Coach Mark Daigneault is encouraging his players to keep shooting threes

The Thunder’s wing rotation can improve even more if they are more aggressive.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is one of the best teams in the league because they have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way. He deserves to be called a superstar because of his offensive ability, as he has averaged 30+ points per game over the past two seasons.

Despite his excellence on offense, the rest of the Thunder must improve on offense. They need to support SGA because there would be games where he won’t hit every shot. Coach Mark Daigneault knows this could be an issue, so he encouraged players like Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins to shoot more.

“I think the guys like many things, kinda let the efficiency tell you who can handle more. When a guy can do something efficiently, that tells you can stretch them a little more,” Daigneault said after Day 2 of training camp. “A guy like Wiggins who shot 40%+ for two straight years, and he can handle more volume and remain efficient, and that was kind of like what Dub was… We have a few guys like that, encouraging more aggressiveness.”

Wiggins and Williams can be dangerous shooters

With Shai as the primary ball-handler, most of the opponents’ attention will be on him. SGA is the focal point, so he has many opportunities to kick out and hit his teammates with pinpoint passes. All they have to do is move well off the ball and shoot it when they are open.

Daigneault pointed out Wiggins because he was a superb three-point shooter in the 2023/24 season. He shot 49.2% from beyond the arc on only 1.6 attempts. Since he did not have the volume, people might think it was a fluke, but he has been on an upward trend since he entered the NBA in 2021.

Giving players like Wiggs and the ever-improving J-Dub more touches and open shots could be the key to unlocking another dimension of the offense. Coach Daigneault knows this, so he is encouraging them to do more shooting drills and demand for the ball more during games.

OKC can become the best offensive team in the league

The Thunder were already third in offensive rating during the 2023/24 season, getting a 118.3. That was without the volume three-point shooting of OKC’s wings, so having them take more shots could propel them to the top of that list.

Of course, the Boston Celtics will be hard to dethrone, but the Thunder have the talent. Shai is an elite scorer and underrated playmaker, averaging 6.2 assists per game in the 23/24 campaign. That can go higher if players like Wiggins, Williams, Alex Caruso, and Lu Dort hit more of their shots.

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