the Thunder agreed to a buyout, following which the point guard signed with the New York Knicks. The franchise also lost center Tony Bradley in the offseason.
Positional battles
Heading into the 2021-22 season, OKC's starting lineup has pretty much picked itself.
The starting five, as shown above, should feature Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Luguentz Dort, Derrick Favours and Darius Bazley. Outside of the starters, Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski are sure to get minutes off the bench. From there, everyone will essentially be battling for playing time.
That said, Tre Mann could be a promising guard off the bench to watch out for.
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