The trade deadline passed Thursday without the Thunder adding a traditional big man, driving a stake through the heart of one of the NBA’s most tired takes.

And then, wouldn’t you know it, it was reported Saturday that Bismack Biyombo is Bricktown-bound.

The Thunder has its break-glass-in-case-of-emergency big man. A 255-pound center who can gobble rebounds and act the part of a bar bouncer. And rather than parting with assets for slightly better versions of Biyombo, the Thunder signed Biyombo as a virtually free, free agent. Biyombo, a 13-year veteran, played in 30 games for the Grizzlies this season before being released.

While the addition of Biyombo might appease those who clamored for the Thunder to address a perceived need of size and rebounding, Biyombo is not going to change the way the Thunder plays. Like a left-handed reliever against a left-handed hitter, Biyombo figures to be a situational specialist for the Thunder. An option Mark Daigneault can turn to if the likes of Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams are taking too many elbows to the eye or shoulders in the chest.

More: Did OKC Thunder win NBA trade deadline in landing Gordon Hayward from Charlotte Hornets?

Biyombo’s services are good to have available. They just might not be needed much, if at all.

Peek at the standings. The Thunder entered play Saturday at 35-16 — half a game out of first place in the West. Might it be possible that the Thunder’s sacrifice of interior size for all-around skill is one of the reasons behind the team’s sudden rise into contention?

OKC’s unconventionality makes some uncomfortable, but the results are inarguable.

The Thunder is fifth in offensive rating, fourth in defensive rating and it has the second-best net rating in the NBA. That OKC ranks 28th in rebounding percentage — which calculates the number of rebounds a team recovers compared to the number of rebounding chances — is a mere data point among a spreadsheet of other factors.

Since when do rebounds matter more than wins? It’s easy to nitpick at low-hanging fruit, but step back from the tree of despair and see the flourishing forest.

Maybe the rebound truthers are proven right in the end, maybe Biyombo is a taped piece of paper to cover a deeper hole. Poor rebounding or a lack of heft inside might be the Thunder’s playoff demise. I’m thinking youth and inexperience will be more responsible, but hey, you never know. None of us know. This Thunder team has never won a playoff series. Never even played in a playoff series. Losing in the first round and making the conference finals seem like equally possible outcomes for OKC.

It just seems silly that the Thunder would change the way it plays, especially right now. It’d be like saying, ‘Hey, I can’t believe how good this team is,’ before adding, ‘if only they would try something drastically different.’

More: OKC Thunder completes its roster by converting Adam Flagler to a two-way contract

“We’re happy with the team we have right now,” Daigneault said after the trade deadline. “We were happy with the team we had two days ago. We really, really like our guys, we like what we’re building, we like the track that we’re on.”

But they could be even better if only they had a burly rebounder! 

Yeah, maybe. Or worse.

I doubt Biyombo plays enough to prove either side right or wrong, but I’m curious how the Thunder’s offense operates with Biyombo on the floor. Biyombo, who in 829 career games has made zero 3-pointers. He might grab a rebound or seven, but at what expense?

That’s Daigneault’s job to figure out.

He’s the Coach of the Year frontrunner for a reason. Few coaches, if any, are as experimental with rotations or as adept at adjusting on the fly.

“It’s a very interconnected game,” Daigneault said, “so every decision you make whether it’s with the roster or a decision I make on the court is a domino. It’s not just a decision in a vacuum. You push over one domino and that’s gonna knock over more dominoes in that game or in the future.”

More: OKC Thunder suffers biggest loss of season in 35-point rout against Luka Doncic, Mavericks

The Thunder is set to lead the league in drives per game for the fourth consecutive season. OKC is trying to clear the runway, not pack it with 747s. SGA and Jalen Williams need room to operate, which is why Holmgren’s gravity as a floor spacer is so essential to the Thunder’s elite offense.

In football terms, think of the Thunder as a spread offense as opposed to a ground-and-pound attack. Spread offenses were gimmicky until they weren’t. Now they’re almost universally-embraced.

Conceptually, someone who’s big and strong enough to bang inside with Nikola Jokic while facilitating and swishing 3s on the other end would be a nice get for the Thunder. There are so many of them available that I’m not sure what Sam Presti was thinking by not grabbing one.

In Gordon Hayward, the Thunder acquired a player who can dribble, pass and shoot. He’s a career 37% 3-point shooter. And at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, he’s bigger than the Thunder’s other reserve wings like Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe.

“I think he fits in with what we’re trying to do,” Jalen Williams said after practice Friday. “It does kind of reinforce how we want to play, just because he’s able to do a lot.”

But even incorporating a veteran like Hayward isn’t easy.

“When it’s midseason like this, it’s almost like merging onto a highway,” Daigneault said. “You want to merge on in a seamless way and stay with the flow of traffic.”

More: OKC Thunder suffers biggest loss of season in 35-point rout against Luka Doncic, Mavericks

Size, skill and smarts is the Holy Trinity of Thunder traits. Yes, size. It’s a misnomer that the Thunder is small. SGA is 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot wingspan. Jalen Williams is 6-foot-5 and musclebound. Josh Giddey is 6-foot-8. Holmgren is a lanky 7-footer. Lu Dort is the Thunder’s shortest starter at 6-foot-3, but he’s built like a stack of bricks.

The Thunder’s starting lineup, despite spacing issues of its own even without a traditional big, has a 7.4 net rating — outscoring opponents by 7.4 points per 100 possessions.

The Thunder’s second-most used lineup, which swaps a sniper in Joe for a non-shooter in Giddey, has a 26.0 net rating. The Thunder’s top-two lineups with Kenrich Williams at the five have net ratings of 20.0 and 38.6 in small samples of 29 and 27 minutes.

Jaylin Williams, at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, is likely to have a matchup-dependent role, like Biyombo, in the postseason. The second-year backup center is a smart passer and willing 3-point shooter who can spell Holmgren or play alongside him.

“Part of our job as a coaching staff is to be flexible and adapt and evolve based on our personnel, which I think we’ve done,” Daigneault said. “We haven’t had a static style of play over time. It’s evolved and it’s built based on who we have and what we do well.”

The Thunder might ultimately have to adjust. Or the league might have to adjust to the Thunder.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder sticking to its style, even with Bismack Biyombo signing