OKC Thunder 2023-24 Regular Season Discussion

[Devilanche]

Already assuming we are facing Dallas even if it's not over but this is the kind of series we needed to give Chet some help. Two of Gafford/Lively/PJ washington on the floor is gonna be a tough task for Chet and I don't know how we will handle when he's on the bench. Jwill is way too slow against those mavs bigs. Gonna need future superstar JDub to step up.

One way or another we will find out. But kind of prefer meeting Dallas.

Why so?

Feel like their big match up better against us and I like Dort a lot against Harden (he already showed it in the past) or even PG13. Doncic is physically strong and is elite at creating separation.

Either the team have to rise up or we will be so inadequate that Presti have to do something.

Winning a weakened clippers and then winning/losing to minny or Denver might be proof that the team is ready and just need more experience.

Edit - Dallas is the stronger test .
I want SGA to see from Doncic and add to his game.
I want see Chet battling against the Dallas big.
I want see Presti admit we need more help.

I do think we still have a chance of a good series against Dallas.

[Bremzi]

Already assuming we are facing Dallas even if it's not over but this is the kind of series we needed to give Chet some help. Two of Gafford/Lively/PJ washington on the floor is gonna be a tough task for Chet and I don't know how we will handle when he's on the bench. Jwill is way too slow against those mavs bigs. Gonna need future superstar JDub to step up.

One way or another we will find out. But kind of prefer meeting Dallas.

Why so?

Feel like their big match up better against us and I like Dort a lot against Harden (he already showed it in the past) or even PG13. Doncic is physically strong and is elite at creating separation.

Doncic and Irving cant guard well. Moreover, their meeting when they blew OKC out was their best game of the season and they consistently sagged off of Giddey, who couldnt hit anything. If he hits his threes or Wallace does it instead of him, OKC has good defenders to throw at them the whole game evrry game. Dort, Wiggins, Wallace with some SGA/JDub should be fine, especially since Doncic is not 100%. I dont fear the Dallas bigs because they’re not overpowering anyone.

[bbms]

i guess i prefer lac just because i wish success to pg and russ.

okc are able to compete and win versus both.

[slick_watts]

the problem with dallas is that they are not turnover prone, and our half court offense has struggled so far in the playoffs and hasn't been consistent against dallas, either. they also play a lot of zone, and have long athletes just like NOP did to disrupt shai and the passing lanes. luka and kyrie put constant pressure on the rim with pick and roll, and our defense has struggled to stay disciplined against them in the past.

i would have much preferred the clippers, who play a more straight up defensive style and who are more turnover prone.

[Bremzi]

Why worry. You need to beat everyone to get the ring. They need to size up to Dallas and see where they are. Just enjoy a h2h showdown vs 2 MVP contenders. This year’s WC semifinal couples will be great.

[bbms]

Remember, the best team OKC had during that era was the year he traded Harden. Then he let KMart leave and it all fell apart from there.

a side note to this trade is that it was very unfortunate to the club that toronto hit on all their moves. back in the days the odds of that toronto pick being top 5 were gigantic, toronto with colangelo just couldn't go anywhere. after it, they just hit on everything to turn around midseason to put a playoff caliber team that ended up finishing late lottery after a(nother) piss poor start.

again, luck always plays a decisive part.

reports in that day were that presti was trying to move up from 12 for oladipo, with a higher pick the decision tree would be a lot different.

[namlede]

Chet is the key on both ends. If he can hit his 3s with confidence he will open up the offense. On defense he needs to be locked in protecting the paint and pnr coverages.

A good Chet and we win, a bad Chet we lose.

[Big nick]

Chets 3 ball has been very flat lately hardly no arch. When he gets some arch hes money.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

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I don't think Presti would risk it. He knows that a big part of the fans are still pissed about KD and I'm not sure how his relationship is with him. He gave the number 35 to another player before all the burner account non sense so I don't think our FO wants him back.

My bet is KD to the Pels if he leaves

[RingoKid]

That's a fair criticism. Presti waited too long to hire another coach.

Scooter and Bildo were pooh.

