OKC Thunder Trades and Transaction Thread

[Dadouv47]

being honest I was indifferent at 12 outside of Morez so just pissed we couldn't get Morez but can't blame Presti for that.
Do I like Mara? not much but didn't like the options at 12 anyway so not sure what was the best pick at that point. I liked other options at #17 but don't know Stirtz so can't really complain for now.
Vecenie said on his show that Stirtz is definitely a guy that can shoot over 40% from three and his stats are not great because he took crazy shots at the end of the shotclock..at least that's a skillset we need.

[ThunderBolt]

I don't watch much college basketball so outside of the top guys I'm not too familiar with these players. After doing abit of reading and video watching about Mara I'd say that I'm fine with the pick. I wish he had a little bit more range on his shot and his ft% were better. Some of what I read knocked his lateral speed but that's just about every player of his size ever outside of Wemby. I don't think we drafted him to shut down prime Steph on the perimeter.

One thing I noticed in Mara's highlights that I like is how he falls to the ground. Yes, you read that correctly. Chet is one of those guys that every time he hits the floor I think he's done for the season. Mara just looks like one of those guys that I can trust a little bit to not be as fragile.

[ThunderBolt]

Picking Mara could mean that IHart will not be extended, probably Presti will opt-in his contract for 1 year in order to give to Mara & Sorber one year to adapt at the NBA level.

I don’t see IHart sign a multiyear contract for less the amount he could sign elsewhere, knowing he will be traded in 1-2 years

This is my thought as well. If we can keep IHart for one more year, hopefully we can weather his departure with the development of Sorber, Mara and Chet. I'm not too worried about replacing Dort with Cason. That should be an upgrade, imo.

[ThunderBolt]

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[Dadouv47]

my only concern with this draft is that OKC is the deepest team in the league by a wild margin but still only has only one guy playing the 4 really well in JDub.

[Big nick]

We needed a pf bad but didn’t get one guards and centers. Stirtz is said to be a white curry I guess we shall see. All I know is curry was the best shooter I ever saw in college.

[Xatticus]

I don't watch much college basketball so outside of the top guys I'm not too familiar with these players. After doing abit of reading and video watching about Mara I'd say that I'm fine with the pick. I wish he had a little bit more range on his shot and his ft% were better. Some of what I read knocked his lateral speed but that's just about every player of his size ever outside of Wemby. I don't think we drafted him to shut down prime Steph on the perimeter.

One thing I noticed in Mara's highlights that I like is how he falls to the ground. Yes, you read that correctly. Chet is one of those guys that every time he hits the floor I think he's done for the season. Mara just looks like one of those guys that I can trust a little bit to not be as fragile.

I haven't done any prospect scouting in the last few years. I only knew of these guys because I live in BIG10 country and went to a BIG10 school, so I watch a fair bit of BIG10 basketball.

Mara impressed me. If you look at his shooting percentages, you'd guess he is unskilled, but he isn't. He has nice touch around the basket with little hooks and flips. He doesn't use them often, but there is enough there to give hope that he can build off of that. Right now, his shot looks very awkward. He reads the floor well and doesn't get rushed. He isn't strong, but he uses his body well to create space to get shots off.

Defensively, he is very efficient with his movement. People make it sound as though he is going to get cooked in isolations, but I haven't seen that. He uses his length well. He'll sit well back and wait for the offensive player to give up their dribble before closing and he will still get out there for a contest or block. He can get moved inside, so he has to get stronger, but he will contest everything inside.

I think he just needs time and development and you will eventually get a very impactful player.

[ThunderBolt]

I don't watch much college basketball so outside of the top guys I'm not too familiar with these players. After doing abit of reading and video watching about Mara I'd say that I'm fine with the pick. I wish he had a little bit more range on his shot and his ft% were better. Some of what I read knocked his lateral speed but that's just about every player of his size ever outside of Wemby. I don't think we drafted him to shut down prime Steph on the perimeter.

One thing I noticed in Mara's highlights that I like is how he falls to the ground. Yes, you read that correctly. Chet is one of those guys that every time he hits the floor I think he's done for the season. Mara just looks like one of those guys that I can trust a little bit to not be as fragile.

I haven't done any prospect scouting in the last few years. I only knew of these guys because I live in BIG10 country and went to a BIG10 school, so I watch a fair bit of BIG10 basketball.

Mara impressed me. If you look at his shooting percentages, you'd guess he is unskilled, but he isn't. He has nice touch around the basket with little hooks and flips. He doesn't use them often, but there is enough there to give hope that he can build off of that. Right now, his shot looks very awkward. He reads the floor well and doesn't get rushed. He isn't strong, but he uses his body well to create space to get shots off.

Defensively, he is very efficient with his movement. People make it sound as though he is going to get cooked in isolations, but I haven't seen that. He uses his length well. He'll sit well back and wait for the offensive player to give up their dribble before closing and he will still get out there for a contest or block. He can get moved inside, so he has to get stronger, but he will contest everything inside.

I think he just needs time and development and you will eventually get a very impactful player.

