Does his weight really play a factor? Chet Holmgren is the same height and more slender and the talking heads on ESPN say weight is an overstated element in the modern NBA big.
you need A LOT OF skills and talents to overcome your body being the skinny type. When you hear players talk about defense, they always talk about how much more difficult it is to guard someone who is slightly heavier, or slightly taller. Weight absolutely matters.
Drafted embiid v. Now is also a big change. (Even if wasn’t labeled as skinny coming out)
Pretty much all the young big guys who are good now started off much skinnier in college.
KD has the same build but he's pretty much a wing player. Guys like KG and Giannis beefed up since entering the league. Chet can average 15pts-7reb with his talent but he may be injured often just with the physicality of the game especially if he's gonna play against bigs.
beyond that. aggression is a big factor. usually players that are underweight avoid contact more. that is where Chet is miles better than poku. he is so aggressive as a rim protector that he should be able to stay impact an NBA defense right away with his aggression and size alone.
Poku being skinny is not why he’s not a contributor. Poku is super streaky and overall very inefficient on offense and average on Defense. He has much poorer feel for the game than people were hoping when he was drafted. He shows flashes, and they are getting more common, but he’s still a complete project without an elite skill. Him being skinny hasn’t really factored in since he plays on the perimeter. This is not the case for Chet.
For real, Poku is a career 28.5% 3-point shooter with a 1.2 AST-TOV ratio. For a player who was supposed to be a secondary ball handler/creator with good long range shooting touch, he doesn't tick those boxes at all.
Chet is a lot more skilled as a shot blocker and help-defender, while Poku has never been known for his interior defense.
Poku is basically a tall perimeter player, while Chet is more of a true big.
I have no idea. He's took some pretty big strides last year but still kind of struggles with like... almost everything. I know he's a meme and all but I honestly couldn't tell you anything other than he has one of the lowest floors and highest ceilings in the NBA and he's still way too young to gauge properly right now.
I've said this a gazillion times in the Thunder subreddit but he was the definition of a project player. Not only was he still going through puberty when we drafted him but he had to acclimate to being on his own as an adult for the first time in a foreign country, adjust to playing grown men who are actually good at basketball, and get use to having his body try to fill out with constant weight and S&C management. You could tell me he flames out as the ultimate meme or turns into a perennial first team NBA player and I'd believe either one right now.
tl:dr he's getting better, still sucks pretty bad, but has flashed his talent and potential more and more last season.
Progressing as expected. Still shit but shows off his ball handing and elite vision in games frequently. His shooting is still abysmal. Despite all the negative points I’m still extremely optimistic about how he’s panning out due to him showing high potential in every aspect of the game.
They got nothing on mid-2010s Parma. [100+](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2392044-12-european-clubs-with-the-most-players-out-on-loan) out on loan...I wonder why they went bankrupt
Probably that's the gamble they took, 1-2 major sales can make it pay off. Issue being that depending on the loan they might still have to pay (partial) wages
The rate of return for NbA players outside of the top 3ish is pretty bad. You are generally doing well if you get starters in the mid lottery, rotation players in the later lottery, and rostered players in the back half of the draft.
Just in general only 150 starters in the league.
Agree, moving up a couple spots doesn't likely nice the needle.
In my opinion, OKC should swap for picks in later years. Normally, teams can get a premium for waiting a year. Also, they can make don't gambles on teams that might end up in the lottery in the future.
In theory, but in practice a lot of times the loaned out players aren’t that good. Take Dortmund who brings people through until they peak, then sell for a fat profit. Often the constant on loan players are either not good enough for their club, or need more time to develop. Like Salah was loaned out and sold well before his value sky rocketed. For every Salah there’s 100 Lucas Piazons
There's also the problem that the loaning team has no impetus to actually develop good habits in the loanees. Why would a manager whose ass is on the line care about how Andre Wisdom develops in 3 years if he loses games right now and gets shitcanned.
I was so sure Piazon, Chalobah (Nathaniel, wasn't high on his brother) loftus-cheek, Barkley when he left Everton, Blackman, Lewis baker!!!, and van Ginkel would work out and leave Chelsea without many questions marks for their roster in the future.
Victor Moses ended up being good for a super sub and spot starter for Chelsea too. Very disappointing for Chelsea how little of the loan army ended up paying off for them imo
Yes, draft twitter is calling it the 'pre-draft' now, or 'domestic draft-and-stash'. With the G-league you can keep young players in pure development mode much easier now.
That's how it works in hockey and baseball. You draft players and all but the top prospects spend a few years overseas or playing college or in minor leagues like the AHL. In hockey, it's common for players to not join the NHL until they're 25 or even older. Tim Thomas was 30 when he joined the NHL and had his career been longer, he probably would have been a hall of famer; but he never would have made the NHL without the extra development time. The NBA and NFL never bothered to develop a proper minor league system and instead just rely on the NCAA doing it for them.
This feels like when the Celtics weren't able to cash in a bunch of their draft picks and ended up stashing multiple overseas and dumping the others for cheap. Think we made like 7 picks in 2016, with Yabu and Zizic getting stashed as first-rounders.
SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley/**Chet**
Mann/**Davis**/Williams/Roby/Favors
Maledon/**Wesley**/Wiggins/Poku/JRE
Then whoever they get with their last pick can play G League.
You get two roster spots for two-ways but those players are limited in days on the main roster. Otherwise you’d have to draft someone who’s willing to sign a G-League deal which most picks in the 30+34 range would not do, since that is a much lower salary and doesn’t start your service time IIRC
I don’t think the official draft and stash rules include the g league, but they probably will in the next CBA based off how commonly the g league is used now.
OKC could send whatever rookie to their g league affiliate the whole season, but that player would still be under their official NBA contract. Whereas with an overseas draft and stash player the team still controls their rights but the player isn’t on the cap books.
Please… every team with a g league affiliate and an extra round to the draft would go so far to actually developing players. Ideally (imo) guarantee 2nd rounders for at least a 2-way and treat 3rd rounders like 2nds are now. With two more 2-way slots for four total.
This probably going to happen long term, but at the moment very few 2nd round picks even play a single NBA game. Once more talent starts to arrive and when there isn't any expansion opportunities. Then were gonna see a 3 round draft.
My main point is about getting the g league to be an actual minor league system but agreed. Formalizing the process of negotiating g league contracts by having teams draft players.
