OKC Thunder Thread.

[Roughies Boys]

Oklahoma City Thunder

Coach:
Billy Donovan

Roster:
Russell Westbrook
Paul George
Steven Adams
Jerami Grant
Dennis Schroder
Patrick Patterson
Terrence Ferguson
Andre Roberson
Hamidou Diallo
Deonte Burton
Jawun Evans*
Donte Grantham*
Tyler Davis*

Darius Bradley

Nerlens Noel (Player Option)
Abdel Nader (Team Option)


Out of Contract:
Raymond Felton
Markieff Morris

- * OKC City Blue (Assigned) Two-Way Contract

Discuss Anything OKC Below.

Who else is an OKC Fan?

 

[Wizard]

Would like to see Mitch McGary either traded or take some of Nicks minutes, definitely to good to be playing in DL.

 

[Young_Guns]

IN. Didn't think there were too many thunder fans around!

Agree about McGary. Looked really good last season albeit without huge minutes, but can't get a crack with Donovan??

Also, not sold on Donovan yet. Yeah you can say we're 24-11 and are playing great on the offensive end, but he still can't seem to get the rotations right and our defense, while improving, is still not great. But, give him time I guess.

 

[Roughies Boys]

Kyle Singler & Dion Waiters annoy me too much. Novak good bloke

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Kyle Singler??? Why did we sign him for so much and for so long, still baffles me!!

Dion will walk to the Sixers next season which isn't a big deal but he is serviceable on the defensive end at times.

I hope we don't trade McGary, he is our replacement big for Collison in the rotation going forward. In fact I want to see him playing meaningful minutes now for us.

DJ Augustine I think will be traded sooner then later.

CAMERON PAYNE, this kid could be the missing link we have been waiting for. Will only get better with time but potentially could play the point or as shooting guard down the stretch of games next to Russ, which will give us 3 play makers out there in Durant, Russ and Campayne!! Very excited about this kid.

Steven Adams is seriously under rated, love the way he goes about it.

Kanter I am just confused why we have him. Not sure Billy knows how to use him either. Massive liability on defense and that's not going to change.

Hope Durant signs on next year, if he doesn't well I don't want to think what life will be like then

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Also Morrow needs to get more minutes, so we have a legitimate threat on the perimeter. This will spread the floor and allow for more space for Russ and Kevin to drive in the paint for easy buckets.

I wish Roberson could hit a consistent three ball, we would be so much more dominant during games if this were the case.

Billy hasn't impressed me much yet with any of his plays, still seems to be too much iso plays when the big guns are out there. A lot of his plays seem to be set up for the point guard and pick and rolls. Would love to see the ball get passed around more and the wings get more involved like golden state and the Spurs do.

 

[Roughies Boys]

Crawfomination, yeah love aMo. Alot of people bring him up the rotations on 2K & have him as SG.

We could possibly trade Kanter & Augustin, Waive Singler at years seasons end.

But what do we need?

 

[Wizard]

A few comments re: above posts.

Singler - 5 years and about 20 mill is a bargain IMO, it will look even cheaper when the new CBA comes in. He is a good player, but hes surplus to our needs. I think he is under utilised a little but its hard to find good mins for him when he plays in a position that we have strong depth and obviously KD is going to dominate minutes.

Waiters - he just seems like a dickhead. Clearly we don't have a lot of future plans for him as made evident by not offering him an extension. Not sure he is a great fit for us anyway.

DJ - with an expiring contract theres no way he is on the roster for next season and as mentioned unlikely he is there past the deadline. Payne is playing well in extended mins now and obviously Waiters can play the primary ball handler role off the bench.

Adams - I love the guy, his hussle and work rate are top class. Even starting to do more on the offensive end lately.

McGary - I doubt he gets traded as we have him contracted for the next two seasons at a ridiculously low cap number.

Kanter - Donovan doesn't use him enough is the problem IMO. His production when he gets decent mins is great, yeah he can't defend to save himself but his offensive moves and rebounding are as good as any big in the game. 11/8 on just over 20 mpg is ridiculous.

Morrow - he should be starting at the 2. His defense is as good as Roberson and he can legitimately stretch the floor and open up the lane. Why we as a franchise persist with starting guys like Roberson / Sefalosha (in previous seasons) over a guy like him is beyond me.

