Thunder Roll Out Absurd Patchwork Starting Lineup Around SGA

The Oklahoma City Thunder are rolling out a starting five on Saturday that sounds less like a cohesive NBA unit and more like a randomly generated 2K roster from a decade into a simulation.

According to Underdog NBA, the Thunder will start Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Mara.

"Underdog NBA reported the starting lineup alert on Saturday."

If you are wondering how we got here, you can thank the injury bug. With Chet Holmgren sidelined by a knee injury and Jalen Williams nursing a bad leg, head coach Mark Daigneault is essentially pulling names out of a hat to fill out the frontcourt.

The reality is that this lineup is just SGA and four guys who are paid to watch him work. Gilgeous-Alexander is currently operating with a usage rate that would make prime James Harden dizzy, averaging a clean 32 points a night lately just to keep the offense afloat.

For anyone looking at the betting board or setting a daily fantasy lineup, the math here is not complicated. Gilgeous-Alexander is going to shoot the basketball until his shoulder separates, while guys like Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams are suddenly locked into heavy minutes to clean up the glass.

The funniest part is that this makeshift hospital ward is still cooking people. Oklahoma City just dropped 128 points on the Memphis Grizzlies and hung 124 on the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the week.

The Thunder host the Washington Wizards next. Expect SGA to put up another video game stat line while the rest of this patchwork crew tries their best to just stay out of the way.