With expanded rosters this season, a rather large contingent of the Oklahoma City Thunder isn’t getting court time. Over the first two games, the team played with a 10-man rotation, which left five active players without a single minute in the game.
A few days before the Oklahoma City Thunder game against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, the group of players who did not play in the season opener against the Charlotte Hornets arrived at practice early for a group scrimmage.
Isaiah Roby was one of these participants.
“Some of the guys who hadn’t played in games that much, we all got together and played some 3-on-3,” Roby said. “Although we weren’t playing in the actual game, those practices are like our game. The fact that we were able to go in before rest of team got in there … it was kind of like our own little mini-session before practice.”
Head coach Mark Daigneault thinks it helped him perform well in the starting lineup Tuesday in place of center Al Horford, who was out for rest.
“He played in that game and looked really good in that,” Daigneault said. “The thing that I’m most pleased with is the approach he’s taking.”
On Tuesday morning, Roby got a call from Daigneault alerting him he would be in the starting lineup against the Magic.
Roby was excellent. He scored 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting and made a 3-pointer. He had seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal, and at one point crossed Magic center Nikola Vucevic to the floor as the All-Star attempted to close out on him.
“Roby was great tonight. I told him before the game just to be aggressive and not think too much, obviously with it being his first start. He did exactly that from the jump,” said guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He was physical, played downhill, played fearless. I’m proud of how he played.”
The 22-year-old only appeared in three Thunder games and 17 OKC Blue games last season, but his 6-foot-8 height and 7-foot-3 wingspan made him an intriguing young player for the Thunder.
After playing well offensively Tuesday — it was not only the best game of his career, but his first real minutes on the NBA, as he saw no more than six minutes in any appearances last year — Roby adds an interesting dynamic to rotation decisions.
Oklahoma City’s bench is wing- and forward-heavy, but he can play some more 4 and 5 alongside Mike Muscala or Aleksej Pokusevski.
In a year built around exploring their roster piece, this early sign from Roby adds a new element.
“That’s really big for you to start and go out there, being in all the reads and all the coverages that we’re in,” guard Hamidou Diallo said. “That’s really tough for him, and he came out there and he showed that he belonged.”
