The Oklahoma City Thunder have plenty of questions to answer next season, but one answer could become clearer in the preseason.

Despite so much movement in the league throughout the offseason, the Thunder will still be entering next season as a favorite to win the title. Sending out Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins over the offseason to get under the second apron and clear roster space for incoming rookies, the Thunder will also look a bit different next season.

With a different roster, Mark Daigneault will also have to modify his rotations throughout the 82-game slate. While Dort still started every playoff game, Joe and Wiggins had largely fallen out of the postseason rotation, leaving the Thunder with most of their playoff lineup intact.

While that’s a great sign for the Thunder, they still have another 82 games to work through before they get to tip off their next playoff game in Oklahoma City. Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Thunder as they begin that journey is how the big man rotation will look next season. 

The Thunder’s trio of Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams will all be back playing key roles, but the team also has Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara to integrate into the lineup. Considering the Thunder are title favorites, it’s hard to imagine the top guys will see much run in the preseason, which should effectively lead to open auditions for Sorber and Mara to try to make their case for minutes.

Both players have physical questions as they prepare for their NBA debut. Mara’s conditioning could be a limiting factor early in his career, and Sorber’s injury history as he comes off a torn ACL last season leaves plenty of uncertainty around what he might look like.

Minutes will be sparse for Mara and Sorber when Oklahoma City is healthy, but injuries have hit the Thunder’s big rotation hard in recent years, and one or both will likely get some opportunities throughout the year. As for who will get the first crack at those minutes, that could easily come down to what happens in the preseason.

Mara and Sorber are effectively on equal footing as they enter their rookie seasons, and seeing some game action from those two should help Oklahoma City make some educated decisions for the start of the season. Ultimately, the preseason won’t hold much weight overall in how their rookie years pan out, but it could go a long way in projecting who will play more and who will play early.