Guaranteeing 2nd rounders at a 2-way is just artificially increasing the value. They don’t go against the cap anyway.
He’s too small to guard 5s and too slow to guard 4s. The shooting could keep him in the league I guess. But the thunder haven’t played him until tank time usually, which I think is telling.
Yeah any GM who thinks Presti is pressed or has to spend these picks is crazy. The man would rather over draft a Euro stash than give up a pick for poor value. You don’t fuck with Presti, Presti fucks you and you thank him for the best orgasm of your life as he walks out with your first round pick.
Maybe by 2024 the roster crunch becomes more of an issue, but it’s a non-story for this off-season. Maledon, Krejci, Roby are all non-guaranteed and can easily be moved or cut if we want to draft at all 4 spots as unlikely as that is.
He’s actually kinda decent he’s just only played like 30 games. Pretty alright defender and decision maker for his age. Isn’t great at anything but he could be like a jack of all trades 8th man if everything goes right
But giving up on those guys isn't exactly helping the team either. How long can the cycle of drafting players, surrounding them with other young draft picks, not re-signing them, drafting more young middling players go on for before you waste all of those draft picks you've been hoarding?
2nd round picks on every team in the league usually only have 1-2 years to prove themselves before they're cut or moved on, this isn't something unique to OKC. If Banton regresses in his 2nd year like Maledon did will Toronto give him unlimited time to develop or will they move onto the next project?
And this isn't some long drawn out cycle we've been in, this is literally the 2nd draft we've had since the tear down happened.
Whoever OKC takes at 30/34 would immediately be better prospects than any of those guys. None of those guys even got consistent minutes until the very end of the year when OKC was down to 8 healthy players.
I'd like to see Roby and Krejci for at least one more season.
Roby shot 52/44/67 last year. And Krejci has a lot of potential to fit the "positionless" basketball that the Thunder and the NBA as a whole are moving towards. He's also only 21.
I think we've seen enough of Maledon though. Not sure he has a place on this team with all the ballhandlers the Thunder already have.
I'm more interested in Krejci than Roby. Krejci has been battling injuries and I'd be interested to see if he can get his athleticism back.
I think the coaching staff told us what they think about Roby last season. He played in 18 of the first 54 games last season. He shot the ball very well down the stretch but I'm not sure he translates to competitive basketball games.
Exactly. The point of having all these draft picks is so they can throw spaghetti and see what sticks. They’ll know pretty immediately if a guy is worth keeping around, and they can move the other ones for future picks and kick the can down the road
Trade them as filler along with a semi decent player to turn them into another late future pick to keep the assets rolling
I mean I'd be sad if Moose is really gone but it seems like Muscala + Roby/ Favors could be something of value for someone like the Nets. So it's not really wasting players/ picks
I think you're exaggerating the cost of losing guys who were drafted at 34, 35, and 37, especially after giving them tons of playing time they never would've seen outside the G League.
We very well could make those trades but here's Presti's thoughts on using all four picks: https://twitter.com/AndrewKSchlecht/status/1534178821464899589?t=H1kUBBKA74aE4IxhVyzpqA&s=19
This is exactly what I was thinking of! Thought I was going to have to spend half an hour looking for the timestamp of this quote during his 2+ hour media availability lol
I could easily see him trading up a little in this draft but I’m hoping we do a repeat of what we did last year. I am very excited for this offseason and to see how our team grows through competing against eachother
Exactly. You're likely to only have, say, 7/8 guys after the draft who are certainties:
SGA, Dort, Giddey, Bazley, **Chet**, **Davis,** Mann, (JRE).
Even then Bazley, Davis, Mann and JRE will still have a fair bit to prove. It's not like they're risking anything massive by using all of their draft picks and seeing who hits.
gonna throw poku into the certainty as he is a longterm big bet okc is making. we're gonna milk him for every last second of his rookie deal (and pick up his options). whether or not he amounts to something is unclear (though i'm optimistic), but okc has definitely made a commitment to seeing what he ends up being and want as much time as possible to evaluate whether we re-sign him
that being said, your general point still stands. and i totally agree w you
I mean Ainge was known to drive too hard a bargain, but rumor was they couldnt move up from 14 to 11 for with all 3 of their firsts iirc
Lots of late firsts sounds great but hard to use when everyone knows you have to consolidate them. Not a strong bargaining position.
And in NBA moving back in the draft is never worth it. In other leagues it happens a lot because depth matters, and rosters are big including farm teams and practice squads, but in NBA one top 10 pick is worth more than half a dozen picks outside of the lottery.
I mean yes, but the bigger point to consider is how many players get significant playing time. In the NBA you've got somewhere between 8-13 guys who get meaningful time on the court.
In the NFL, that number is in the 40s. There are also 2 more teams in the NFL than NBA so talent is even more spread out.
In a year where the Lakers, Clippers, or Bucks only swap with NOL/OKC as opposed to conveying their pick outright I could see if being worth it for them to, say, move back from 20 to 25 in exchange for 2-3 second-rounders, either in that draft or future. They have so little draft equity that for them getting multiple swings at the bat is more important, and future seconds are often the fodder for contending teams trading for the expiring-contract veteran on a listless team
During regular season:” OKC doesn’t have any talent outside of Shai, they’re the BLACK EYE OF THE LEAGUE!”
During offseason:” OKC doesn’t have roster spots for their picks with all the talented players they have, they should just give away their picks.”
Yep, just absolutely no way we can get rid of Linday Waters, Vit Krejci, Aaron Wiggins, Paul Watson, Theo Maledon, Isiah Roby, Ty Jerome, Derrick Favors. /s
What are these other teams smoking? Like half our team could be waived. The 2nd highest paid guy on that list after Derrick Favors is Ty Jerome at 4.2 million dollars.
I don’t see how this is a problem?
Besides SGA/Giddey/Dort/Mann/Poku(?)/Bazley(??)
Maledon/Roby/Wiggins/Kenny Hustle could all be used to stack in a trade, or the G-League, or just straight up released if we feel there’s available players in the draft that fit our timeline better.
I'm hoping Dallas trades back from #26 to either OKC's #30/34 or Magic's #32/35. Rather take two swings at the same tier of prospect and keep them a little more cost controlled under a second round contract.
I'd do this tbh, not unreasonable in a weak draft. Last year, we did 34+36 to move up only two spots to 32.
