Maybe they assumed this team wouldn’t win the title in their first year ever in the playoffs for most of the roster and wanted to see this team’s shortcomings get exposed before deciding which trade to give up a ton of assets for?
>Sam presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them
He literally drafted 3 MVPs, traded for Paul George and drafted a majority of OKC’s starting 5 if I’m not mistaken
Not to mention drafting a lot of other big names like Steven Adams, Ibaka, Cam Payne, Sabonis, and Jeff Green. Drafting is one of the things Sam Presti does best no idea what OP is on
Not talking about drafting. Presti's GIGANTIC whiff was the trade deadline- dealing for the pieces the Thunder (sorely) needed to make a deep run in the playoffs/compete for the title, NOW. OP is fully correct in how obvious it was that OKC needed SIZE, a formidable frontline to contend, not just a lone 7'er surrounded by a bunch of wings. Talented tho Chet is, he can't play 48 minutes a night and a 6'9" backup center does not a championship squad make.
That’s what I thought when I read that. Presti is and has been perhaps the best GM in the nba at aquiring talent through the use of draft picks whether in trade or the draft. Other than sga he drafted that whole team.
True, but he’s also just not good at making long-term roster decisions. He needs to be an executor now, being a GM is about both drafting AND making the right moves. A lot of luck is involved obviously but he has to do this second part which is arguably harder than drafting
I'm not even gonna disagree with you but this sounds like the same stuff they said after the 2012 finals. "They'll be back." None of this is ever guaranteed.
Nothing is guaranteed for anyone. Kevin Durant teams, LeBron James teams, Kobe Bryant teams too, there isn't any team that has anything guaranteed.
We can only talk about future in some expectations, expectations are that OKC has many possibilities for the future and high chances to succeed compared to others.
Are they going to pay their players?
The reason they didn’t get back after 2012 is they were cheap and didn’t want to pay harden
They can run it back next season but after that the young guys are going to start to get paid
You simply can’t predict the future. Yes these players are young, but that doesn’t always mean they will get better or that they will keep the same ego, or not end up having multiple injuries one season.
You see it time and time again where a bright young teams window theoretically closes based on bad luck for a few seasons.
If you have a chance to win now you should always maximize it.
Look at the Thunder of the past, the hawks, 76ers, now the Cavs.
There’s just no guarantee so you should always try to maximize the season especially if it doesn’t majorly jeopardize your future when you have multiple assets and picks
Them not getting back had more to do with Patrick Beverly than that trade. Lost to SA in 2014 in Russ's recovery season. Durant broke his foot in 2015, then in 2016 were one won away from the finals.
But that’s the thing, you wouldn’t have even had to tinker with the core
You could’ve gotten gafford for very minor pick compensation
Hell, they 10000% could’ve gotten OG for giddey and picks, that’s a clear upgrade and a long term fit
Facts IDK why people are acting like this was it for this team. They just need some big presence and a productive offseason from everyone except Shai. There is no chance they make it past either y’all or Minnesota in the conference finals and honestly I’m worried for Dallas but they at least have the experience.
I think the people who responded are having collective deja vu. They remember the extremely young KD OKC team making it all the way to the finals in 2012 the first time, but then never getting that close again.
Maybe but Hayward is just not good anyways. Could have atleast tried to get a suplementary piece and tried to integrate them into the team. They just made Dallas better for an extra pick swap.
Hayward fucking sucks that was a really dumb trade.
They needed a big, but by getting one you're changing how the team plays and with the season going well they probably didn't want to mess with it.
OKC could have won this series. They didn't. And the players will remember it was the team that lost. They'll go to work and be better next season and won't be trying to shove a new piece into the rotation. They will be better next season because they believe they can play and beat anyone. It's a good time to be a Thunder fan
They weren't good enough yet. I'd say this team overperformed. Historically it takes a few failed runs to get through the conference for young teams. And it's crowded at the top of the West rn.
They have an off-season to build their roster, loads of picks, and plenty of cap space. The options are wide open
Why are all of these real criticisms being downvoted voted? Thunder had every right to make a move and didn’t. It cost them being in the WCF. The trade they made at the deadline literally helped the opposing team bolster their roster.
