OKC Thunder Thread.

[Jetafl]

Josh Giddy vs his old side today the 36ers. I love Giddy but carn the 36ers what are the chances of 2 from 2? If they shoot the 3 ball like they did against the Suns pretty darn good.

 

[Marcel Proust]

1. Giddy.
2. SGA.
3. Jaylin Williams / Ousmane Dieng
4. Chat
5. Wembanyama

 

[peternorth]

Thread title edit. Removed the word city because OKC city doesn't make sense.

It is not ATM machine or PIN number accepted yet.

 

[Marcel Proust]

Jaylin Williams looks impressive imho.

Looks a solid team with chet

 

[Frederico_WA]

Bump.

PG: SGA
SG: Giddey
SF: Dort
PF: Jalen W
C: Chet

Oladipo into the 2nd unit is going to be a good add.
Not expecting to see much from our Summer League guys. Jaylin W and Trey played as expected and will sit out the rest.
Zhaire Smith could be a good comeback story. He showed flashes at the 76ers but been injured with knees since 2020.

 

[Young_Guns]

Have heard that Oladipo may never play for us given the torn patella.

Still, the bench potentially runs deeep. It will be interesting to see what moves Presti makes to clear the logjam as I think we have 21 players currently on the roster?

Cason Wallace
Micic
Isaiah Joe
Poku
JWil
Kenrich Williams
Dieng
-
Mann
JRE
Wiggins
Bertans
Garuba
Ty ty
Jack White
Rudy Gay

So much potential still on that bench.

 

[Frederico_WA]

Have heard that Oladipo may never play for us given the torn patella.

Still, the bench potentially runs deeep. It will be interesting to see what moves Presti makes to clear the logjam as I think we have 21 players currently on the roster?

Cason Wallace
Micic
Isaiah Joe
Poku
JWil
Kenrich Williams
Dieng
-
Mann
JRE
Wiggins
Bertans
Garuba
Ty ty
Jack White
Rudy Gay

So much potential still on that bench.

That long? Damn he's been unlucky

Yep, bench is stacked with talent. You'd hate to see it under utilised so hope to see presti move a few soon. With all the 1st and 2nd picks next year we could do with some vets

 

[Frederico_WA]

Stats from the latest game vs Indi

Chet 5 swats and dangerous down the other end. Lots of high screens set and rolling off for easy buckets. Hit 1 of 5 outside shots. Had great connection with Butler.
Dieng had some great highlights but also made his teammates better. Prob my best on the night. Super efficient offensively and made good space for himself.
JayWil and Carson both had down night. Look for them to male it up on vs the Wizards

 

[Frederico_WA]

A couple games left to finish off the pre-season...

• Oct 10th - OKC 122 defeat SAS 121
• Oct 13th - DET 128 defeat OKC 125
• Oct 16th - CHA 117 defeat OKC 115
• Oct 18th - OKC vs MIL
• Oct 20th - OKC vs DET

... then we're into Round 1 vs Bulls in Chicago on 26th.

It's going to be exciting watching the emergence of Chet and Jalen as our 4&5 combo. The up tick to our rebounding and defensive play will be noticeable and on the offensive end gives Shai and Giddey more space to use.

The team look ready to step into finals this year. Not much change to the assumed starters and our rotation players, but I like many others predict:
C: Chet (J-Will, JRE)
PF: J-Dub (J-Will, Dieng)
SF: Lu (Joe, Kenny)
SG: Josh (Wallace, Micic)
PG: Shai (Josh, Micic)

Rest of the roster includes:
Davis Bertans
Victor Oladipo
Jack White
Lindy Waters (2-way)
Aleks Pokusevski
Keyontae Johnson (2-way)
Aaron Wiggins
Tre Mann
Olivier Sarr (2-way)

We're at 15 player contracts (Joe, JRE and Wiggins all non-guaranteed) but what I am still in the dark about is what's going on with Oladipo.
He just started running in early October, but his $9mill guarantee this season is dead salary until we move him on. He didn't report to training camp, so we can hope his recovery is going well and he can be a solid piece for another team later in the season.

 

[Frederico_WA]

Have actually managed to catch a bit of the Bucks game on right now. Man I'm loving our current list ... so exciting to watch and you can tell they love balling with eachother.

Starters have been phenomenal but Bucks poor shooting making us look better on the scoreboard. Dame/Giannis are a scary combo.

But our bench vs Bucks bench is night v day. Dieng, Joe, Wigg, Micic wouldn't look out of place in our starters either. They dominating the Bucks bench.