At 26, if there's someone like Jovic still available (I'm basing it on The Ringer's mock) or it allows us to move 1-2 spots from 12, I'm in.
The problem with that scenario is there isn't a lot of difference in player potential for those guys ranked 7-13ish. Presti would have to really love someone in that consensus top 10 to make a trade like that.
Yeah, dropping back allows us to take both a C and a Wing while affording us to play it safe with one pick and take a flier on another.
Personally, I just don't see much of a difference from a prospect like Jake LaRavia, Wendell Moore, or Trevor Keels at #26 compared to grabbing two of Koloko/Kamagate/Lewis/Miller/McGowens/Braun. That way we are getting production now (Koloko/Braun) and also taking a swing on a raw prospect for later (Kamagate/Miller/Lewis).
Agreed! I believe they'll make a consolidation trade or two this offseason.
One avenue is moving off a few of the seven expiring deals they own. They can simply bundle the smaller ones to open up a spot or two. Something like Burke/Brown + a second rounder to a team that is under the minimum salary cap. Opens up two roster spots + saves them about $6m in cap and $10m in luxury.
Send them out to a team like Detroit/Orlando/Indy that may need to add some cap to make the $100m minimum cap. They take the players in, cut them to take the hit on their cap, and profit a pick for their troubles.
Not impossible they wind up with SGA, Giddey, Dort, Chet, and Sochan with a war chest for further talent acquisition via the draft or trades. Honestly I think that’s a fun defensive core + 2 solid guards to build off of.
Lol I think they mean those guys are the core of the team and you trade everything else to fit around them. No clue why they would trade Giddey or 2 at this juncture
I think if we somehow could get Deandre Ayton we could be straight up golden.
EDIT: not worth trading any of our core (SGA, Dort, Giddey, Mann, Poku(??) but would be worth picks and a big ass bag
I agree, I really don't want that to happen lol. Hell it doesn't even need to be someone as good as Ayton, if you could trade for Zubac you would be in a really strong position.
Would love Wendell Carter JR, but he seems to be happy/fit in well with the Magic. Of course this all depends on the draft, if we could walk away with Chet/Mark Williams with #2 + #12…would that suffice the center position?? personally I don’t think so, but you never know with Mr. Presti
Jerami Grant, The Return.... (I have no idea if he left on good terms or not)
I know that Wood is available, but if I was OKC I wouldn't want him around all those youngsters.
Nurk is a UFA, could the Thunder go after him? He would help with the development of Chet/Jabari.
The only guy who’s ever left on bad terms was Reggie Jackson. Can’t think of a single former or current player that ever talked about OKC that didn’t give a glowing review
Haven't you heard. He said he was GONNA COME BACK. But the fans were rude to him so nevermind now. Let's just ignore the fact he effectively closed a championship window on just about the entire league by forming a super team.
We can’t possibly know yet
It all depends on how we look as a team.
You can say “oh we need a big” rn bc that’s our biggest weakness. But a big doesn’t take you from a bottom 4 team to a championship contender. We’re extremely young and have a lot of versatile talent.
We won’t actually know what we need for another year or 2. Then at that point you look at the market
Jrue costed 4 picks, Vuc was 2, GTJ was 1, Norman powell 1, so on
Vultures already circling to squeeze picks they know have to be traded.
On the other hand, if enough Vultures gather, then Thunder suddenly have a bidding war lol.
Gotta love the leverage see-saw.
Whoever gave him that quote doesn’t seem to have really looked at OKC’s roster. They could easily drop at least four players with no problem. Buy out Favors, cut Roby, Jerome, and Krejci, trade Bazley and/or Maledon. The Thunder really only have 9 guys (SGA, Dort, Giddey, Poku, JRE, Kenrich, Muscala, Mann, Wiggins) they’ll be focused on keeping. And even Kenrich and Muscala might end up being trade bait if a team wants guys who can contribute now.
Yeah, Shai and Giddey are the only true untouchables in my opinion. But I think the other 7 guys I mentioned are the only ones OKC really cares about bringing back. Like if they have draft picks they really like, they'd have no problem jettisoning everyone else who isn't part of that group. Some of the members of that group of 9 are still gettable for other teams, but OKC would need to get solid value back.
Pretty sure I read where Presti said thats not likely since we were under the salary this year or whatever lol
Edit: unless its a trade with players + cash
Last year they also traded 34 and 36 to trade up to 32.
Feel like they could trade 30 and 34 to up to 26.
Thunder get a slightly hire pick and Mavs get 2 shots to find someone who can play with Luka.
I'm sorry but that kind of talk is just laughable. People fall every single year from their consensus projection... I'm not talking about Sharpe, specifically, fyi.
You're right, but Sharpe is being mocked at 4-6 by 95% of people and top 10 by 100%, no way he falls to 12. I think AJ Griffin might be the one who falls
Again, people fall every year. You're going to be sorely mistaken if you take mock drafts as gospel.
Just last year, Bleacher Report, NBA Big Board, and The Ringer had James Bouknight at 6, and he fell to 11.
If anything, Sharpe is *more likely* to fall from his projection than anyone in the top half of the lottery since he didn't play in an organized league after high school. He's a huge wildcard!
I’ve been wondering this about the stashing picks strategy.
Is there a point where OKC has so many picks that the other GMs have a bit of leverage over them in trades because OKC has to get rid of the picks due to roster slots?
Or will that never happen because there will always be enough other teams who will want the pick at full value?
No bc not every pick hits
Even with the amount of young guys they have Roby, Vit Krecji, and Theo and all be waived and won't be missed.
Plus they can easily move the picks to move up just a few spots:
2021: Traded 34 and 36 to move up 2 spots to 32
2020: Traded 25 and 28 to move up to 17
It's likely they will at least package 30 and 34 to move up a bit.
2016 SAC traded 8 to PHX for 13+28+the rights to Bogdan Bogdanavic+a future 2nd
OKC’s package of 12+30+34+the rights to Vasilije Micic is about equal to that, depending on how a team values Micic
WAS and NYK, easily. Maybe we even retain one of 30/34. San Antonio is guard heavy like OKC and Micic wants playing time so maybe something similar of value but a different package.
Pels I can see it since they're competing but there's definitely at least one left between Sharpe, Daniels, Mathurin, Murray at 8 after the "Top 4". They kinda hit it off with their picks lately in Herb and Trey Murphy, so they might be feeling great staying put. Not to mention Sochan, Davis, Duren, Griffin, Dieng it would require them liking one of those at 12 plus extra picks and a player for depth, then it can be a good deal for both sides.