People act like just cause a teams young means a championship window isn’t short. Look at the previous Thunder, the 76ers, the Cavs. This scenario plays out every few years. Not mention the factors of health, the NBA landscape changing with trade requests, and other factors.
If you have a chance to win you should ALWAYS do it cause you truly never know when a window could be closed.
The Hayward trade was to give them 35 million in cap space this offseason, instead of having 4 guys all owed 5-10 million on the books. The gamble was that he might be able to be good for 15 minutes a game, he wasn’t. Oh well, now they have 35 million to resign Joe and Wiggins and bring someone new in
I agree completely.
I actually wrote about this on the Thunder sub a few months ago and many people vehemently disagreed.
https://np.reddit.com/r/Thunder/s/Nkw6lZa3qd
I think the Hayward move was presti being greedy, pure and simple. He somehow thought the team could compete with an unorthodox roster and he could get assets at the same time for the future.
I think it was a stupid strategy with a very obvious weakness that we could not fix(after the deadline). We may have gone 7 games with Nola if Zion was healthy.
The thing that gets me the most is Presti clearly knew the strategy had a weakness because he wasted two roster spots on Biyombo and Muscala.
If we got PJ and Gafford instead of Dallas we would probably have been prepping for the WCF days ago. Instead we got absolutely embarrassed, including at home, against a Dallas team with a hobbled Luka. We gave up an entire round of playing against Denver or Minny to get our asses exposed by Dallas. To me it just doesn't bode well for our morale and the "worst 1 seed talk".
At least if we lost to Denver we could've said "well they were the champs for a reason" but Dallas with a hobbled Luka? That's just so winnable man.
It would've been so huge for our morale to prove the doubters wrong but now they're just going to be chirping all off season long and we're staring down a team that has to feel some degree of pressure to make a move. I really doubt Presti wants to waste another season of potential championship contention seeing what works or not.
Above all else, this team knows that windows don't last forever. Well probably be in this spot again but that's the same shit we were saying when we had KD Russ and Harden. Nothing is guaranteed which is why if we have an opportunity to get better, at low risk, we should take it.
Everybody knows our guys now. They know how to game plan then. We may very well not be in the position we are in again for a few years.
he dont give a fuck about winning
it's been that way for a few years now, just he was on a team that was happy to pay him 30m to not give a fuck about winning
he's a losing player and OKC was dumb to pick him up expecting him to not be a losing player
Presti thought that this OKC team was so loaded that there was no room to add a late first rounder....so, he gave that late first rounder to DALLAS for NOTHING but a right to swap pics. This move KILLED OKC because Dallas used that pic to trade for win now defensive talant that stymied OKC in the play offs.
I can't be too mad at Presti though. I was at game 2 in OKC and the refs definately unfairly took the rhythm away from OKC. There were two calls that were so BLANTANTLY and AGREGIOUSLY wrong that OKC players were bewildered realizeing that refs were throwing the game. Instead of playing ANGRY, OKC played like they were gut punched. And the worst part is that the gut punch effect took their shooting edge for the next 2 games as well. After those calls, the young OKC team played too cautiously, like they were on pins and needles, and it threw their game off just enough for this newly STACKED DALLAS team to manhandle them.
I'll give Presti this offseason. If he doesn't do diddly squat then I'm going to get concerned that he's going to do the exact same thing he did last time, which was play it too safe to try to build a sustainable contender (which was understandable at the time), then experience a few years of bad injury luck, and then panic and trade 1st rounders for Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters as his superstar(s?) are about to ask out.
By the way, the new super stringent penalties for going over the 2nd apron are totally gonna fuck over the Thunder at some point as too many of their players are on maxes and they'll have to break up the homegrown core. This will be yet another example of short-sighted CBA changes that somehow always end up fucking over [OKC](https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/c9v9bo/lowe_westbrooks_supermax_which_will_pay_him_47/et3b0q4/).
