The preseason is a time of hope for most NBA franchises. Right now, everyone is 0-0, can talk themselves into everything breaking right, and it is an especially special time for rookies. Their first real run in a true NBA environment. Summer League is a nice event; it isn't like being on a true NBA hardwood with fellow NBA players.
The optimism around a rookie class in Bricktown hasn't hit this fever pitch since the 2022 class debut, as No. 12 overall pick Aday Mara is stealing every headline this week, while No. 16 overall pick Bennett Stirtz has seen his potential flash as well.
Stirtz was the big man on campus throughout his college career, running the show on the hardwood at each of his three stops across his four campaigns. His prospect career ended at Iowa, where he averaged a jaw-dropping 37.7 minutes per game (the most in the country) fresh off his Junior season, when he posted an alarming 39.4 minutes per game across the 40-minute contests. He played in 72 Division I college basketball games after starting his career at the Division II level with Northwest Missouri State during his Freshman and Sophomore seasons.
The guard was All-Big Ten a year after being the Mississippi Valley Player of the Year and turned in a 26.9 usage rate in the 2025-26 season, where he was the heart and soul of the Hawkeye offense. Averaging 19.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.4 steals while shooting 47% from the floor, 35% from beyond the arc and 84% at the charity stripe.
Most of Stirtz's offense was self created as a lethal on-ball option to carry Iowa and in Oklahoma City that role will be dramatically different. There simply are not enough creation minutes to go around if this Thudner squad is healthy as superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams and rising star Ajay Mitchell handle the majority of the on-ball chances and for good reason.
However, in the NBA preseason, with the team shuffling its regulars in and out of the rotation, including playing two of its three preseason games to this point without a single minute from the vast majority of the headliners in Bricktown, Stirtz has been able to soak up a ton of exhibition minutes in the process. A large chunk of that has been spent on the ball to the tune of him leading the entire NBA in points during the preseason.
That hasn't stopped Oklahoma City from working Stirtz off-ball though; the team has gotten 11 catch-and-shoot attempts for the Iowa product, to which he made nine of said shots. His confidence, quick release, and ability to toss in deep 3s from well behind the arc is another layer added to this Thunder offense, which could end up being the best in franchise history.
While Stirtz is flashing his off-ball play finishing from 3-point land, he is still more than producing in the pick-and-roll where he posts a point per possession in that setting as the ball handler and generates 1.2 points per possession in overall offense through three preseason games.
Sure, the defense is still a net negative by a long shot in exhibition play, but with the offensive flashes on display and the amount of high-level defensive talent the team can put around him in lineups, perhaps that is a weakness in the rookie's game that the Thunder can mask to gain the scoring benefit.
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