2018-2019 OKC Thunder Regular Season Pt 1: A Renewed Hope

[slick_watts]

Remember when they did that for a guy making 30 million?

at least there was some possible subtext there, like convincing george or stay or westbrook to re-sign.

i can't think of any reason to guarantee schroder anything considering his status at the time of the trade both on and off the court. except to possibly salvage as much value in him as possible for a future trade.

Presti probably promised Schroder this so he would actually give a **** about the game and not just leave his talent sitting there doing nothing on the bench and being a $45M salary commitment that would be a complete waste.

As promising as Ferguson and Diallo has looked, Schroder is just flat out better. Period. He provides more value to this team than everyone outside of the starting 5 not named Ferguson (who is only a starter in name).

It is a plan that has worked for Presti.

The Melo situation was different. Presti knew he had to appease Melo’s ego for a number of reasons, mostly to accomplish the big picture goal of George re-signing.

Just sit back and imagine for a second what an OKC locker room and an OKC media frenzy would look like if Melo was made to come off the bench. We got a little taste of it in Houston this year.


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i don't know. i prefer not to engage in hypotheticals.

[getrichordie]

at least there was some possible subtext there, like convincing george or stay or westbrook to re-sign.

i can't think of any reason to guarantee schroder anything considering his status at the time of the trade both on and off the court. except to possibly salvage as much value in him as possible for a future trade.

Presti probably promised Schroder this so he would actually give a **** about the game and not just leave his talent sitting there doing nothing on the bench and being a $45M salary commitment that would be a complete waste.

As promising as Ferguson and Diallo has looked, Schroder is just flat out better. Period. He provides more value to this team than everyone outside of the starting 5 not named Ferguson (who is only a starter in name).

It is a plan that has worked for Presti.

The Melo situation was different. Presti knew he had to appease Melo’s ego for a number of reasons, mostly to accomplish the big picture goal of George re-signing.

Just sit back and imagine for a second what an OKC locker room and an OKC media frenzy would look like if Melo was made to come off the bench. We got a little taste of it in Houston this year.


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i don't know. i prefer not to engage in hypotheticals.

You do you, man. Whatever tickles your peter.

I think it’s been made abundantly clear that any well run organization is very cognizant of how the tentacles of the media spotlight can affect everything. Why risk an unhappy Melo (who is still respected by guys like George) when it means you might lose George for nothing, when you just traded Oladipo and Sabonis for him?


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[Dn4sty]

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?s=21

Do people from Spain have poor immune systems?

[Old Man Game]

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?s=21

Do people from Spain have poor immune systems?

Very odd. I wonder if there's not something chronic the guy is dealing with that he doesn't want to make public at this time. Like an autoimmune disorder or something.

[ThunderBolt]

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?s=21

Do people from Spain have poor immune systems?

Very odd. I wonder if there's not something chronic the guy is dealing with that he doesn't want to make public at this time. Like an autoimmune disorder or something.

Maybe he’ll be healthier when he’s back home playing in the euro league next year.

[Old Man Game]

And by the way, if this organization was dumb enough to trade for a malcontent, paid 15 million a year, AND promise the guy minutes that's a total face palm.

Remember when they did that for a guy making 30 million?

That's true but just one thing, did Schroeder have a no trade clause? Don't think he did did he? Making promises to lure 'Melo (who had a veto over any proposed trade) because that's what George wanted is one thing, making promises to a guy just to keep him from being a bastard in the locker room is quite another.

[getrichordie]

https://youtu.be/zrfmhvOim44


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[getrichordie]

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Do people from Spain have poor immune systems?

Very odd. I wonder if there's not something chronic the guy is dealing with that he doesn't want to make public at this time. Like an autoimmune disorder or something.

Crohn’s disease? Nance has that.


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[getrichordie]

And by the way, if this organization was dumb enough to trade for a malcontent, paid 15 million a year, AND promise the guy minutes that's a total face palm.

Remember when they did that for a guy making 30 million?

That's true but just one thing, did Schroeder have a no trade clause? Don't think he did did he? Making promises to lure 'Melo (who had a veto over any proposed trade) because that's what George wanted is one thing, making promises to a guy just to keep him from being a bastard in the locker room is quite another.

Taking player morale into account when GMing is a thing. It’s just like business. You don’t hire a guy if you think he’s going to be unhappy with the job you are giving him.

As much as everyone likes to say Schroder is a locker room issue, he hasn’t been for us. I just think he didn’t like playing on the Hawks. Probably not enough structure there. Atlanta has always been a franchise that has struggled.


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[Kizz Fastfists]

Has anyone else noticed that Ferguson is shooting 39% from 3 this month? Might be time to start getting him more shots. He seems to be over the early season shooting slump.

[Kizz Fastfists]

As much as everyone likes to say Schroder is a locker room issue, he hasn’t been for us. I just think he didn’t like playing on the Hawks. Probably not enough structure there. Atlanta has always been a franchise that has struggled.