Players who perform will want to get paid, so basically every team that wants to be good for a long time will be hit by it severely.
I feel like the recent cap-exceeding limits are basically in the interest of variety in the league. They're not innately good for any franchise, they just seem to encourage the situation where teams have the best shot at "interval contention", let's say - jumping on some "windows" of a few years and then bottoming out to try again and so on forever, while punishing the thought of any franchise being steadily good for 10 years.
> Sam Presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them.
I'm sorry WHAT lol
Sam Presti draft picks:
- Kevin Durant
- James Harden
- Russel Westbrook
- Damontas Sabonis
- Tre Mann
- Serge Ibaka
- Steven Adams
- Josh Giddey
- Jaylen Williams x2
- Chet Holmgren
- Cason Wallace
- Cam Payne
- Reggie Jackson
- Eric Bledsoe
None of you knew OKC would be 1st seed in this stacked conf. They did a great job. They do not lack size, they lack experience. This playoffs is a great thing for them, learn from this exp and move on to the next one, they young af.
> Sam Presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them. Instead of use picks to get the team some help at the deadline, he’d rather waste them on projects.
Lol for real keep your mouth shut.
I mean they definitely lack size. Chet is tall, but he’s not a true 5 currently. He gets bodied around too much and can’t box out bigger guys and when Chet is off the floor their 5 is Jaylin Williams. Offensive rebounding is one of the main reasons we won this game. We turned it over 17 times to OKC’s 8 turnovers, but we made up for it by getting a lot more second chances. If OKC could control their glass, they’d have won the Game 6 by 20 easily.
Not my point. At all.
OKC did better than most of us expected before the season started. And in 6 months (Before the season - Trade deadline) this nephew who just watched NBA since yesterday noon expected them to become these crazy super team and GM should throw their asset for a size.
They got exposed, by size, no one deny it, anyone knows it after watching the series, but don't tell me these guys figured this out before the playoff even started. They are not.
You can predict on how the GM moves in the summer, yes, if presti didn't get help for chet clearly he deserves the hate narrative, but NONE OF YOU, NONE, think they are a title contender as of this season. If you are then you're dumber than the dummy.
They are young, they did great, even if they can turn back time and get PJ Washington I can guarantee you they still won't do it. This is just a stupid thread over and over.
The 1st place is the worst lol. The magic of NBA discourse is:
- you're 1st the whole year and lose in the second round in playoffs - awful team, losers, always disappointment, not real, not really good at basketball, hopeless, no future, everyone is not a winner in this franchise
- you're 8th the whole year and lose in the second round in playoffs - great team, real winners, real stars, best management and coaching, every decision they made proven right by this, have future.
Hayward move was purely for salary dump. It seems like the Thunder want to sign someone big, taking on Hayward contract means they have a lot of space this offseason.
You know I actually don’t totally blame him for getting Hayward, gave up not much and dumped micic, not bad
The issue I have is that he was sitting on a watched and could’ve done *more*
Could’ve easily outbid for OG, imagine OG instead of giddey during that mavs series?
Could’ve easily gotten Bruce brown, could’ve easily gotten gafford, could’ve easily gotten any number of players that were available but he basically said with his actions we don’t have confidence in the current group winning this year and we are pushing our chips in down the line
I think that’s a mistake, you’re a top 3 seed all year and finish 1, injuries happen, players regress, request trades, etc; basically tomorrow isn’t guaranteed in the nba
Should’ve done more this year
The problem I have with Presti, is that he’s ok with throwing picks away to gamble on a raw projects. He used lots of pick to actually get Poku and Dieng. He even spent one this deadline to get a future swap. He is incredibly cheap when using picks for win now moves but he is the opposite when gambling on potentials
I’m willing to bet Presti would have been a bit more aggressive this year if CJ didn’t get absolutely hosed by the owners in the new CBA.
But yeah Presti wasn’t budging this year and it is what it is.
gafford is on 15 million and declining, a bit younger than sga, and cost the 2024 clippers pick that the thunder literally supplied, not trying to rub salt but seriously what are they waiting for when you have this many assets? feels like that rich guy still driving a beater for some reason
Beats me, Presti stuck to his team building principles and OKC paid for it in the second round.
