OKC Thunder 2022-23 Regular Season Discussion

[QPR]

I hope tanking is from the table now. So let Shai play and let us go for the playoffs. There is still a great chance to get at least in the Play inn.

There's only two more back to backs, so on theory SGA is only going to miss two more games (unless the team nosedives and can't make the play in)

[Dadouv47]

The missing piece

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[cjmcallist]

I optimistically predict 6-7 the rest of the way. Tough upcoming stretch. That puts us right on the fringe, I think. But would keep us in?

@TOR - W

vPHX - L

@LAC - L

@LAC -W
@LAL -L

@POR -W

vCHA -W
vDET - L

@IND -W

vPHX - L

@GSW - L

@UTA - W

vMEM - L

[kdthunderup]

there will need to be a reckoning at some point with shot taking. giddey will need to let go of the reins to make room for j. williams. the enormous usage disparity when all four are on (jdub/giddey/shai/dort) right now is fine but at some point it's going to be come very apparent that jdub should be outpacing giddey. wonder if giddey will do it.

It makes more sense to me to drop Dort’s usage a lot and Giddey’s a little bit for next season.That will bring JDub level peg with Giddey.

Dort’s usage is way too high for a player who offensively sucks at forcing things. He will become much more effective if he can takes a back seat and picks his shots better.

[slick_watts]

there will need to be a reckoning at some point with shot taking. giddey will need to let go of the reins to make room for j. williams. the enormous usage disparity when all four are on (jdub/giddey/shai/dort) right now is fine but at some point it's going to be come very apparent that jdub should be outpacing giddey. wonder if giddey will do it.

It makes more sense to me to drop Dort’s usage a lot and Giddey’s a little bit for next season.That will bring JDub level peg with Giddey.

Dort’s usage is way too high for a player who offensively sucks at forcing things. He will become much more effective if he can takes a back seat and picks his shots better.

dort's usage is pretty low when he shares the court with the other three. it's giddey and shai who are high. giddey is pushing 30% in 4th quarters. i think giddey should be in the 20%-range. dort's well below 20% when all four are on.

[Dadouv47]

Lack of outside shooting is gonna be a problem long term. Coach D trying some weird line ups with Joe and Waters but we need Presti (and our current players) to make some improvements during the offseason.

I didn't want to make the play in but our players are giving it all so I hope they succeed and make the playoffs

[vtime]

Good win

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

Shai looks unhappy in OKC. We should trade him for a couple of 2nds.

[Dadouv47]

Only complain about our coaching staff: not playing Wiggins enough. I don't get why he entered so late in the game.

[BlazersBroncos]

Man its a small sample size but if Jaylin is really a 40% 3PT guy, what a steal (Even 38% would be a steal). Hope he can be the next Collison backing up Chet for a decade. The hustle, charges taken, character and potentially a legit 3. Love this kid.

[Xatticus]

Man its a small sample size but if Jaylin is really a 40% 3PT guy, what a steal (Even 38% would be a steal). Hope he can be the next Collison backing up Chet for a decade. The hustle, charges taken, character and potentially a legit 3. Love this kid.

He's still not confident in the shot, so he has a ways to go. He needs to work on making second-level reads and he needs to improve his finishing. He probably needs to learn to keep his dribble for a step or two longer when he drives. Every single game he passes up a good look at the 3-point line and drives to the basket. He creates a pretty good runway, but the end result is always a mess and leaves you wishing he just launched the 3-point shot. It would be great if he could speed the release up, but that often really messes with the shot, so I'm fine with him passing them up when he doesn't like them, but he has to become a threat when he rips and drives.

I have to watch the replay. I passed out while watching this one in the 2nd quarter and it wasn't looking good. I was really surprised to see we won this game. It's a great win. If we can keep our heads above water through this upcoming road trip, then it looks like a play-in game is almost a lock. I'd love to see them claw their way into the top six. A full playoff series with this squad would be very fun and would give us a lot of information.

[jake_swivel]

If Poku doesn’t come back to the big leagues for the rest of the season, what kind of extension would you offer, if any?

[Dadouv47]

If Poku doesn’t come back to the big leagues for the rest of the season, what kind of extension would you offer, if any?

4 years, 36 millions would be my best offer. I doubt a team would offer more.

OK, maybe 40. I'm not sold Poku can be an NBA player so it's a risky move to make.

[Devilanche]

Man its a small sample size but if Jaylin is really a 40% 3PT guy, what a steal (Even 38% would be a steal). Hope he can be the next Collison backing up Chet for a decade. The hustle, charges taken, character and potentially a legit 3. Love this kid.

He's still not confident in the shot, so he has a ways to go. He needs to work on making second-level reads and he needs to improve his finishing. He probably needs to learn to keep his dribble for a step or two longer when he drives. Every single game he passes up a good look at the 3-point line and drives to the basket. He creates a pretty good runway, but the end result is always a mess and leaves you wishing he just launched the 3-point shot. It would be great if he could speed the release up, but that often really messes with the shot, so I'm fine with him passing them up when he doesn't like them, but he has to become a threat when he rips and drives.