 

[Roughies Boys]

Wizard well said, I just think Singler is the worst NBA player.

 

[Young_Guns]

Crawfomination

My thoughts on the roster exactly.

Just don't rate Singler. On paper he is the perfect back-up for Durant as he can come on and shoot the ball and space the floor when needed, but everytime he is on the court he just looks lost or out of it.

Dion is frustrating as hell. After having James Harden and then Reggie Jackson lead the second unit, Dion is an obvious downgrade, but he has games where you think this is the guy we want! But he just does so many silly things. The amount of blown fastbreak layups/dunks he produces is ridiculous. Wouldn't mind him walking, but who will we get in to lead the bench? CPayne maybe after a bit more development?

We also need to find a solution to the two spot. Roberson is almost invisible on offense. Waiters needs the ball in his hands which doesn't happen much with Durant and Westbrook on the court. And Morrow apparently isn't up to it defensively, although he is my choice as he is so dangerous. An Avery Bradley or maybe Shumpert??/Affalo?? would be ideal but I can't see us getting a trade done for someone like that or having the money at the moment.

 

[Roughies Boys]

Young_Guns the only problem at OKC is our Salary..
We need to offload Kanter, paid way too much for him.

Kanter & Augustin out for like Tyreke Evans & Channing Frye.

 

[Young_Guns]

Young_Guns the only problem at OKC is our Salary..
We need to offload Kanter, paid way too much for him.

Kanter & Augustin out for like Tyreke Evans & Channing Frye.

Yeah exactly.
I don't know if the front office would get rid of Kanter so soon after signing him to a max (or near max?) though. But something like that would work (for us at least).

 

[Wizard]

Yeah exactly.
I don't know if the front office would get rid of Kanter so soon after signing him to a max (or near max?) though. But something like that would work (for us at least).

I'm not seeing the dislike for Kanter?

His production has been good, hes just not getting the right mix of minutes.

 

[Wizard]

Today we see the Dion that makes you want him to hang around.

 

[Roughies Boys]

Good win yesterday over the Grizzlies!!!

Loving Cameron Payne!!! Such a weapon.

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Dion looked good the other day, even Singler did a few handy things. Love seeing A-mo and Cam Payne getting more regular minutes in the rotation.

What does everyone think about Ibaka's development over the past few years? Are you happy with the direction he has taken his game, do you think he has stagnated or even regressed? Me personally I was hoping he would've developed more of a low post game about the way he plays and would've loved it if rebounded more.

There's really no reason a talent like him shouldn't be a double double threat every night. Can't fault him on his defensive game though, he will always be IBLOCKA, which is probably the most important value he offers the team

 

[Robbo92]

Hey fellas, just popping my head in.

What do you guys think our chances of beating Spurs or GSW this year are?
I'd give us a very high chance of getting over Spurs but GS are just on another level. Having players like Durant and Westbrook though, always in with a chance.

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Hey fellas, just popping my head in.

What do you guys think our chances of beating Spurs or GSW this year are?
I'd give us a very high chance of getting over Spurs but GS are just on another level. Having players like Durant and Westbrook though, always in with a chance.

I think if healthy we are a really good chance against the Spurs, Tony Parker / Patty Mills and Ray Mcallum won't be able to contain Westbrook and Kawhi against Durant will be a great match up. But where I see us winning it is with our defense led by Ibaka and Adams.

We saw a couple of years ago that the only reason the Spurs got over us in the conference finals was because they were too big for us with Ibaka out but we have that size now in our front court to match it with them and beat them. Aldridge will be an interesting one.

Golden state worries me only because if it's a shoot out, well we know how deep they go with their offensive weapons. A lot would have to go right for us to win a 7 game series against the reigning champs without home court advantage but the season is still young and a lot could change when it comes time for playoffs

 

[Young_Guns]

I'm not seeing the dislike for Kanter?

His production has been good, hes just not getting the right mix of minutes.

He is not a bad player, it just seems like a waste of money to pay a max to a guy getting 20-25min a night off the bench, and Donovan doesn't look like he knows how to utilize him any more.