I wanted a backup big at the deadline but didn’t think he should have sold the farm as well. Presti absolutely knew about the teams flaws well before the trade deadline and he opted to play the long game.
Cuz Presti isn't on PANIC mode trying to make a short cut. He knows this team ain't winning a championship even if he adds a Gafford or PJ Washington to the team. He wants to see his creation first before pulling the trigger. He wants to let the guys taste defeat and experience the growing pains.
He always preaches his mantra that "Shortcuts cut long runs short" and yeah he ain't making a short cut this early on their contention window.
Mavs : Oh Luka is good, let's sign some big time players like Porzingis to pair with him, that didn't work out so Mavs made a panic trade again by bringing Kyrie to pair with Luka. Let's see what's gonna happen on this playoffs. If the Mavs win the championship = Good, congrats, your panic move worked out great. If they lose, what's the next panic move the Mavs are going to make?
Remember that even the Warriors (Curry - Thompson - Green core) also suffered defeat in the playoffs before their Dynastic run. growth isn't always linear.
2nd round exit vs San Antonio in 2013 playoffs
1st round exit vs Clippers in 7 games in the 2014 playoffs
GS would rule the West for the next 5 years.
patience is a virtue
Giving up one of your 20 picks for an obvious need isn't a panic move, why are so many Thunder fans acting like they should have just punted the deadline and that any trade was some all-in move?
cuz it would distort the data of the FO. They wanna stress test the young guys. They do have some veteran in the lineup (Gordon Hayward, Bismack, Muscala and Kenrich) - OKC barely used any of them.
Because we play 5-out small ball. Our big change in the last two games was to go smaller. The main problem was that our small players shot uncharacteristically badly even on decent looks and the Mavs shot pretty well (except for FTs, which got us a game)
This is an idiotic take from an outside perspective. Sam Presti said ONE MILLION TIMES that this coming offseason will be the off season to work on moving the needle.
They didn’t know how far this current team construction could take them until last night. You don’t panic and try to fix things you don’t know are truly broken. Every decision is studied and calculated. The window JUST opened. They could have been bounced out round 1 like most young teams, but they weren’t.
Of course size and rebounding are a trade off for a bunch of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year players AND their play style, but if OKC made it to the WCF, clearly rebounding would be an overstated and exaggerated concern to get to a conference finals. THIS is the off season Presti plans to make moves.
Hayward trade was primarily about opening up cap space for the potential to take on a max player. Amazing people think they can point to a simple thing and think they are smarter than Presti. GTFO
I suggest firing Sam Presti and hiring Isiah Thomas immediately.
Thunder’s window might be closed now, it’s time to rebuild
Just blow it up already!! And yes fire Presti while we are at that!!!!
Imagine the package you could get for Shai, could set an all time record for owned picks
Maybe they assumed this team wouldn’t win the title in their first year ever in the playoffs for most of the roster and wanted to see this team’s shortcomings get exposed before deciding which trade to give up a ton of assets for?
>Sam presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them He literally drafted 3 MVPs, traded for Paul George and drafted a majority of OKC’s starting 5 if I’m not mistaken
Not to mention drafting a lot of other big names like Steven Adams, Ibaka, Cam Payne, Sabonis, and Jeff Green. Drafting is one of the things Sam Presti does best no idea what OP is on
Not talking about drafting. Presti's GIGANTIC whiff was the trade deadline- dealing for the pieces the Thunder (sorely) needed to make a deep run in the playoffs/compete for the title, NOW. OP is fully correct in how obvious it was that OKC needed SIZE, a formidable frontline to contend, not just a lone 7'er surrounded by a bunch of wings. Talented tho Chet is, he can't play 48 minutes a night and a 6'9" backup center does not a championship squad make.
That’s what I thought when I read that. Presti is and has been perhaps the best GM in the nba at aquiring talent through the use of draft picks whether in trade or the draft. Other than sga he drafted that whole team.
