3 Oklahoma City Thunder players who need to be given more minutes

After signing Paul George to a long-term contract extension last summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder entered the 18/19 season with renewed confidence, looking to end the dominance of the Golden State Warriors.

Fast forward six months and the Warriors are still the heavy favourites to win a third straight Championship, although NBA analysts such as ESPN's Stephen A. Smith have seen enough to declare the Thunder as the biggest threat to Steve Kerr's side.

Nevertheless, despite being one of the NBA's most impressive teams for much of the season, the Thunder have recently stuttered, losing four of their last five games. Billy Donovan has also yet to establish a consistent rotation, and a number of OKC players are failing to receive the minutes that their performances have warranted.

So, as we enter the final stretch of the season, here are three Thunder players that should be handed more playing time.

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#3 Hamidou Diallo

Hamidou Diallo of the Oklahoma City Thunder

After spending one season playing basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats, Hamidou Diallo was selected by the Brooklyn Nets as the 48th pick of the 2018 NBA draft. Following the draft, the 20-year-old bounced around a number of teams, before eventually being signed by the Thunder in July, and by October, Diallo had made his NBA debut against the Golden State Warriors, scoring four points.

In the following months, Diallo continued to receive good minutes in Billy Donovan's rotation and in November, Diallo recorded a career-high 18 points against Sacramento Kings. For the season, Diallo is averaging 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per game, although the shooting guard has barely featured in 2019, and Diallo played just fifteen minutes throughout March.

With Alex Abrines no longer with the franchise, and Abdel Nader struggling to have much of an impact, the path is clear for Diallo to enjoy a sustained run until the end of the season, although it remains to be seen if Billy Donovan will turn to the 2019 NBA Dunk Contest Champion.

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#2 Raymond Felton

Oklahoma City Thunder v Utah Jazz - Game Six

Raymond Felton has seen an increase in his minutes on the court in recent weeks, however, for the season as a whole, Felton has been vastly underused. Due to the summer arrival of Dennis Schroder, the 34-year-old has featured just 22 times, averaging 12.3 minutes per game. Nevertheless, Felton has still managed to contribute steady numbers when called upon, and in light of Schroder's recent struggles, some OKC fans have called for Felton to replace the German as back-up to Russell Westbrook.

While this is incredibly unlikely to happen, there is no doubting that Billy Donovan would be wise to find a regular role for Felton in his rotation, as the veteran successfully demonstrated his ability to perform in clutch moments during the 17/18 season. Felton's days of scoring 20 points a game are over, but there is no doubting that he still adds creativity to the OKC team, and the point guard's recent 13-point outing against the Spurs was a timely reminder of his ability.

#1 Nerlens Noel

Nerlens Noel has seen limited action during his time in Oklahoma City

While there is no doubting that Steven Adams has earned his spot as the Thunder's starting center, Nerlens Noel has consistently put forth his case for an increased role on the team.

Despite his limited minutes so far this season, Noel has managed to average an impressive 1.3 blocks per game, while also averaging 5.1 rebounds. Back on February 15, Noel posted 22 points and 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans, however, in the following game, the 24-year-old played just 11 minutes, which has been the story of his season so far.

In fact, the game against the Pelicans was the only occasion during February in which Noel featured for more than 20 minutes, and for the season as a whole, the 24-year-old is averaging just 14.2 minutes per game.

Noel can opt out of his deal in the summer, and if the Thunder want to keep one of the NBA's best backup centers on their roster, then Billy Donovan's needs to give Noel a bigger role during the final weeks of the season.