 

[Frederico_WA]

 

[Frederico_WA]

Roster is set!
Source: OKC Thunder roster set ahead of 2023-24 NBA Season

Unfortunately, our Aussie mate Jack White has been cut today, and Tre Mann had his option picked up.

Guards (7) - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Cason Wallace, Vasilije Micic, Tre Mann
Wings (6) - Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Lindy Waters III (Two-way), Keyontae Johnson (Two-Way)
Bigs (5) - Chet Holmgren, Aleksej Pokusevski, Davis Bertans, Jaylin Williams, Olivier Sarr (Two-Way)

 

[Young_Guns]

Yeah, this team is gonna be fun.
Wallace and Joe keeping the ball moving off the bench with features from Dieng, JWill, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Bertans, Micic every now and then.
Great chemistry between the starting 5.
And Shai is just that guy. Scores when we need a bucket but looks like he is going to go to the next level getting the guys around him involved (and them finally hitting open shots).

Will probably go through a few lean stretches over the season as such a young team, but playoffs a real possibility.

 

[Frederico_WA]

Big bro Sarr rocking little bro Sarr's Wildcats jersey

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

OKC What's with their resurgence? They're a force.



Giddey is a gun!

 

[Frederico_WA]

You wouldn't want to be up against them in a 7 game series that's for sure.

Shai is such a sniper. Makes it look easy with those post up spin fadeaways!

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Thunder looking good.


Wins over Denver and now The Celtics in one week is a big statement. Good to see The OKC train rolling again.

 

[Frederico_WA]

Thunder looking good.


Wins over Denver and now The Celtics in one week is a big statement. Good to see The OKC train rolling again.

Just finished watching the highlights. Another ripper game by Shai and supported solidly by the rest. Wish Lu would get his shooting% up or take less shots, bit he makes up for it defensively.

Wins over Clippers, Wolves, Nuggets and Boston over the last 10 days is amazing. All contenders. Keep going fellas!

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Thank You OKC for covering my 11+ bet x 5 lol


well almost. Only a 59 point beat down at the minute. Make it 62. A three on the 3qtr time buzzer.


KA-CHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Frederico_WA]

Farout ... thats just bullying.

 

[Frederico_WA]

This is how elite SGA is this year compared to the Top-50 in field goal attempts so far this season.

• 2nd most field goal attempts (at 56% = 3rd best)
• 2nd most 2pt attempts in the league (at 60% = 3rd best)
• 2nd most free throw attempts (at 89% = 6th best)

Am really enjoying watching how he is getting buckets in whatever way he wishes. Drives, stop and prop, fade aways, step backs ... his arsenal is scary.

 

[Frederico_WA]

Can't resist laughing that Giddey isn't there ... at a high school ...

 

[Frederico_WA]

Feb. 8 deadline to close, and despite a very solid season so far that is exceeding expectations of many I can't help suspect a couple of moves will need to be made if we want to go deep into playoffs. What will Presti do? We have FOUR 1st round picks next year and the year after. 2024 looks weak, so I hope he uses them to get some roleplayers we need to make us even stronger.

I do not want Presti to bring a 'star' into this team and risk the chemistry and selflessness of the current group being compromised. I'd only want to pick up players complimentary to how the team plays now but give us an uptick in size and defensive ratings.

Moves that makes the most sense to me include:
-Give Houston their 2024 2nd round back for Tari Eason.
Very athletic player. Dynamic and would fit our playing group well. I see him playing as our tall wing capable of minding the opposite teams best player. Elite steal stats over the last few seasons. Dort 6'3, Eason 6'8.

-Use a 2024 1st round to bring in a sizeable PF/C.
Walker Kessler (UTA) is having 'bad' sophomore season compared to last year's rookie season. Kessler is 7'1 but with an extra 25kgs on him (and just as good shot blocker). Chet then has the option to play more outside where he is very threatening off the dribble and his elite shooting. Collins joining from Atlanta has affected his role and I'm certain it's a headache for Jazz backoffice. OKC should test the waters as I'd suspect it would be entertained. Jazz has no picks for next season.