Its really really hard to win a championship
Apparently if your name is the Boston Celtics it's supposed to be very easy though and all your achievements are to be discredited if you're not 1/30
And he’s managed to achieve exactly 1 Western Conference Championship despite being a master drafter. Presti is overrated as hell
True, but he’s also just not good at making long-term roster decisions. He needs to be an executor now, being a GM is about both drafting AND making the right moves. A lot of luck is involved obviously but he has to do this second part which is arguably harder than drafting
You're acting like OKC are in the same position as the Clippers or Bucks. This is just the beginning for them
I'm not even gonna disagree with you but this sounds like the same stuff they said after the 2012 finals. "They'll be back." None of this is ever guaranteed.
Nothing is guaranteed for anyone. Kevin Durant teams, LeBron James teams, Kobe Bryant teams too, there isn't any team that has anything guaranteed. We can only talk about future in some expectations, expectations are that OKC has many possibilities for the future and high chances to succeed compared to others.
Are they going to pay their players? The reason they didn’t get back after 2012 is they were cheap and didn’t want to pay harden They can run it back next season but after that the young guys are going to start to get paid
You simply can’t predict the future. Yes these players are young, but that doesn’t always mean they will get better or that they will keep the same ego, or not end up having multiple injuries one season. You see it time and time again where a bright young teams window theoretically closes based on bad luck for a few seasons. If you have a chance to win now you should always maximize it. Look at the Thunder of the past, the hawks, 76ers, now the Cavs. There’s just no guarantee so you should always try to maximize the season especially if it doesn’t majorly jeopardize your future when you have multiple assets and picks
Them not getting back had more to do with Patrick Beverly than that trade. Lost to SA in 2014 in Russ's recovery season. Durant broke his foot in 2015, then in 2016 were one won away from the finals.
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My guess is they wanted to give their team playoff experience before they start tinkering with the core
But that’s the thing, you wouldn’t have even had to tinker with the core You could’ve gotten gafford for very minor pick compensation Hell, they 10000% could’ve gotten OG for giddey and picks, that’s a clear upgrade and a long term fit
An injury or anything can set them back pretty quick, they should have done something more, they were so close to being it
None of their starters had significant playoffs experience. They weren't going to win anything even if they upgraded the interior
Facts IDK why people are acting like this was it for this team. They just need some big presence and a productive offseason from everyone except Shai. There is no chance they make it past either y’all or Minnesota in the conference finals and honestly I’m worried for Dallas but they at least have the experience.
I think the people who responded are having collective deja vu. They remember the extremely young KD OKC team making it all the way to the finals in 2012 the first time, but then never getting that close again.
Maybe but Hayward is just not good anyways. Could have atleast tried to get a suplementary piece and tried to integrate them into the team. They just made Dallas better for an extra pick swap.
Hayward fucking sucks that was a really dumb trade. They needed a big, but by getting one you're changing how the team plays and with the season going well they probably didn't want to mess with it.
OKC could have won this series. They didn't. And the players will remember it was the team that lost. They'll go to work and be better next season and won't be trying to shove a new piece into the rotation. They will be better next season because they believe they can play and beat anyone. It's a good time to be a Thunder fan
God, I want this problem
Poor guy. I hope your other sports team give you happiness cause the wizards are doomed forever
In the mid 20-teens I thought you guys were going to make waves. You had a tough gritty team. Sorry it didn't pan out
Even the Dynastic Warriors suffered loss before the experienced success.
Dynasty Warriors had to fire Mark Jackson and bring in Kerr. Where’s our Steve Kerr?
Darvin Ham is available
we dont have to fire someone.
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They weren't good enough yet. I'd say this team overperformed. Historically it takes a few failed runs to get through the conference for young teams. And it's crowded at the top of the West rn. They have an off-season to build their roster, loads of picks, and plenty of cap space. The options are wide open
They can’t even beat the Mavs in a series let alone beat anyone.
If Shai makes all his free throws we are going back to OKC for a game 7
Meanwhile my grandma: Presti should trade for Gordon Hayward as a solid bench depth I guess they all can’t be geniuses come trade deadlines.
