Thunder Gameday: OKC Opens Summer League Play Against Philadelphia 76ers

It didn't take long for Oklahoma City Thunder basketball to return, at least in some capacity.

Oklahoma City will begin its Salt Lake City Summer League today, taking on the Philadelphia 76ers in its first matchup. It only has a total of three games in the hometown of the Utah Jazz before heading to Las Vegas over the weekend.

Ousmane Dieng, Keyontae Johnson and Adam Flager are the only players that competed on the main roster to participate, while the rest consist of recent draft picks, undrafted free agents and Exhibit 10 contracts.

Headlining the roster is Dilon Jones, the Weber State forward the Thunder selected with the No. 26 pick in the first round. Although it also took Nikola Topic in the lottery, he will of course be unable to participate due to his ACL injury.

KEYS TO THE GAME: 

Seeing the Oklahoma City Summer League roster on the court for the first time will be interesting for a lot of reasons. Most of these players haven't played together, so jelling as a complete team will be tough in such a short period of time.

It is a talented group of players, however, with additions such as Jack Gohle and Buddy Boeheim adding an interesting dynamic. Dieng and Johnson could especially be prepared for an impressive outing considering their previous experience, while Jones will be the rookie with the highest expectations.

The 76ers roster is headlined by Jared McCain, the Duke guard who took college basketball by storm last season. With averages of 14.3 points and 5 rebounds per game, he was certainly a worthy pick at No. 16 in the draft and will be a tough matchup for the Thunder to face off against.

Today should be a feel-out game for Oklahoma City. Try out everything, see what sticks and use that to help improve throughout Summer League. Most players should receive minutes to show what they can do, so Las Vegas can be the time when the rotation decreases to the most impactful.

RECORDS:

Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0) at Philadelphia 76ers (0-0)

INJURIES: 

Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.

WHEN: 

Monday, July 8, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. CDT

LOCATION: 

Delta Center - Salt Lake City, Utah

TV/RADIO: 

ESPN, 98.1 FM

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start Your Free Trial)

FINAL WORD:  

The Thunder's first game of Summer League should be an interesting one, but no matter a win or loss, it'll be a good game for development and seeing what players could prove their worth and potentially earn real contracts down the road.

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