Portland and Indiana are a reach, we basically have to give up wayy more and idk if it's the right move for us.
Indy I agree is a reach, but POR I think would be gettable. There might need to be a move first with 30+34 to get a higher 1st for them instead but 5 spots in the draft at that point is worth either a pick in the 20s or 30+34+Micic if Micic is valued as a late 1st himself
They need wings/ forwards though. They'd probably ask for Bazley and idk who else but it feels like Detroit could always outbid us with a Jerami Grant package
MAYBE if both Murray and Daniels will be gone at 7 + POR isn't liking the defensive fit of Mathurin with Dame and Simons, maybe they're feeling Sochan at 12. Getting Baze and Micic off the bench, plus two additional quality 2nd rounders along with their other picks is a good way to bounce back from their crappy fire sale last trade deadline. But that's a lot of ifs to work out and they're not contending next year regardless
To be fair, everyone needs wings/forwards
The tension with DET and Grant would be that I don’t think POR wants to give up 7 for Grant alone, but with POR’s lack of extra 1sts and their own pick being out so far they would need an extra 1st somewhere, which means trading back.
But the OKC's #30 isn't gonna cut it, they're much better off trading back the Blazers #7 for the Spurs #9 and #20, give or take another late 2nd as sweetener depending on who's feeling shorthanded
Spurs consolidate their too many picks and move up 2 spots, giving them a better prospect as a rebuilding team
Pistons give up Grant who's clearly not a part of their core for another top 10 pick straight up which still seems like a good incentive and motivation considering they fell to #5 this year.
Blazers get a proven 3rd option in Grant who's only 28 years old and a fantastic fit, plus they still get another decent first (Jalen Williams, Jovic, Eason, Lidell could all be there at 20)
Although admittedly, idk what's Grant's value alone these days
That's not enough for #6 imo and Blazers, Pelicans, Spurs already have a bunch of picks, doubt they want more. Maybe the wizards do it but I also doubt they want 3 more rookies.
Presti gonna run 2k simulations just to find the right trade with those picks
We’re gonna end up drafting some Birdman 2.0 lookalike from Kazakhstan because his potential slider is at 99 aren’t we
hey how is poku btw? legit question i'm curious lol
Still too skinny and streaky
Does his weight really play a factor? Chet Holmgren is the same height and more slender and the talking heads on ESPN say weight is an overstated element in the modern NBA big.
you need A LOT OF skills and talents to overcome your body being the skinny type. When you hear players talk about defense, they always talk about how much more difficult it is to guard someone who is slightly heavier, or slightly taller. Weight absolutely matters.
So you're saying Chet should start cultivating mass?
Yes. Look at drafted Giannis vs now Giannis, or drafted KD vs now KD. Part of it just growing into your man body, but those dudes packed on MASS.
And Zion’s doing the exact same… right? Right guys?
His first mistake was not being an underweight twig before joining the New Orleans Competitive Eating Circuit.
Drafted embiid v. Now is also a big change. (Even if wasn’t labeled as skinny coming out) Pretty much all the young big guys who are good now started off much skinnier in college.
Watch when Evan Mobley turns out to be as buff as Dwight. Haha.
Even Steph had to put on weight after he got bumped so much by the Cavs, and it's also helped his defense too
Cultivate but never harvest
KD has the same build but he's pretty much a wing player. Guys like KG and Giannis beefed up since entering the league. Chet can average 15pts-7reb with his talent but he may be injured often just with the physicality of the game especially if he's gonna play against bigs.
KD is apparently 240lbs now and was 215lbs when he entered the league.
25 lbs doesnt look the same on a 6ft dude vs a 7 footer. He's still pretty slim.
beyond that. aggression is a big factor. usually players that are underweight avoid contact more. that is where Chet is miles better than poku. he is so aggressive as a rim protector that he should be able to stay impact an NBA defense right away with his aggression and size alone.
Poku being skinny is not why he’s not a contributor. Poku is super streaky and overall very inefficient on offense and average on Defense. He has much poorer feel for the game than people were hoping when he was drafted. He shows flashes, and they are getting more common, but he’s still a complete project without an elite skill. Him being skinny hasn’t really factored in since he plays on the perimeter. This is not the case for Chet.
For real, Poku is a career 28.5% 3-point shooter with a 1.2 AST-TOV ratio. For a player who was supposed to be a secondary ball handler/creator with good long range shooting touch, he doesn't tick those boxes at all.
They say that but they aren't guarding Draymond and his natural shooting elbows
That’s kind of unfair that Draymond has 3-4 elbows while we only have 2.
Well Chet is way better in every aspect of the game but the fear is that he's too skinny to suceed
Call it what you will but i’m gonna have a hard time rooting for some dude named Chet.
I’ve found it’s more fun to say you identify as Cheterosexual
Not really. The difference is Chet is a center. Poku is KD if he was trash. He’s a perimeter player, you’ll probably see Poku-Chet pnr if we get him.
No one is gonna say that when Embiid, Jokic and Towns start decimating him on the low block
Because they don't already decimate 90% of those guarding them no matter the size.
Chet is a lot more skilled as a shot blocker and help-defender, while Poku has never been known for his interior defense. Poku is basically a tall perimeter player, while Chet is more of a true big.
Still only 20
I have no idea. He's took some pretty big strides last year but still kind of struggles with like... almost everything. I know he's a meme and all but I honestly couldn't tell you anything other than he has one of the lowest floors and highest ceilings in the NBA and he's still way too young to gauge properly right now. I've said this a gazillion times in the Thunder subreddit but he was the definition of a project player. Not only was he still going through puberty when we drafted him but he had to acclimate to being on his own as an adult for the first time in a foreign country, adjust to playing grown men who are actually good at basketball, and get use to having his body try to fill out with constant weight and S&C management. You could tell me he flames out as the ultimate meme or turns into a perennial first team NBA player and I'd believe either one right now. tl:dr he's getting better, still sucks pretty bad, but has flashed his talent and potential more and more last season.
He looked like a legitimate NBA player at the end of last season after spending a few months in the G-League
Progressing as expected. Still shit but shows off his ball handing and elite vision in games frequently. His shooting is still abysmal. Despite all the negative points I’m still extremely optimistic about how he’s panning out due to him showing high potential in every aspect of the game.