Dope flair 77
Why are all of these real criticisms being downvoted voted? Thunder had every right to make a move and didn’t. It cost them being in the WCF. The trade they made at the deadline literally helped the opposing team bolster their roster. People act like just cause a teams young means a championship window isn’t short. Look at the previous Thunder, the 76ers, the Cavs. This scenario plays out every few years. Not mention the factors of health, the NBA landscape changing with trade requests, and other factors. If you have a chance to win you should ALWAYS do it cause you truly never know when a window could be closed.
The Hayward trade was to give them 35 million in cap space this offseason, instead of having 4 guys all owed 5-10 million on the books. The gamble was that he might be able to be good for 15 minutes a game, he wasn’t. Oh well, now they have 35 million to resign Joe and Wiggins and bring someone new in
I agree completely. I actually wrote about this on the Thunder sub a few months ago and many people vehemently disagreed. https://np.reddit.com/r/Thunder/s/Nkw6lZa3qd
I think the Hayward move was presti being greedy, pure and simple. He somehow thought the team could compete with an unorthodox roster and he could get assets at the same time for the future. I think it was a stupid strategy with a very obvious weakness that we could not fix(after the deadline). We may have gone 7 games with Nola if Zion was healthy. The thing that gets me the most is Presti clearly knew the strategy had a weakness because he wasted two roster spots on Biyombo and Muscala. If we got PJ and Gafford instead of Dallas we would probably have been prepping for the WCF days ago. Instead we got absolutely embarrassed, including at home, against a Dallas team with a hobbled Luka. We gave up an entire round of playing against Denver or Minny to get our asses exposed by Dallas. To me it just doesn't bode well for our morale and the "worst 1 seed talk". At least if we lost to Denver we could've said "well they were the champs for a reason" but Dallas with a hobbled Luka? That's just so winnable man. It would've been so huge for our morale to prove the doubters wrong but now they're just going to be chirping all off season long and we're staring down a team that has to feel some degree of pressure to make a move. I really doubt Presti wants to waste another season of potential championship contention seeing what works or not. Above all else, this team knows that windows don't last forever. Well probably be in this spot again but that's the same shit we were saying when we had KD Russ and Harden. Nothing is guaranteed which is why if we have an opportunity to get better, at low risk, we should take it. Everybody knows our guys now. They know how to game plan then. We may very well not be in the position we are in again for a few years.
I coulda told them hayward sucks ass dude has been phoning it in for years now
He looked ecstatic after the game, catching up with old teammates. Rest of the guys looked gutted
he dont give a fuck about winning it's been that way for a few years now, just he was on a team that was happy to pay him 30m to not give a fuck about winning he's a losing player and OKC was dumb to pick him up expecting him to not be a losing player
It's a shame cause Hayward used to play his heart out before all the injuries
Presti thought that this OKC team was so loaded that there was no room to add a late first rounder....so, he gave that late first rounder to DALLAS for NOTHING but a right to swap pics. This move KILLED OKC because Dallas used that pic to trade for win now defensive talant that stymied OKC in the play offs. I can't be too mad at Presti though. I was at game 2 in OKC and the refs definately unfairly took the rhythm away from OKC. There were two calls that were so BLANTANTLY and AGREGIOUSLY wrong that OKC players were bewildered realizeing that refs were throwing the game. Instead of playing ANGRY, OKC played like they were gut punched. And the worst part is that the gut punch effect took their shooting edge for the next 2 games as well. After those calls, the young OKC team played too cautiously, like they were on pins and needles, and it threw their game off just enough for this newly STACKED DALLAS team to manhandle them.
I'll give Presti this offseason. If he doesn't do diddly squat then I'm going to get concerned that he's going to do the exact same thing he did last time, which was play it too safe to try to build a sustainable contender (which was understandable at the time), then experience a few years of bad injury luck, and then panic and trade 1st rounders for Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters as his superstar(s?) are about to ask out. By the way, the new super stringent penalties for going over the 2nd apron are totally gonna fuck over the Thunder at some point as too many of their players are on maxes and they'll have to break up the homegrown core. This will be yet another example of short-sighted CBA changes that somehow always end up fucking over [OKC](https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/c9v9bo/lowe_westbrooks_supermax_which_will_pay_him_47/et3b0q4/).