I have to watch the replay. I passed out while watching this one in the 2nd quarter and it wasn't looking good. I was really surprised to see we won this game. It's a great win. If we can keep our heads above water through this upcoming road trip, then it looks like a play-in game is almost a lock. I'd love to see them claw their way into the top six. A full playoff series with this squad would be very fun and would give us a lot of information.

He wasn’t a 3 point shooter in college so these improvement will take time .

As is we aren’t sure whether he’s a 38% or even a 33% shooter and this is a really really hot streak etc .

But at a minimum he can make 3s.

[Dadouv47]

Hard to believe we are 7th...amazing stuff.

[cjmcallist]

Lack of outside shooting is gonna be a problem long term. Coach D trying some weird line ups with Joe and Waters but we need Presti (and our current players) to make some improvements during the offseason.

I didn't want to make the play in but our players are giving it all so I hope they succeed and make the playoffs

Agree on both fronts.

The 3 point shooting does worry me. With Shai specifically. If he doesn’t up that % he’ll end up very guardable.

After last night I decided to give up on thinking about the draft and and long term stuff. From here on out I’m all in on the playoffs and getting in the top 6. Let’s go playoffs!!

Hoping for a Dallas series so I can go to a game or two.

[Dadouv47]

Lack of outside shooting is gonna be a problem long term. Coach D trying some weird line ups with Joe and Waters but we need Presti (and our current players) to make some improvements during the offseason.

I didn't want to make the play in but our players are giving it all so I hope they succeed and make the playoffs

Agree on both fronts.

The 3 point shooting does worry me. With Shai specifically. If he doesn’t up that % he’ll end up very guardable.

After last night I decided to give up on thinking about the draft and and long term stuff. From here on out I’m all in on the playoffs and getting in the top 6. Let’s go playoffs!!

Hoping for a Dallas series so I can go to a game or two.

Same. I think we still need a high pick (or trade for a stud) and we are overperforming but this isn't a wasted season...our guys are growing a lot, mostly now competing for the play in/playoffs. This is a team that is learning how to compete at a high level and it's very important, even if big improvements are needed.

Just hope Chet gonna be healthy next season or it could hurt us a lot (I'm fine if we draft just a good role player).

[BlazersBroncos]

Lack of outside shooting is gonna be a problem long term. Coach D trying some weird line ups with Joe and Waters but we need Presti (and our current players) to make some improvements during the offseason.

I didn't want to make the play in but our players are giving it all so I hope they succeed and make the playoffs

Agree on both fronts.

The 3 point shooting does worry me. With Shai specifically. If he doesn’t up that % he’ll end up very guardable.

After last night I decided to give up on thinking about the draft and and long term stuff. From here on out I’m all in on the playoffs and getting in the top 6. Let’s go playoffs!!

Hoping for a Dallas series so I can go to a game or two.

Chet should help alot w/ the 3PT shooting IMO. Jalen is sitting at 35% and its pretty feasible he will be a 38%+ guy by next season. If OKC cant find a huge splash this summer they could always punt cap space to 2024 and target EC shooters like Doug and Kelly IMO.

[slick_watts]

if we're trying to win i think we need to shelve ousmane dieng in these traditional lineups and stick to joe-wiggins-waters trio instead. dieng has shown he can have value going small, but when we're playing a 'center' (sarr, saric, j-will), i don't think there's a rotation spot for ous that makes any sense. ous and lindy being ahead of wiggins in the depth chart in the first place is bizarre to me.

thunder are league average-ish as a 3pt shooting team but don't shoot a ton of them. dort-giddey is a problem there, the clippers really made the thunder pay for having them on the court together on both ends early in the game. in 2h with sarr in there i thought we were really laboring for points. after that dort-giddey didn't play a possession together until less than a minute remaining in the game.

[Xatticus]

Lack of outside shooting is gonna be a problem long term. Coach D trying some weird line ups with Joe and Waters but we need Presti (and our current players) to make some improvements during the offseason.

I didn't want to make the play in but our players are giving it all so I hope they succeed and make the playoffs

Agree on both fronts.

The 3 point shooting does worry me. With Shai specifically. If he doesn’t up that % he’ll end up very guardable.

After last night I decided to give up on thinking about the draft and and long term stuff. From here on out I’m all in on the playoffs and getting in the top 6. Let’s go playoffs!!

Hoping for a Dallas series so I can go to a game or two.

I don't see the shooting as an issue at all. SGA is almost impossible to guard as is. The only concern I have with him is how well he will hold up in the long term with his style of play.

I'm likewise convinced that Jalen Williams will be a very good offensive player even if he settles in as a league average 3-point shooter.

I'm not arguing against the need for shooting, but I certainly don't believe it is the only pathway to an efficient offense. I doubt anyone expected this offense to be as good as it has been and there is every reason to believe it is going to get better going forward.