C: Kessler (25mins)
PF: Chet (30mins)
SF: Eason (32mins)
SG: Jdub (34mins)
G: SGA (34mins)

Bench rotation (85mins): Giddey, Dort, Joe, Wallace, JWill, Wiggins, KWill, Micic

----------

2024 1 Rockets (Protected Top-4)
2024 1 Jazz (Protected Top-10)
2024 1 Thunder (Least favorable conveys to IND)
2024 1 Clippers
2024 2 Rockets
2025 1 Thunder
2025 1 Rockets/Clippers (Swaps)
2025 1 Heat (Protected Top-14)
2025 1 Sixers (Protected Top-6)
2025 2 Hawks (Protected Top-40)
2025 2 Celtics/Grizzlies (More favorable)
2025 2 Sixers
2026 1 Thunder (Least favorable conveys to PHI)
2026 1 Rockets (Protected Top-4, Least favorable conveys to PHI)
2026 1 Clippers (Least favorable conveys to PHI)
2026 2 Thunder
2026 2 Mavericks/Sixers (Least favorable)
2026 2 Warriors
2027 1 Nuggets (Protected Top-5)
2027 1 Thunder
2027 1 Clippers (Swaps)
2027 2 Thunder
2027 2 Timberwolves
2028 1 Thunder
2028 2 Jazz
2028 2 Thunder
2028 2 Bucks
2029 1 Thunder
2029 1 Nuggets (Protected Top-5)
2029 2 Hawks
2029 2 Suns
2029 2 Thunder
2029 2 Rockets
2029 2 Heat
2029 2 Celtics
2030 1 Thunder
2030 2 Thunder
2030 2 Heat
2030 2 Rockets

 

[Young_Guns]

Not sure what to make of the trade deadline.

Obviously Presti has been consistent that this is a learning year and we are going to roll with what we have into the playoffs and see what we need to improve, and he has set us up to make the big move this off-season. But I’m still nervous that rookie Chet is our only legitimate presence under the basket and with the way he throws himself at everything, we are one awkward fall away from our playoff rotation being J.Will and Kenrich Williams. I know Chet is the future, but I just don’t get why we haven’t gone out and gotten him some protection, even if it’s just to give him a spell every now and then during this slog of a season (I don’t think you can play J.Will legitimate minutes in the playoffs.) Don’t know who is out there on the buyout market as an option.

Besides that, really like the Hayward move IF he can get healthy for 4 months (unlikely). Managed to clear the roster clutter as well and now Tre Mann gets given a green light opportunity to show what he can do as a scorer.

Playoff rotation looks Solid:
G: Shai
G: Giddey (Don’t know if he is playable in the playoffs either?)
F: Dort
F: Williams
C: Chet
Bench: Wallace
Joe
Wiggins
Hayward
K.Williams/J.Wil/Dieng/?

 

[Hawkthorn33]

Not sure what to make of the trade deadline.

Obviously Presti has been consistent that this is a learning year and we are going to roll with what we have into the playoffs and see what we need to improve, and he has set us up to make the big move this off-season. But I’m still nervous that rookie Chet is our only legitimate presence under the basket and with the way he throws himself at everything, we are one awkward fall away from our playoff rotation being J.Will and Kenrich Williams. I know Chet is the future, but I just don’t get why we haven’t gone out and gotten him some protection, even if it’s just to give him a spell every now and then during this slog of a season (I don’t think you can play J.Will legitimate minutes in the playoffs.) Don’t know who is out there on the buyout market as an option.

Besides that, really like the Hayward move IF he can get healthy for 4 months (unlikely). Managed to clear the roster clutter as well and now Tre Mann gets given a green light opportunity to show what he can do as a scorer.

Playoff rotation looks Solid:
G: Shai
G: Giddey (Don’t know if he is playable in the playoffs either?)
F: Dort
F: Williams
C: Chet
Bench: Wallace
Joe
Wiggins
Hayward
K.Williams/J.Wil/Dieng/?

Presti heard you and went out and selected Bismack Biyombo to give Chet some reprieve at the C position. Sure he may not be a difference maker on offense but he is known quantity at the NBA level. He'll soak up 8 - 12 minutes a game setting screens, soaking up fouls, crashing boards and bashing bodies with the opposing Centre's which importantly means Chet doesn't have to and can get more rest during matches.

Don't think Biyombo is playable with Giddey on the floor because opponents will just clog up the paint eliminating all driving lanes for JDub and Shai to work their magic. So will be interesting how Mark Daigneault staggers minutes, as you would think Giddey runs more with the second unit post trade deadline.

This is where a healthy Hayward will be so vital, not only is he an efficient shooter but he is also an intelligent play maker who will seamlessly fit into the Thunder's system. I imagine closing lineups of SGA, JDub, Chet, Dort and Hayward will be pivotal in the playoffs and this is where Hayward will show his worth in crunch time. He wont be expected to score big numbers or play crazy minutes he will just be required to keep the offense ticking along and make the right play when the situation requires it. He will be a difference maker if and it's a big if he stays healthy.