Ended the season showing promise but other than that he was pretty meh or even trash. He's just too skinny
Nikola Jovic!
Just flip the picks for cash and sign Bol Bol
He's just going to flip them for future picks.
Might be a dumb question but can OKC stash the picks in g league?
Yes. We’ve been doing that for a while actually, lol
This like some soccer youth academy type shit but with extra steps lol
Sound awfully similar to Chelsea loan army
They got nothing on mid-2010s Parma. [100+](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2392044-12-european-clubs-with-the-most-players-out-on-loan) out on loan...I wonder why they went bankrupt
One would think all those loans would earn them money, did no one want to buy their players after the loans lmfao
Probably that's the gamble they took, 1-2 major sales can make it pay off. Issue being that depending on the loan they might still have to pay (partial) wages
[удалено]
The rate of return for NbA players outside of the top 3ish is pretty bad. You are generally doing well if you get starters in the mid lottery, rotation players in the later lottery, and rostered players in the back half of the draft. Just in general only 150 starters in the league.
Agree, moving up a couple spots doesn't likely nice the needle. In my opinion, OKC should swap for picks in later years. Normally, teams can get a premium for waiting a year. Also, they can make don't gambles on teams that might end up in the lottery in the future.
Chelsea really tried the subscription base business model
In theory, but in practice a lot of times the loaned out players aren’t that good. Take Dortmund who brings people through until they peak, then sell for a fat profit. Often the constant on loan players are either not good enough for their club, or need more time to develop. Like Salah was loaned out and sold well before his value sky rocketed. For every Salah there’s 100 Lucas Piazons
There's also the problem that the loaning team has no impetus to actually develop good habits in the loanees. Why would a manager whose ass is on the line care about how Andre Wisdom develops in 3 years if he loses games right now and gets shitcanned.
I was so sure Piazon, Chalobah (Nathaniel, wasn't high on his brother) loftus-cheek, Barkley when he left Everton, Blackman, Lewis baker!!!, and van Ginkel would work out and leave Chelsea without many questions marks for their roster in the future. Victor Moses ended up being good for a super sub and spot starter for Chelsea too. Very disappointing for Chelsea how little of the loan army ended up paying off for them imo
Me on FM hoarding Wonderkids.
Lmao United Falcao that take me back. Really cursed pics
Yes, draft twitter is calling it the 'pre-draft' now, or 'domestic draft-and-stash'. With the G-league you can keep young players in pure development mode much easier now.
That's how it works in hockey and baseball. You draft players and all but the top prospects spend a few years overseas or playing college or in minor leagues like the AHL. In hockey, it's common for players to not join the NHL until they're 25 or even older. Tim Thomas was 30 when he joined the NHL and had his career been longer, he probably would have been a hall of famer; but he never would have made the NHL without the extra development time. The NBA and NFL never bothered to develop a proper minor league system and instead just rely on the NCAA doing it for them.
This feels like when the Celtics weren't able to cash in a bunch of their draft picks and ended up stashing multiple overseas and dumping the others for cheap. Think we made like 7 picks in 2016, with Yabu and Zizic getting stashed as first-rounders.
Would be hilarious if okc was forced to take international players to draft and stash
The owners actually just add an expansion team in a european league because they have too many guys they're holding onto
Oklahoma City Football Group
yeah, this is my first thought, too. everyone was thinking they are going to send a fuckton of those picks for AD, but Danny decided to keep his hand
SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley/**Chet** Mann/**Davis**/Williams/Roby/Favors Maledon/**Wesley**/Wiggins/Poku/JRE Then whoever they get with their last pick can play G League.
But that's only for so many players and only for so long right? they can be signed by other teams.
Y’all’s team is fucking wild. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how this draft pick mania plays out.
You get two roster spots for two-ways but those players are limited in days on the main roster. Otherwise you’d have to draft someone who’s willing to sign a G-League deal which most picks in the 30+34 range would not do, since that is a much lower salary and doesn’t start your service time IIRC
With Covid they changed it to remove the day limit I think and it should stay that way
I don’t think the official draft and stash rules include the g league, but they probably will in the next CBA based off how commonly the g league is used now. OKC could send whatever rookie to their g league affiliate the whole season, but that player would still be under their official NBA contract. Whereas with an overseas draft and stash player the team still controls their rights but the player isn’t on the cap books.
Please… every team with a g league affiliate and an extra round to the draft would go so far to actually developing players. Ideally (imo) guarantee 2nd rounders for at least a 2-way and treat 3rd rounders like 2nds are now. With two more 2-way slots for four total.
This probably going to happen long term, but at the moment very few 2nd round picks even play a single NBA game. Once more talent starts to arrive and when there isn't any expansion opportunities. Then were gonna see a 3 round draft.
My main point is about getting the g league to be an actual minor league system but agreed. Formalizing the process of negotiating g league contracts by having teams draft players. Guaranteeing 2nd rounders at a 2-way is just artificially increasing the value. They don’t go against the cap anyway.
you think nil in college potentially slows that down if guys are making good change there?
More likely they look overseas if they plan on stashing a player
You get 2 that you keep. The others are free for the league to pick from.
they still use a roster spot tho
This is not true of second-rounders, we signed Bol Bol to a two-way and converted him to a standard NBA contract a year later I believe.
I think it's more common for the #34 pick to sign a rookie contract instead of a 2way. Bol Bol was the #44 pick.
This is a thing, but not a big thing. Cutting Theo Maledon, Vit Kreji, Roby etc..is easy. Not shocking that a tanking team has a bunch of bad players
Is Roby a bad player ? I’ve only seen a few games but he looks solid
He’s too small to guard 5s and too slow to guard 4s. The shooting could keep him in the league I guess. But the thunder haven’t played him until tank time usually, which I think is telling.
Yeah any GM who thinks Presti is pressed or has to spend these picks is crazy. The man would rather over draft a Euro stash than give up a pick for poor value. You don’t fuck with Presti, Presti fucks you and you thank him for the best orgasm of your life as he walks out with your first round pick.
y’all rly don’t feel weird typing out these types of comments
Fatherless behavior
its not even funny, just trying too hard
Maybe by 2024 the roster crunch becomes more of an issue, but it’s a non-story for this off-season. Maledon, Krejci, Roby are all non-guaranteed and can easily be moved or cut if we want to draft at all 4 spots as unlikely as that is.
yep. we can cut these guys without any issues to the team.