Dion looked good the other day, even Singler did a few handy things. Love seeing A-mo and Cam Payne getting more regular minutes in the rotation.

What does everyone think about Ibaka's development over the past few years? Are you happy with the direction he has taken his game, do you think he has stagnated or even regressed? Me personally I was hoping he would've developed more of a low post game about the way he plays and would've loved it if rebounded more.

There's really no reason a talent like him shouldn't be a double double threat every night. Can't fault him on his defensive game though, he will always be IBLOCKA, which is probably the most important value he offers the team

I don't think he has stagnated but he has been focusing on his outside game which is good, as he is fairly consistent with his threeball. However I think that he would have been more effective in the post with his strength. But with Kanter on the roster we can afford to play Ibaka outside the paint I guess. just need to give him the ball more.

 

[Hawkthorn33]

I don't think he has stagnated but he has been focusing on his outside game which is good, as he is fairly consistent with his threeball. However I think that he would have been more effective in the post with his strength. But with Kanter on the roster we can afford to play Ibaka outside the paint I guess. just need to give him the ball more.

Yeah good call, they have definitely been developing his outside game which I think makes him a really viable option from downtown. I just really love Serge I know he is meant to play the role of a third option but he could really dominate games if given more touches. But I guess that's the problem with our team and the 2 superstars we have, getting everyone enough touches.

 

[Hawkthorn33]

So apparently Kevin Martin is up for trade from the Wolves, would we be interested in acquiring him and who could we give up to get the Wolves interested in dealing with us?

He was pretty impressive for us when he came over. Gets to the free throw line regularly, a legitimate scorer, reasonable defense? Can come off the bench for us?

Make it happen Presti!!!! Throw in DJ and Singler and we have a deal?

 

[Young_Guns]

So apparently Kevin Martin is up for trade from the Wolves, would we be interested in acquiring him and who could we give up to get the Wolves interested in dealing with us?

He was pretty impressive for us when he came over. Gets to the free throw line regularly, a legitimate scorer, reasonable defense? Can come off the bench for us?

Make it happen Presti!!!! Throw in DJ and Singler and we have a deal?

Anything to clear the log jam of guards/SF we have at the moment. DJ, CPAYNE, Waiters, Morrow, Singler and Huestis (I guess) all fighting for bench minutes, so a 2/3-for-1 could be beneficial (unless Payne is involved).

Who would you rather give minutes too? Morrow V KMart. Both space the floor with Morrow the better 3pt shooter and possibly FT shooter (not sure of the stats but Morrow is damn good), but Martin gets to the foul line more and is better defensively. Keeping in mind we'd probably have 1-2 of Waiters/KD/Westbrook on at the same time, I'd go with Morrow, but I am loving him at the moment so maybe a bit biased.

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Anything to clear the log jam of guards/SF we have at the moment. DJ, CPAYNE, Waiters, Morrow, Singler and Huestis (I guess) all fighting for bench minutes, so a 2/3-for-1 could be beneficial (unless Payne is involved).

Who would you rather give minutes too? Morrow V KMart. Both space the floor with Morrow the better 3pt shooter and possibly FT shooter (not sure of the stats but Morrow is damn good), but Martin gets to the foul line more and is better defensively. Keeping in mind we'd probably have 1-2 of Waiters/KD/Westbrook on at the same time, I'd go with Morrow, but I am loving him at the moment so maybe a bit biased.

We need to hold on to Payne with everything we got, I'm telling you that kid is going to be the final piece of the puzzle. I'm a massive believer in him.

Good question, definitely am loving Morrow at the moment too and I just think we're a better team when he's on the floor. I would go with Morrow to play more minutes with the starters and Martin to come in off the bench as our 6th man. our bench could benefit with having a more veteran presence on it other then just Collison.

Ideally I would just like Martin to come in and replace Singlers minutes.

Don't ask me how we are going to fit a rotation of all three of Morrow, Martin and Roberson. But it would be a nice headache to have

 

[Roughies Boys]

ESPN believe we should get Courtney Lee from Grizzlies.

Elite 3-point shooter & defender.

They think it'd cost us McGary, Novak & a draft pick.

 

[Roughies Boys]

OKC good winning streak going!!!

PJ Tucker anyone?