The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to defend their NBA Championship during the 2025-26 season.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder to succeed in their quest to win it all again, they need another terrific season from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
However, it’s always great to find underrated stars who make a place for themselves on the roster.
The Thunder have seemingly found one such player during their first two preseason games, including their most recent matchup vs. Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks.
Brooks Barnhizer impresses OKC Thunder fans after stellar performance against Cooper Flagg
In recent years, the Thunder have developed a knack for welcoming underrated players to their roster. A perfect example of this was Alex Caruso’s addition last season.
Speaking of the 2025-26 season, Brooks Barnhizer could turn out to be that player for the Thunder, as the rookie had an impressive performance in a 106-89 loss against the Mavericks.
Barnhizer’s 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block vs. the Mavericks led to OKC fans demanding that the franchise convert his two-way deal into a standard NBA contract.
“Brooks Barnhizer is making Cooper Flagg work on every possession,” one fan wrote. While another added: “Barnhizer will get some NBA run this season.”
“Barnhizer played incredible defense against the number one pick,” a third fan wrote.
“OKC found one in Brooks Barnhizer,” a fourth fan stated.
“Brooks Barnhizer is really the perfect Thunder player, he’s making every single possession hard as hell for Cooper Flagg,” a fifth fan pointed out.
Now, that’s one way to impress the fanbase of the defending champions of the league.
Brooks Barnhizer reveals how he will contribute to the OKC Thunder
No matter how much OKC fans love him, it’s head coach Mark Daigneault’s decision whether Barnhizer gets a standard deal or not.
If there’s one thing that’ll help him in getting on the good side of coach Daigneault, it’s understanding his role.
“The job for me is just to be somebody these guys want to be around every day, motivate them, just try to push the envelope in practice and get us ready for games.
“I just really want to add something, and that’s the challenge for me,” Barnhizer told Justin Martinez on X.
Well, if Barnhizer’s suffocation defense against Flagg didn’t convince Daigneault, this statement should help his case.