Who tf is Krejci
Exactly
Boston Bruins legend David Krejci to you, pal. Wait what sub am I in
He’s actually kinda decent he’s just only played like 30 games. Pretty alright defender and decision maker for his age. Isn’t great at anything but he could be like a jack of all trades 8th man if everything goes right
His shot is at least above average for this current team, but probably around league average
lol im so out of touch with the thunder ive never heard of any of those 3 players
But giving up on those guys isn't exactly helping the team either. How long can the cycle of drafting players, surrounding them with other young draft picks, not re-signing them, drafting more young middling players go on for before you waste all of those draft picks you've been hoarding?
2nd round picks on every team in the league usually only have 1-2 years to prove themselves before they're cut or moved on, this isn't something unique to OKC. If Banton regresses in his 2nd year like Maledon did will Toronto give him unlimited time to develop or will they move onto the next project? And this isn't some long drawn out cycle we've been in, this is literally the 2nd draft we've had since the tear down happened.
With Maledon and Roby, I feel like we've seen all that we're going to see. They're not likely to become core rotational players for us
I thought Roby was great.
He’s alright as a back up big. Someone can have him for a 2nd.
I like Roby. But if you had to cut one of Bazely, Williams, JRE or Roby, it's unfortunately Roby
I thought they both were great. The problem with Maledon is tre Mann had a much better year.
Maledon is so easily replaceable lol. Only reason not to move on to a rookie is if you can get several future picks for one of the lower 1st rounders.
Roby had a great shooting year. I think he can stick as a situational backup big
Whoever OKC takes at 30/34 would immediately be better prospects than any of those guys. None of those guys even got consistent minutes until the very end of the year when OKC was down to 8 healthy players.
I'd like to see Roby and Krejci for at least one more season. Roby shot 52/44/67 last year. And Krejci has a lot of potential to fit the "positionless" basketball that the Thunder and the NBA as a whole are moving towards. He's also only 21. I think we've seen enough of Maledon though. Not sure he has a place on this team with all the ballhandlers the Thunder already have.
I'm more interested in Krejci than Roby. Krejci has been battling injuries and I'd be interested to see if he can get his athleticism back. I think the coaching staff told us what they think about Roby last season. He played in 18 of the first 54 games last season. He shot the ball very well down the stretch but I'm not sure he translates to competitive basketball games.
I'm very low on Krejci and high on Roby. Krejci doesn't even look NBA level.
Exactly. The point of having all these draft picks is so they can throw spaghetti and see what sticks. They’ll know pretty immediately if a guy is worth keeping around, and they can move the other ones for future picks and kick the can down the road
Trade them as filler along with a semi decent player to turn them into another late future pick to keep the assets rolling I mean I'd be sad if Moose is really gone but it seems like Muscala + Roby/ Favors could be something of value for someone like the Nets. So it's not really wasting players/ picks
I think you're exaggerating the cost of losing guys who were drafted at 34, 35, and 37, especially after giving them tons of playing time they never would've seen outside the G League.
Have you heard the tale of Darth Hinkie the Wise? I thought not. It's not a story Silver would tell you.
We very well could make those trades but here's Presti's thoughts on using all four picks: https://twitter.com/AndrewKSchlecht/status/1534178821464899589?t=H1kUBBKA74aE4IxhVyzpqA&s=19
Yup. We took 4 last year, might as well do it again and see how they look in training camp.
This is exactly what I was thinking of! Thought I was going to have to spend half an hour looking for the timestamp of this quote during his 2+ hour media availability lol I could easily see him trading up a little in this draft but I’m hoping we do a repeat of what we did last year. I am very excited for this offseason and to see how our team grows through competing against eachother
Fight it out Hunger Games style
We can cut guys like Roby, Krejci, Maledon etc. Presti isn't stressing lol
Yup
Exactly. You're likely to only have, say, 7/8 guys after the draft who are certainties: SGA, Dort, Giddey, Bazley, **Chet**, **Davis,** Mann, (JRE). Even then Bazley, Davis, Mann and JRE will still have a fair bit to prove. It's not like they're risking anything massive by using all of their draft picks and seeing who hits.
gonna throw poku into the certainty as he is a longterm big bet okc is making. we're gonna milk him for every last second of his rookie deal (and pick up his options). whether or not he amounts to something is unclear (though i'm optimistic), but okc has definitely made a commitment to seeing what he ends up being and want as much time as possible to evaluate whether we re-sign him that being said, your general point still stands. and i totally agree w you
Same thing happened to the Celtics a couple years back. They ended up having to take 2 draft-and-stash guys as reaches.
I mean Ainge was known to drive too hard a bargain, but rumor was they couldnt move up from 14 to 11 for with all 3 of their firsts iirc Lots of late firsts sounds great but hard to use when everyone knows you have to consolidate them. Not a strong bargaining position.
And in NBA moving back in the draft is never worth it. In other leagues it happens a lot because depth matters, and rosters are big including farm teams and practice squads, but in NBA one top 10 pick is worth more than half a dozen picks outside of the lottery.
15th pick in the NFL draft is borderline gold 15th pick in the NBA draft is borderline trash
Nfl draft over 270 picks. Nba draft only 60. It makes sense
I mean yes, but the bigger point to consider is how many players get significant playing time. In the NBA you've got somewhere between 8-13 guys who get meaningful time on the court. In the NFL, that number is in the 40s. There are also 2 more teams in the NFL than NBA so talent is even more spread out.
u start 22 players in NFL vs 5 in NBA
Yes.
Or it’s Giannis or Kawhi…just kind of depends on who’s there and what you think they are
In a year where the Lakers, Clippers, or Bucks only swap with NOL/OKC as opposed to conveying their pick outright I could see if being worth it for them to, say, move back from 20 to 25 in exchange for 2-3 second-rounders, either in that draft or future. They have so little draft equity that for them getting multiple swings at the bat is more important, and future seconds are often the fodder for contending teams trading for the expiring-contract veteran on a listless team
Really good point. If Lakers/Clippers are smart they definitely should do that for at least a small insurance to their free spending.
During regular season:” OKC doesn’t have any talent outside of Shai, they’re the BLACK EYE OF THE LEAGUE!” During offseason:” OKC doesn’t have roster spots for their picks with all the talented players they have, they should just give away their picks.”
