Basketball is finally back.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, however, fans will have to wait another night to see the team’s starting core take the floor.
Oklahoma City opens its 2026-27 preseason schedule tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans at the BOK Center in Tulsa, but head coach Mark Daigneault is taking a cautious approach to the first game of the preseason.
The Thunder will be without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace, giving a collection of younger players an opportunity to take center stage.
The Thunder then return home Wednesday night to face the Milwaukee Bucks, creating a preseason back-to-back that allows Oklahoma City to distribute minutes and evaluate a much larger portion of its roster.
So while Tuesday night’s game won’t feature the Thunder’s best-known names, it could provide an important first look at the players attempting to earn roles behind them.
Thunder Injury and Availability Report
Here’s the latest on Oklahoma City’s availability entering tonight’s game:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — Out
Chet Holmgren — Out
Jalen Williams — Out
Isaiah Hartenstein — Out
Alex Caruso — Out
Cason Wallace — Out
Nikola Topić — Out
Thomas Sorber — Out
The first six absences are particularly significant because they represent essentially the entire established top of Oklahoma City’s rotation.
Topić and Sorber remain on their respective return-to-play progressions.
With so many regular contributors unavailable, expect Daigneault to use tonight as an extended evaluation opportunity for the younger portion of the roster.
Projected Thunder Starters
With the Thunder’s primary rotation sitting out, the starting lineup is expected to look considerably different from what Oklahoma City fans will see during the regular season.
PG — Ajay Mitchell
SG — Jared McCain
SF — Otega Oweh
PF — Jaylin Williams
C — Aday Mara
The final starting lineup will be confirmed by the team before tipoff, but this is our best guess.
For Mitchell, this represents an opportunity to take command of an offense that normally revolves around Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to create advantages.
McCain, meanwhile, gets an early opportunity to demonstrate how his scoring and shooting can fit into Oklahoma City’s system.
And at center, all eyes will be on Mara.
The Big Story: A Different Kind of Thunder Basketball
It would be easy to look at tonight’s inactive list and decide there isn’t much reason to watch.
That would miss the point.
The Thunder already know what Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Hartenstein, Caruso and Wallace can bring to a game.
Tonight is about finding out what comes next.
Oklahoma City has spent years building one of the deepest organizational pipelines in the NBA. The preseason is where those prospects get their opportunity to demonstrate that they aren’t simply developmental pieces—they may eventually become rotation players.
Ajay Mitchell is one of the most important players to watch.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell should have significantly more responsibility with the ball. His ability to create offense without becoming turnover-prone will be an important part of tonight’s evaluation.
Jared McCain offers another intriguing piece.
The Thunder lost significant perimeter production during the offseason, and McCain has the opportunity to show that his shooting and scoring ability can help replace some of that production.
Then there’s Aday Mara, whose combination of size and passing ability makes him one of the more fascinating players on the roster.
At 7-foot-3, Mara naturally changes the geometry of the floor. The question is whether he can use that size within Oklahoma City’s fast-moving offensive system while holding his own defensively.
Watch the Young Wings
The Thunder’s perimeter rotation is another area worth watching closely.
With Caruso and Wallace unavailable—and with other established perimeter contributors no longer on the roster—players such as Otega Oweh and Brooks Barnhizer have an opportunity to make an early impression.
The box score won’t tell the entire story.
Watch how they defend screens.
Watch how quickly they rotate.
Watch what happens when they are beaten off the dribble.
And, perhaps most importantly, watch how they communicate.
Those are the details that determine whether a young player can eventually be trusted by Daigneault when the games count.
Why This Game Matters
Clearly, the preseason doesn’t determine the standings.
It does, however, help determine the rotation.
For Oklahoma City, that’s particularly important this season because the Thunder enter the year with expectations unlike those facing most teams.
The established stars don’t need to prove themselves tonight.
The players behind them do.
Every possession gives Mitchell, McCain, Mara, Oweh, Barnhizer and the rest of the young Thunder roster an opportunity to show the coaching staff that they can handle NBA responsibilities.
That makes this game less about the final score and more about the auditions happening underneath it.
When Do the Stars Play?
If you’re disappointed about not seeing Oklahoma City’s championship core tonight, there’s good news.
The Thunder return to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night to host the Milwaukee Bucks at Paycom Center.
That’s the game where fans should expect to get their first preseason look at the primary rotation.