OKC Thunder quotes: Mark Daigneault, Mike Muscala speak with media after practice

As the Oklahoma City Thunder enjoy a three-day break after playing 11 games in 20 days — which included seven of them being on the road and the team going 1-10 overall during that span– head coach Mark Daigneault and veteran stretch big Mike Muscala spoke with the media on Wednesday following a practice session. Some of the topics that were discussed include injury updates, trade deadline talk and who has the best hair on the team.

Let’s take a look at some of the more notable quotes and paraphrases from this session as the Thunder prepare to play the Indiana Pacers on Friday, Jan. 28.

Trade deadline

The NBA trade deadline is a little over two weeks away on Feb. 10 and Muscala has been in conversations from pundits on a potential trade. The 30-year-old is averaging 8.1 points in just 13.5 minutes a night while shooting a career-high 43.3 percent from three, Muscala’s 3.5 million team option for next season makes him that much more appetizing for playoff contenders to add a legit stretch big on a bargain of a salary to its rotation.

When asked about how he’s handled trade speculation, Muscala says he gets his NBA news from HoopsHype and has been checking up on it more recently as the deadline looms closer.

Ankle injury

Muscala, who Daigneault has previously said has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury that needs to be taken care of at all times, finally revealed that he has been dealing with a right ankle stress fracture. Muscala would then go on to note that it is getting better and expects to be fully practicing soon. The nine-year-veteran is playing just under 14 minutes a game, which is his lowest amount since the 2019-20 season with the Thunder.

Best hair on the team

Muscala also said that rookie Josh Giddey has the best hair on the team and says he’s surprised he doesn’t wear a headband during games. Some Thunder fans on Twitter disagreed with Muscala’s opinion and voiced Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as having the better hair on the squad. Regardless, I think it’s fair to say that a Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey backcourt might have the best hair duo in the entire league.

Mamadi Diakite praise

Muscala gave Mamadi Diakite quite the compliment as he said he has the most aesthetically-pleasing shot on the team and compared him to former Thunder forward Serge Ibaka.

“I think he has the best looking jump shot on the team… He can be one of those guys, like a Serge Ibaka… I think he can be a really good player in this league,” said Muscala.

That is quite the compliment to receive as Ibaka has carved out a nice and lengthy NBA career and was once arguably the best shot blocker in the league at his peak.

Evaluations

Daigneault mentioned that the team has reached the halfway mark for them and has/will use this three-day break to go back and evaluate the team’s and player’s performances. With 47 games in, the Thunder are a little over halfway through its season.

When asked what are some of the bigger takeaways from evaluations, he mentions how the team’s defense has been great despite some slippage recently.

Lu Dort's progression

Daigneault gave a very thorough answer when asked about Lu Dort’s development. He admits that Dort’s efficiency has gotten progressively worse as the season has moved, but mentions how you do not want to ruin a player’s confidence by being too hands on with their development and to give them the opportunity to learn from mistakes.

“The hardest balance is between functioning inside the team and being aggressive,” said Daigneault. He also said that Dort is more prone to be on the aggressive side but says that the staff is trying to find his own way to be efficient individually and for the team.

Daigneault also said that Dort has been too aggressive at times but says he’s still very young with plenty of time to develop and is a good guy overall.

“You don’t wanna bite into a player’s confidence excessively.”

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