It’s because the people who don’t understand the concept of having assets and picks don’t pay attention to the off-season
Yep, just absolutely no way we can get rid of Linday Waters, Vit Krejci, Aaron Wiggins, Paul Watson, Theo Maledon, Isiah Roby, Ty Jerome, Derrick Favors. /s What are these other teams smoking? Like half our team could be waived. The 2nd highest paid guy on that list after Derrick Favors is Ty Jerome at 4.2 million dollars.
I don’t see how this is a problem? Besides SGA/Giddey/Dort/Mann/Poku(?)/Bazley(??) Maledon/Roby/Wiggins/Kenny Hustle could all be used to stack in a trade, or the G-League, or just straight up released if we feel there’s available players in the draft that fit our timeline better.
Yeah Presti said in his presser hes not afraid to draft all 4 and figure it out after training camp
I'm hoping Dallas trades back from #26 to either OKC's #30/34 or Magic's #32/35. Rather take two swings at the same tier of prospect and keep them a little more cost controlled under a second round contract.
I'd do this tbh, not unreasonable in a weak draft. Last year, we did 34+36 to move up only two spots to 32. At 26, if there's someone like Jovic still available (I'm basing it on The Ringer's mock) or it allows us to move 1-2 spots from 12, I'm in.
I can see 12+30+32 for 9 or something
*34 but yeah, I'd be down. Problem is the Spurs are in the same boat of too many picks as OKC lol
Shiet as Wizards with 10th pick I'd do that trade if OKC is willing to if Mathurin and Daniels is gone by then
The Spurs will have a harder time making space for their picks though so they should have less leverage
The problem with that scenario is there isn't a lot of difference in player potential for those guys ranked 7-13ish. Presti would have to really love someone in that consensus top 10 to make a trade like that.
Check out Ibou Dianko Badji, a center that should fall to around that range https://youtu.be/t7EhWQfS9bg
Yeah, dropping back allows us to take both a C and a Wing while affording us to play it safe with one pick and take a flier on another. Personally, I just don't see much of a difference from a prospect like Jake LaRavia, Wendell Moore, or Trevor Keels at #26 compared to grabbing two of Koloko/Kamagate/Lewis/Miller/McGowens/Braun. That way we are getting production now (Koloko/Braun) and also taking a swing on a raw prospect for later (Kamagate/Miller/Lewis).
Dallas doesn't have any roster spots either. They will be at 15 players under contract before resigning Jalen Brunson with only one draft pick.
Agreed! I believe they'll make a consolidation trade or two this offseason. One avenue is moving off a few of the seven expiring deals they own. They can simply bundle the smaller ones to open up a spot or two. Something like Burke/Brown + a second rounder to a team that is under the minimum salary cap. Opens up two roster spots + saves them about $6m in cap and $10m in luxury. Send them out to a team like Detroit/Orlando/Indy that may need to add some cap to make the $100m minimum cap. They take the players in, cut them to take the hit on their cap, and profit a pick for their troubles.
Stop hoarding and go all in for a disgruntled star you cowards!
Watch it be like #12 for 3 future firsts
The return of the Westbrook
SGA, Giddey, #2 pick, Dort, + trade some of the warchest for a current significant rotational player. That's the foundation of a real team.
Assuming they get a big man at #2, they would need to trade their war chest for a wing. IDK who'd be available. Maybe Lavine?
Not impossible they wind up with SGA, Giddey, Dort, Chet, and Sochan with a war chest for further talent acquisition via the draft or trades. Honestly I think that’s a fun defensive core + 2 solid guards to build off of.
That’s a significant bag. Who do you think they would try to get for it?
Lol I think they mean those guys are the core of the team and you trade everything else to fit around them. No clue why they would trade Giddey or 2 at this juncture
Ohhh yeah you’re right. The bag in this case is really just referring to the significant portion of the warchest I guess
I think if we somehow could get Deandre Ayton we could be straight up golden. EDIT: not worth trading any of our core (SGA, Dort, Giddey, Mann, Poku(??) but would be worth picks and a big ass bag
I agree, I really don't want that to happen lol. Hell it doesn't even need to be someone as good as Ayton, if you could trade for Zubac you would be in a really strong position.
Would love Wendell Carter JR, but he seems to be happy/fit in well with the Magic. Of course this all depends on the draft, if we could walk away with Chet/Mark Williams with #2 + #12…would that suffice the center position?? personally I don’t think so, but you never know with Mr. Presti
If Lavine chooses to leave the Bulls they might decide their current core is dead and try to move Vucci Mane. That would be a nice center to aquire.
Personally not the biggest fan of the Vucci, but i do like your suggestion on Zubac!
Jerami Grant, The Return.... (I have no idea if he left on good terms or not) I know that Wood is available, but if I was OKC I wouldn't want him around all those youngsters. Nurk is a UFA, could the Thunder go after him? He would help with the development of Chet/Jabari.
The only guy who’s ever left on bad terms was Reggie Jackson. Can’t think of a single former or current player that ever talked about OKC that didn’t give a glowing review
I can think of one other guy who left on bad terms…
Haven't you heard. He said he was GONNA COME BACK. But the fans were rude to him so nevermind now. Let's just ignore the fact he effectively closed a championship window on just about the entire league by forming a super team.
Honestly in his own mind I think he thought he left on good terms lol
We can’t possibly know yet It all depends on how we look as a team. You can say “oh we need a big” rn bc that’s our biggest weakness. But a big doesn’t take you from a bottom 4 team to a championship contender. We’re extremely young and have a lot of versatile talent. We won’t actually know what we need for another year or 2. Then at that point you look at the market Jrue costed 4 picks, Vuc was 2, GTJ was 1, Norman powell 1, so on
Vultures already circling to squeeze picks they know have to be traded. On the other hand, if enough Vultures gather, then Thunder suddenly have a bidding war lol. Gotta love the leverage see-saw.
The picks don’t have to be traded, have you seen the players that can be cut/traded? Lol
Whoever gave him that quote doesn’t seem to have really looked at OKC’s roster. They could easily drop at least four players with no problem. Buy out Favors, cut Roby, Jerome, and Krejci, trade Bazley and/or Maledon. The Thunder really only have 9 guys (SGA, Dort, Giddey, Poku, JRE, Kenrich, Muscala, Mann, Wiggins) they’ll be focused on keeping. And even Kenrich and Muscala might end up being trade bait if a team wants guys who can contribute now.
