One of the biggest advantages the OKC Thunder have over virtually every team in the NBA [is their insane roster depth](https://thunderousintentions.com/thunder-killer-playoff-edge-pacers-cant-touch).
Throughout the regular season, coach Mark Daigneault regularly rolled out 10-to-12 players in his rotations. Now, two games into the 2025 NBA Finals, it's apparent that such a strategy is still going strong for Oklahoma City.
Of course, with such depth comes the potential for a lack of continuity, particularly with on-court orientation.
Already, we've seen the Thunder readjust their starting five during this championship round with the insertion of Cason Wallace in at the primary two-spot and the moving of Isaiah Hartenstein to the pine for the series opener.
Now, as we make our way into Game 3 with things tied up at 1-1 against the Pacers, OKC's headman is insinuating that even more changes could realistically be on the horizon.
**Mark Daigneault praises 'optionality' of OKC Thunder**
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When discussing the fluidity of his lineup decisions [during Tuesday's practice media session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkT12XGaO0), coach Daigneault emphasized the fact that, at the end of the day, the "general battle we're trying to win is the possession battle," and, in his eyes, the approach to coming away on top in such a category changes day by day.
_"In the first game, we were able to win it with turnovers, which tends to be the way we can win it when we're smaller, and in the second game, we obviously rebounded better in those units, which is an advantage when we're bigger,"_ Daigneault said.
Innately, there are undoubtedly pluses and minuses to the frequency at which the Thunder are shuffling up their rotations.
In Game 1, the club's decision to go small with Wallace in the starting lineup instead of Hartenstein saw OKC force Indiana into a ridiculous 24 turnovers, though it simultaneously resulted in them losing the rebounding battle (56 to 49) and, ultimately, the game.
Game 2, Daigneault went with a slightly different approach by utilizing the double-big lineups more often throughout the contest, which, while they may have been bested in the fastbreak points department (nine to four), the Thunder were able to set better screens for cleaner scoring opportunities and, in turn, saw five players drop 15 or more points during the series-tying win.
To the 2024 NBA Coach of the Year, this elite "optionality" is crucial for his approach to drawing up fresh new game plans, as he acknowledged during his presser that "every game's different," and hopes that "as the series goes on, we're expanding options."
While some may feel this rotational flexibility may be a bit too risky with the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the line, it's important to remember that, throughout the 2024-25 regular season, the Thunder saw a whopping 30 different starting lineups rolled out and they still managed to win the fifth-most games in a single year in league history.
Mark Daigneault has earned the right to be trusted.