Worst thing Presti did was sign Melo who was a steaming bucket of entitled pooh and stank up the joint.

[bbms]

we all know the reality, the worst mistake presti ever made was to draft james harden instead of steph curry

reports were okc was deep in scouting curry but in the end they opted for harden

[RingoKid]

we all know the reality, the worst mistake presti ever made was to draft james harden instead of steph curry

reports were okc was deep in scouting curry but in the end they opted for harden

Wow...did not know that!

[Kizz Fastfists]

we all know the reality, the worst mistake presti ever made was to draft james harden instead of steph curry

reports were okc was deep in scouting curry but in the end they opted for harden

If Curry would have come to OKC and stayed healthy he probably gets traded the same way Harden did. Your premise is based on Curry having the same injuries to limit his playing time and being forced into a non max second contract. That means OKC probably doesn't make the Finals when they did and might not have ever have reached them.

[bbms]

we all know the reality, the worst mistake presti ever made was to draft james harden instead of steph curry

reports were okc was deep in scouting curry but in the end they opted for harden

If Curry would have come to OKC and stayed healthy he probably gets traded the same way Harden did. Your premise is based on Curry having the same injuries to limit his playing time and being forced into a non max second contract. That means OKC probably doesn't make the Finals when they did and might not have ever have reached them.

curry was way better than harden in his rookie season, and harden only took real traction after the jeff green trade. also curry took a 4/44 after year 3 while harden turned down a 4/55.

first question of that what if scenario would be curry's value over harden in that lakers series that went to 6.

while harden was just scratching the surface of real impact in nba floors, curry had 2 70+ g 30+ mpg seasons with real impact. he had market, the talk of him getting low balled by injuries imo is a fallacy. curry chose not to test market and potentially hurt his development curve by a franchise change.

not to mention the questions to harden's professionalism. too much talked about presti/bennet not pulling the trigger on a 3rd max deal, too little questioned whether it was financial inability or financial unwillingness to max harden. i suuspect the latter.

edit with journalistic sources:

Curry, who signed ahead of Wednesday's league deadline to reach extensions with fourth-year players. "I could potentially be underpaid. I just don't want to be that guy who is overpaid. That's my mission."

For Curry, the trade-off for possibly being underpaid is the security of knowing where he'll be playing through the 2016-17 season. The Warriors had to weigh the risk of a long-term deal with a player coming off two ankle surgeries.
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/Warriors-sign-Curry-to-44-million-deal-3998650.php

curry's words expresses exactly the opposite intention of harden in extension talks.

[Devilanche]

we all know the reality, the worst mistake presti ever made was to draft james harden instead of steph curry

reports were okc was deep in scouting curry but in the end they opted for harden

If Curry would have come to OKC and stayed healthy he probably gets traded the same way Harden did. Your premise is based on Curry having the same injuries to limit his playing time and being forced into a non max second contract. That means OKC probably doesn't make the Finals when they did and might not have ever have reached them.

curry was way better than harden in his rookie season, and harden only took real traction after the jeff green trade. also curry took a 4/44 after year 3 while harden turned down a 4/55.

first question of that what if scenario would be curry's value over harden in that lakers series that went to 6.

while harden was just scratching the surface of real impact in nba floors, curry had 2 70+ g 30+ mpg seasons with real impact. he had market, the talk of him getting low balled by injuries imo is a fallacy. curry chose not to test market and potentially hurt his development curve by a franchise change.

not to mention the questions to harden's professionalism. too much talked about presti/bennet not pulling the trigger on a 3rd max deal, too little questioned whether it was financial inability or financial unwillingness to max harden. i suuspect the latter.

edit with journalistic sources:

Curry, who signed ahead of Wednesday's league deadline to reach extensions with fourth-year players. "I could potentially be underpaid. I just don't want to be that guy who is overpaid. That's my mission."

For Curry, the trade-off for possibly being underpaid is the security of knowing where he'll be playing through the 2016-17 season. The Warriors had to weigh the risk of a long-term deal with a player coming off two ankle surgeries.
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/Warriors-sign-Curry-to-44-million-deal-3998650.php

curry's words expresses exactly the opposite intention of harden in extension talks.