If someone met the asking price Bazely, Poku, JRE, Kenrich, and Wiggins would all be gone imo. I think it's something like: Tier 1 (untouchable): Shai Tier 2 (Only if someone is dumb): Giddey Tier 3 (If offered something really good): Dort, Mann, JRE Tier 4 (If offered fair price): Kenrich, Poku, Wiggins, Bazely Tier 5 (cut/buyout/whatevs): Everyone else
Yeah, Shai and Giddey are the only true untouchables in my opinion. But I think the other 7 guys I mentioned are the only ones OKC really cares about bringing back. Like if they have draft picks they really like, they'd have no problem jettisoning everyone else who isn't part of that group. Some of the members of that group of 9 are still gettable for other teams, but OKC would need to get solid value back.
I'd argue Muscala and Kenny hustle are both in tier 3 as they've both voiced publicly how much they love OKC
They can easily trade that 2nd for even more future 2nds
they may as well just sell some for cash at this point, i don't think it's that egregious
Pretty sure I read where Presti said thats not likely since we were under the salary this year or whatever lol Edit: unless its a trade with players + cash
Maybe they can just keep swapping them for future picks like they did with the Sengun pick.
Last year they also traded 34 and 36 to trade up to 32. Feel like they could trade 30 and 34 to up to 26. Thunder get a slightly hire pick and Mavs get 2 shots to find someone who can play with Luka.
There is value to be found at 12. If Sharpe, Agbaji, or such falls
No way Sharpe falls that much
I'm sorry but that kind of talk is just laughable. People fall every single year from their consensus projection... I'm not talking about Sharpe, specifically, fyi.
You're right, but Sharpe is being mocked at 4-6 by 95% of people and top 10 by 100%, no way he falls to 12. I think AJ Griffin might be the one who falls
Again, people fall every year. You're going to be sorely mistaken if you take mock drafts as gospel. Just last year, Bleacher Report, NBA Big Board, and The Ringer had James Bouknight at 6, and he fell to 11. If anything, Sharpe is *more likely* to fall from his projection than anyone in the top half of the lottery since he didn't play in an organized league after high school. He's a huge wildcard!
I’ve been wondering this about the stashing picks strategy. Is there a point where OKC has so many picks that the other GMs have a bit of leverage over them in trades because OKC has to get rid of the picks due to roster slots? Or will that never happen because there will always be enough other teams who will want the pick at full value?
No bc not every pick hits Even with the amount of young guys they have Roby, Vit Krecji, and Theo and all be waived and won't be missed. Plus they can easily move the picks to move up just a few spots: 2021: Traded 34 and 36 to move up 2 spots to 32 2020: Traded 25 and 28 to move up to 17 It's likely they will at least package 30 and 34 to move up a bit.
Hope Sam does whatever it takes for Victor W next season 😭
Thanks Magic. This isn’t any news at all. Team with most draft picks is best candidate to trade those picks.
Yes they do. They have 4 non-guaranteed deals and 3 team option deals. They'll obviously keep Dort. IDK about the others. \#34 is a second rounder.
I think we’ll package 12, 30, and 34 to move up some from twelve into the 6-10 range. But that’s purely speculative on my part.
Don’t see how you move up four to six spots with essentially 2 second rounders.
2016 SAC traded 8 to PHX for 13+28+the rights to Bogdan Bogdanavic+a future 2nd OKC’s package of 12+30+34+the rights to Vasilije Micic is about equal to that, depending on how a team values Micic
WAS and NYK, easily. Maybe we even retain one of 30/34. San Antonio is guard heavy like OKC and Micic wants playing time so maybe something similar of value but a different package. Pels I can see it since they're competing but there's definitely at least one left between Sharpe, Daniels, Mathurin, Murray at 8 after the "Top 4". They kinda hit it off with their picks lately in Herb and Trey Murphy, so they might be feeling great staying put. Not to mention Sochan, Davis, Duren, Griffin, Dieng it would require them liking one of those at 12 plus extra picks and a player for depth, then it can be a good deal for both sides. Portland and Indiana are a reach, we basically have to give up wayy more and idk if it's the right move for us.
Indy I agree is a reach, but POR I think would be gettable. There might need to be a move first with 30+34 to get a higher 1st for them instead but 5 spots in the draft at that point is worth either a pick in the 20s or 30+34+Micic if Micic is valued as a late 1st himself
They need wings/ forwards though. They'd probably ask for Bazley and idk who else but it feels like Detroit could always outbid us with a Jerami Grant package MAYBE if both Murray and Daniels will be gone at 7 + POR isn't liking the defensive fit of Mathurin with Dame and Simons, maybe they're feeling Sochan at 12. Getting Baze and Micic off the bench, plus two additional quality 2nd rounders along with their other picks is a good way to bounce back from their crappy fire sale last trade deadline. But that's a lot of ifs to work out and they're not contending next year regardless
To be fair, everyone needs wings/forwards The tension with DET and Grant would be that I don’t think POR wants to give up 7 for Grant alone, but with POR’s lack of extra 1sts and their own pick being out so far they would need an extra 1st somewhere, which means trading back.
But the OKC's #30 isn't gonna cut it, they're much better off trading back the Blazers #7 for the Spurs #9 and #20, give or take another late 2nd as sweetener depending on who's feeling shorthanded Spurs consolidate their too many picks and move up 2 spots, giving them a better prospect as a rebuilding team Pistons give up Grant who's clearly not a part of their core for another top 10 pick straight up which still seems like a good incentive and motivation considering they fell to #5 this year. Blazers get a proven 3rd option in Grant who's only 28 years old and a fantastic fit, plus they still get another decent first (Jalen Williams, Jovic, Eason, Lidell could all be there at 20) Although admittedly, idk what's Grant's value alone these days
That's not enough for #6 imo and Blazers, Pelicans, Spurs already have a bunch of picks, doubt they want more. Maybe the wizards do it but I also doubt they want 3 more rookies.
As a blazers fan I think I’d rather have more picks
That’s not a bad move, even if you move up to 10
Stockpiling picks is a mofo
Small markets gotta do what we gotta do. We ain't got no coastal view from bricktown.
When you got dozens of draft picks, you can either use them all to draft players or trade them. It makes no diference. Picks will keep coming anyway.
If they want to sell pick #34 I’d love to see Jabari Walker in Boston