The scoreboard said 116-110, New Orleans.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, however, Tuesday night’s preseason opener at the BOK Center was never really about the final six-point margin.
It was about the audition.
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace all sitting out, Oklahoma City handed the keys to a much younger group and asked them to show what they could do.
They did enough to make the game interesting.
The Pelicans ultimately made a few more plays down the stretch, but Oklahoma City’s young players provided plenty for Mark Daigneault and his coaching staff to evaluate as the Thunder begin preparing for another season with championship expectations.
And perhaps the most important part?
The real preseason debut is still coming.
Oklahoma City’s established rotation is expected to take the floor Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks at Paycom Center.
But before the stars return, Tuesday gave us our first look at the players trying to earn the right to play alongside them.
The Numbers That Stood Out
A handful of young Thunder players carried the offensive load in Tulsa.
Jared McCain 12 points.
Otega Oweh 6 points.
Ajay Mitchell 11 points.
Aday Mara 12 points.
Those numbers don’t tell the entire story, but they provide a useful starting point.
And for several of these players, the film may ultimately prove more valuable than the box score.
1. Ajay Mitchell Looked Comfortable Running the Offense
If there was one player who seemed particularly comfortable with the additional responsibility, it was Ajay Mitchell.
With Gilgeous-Alexander watching from the sideline, Mitchell received an opportunity to operate as one of Oklahoma City’s primary creators.
He finished with 11 points and four assists in 18 minutes, but the more encouraging element was the way he handled the responsibility.
Mitchell didn’t appear overwhelmed by having the ball in his hands.
He pushed the pace, attacked openings and repeatedly forced New Orleans’ defense to react.
That’s important for a Thunder team that doesn’t necessarily need another player to replicate what Gilgeous-Alexander does. Oklahoma City simply needs players capable of creating something when the offense inevitably gets away from its first option.
Mitchell showed flashes of being that player.
The next step is consistency.
A preseason game allows a young guard to experiment. Regular-season basketball is much less forgiving.
But for an opening audition, Mitchell gave Daigneault plenty to work with.
2. Jared McCain Provides Another Shooting Threat
Jared McCain gave Oklahoma City with 12 points in just 16 minutes, and his impact wasn’t limited to the shots that appeared in the box score.
His movement away from the basketball was particularly interesting.
That’s an important distinction for a player joining an offense built around stars who dominate the ball.
McCain doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands to create value.
If he can relocate after screens, occupy the weak-side corner and punish defenses when they help toward the paint, he can create spacing for Oklahoma City’s primary creators.
That is exactly the kind of complementary skill the Thunder will need from their younger perimeter players.
The question moving forward is whether McCain can consistently combine that shooting threat with enough defensive reliability to earn Daigneault’s trust.
Tuesday was a good first step.
3. Aday Mara Gives the Thunder Something Different
The most intriguing frontcourt experiment of the night involved Aday Mara.
With Holmgren and Hartenstein unavailable, the 7-foot-3 center received an opportunity to handle a much larger role than he otherwise might have during a normal preseason game.
Mara finished with twelve points and nine rebounds.
But again, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
His size changes the way an opponent has to approach the paint.
More importantly, Mara showed flashes of the passing ability that makes him such an interesting developmental piece for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder don’t simply want a traditional big man standing underneath the basket.
They want players who can keep the ball moving, recognize defensive rotations and make quick decisions.
Mara’s ability to function around the elbows and high post will be worth monitoring throughout the preseason.
Defensively, there is still plenty to clean up.
That’s hardly surprising.
The speed of NBA actions can be particularly difficult for a young 7-foot-3 center, especially when guards are attacking him in space.
But the physical tools are obvious.
So is the potential.
4. Otega Oweh Gets an Opportunity to Make His Case
Otega Oweh played the third most minutes of the night for OKC.
He finished with six points and six rebounds in 28 minutes, giving Oklahoma City athleticism on both ends of the floor.
The bigger question for Oweh isn’t whether he can make an impressive preseason play.
It’s whether he can string together enough reliable possessions to become someone Daigneault can trust.
That means defending without fouling.
Making the correct rotation.
Cutting at the right time.
Knocking down open shots.
And, perhaps most importantly, avoiding the mistakes that force a coach to take a player off the floor.
Those are the things that determine whether a young player moves from “interesting prospect” to “rotation option.”
Tuesday was a start.
The Loss Doesn’t Tell Us Much
Let’s be clear about something.
Nobody should be particularly concerned about a six-point preseason loss.
The Thunder weren’t playing their primary rotation.
The Pelicans weren’t playing a regular-season game.
And Oklahoma City’s coaching staff was far more interested in evaluating individual players and combinations than in finding a way to preserve a six-point lead in the final minutes of October basketball.
The more important question is what Daigneault saw.
Did the young guards make quick decisions?
Did the bigs communicate defensively?
Did the wings execute the team’s spacing principles?
Which combinations looked natural?
Which ones clearly need more work?
Those answers will carry much more weight into the regular season than the final score.
And Now the Stars Arrive
Tuesday night was the appetizer.
Wednesday night should look considerably different.
The Thunder return to Oklahoma City to host the Milwaukee Bucks, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace expected to make their preseason debuts.
That game will give us our first look at the primary Thunder rotation in action.
It will also provide a completely different set of questions.
How does Gilgeous-Alexander look after the offseason?
What does Holmgren look like physically?
How does Jalen Williams fit into the offensive hierarchy?
How quickly does Caruso integrate into Oklahoma City’s defensive system?
And perhaps most importantly, how do the young players from Tuesday night fit around those established stars?
That’s where Tuesday night’s game becomes valuable.
The Thunder didn’t just play a preseason game in Tulsa.
They gathered information.
Now they get to see how that information fits with the stars.
The Bottom Line
The Pelicans got the win.
The Thunder got something arguably more useful for a preseason opener: a live evaluation of the next wave of their roster.
Mitchell showed he can handle increased playmaking responsibility.
McCain demonstrated why his shooting and off-ball movement could be valuable.
Mara gave Oklahoma City an intriguing look at what his size and passing can bring to the frontcourt.
Oweh provided athleticism and physicality.
None of those conclusions should be treated as final.
That’s what the preseason is for.
But Oklahoma City has spent years building organizational depth, and Tuesday night offered the first opportunity for several of those players to show that the pipeline remains productive.
Now comes the fun part.
The stars are next.