Have we ever heard that a player was a locker room issue early in the season? Reggie is the only example I can think of and that was because he was vocal about it. The team did a good job of keeping the Melo locker room stuff under wraps for most of last season. It could also be that Schroder was made aware that his locker room problems in Atlanta are why no one wanted him as a potential starter and he is going out of his way to fit in early to try to work his way off the team into a starting role. Presti might have promised him a trade to a potential starting spot if he would fit in, behave and rehab his value.

The other side to that is that I don't recall Schroder being a locker room issue for Atlanta when he was coming off the bench behind Teague. It was only after he became the starter and was exposed as someone who could put up decent numbers, but not wins, that he became an issue. So maybe Schorder is more comfortable coming off the bench as a 6th man and is someone who prefers that role. The old saying that winning cures all issues could be the case with Schroder. He might not have the ego that was assumed from his Atlanta issues and it was just that he was so frustrated with the losing that it became a problem. If that is the case then he'll be fine until Russ regresses to the point that OKC starts missing the playoffs, which could mean he's an issue later this year or next year. It could also mean Schroder wouldn't be an issue as the 6th man on a losing team because he wouldn't be who the media was going after. They'll go after Russ and PG if OKC slips 3.5 games in the standings over the rest of the season and misses the playoffs.

[slick_watts]

Has anyone else noticed that Ferguson is shooting 39% from 3 this month? Might be time to start getting him more shots. He seems to be over the early season shooting slump.

i peg him in the 33-34% range. i don't think he's a good shooter, by league standards. by thunder standards he's mark price though.

[ThunderBolt]

He strikes me as the kind of guy that will always be streaky.

[getrichordie]

Has anyone else noticed that Ferguson is shooting 39% from 3 this month? Might be time to start getting him more shots. He seems to be over the early season shooting slump.

i peg him in the 33-34% range. i don't think he's a good shooter, by league standards. by thunder standards he's mark price though.

I’ve always said that if Ferguson can get stronger (not sure how much muscle that skinny frame can hold) and improve his core strength, he can be more consistent. I hope he can add a little more muscle and bring more consistency to his form, otherwise, yes, he will continue to be streaky.

Is there any other player in NBA history with Ferguson’s kind of frame that has been a meaningfully impactful shooter?


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[Old Man Game]

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?s=21

Do people from Spain have poor immune systems?

Very odd. I wonder if there's not something chronic the guy is dealing with that he doesn't want to make public at this time. Like an autoimmune disorder or something.

Crohn’s disease? Nance has that.


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That's exactly what I was thinking. Would explain frequent bouts of gastro issues and fatigue.

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[getrichordie]

Very odd. I wonder if there's not something chronic the guy is dealing with that he doesn't want to make public at this time. Like an autoimmune disorder or something.

Crohn’s disease? Nance has that.


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That's exactly what I was thinking. Would explain frequent bouts of gastro issues and fatigue.

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“Because patients with Crohn's disease (CD) often show increased energy expenditure, nutritional deficiencies, and general fatigue, all which may persist after a flare, we hypothesized that CD could alter muscle mass and function.”

It would also explain why Abrines has virtually been the same size since he’s been in OKC. I mean, just look at those chicken legs...


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[slick_watts]

Has anyone else noticed that Ferguson is shooting 39% from 3 this month? Might be time to start getting him more shots. He seems to be over the early season shooting slump.

i peg him in the 33-34% range. i don't think he's a good shooter, by league standards. by thunder standards he's mark price though.

I’ve always said that if Ferguson can get stronger (not sure how much muscle that skinny frame can hold) and improve his core strength, he can be more consistent. I hope he can add a little more muscle and bring more consistency to his form, otherwise, yes, he will continue to be streaky.

Is there any other player in NBA history with Ferguson’s kind of frame that has been a meaningfully impactful shooter?


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[Old Man Game]

Crohn’s disease? Nance has that.


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That's exactly what I was thinking. Would explain frequent bouts of gastro issues and fatigue.

Sent from my Pixel using RealGM mobile app

“Because patients with Crohn's disease (CD) often show increased energy expenditure, nutritional deficiencies, and general fatigue, all which may persist after a flare, we hypothesized that CD could alter muscle mass and function.”

It would also explain why Abrines has virtually been the same size since he’s been in OKC. I mean, just look at those chicken legs...


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I don't want to speculate too much but it would sort of make sense. Could also be other digestive specific chronic issues like celiac disease. Anything impacting your ability to eat and to absorb what you do eat would kind of make sense with what we've seen of him.

[getrichordie]

Presti just signed Donte Grantham to a Two-Way, boys. Thoughts?


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[Pillendreher]

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Interesting. I never really thought about the gambling this season, but it does look like the steals are the result of sound defense and not just athleticism and luck.