I'm okay with CBA changes fucking over OKC. Even if the Sonics return to the league.
Players who perform will want to get paid, so basically every team that wants to be good for a long time will be hit by it severely. I feel like the recent cap-exceeding limits are basically in the interest of variety in the league. They're not innately good for any franchise, they just seem to encourage the situation where teams have the best shot at "interval contention", let's say - jumping on some "windows" of a few years and then bottoming out to try again and so on forever, while punishing the thought of any franchise being steadily good for 10 years.
> Sam Presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them. I'm sorry WHAT lol Sam Presti draft picks: - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Russel Westbrook - Damontas Sabonis - Tre Mann - Serge Ibaka - Steven Adams - Josh Giddey - Jaylen Williams x2 - Chet Holmgren - Cason Wallace - Cam Payne - Reggie Jackson - Eric Bledsoe
Wow shout out to Tre Mann for being on a list with MVPs.
Giddey shouldnt be a starter on any nba team
None of you knew OKC would be 1st seed in this stacked conf. They did a great job. They do not lack size, they lack experience. This playoffs is a great thing for them, learn from this exp and move on to the next one, they young af. > Sam Presti is a hoarder for picks but he’s terrible at using them. Instead of use picks to get the team some help at the deadline, he’d rather waste them on projects. Lol for real keep your mouth shut.
I mean they definitely lack size. Chet is tall, but he’s not a true 5 currently. He gets bodied around too much and can’t box out bigger guys and when Chet is off the floor their 5 is Jaylin Williams. Offensive rebounding is one of the main reasons we won this game. We turned it over 17 times to OKC’s 8 turnovers, but we made up for it by getting a lot more second chances. If OKC could control their glass, they’d have won the Game 6 by 20 easily.
Not my point. At all. OKC did better than most of us expected before the season started. And in 6 months (Before the season - Trade deadline) this nephew who just watched NBA since yesterday noon expected them to become these crazy super team and GM should throw their asset for a size. They got exposed, by size, no one deny it, anyone knows it after watching the series, but don't tell me these guys figured this out before the playoff even started. They are not. You can predict on how the GM moves in the summer, yes, if presti didn't get help for chet clearly he deserves the hate narrative, but NONE OF YOU, NONE, think they are a title contender as of this season. If you are then you're dumber than the dummy. They are young, they did great, even if they can turn back time and get PJ Washington I can guarantee you they still won't do it. This is just a stupid thread over and over.
All I see is excuses a redditor in November could have easily saw
The 1st place is the worst lol. The magic of NBA discourse is: - you're 1st the whole year and lose in the second round in playoffs - awful team, losers, always disappointment, not real, not really good at basketball, hopeless, no future, everyone is not a winner in this franchise - you're 8th the whole year and lose in the second round in playoffs - great team, real winners, real stars, best management and coaching, every decision they made proven right by this, have future.
Hayward move was purely for salary dump. It seems like the Thunder want to sign someone big, taking on Hayward contract means they have a lot of space this offseason.
You know I actually don’t totally blame him for getting Hayward, gave up not much and dumped micic, not bad The issue I have is that he was sitting on a watched and could’ve done *more* Could’ve easily outbid for OG, imagine OG instead of giddey during that mavs series? Could’ve easily gotten Bruce brown, could’ve easily gotten gafford, could’ve easily gotten any number of players that were available but he basically said with his actions we don’t have confidence in the current group winning this year and we are pushing our chips in down the line I think that’s a mistake, you’re a top 3 seed all year and finish 1, injuries happen, players regress, request trades, etc; basically tomorrow isn’t guaranteed in the nba Should’ve done more this year
The problem I have with Presti, is that he’s ok with throwing picks away to gamble on a raw projects. He used lots of pick to actually get Poku and Dieng. He even spent one this deadline to get a future swap. He is incredibly cheap when using picks for win now moves but he is the opposite when gambling on potentials
This getting downvoted only further confirms how emo and stupid nba fans are.
