Thunder Under Investigation by NBA for Sitting Starters vs. Trail Blazers

The end of the NBA season is about a month away, and in the last stretch of games there is plenty of incentive for teams to rest players.

For the lottery-bound franchises with moribund records, more losing only increases the likelihood of a high draft pick and a shot at an elite talent. Playoff-bound franchises often seek a balance of jostling for playoff positioning while resting the superstars for physical postseason play. As most teams fall into one of the above categories, star players and big names often miss games down the stretch.

This is why the NBA introduced the player participation policy a few years ago, putting into league law that teams would face punishment if the NBA found they rested players unnecessarily. To that end, the Utah Jazz were fined a cool $100,000 for violating the policy earlier this week. Now the NBA is looking into the Oklahoma City Thunder for doing the same.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Friday night that the Thunder were under investigation for potentially violating the player participation policy in a March 7 game against the Portland Trail Blazers in which the team elected to sit out all five starters.

"The NBA is investigating the Oklahoma City Thunder for potentially violating league's player participation policy, sources tell ESPN," Charania wrote on X. "Game under review is OKC’s March 7 win over Portland in which Thunder starting 5 (Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Holmgren, Dort, Hartenstein) sat."

Charania reported earlier in the day Friday that the league was also looking into the Philadelphia 76ers for a similar infraction.

Ahead of the matchup in Oklahoma City, the Thunder ruled out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the rest designation, Jalen Williams with a wrist sprain, Chet Holmgren with a lower leg contusion, Lu Dort with "patellofemoral soreness," and Isaiah Hartenstein with a nasal fracture. Despite those absences they proved victorious and defended home court, taking down Portland 107-89.

Now the franchise is under the microscope of the NBA.