Top Performers From Oklahoma City's Preseason Opener

For the first time in 19 months fans were welcomed back into the Paycom Center as the Oklahoma City Thunder opened their preseason slate.

Hosting the Charlotte Hornets, the Thunder fell 113-97 as OKC fans got their first look in-person at the new rookie class on Monday night.

While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played limited minutes, as he should in a preseason game, plenty of the young additions to the Oklahoma City roster got their opportunity to shine.

Here are the top performers from OKC’s preseason debut:

Lu Dort

Primarily a defensive stopper during his rookie year, Lu Dort showed some flashes of offensive ability last season in Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence.

Needing to find consistency instead of alternating between great and poor shooting performances, Dort took a nice first step against the Hornets.

Limited to just unde 17 minutes of action, Dort looked very comfortable in the new-look OKC offense, taking shots in the flow of the offense and allowing his talented guards to find him in space.

Dort finished the night shooting 4-of-9 from the field, including a 3-of-6 shooting performance from beyond the arc.

To go with his 11 points, Dort also added a rebound and an assist, which is the kind of overall performance the Thunder would love to have out of him night-in and night-out come the regular season.

The undrafted free agent out of Arizona State continues to improve, and if he can translate this kind of production to the regular season, he will cement himself as one of the great steals in Thunder history.

Josh Giddey

Thunder fans were disappointed when No. 6-overall pick Josh Giddey missed all but five minutes of Summer League action due to a sprained ankle. But he made up for lost time and put on a show in his first preseason performance.

The former NBL star looked as ease playing Robin to Gilgeous-Alexander’s Batman, and immediately showed off the passing prowess which got general manager Sam Presti so excited in during his evaluation process.

Though he only finished the night with three assists, Giddey did a really nice job of setting his Thunder teammates up on a few other occasions, but the shots just didn’t fall for OKC.

On top of his ability pulling the strings, Giddey had a great night shooting. The Australian led all OKC scorers with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, and he already showed a great understanding of how to use his length to get off a variety of different shots.

Add in his seven rebounds and Giddey finished up the night with almost a dream debut as far as preseason appearances go.

The Thunder will hope to continue to build chemistry in their return to action on Oct. 10 as OKC heads to Milwaukee. Tipoff between Oklahoma City and the Bucks is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. 

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