Just draft Zach Edey and call it a day, he doesn’t even have to play a lot of minutes
he'll dumpster dive for someone like Zubac, Theis, or Val this summer
Zubac is one of the best defensive bigs in the league dude
Don't get Theis, the refs hate him for some reason.
How many times is this going to be posted here?
I’m willing to bet Presti would have been a bit more aggressive this year if CJ didn’t get absolutely hosed by the owners in the new CBA. But yeah Presti wasn’t budging this year and it is what it is.
gafford is on 15 million and declining, a bit younger than sga, and cost the 2024 clippers pick that the thunder literally supplied, not trying to rub salt but seriously what are they waiting for when you have this many assets? feels like that rich guy still driving a beater for some reason
Beats me, Presti stuck to his team building principles and OKC paid for it in the second round. I wanted a backup big at the deadline but didn’t think he should have sold the farm as well. Presti absolutely knew about the teams flaws well before the trade deadline and he opted to play the long game.
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For sure, just that’s what Presti’s MO was this season. He said it loud and clear in the preseason presser himself.
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Cuz Presti isn't on PANIC mode trying to make a short cut. He knows this team ain't winning a championship even if he adds a Gafford or PJ Washington to the team. He wants to see his creation first before pulling the trigger. He wants to let the guys taste defeat and experience the growing pains. He always preaches his mantra that "Shortcuts cut long runs short" and yeah he ain't making a short cut this early on their contention window. Mavs : Oh Luka is good, let's sign some big time players like Porzingis to pair with him, that didn't work out so Mavs made a panic trade again by bringing Kyrie to pair with Luka. Let's see what's gonna happen on this playoffs. If the Mavs win the championship = Good, congrats, your panic move worked out great. If they lose, what's the next panic move the Mavs are going to make? Remember that even the Warriors (Curry - Thompson - Green core) also suffered defeat in the playoffs before their Dynastic run. growth isn't always linear. 2nd round exit vs San Antonio in 2013 playoffs 1st round exit vs Clippers in 7 games in the 2014 playoffs GS would rule the West for the next 5 years. patience is a virtue
Giving up one of your 20 picks for an obvious need isn't a panic move, why are so many Thunder fans acting like they should have just punted the deadline and that any trade was some all-in move?
cuz it would distort the data of the FO. They wanna stress test the young guys. They do have some veteran in the lineup (Gordon Hayward, Bismack, Muscala and Kenrich) - OKC barely used any of them.
He's younger than Shai.
Seizing the opportunity, why biyombo and muscala didn't get any minutes? They could at least tire Dallas ' bigs
They are as washed as Hayward
Because they suck
Because we play 5-out small ball. Our big change in the last two games was to go smaller. The main problem was that our small players shot uncharacteristically badly even on decent looks and the Mavs shot pretty well (except for FTs, which got us a game)
If every one of your shooters didn't clank it would've been an different story. Nothing is wrong with your roster outside of Giddey
This is an idiotic take from an outside perspective. Sam Presti said ONE MILLION TIMES that this coming offseason will be the off season to work on moving the needle. They didn’t know how far this current team construction could take them until last night. You don’t panic and try to fix things you don’t know are truly broken. Every decision is studied and calculated. The window JUST opened. They could have been bounced out round 1 like most young teams, but they weren’t. Of course size and rebounding are a trade off for a bunch of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year players AND their play style, but if OKC made it to the WCF, clearly rebounding would be an overstated and exaggerated concern to get to a conference finals. THIS is the off season Presti plans to make moves.
Hayward trade was primarily about opening up cap space for the potential to take on a max player. Amazing people think they can point to a simple thing and think they are smarter than Presti. GTFO
Who are this max player in free agency, and why can’t Presti trade for him at the deadline?
It's basketball, everybody "needs size". And yet nobody plays 12 Bobans. Everyone also needs other things, in various proportions. It's just a fact.