Curry second contract is purely due to his injuries worries .

Can’t 100% replicate it if he goes elsewhere.

He might be healthier , he could also have had worse ankle injuries.

[Bremzi]

Read on Twitter

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I don't think Presti would risk it. He knows that a big part of the fans are still pissed about KD and I'm not sure how his relationship is with him. He gave the number 35 to another player before all the burner account non sense so I don't think our FO wants him back.

My bet is KD to the Pels if he leaves

I also dont think Presti risks it. But, OKC can be 35-38 mil below the cap (141 next year). If they trade Dieng/Kenrich+1 of Wiggins/Joe/Lindy + add picks, it work salary wise. It also relieves PHX of 105 mil luxury tax. Moreover, KD has 2 years left and fits perfect with Chet/JDub extension. All 3 of them could be extended in the same offseason to make it work from the salary cap perspective (probably Kd taking less on a short term deal would be my guess).

Another option is Giddey + Dieng with less picks. This is probably better longterm due to removing Giddey from salary cap equation. I think that if the trade is done on draft night (for instance trading Rockets pick along), then there is a lower need for outgoing salary - I think in that case only 13-14 mil outgoing is necesary. Adding KD even at 35 without any major drawbacks is way better than adding a rookie and waiting for a few in the next few years. It just makes too much sense not to do it, if the option presents itself.

It would be very similar to what GSW did as the #1 seed adding KD. Would that put an asterisk at a possible championship earned that way - perhaps. Would it be plausible to win a chip - certainly. Would it be a perfect way to get it with KD - I’d say full out nostalgia would be positive. Is there any better player match to get back in trade than Kd given the contraxtual situations? Probably not - AD would be great but his deal doesnt work with OKC longterm salary construction.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

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I don't think Presti would risk it. He knows that a big part of the fans are still pissed about KD and I'm not sure how his relationship is with him. He gave the number 35 to another player before all the burner account non sense so I don't think our FO wants him back.

My bet is KD to the Pels if he leaves

I also dont think Presti risks it. But, OKC can be 35-38 mil below the cap (141 next year). If they trade Dieng/Kenrich+1 of Wiggins/Joe/Lindy + add picks, it work salary wise. It also relieves PHX of 105 mil luxury tax. Moreover, KD has 2 years left and fits perfect with Chet/JDub extension. All 3 of them could be extended in the same offseason to make it work from the salary cap perspective (probably Kd taking less on a short term deal would be my guess).

Another option is Giddey + Dieng with less picks. This is probably better longterm due to removing Giddey from salary cap equation. I think that if the trade is done on draft night (for instance trading Rockets pick along), then there is a lower need for outgoing salary - I think in that case only 13-14 mil outgoing is necesary. Adding KD even at 35 without any major drawbacks is way better than adding a rookie and waiting for a few in the next few years. It just makes too much sense not to do it, if the option presents itself.

It would be very similar to what GSW did as the #1 seed adding KD. Would that put an asterisk at a possible championship earned that way - perhaps. Would it be plausible to win a chip - certainly. Would it be a perfect way to get it with KD - I’d say full out nostalgia would be positive. Is there any better player match to get back in trade than Kd given the contraxtual situations? Probably not - AD would be great but his deal doesnt work with OKC longterm salary construction.

I don't want him but I don't think so because OKC isn't a 73 win team and never won a ring like the Warriors did in 2015 + KD would be coming back to where he was drafted/developed.

[bbms]

Would that put an asterisk at a possible championship earned that way - perhaps.

sorry pal but no it won't. having good players never put an asterisk to any title. losers are the ones that put asterisks on clubs titles. winners just celebrate

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

He isn't shooting when he plays though

[cjmcallist]

If KD comes back I'm switching teams. No joke.

Also, if we don't extend Giddey, we have ~$54m in cap space next offseason. We'll see how extensions play out, but the 2025 class looks pretty good so far.

My main point is that we don't have to - and should not - use our space this summer on KD.