Yea that's pretty much what I meant to say but you said it more smarter.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I wanted Mara so I really liked the pick. My ideal draft would have been Mara and Morez, but Dallas screwed that up. I like the big man group of Chet, IHart, Sorber, Mara and Jaylin. Stirtz wasn't my ideal pick. I would rather had Graves with that pick as I feel Graves is a better shooter and can play SF/PF. Stirtz is a combo guard type and Presti likes those types of players.

I expect Topic to develop and become very good this year since he should finally be healthy. I'm still high on him. He was projected to be the #1 pick in his draft until his knee issues got mishandled in Europe. They just treat ACL injuries different there than we do in the US. They let them heal naturally instead of replacing the ligament and he ended up coming back early before it was totally healed and making it worse. Then the cancer issue last year, which was unfortunate for him without even thinking about the basketball implications, although from a Thunder perspective losing the development time was bad. Throw in AJay, JDub, McCain and Stirtz and you have a solid group of secondary ball handlers.

There are still more moves coming. They need to clear another roster spot. We are assuming they have to get under the 2nd apron. Dort is probably gone. One of Kenrich or Joe is probably going to be gone. Presti has some options for the rest of the off-season. I don't think drafting Mara eliminates the possibility of extending IHart. I think the chances of extending IHart remain low, but that was already the case with the cap crunch. If we assume Dort is gone and with Wiggins gone they can extend IHart and stay under the 2nd apron going forward. The biggest question I have right now is what does a Cason extension look like and would Presti move Cason to keep Dort? The next month or so will be interesting as we know Presti's off-season work isn't complete.

[sisibilio]

Picking Mara could mean that IHart will not be extended, probably Presti will opt-in his contract for 1 year in order to give to Mara & Sorber one year to adapt at the NBA level.

I don’t see IHart sign a multiyear contract for less the amount he could sign elsewhere, knowing he will be traded in 1-2 years

This is my thought as well. If we can keep IHart for one more year, hopefully we can weather his departure with the development of Sorber, Mara and Chet. I'm not too worried about replacing Dort with Cason. That should be an upgrade, imo.

Yep, once the SGA contract jumps to 60+ million there's no way to keep the big 3 + IHart, letting him go was always the plan i guess.

[ThunderBolt]

I wanted Mara so I really liked the pick. My ideal draft would have been Mara and Morez, but Dallas screwed that up. I like the big man group of Chet, IHart, Sorber, Mara and Jaylin. Stirtz wasn't my ideal pick. I would rather had Graves with that pick as I feel Graves is a better shooter and can play SF/PF. Stirtz is a combo guard type and Presti likes those types of players.

I expect Topic to develop and become very good this year since he should finally be healthy. I'm still high on him. He was projected to be the #1 pick in his draft until his knee issues got mishandled in Europe. They just treat ACL injuries different there than we do in the US. They let them heal naturally instead of replacing the ligament and he ended up coming back early before it was totally healed and making it worse. Then the cancer issue last year, which was unfortunate for him without even thinking about the basketball implications, although from a Thunder perspective losing the development time was bad. Throw in AJay, JDub, McCain and Stirtz and you have a solid group of secondary ball handlers.

There are still more moves coming. They need to clear another roster spot. We are assuming they have to get under the 2nd apron. Dort is probably gone. One of Kenrich or Joe is probably going to be gone. Presti has some options for the rest of the off-season. I don't think drafting Mara eliminates the possibility of extending IHart. I think the chances of extending IHart remain low, but that was already the case with the cap crunch. If we assume Dort is gone and with Wiggins gone they can extend IHart and stay under the 2nd apron going forward. The biggest question I have right now is what does a Cason extension look like and would Presti move Cason to keep Dort? The next month or so will be interesting as we know Presti's off-season work isn't complete.

Moving Cason to keep Dort might send me over the edge. Also, you said Topic is finally healthy this year. What I read is that he should be ready at the start of training camp but that likely means not much else before then. I'm skeptical of Topic being able to be a contributor this year. If I'm looking for a glimmer of hope it's that we can keep him for cheap due to the injuries and if he finally develops then we'll have him on a favorable contract.

In regard to Stirtz, is there any chance he won't be a sieve on defense?

[Dadouv47]

We needed a PF and shooting coming into this offseason. Presti gave us the best shooting prospect in Stirtz (first in the combien from three). He wasn't my guy but I get the pick. We don't have money to find solutions at the 4 so I'm clearly concerned about that position.

[Dadouv47]

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Can we swap Mara and Morez?

[ThunderBolt]

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Can we swap Mara and Morez?

It was such a strange reaction. I almost thought he was mad that he went to OKC. I think he said "hell yea" so obviously he was proud of his guy. I don't know much about his as a coach but I think it's really cool to see a college coach cheer his guys on like that. Was it the night SGA got the MVP that coach Cal was in attendance? That's just the kind of stuff that rises above the business aspect of sports.

[Dadouv47]

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Can we swap Mara and Morez?

It was such a strange reaction. I almost thought he was mad that he went to OKC. I think he said "hell yea" so obviously he was proud of his guy. I don't know much about his as a coach but I think it's really cool to see a college coach cheer his guys on like that. Was it the night SGA got the MVP that coach Cal was in attendance? That's just the kind of stuff that rises above the business aspect of sports.

yeah he was happy for his guy, awesome. He can be proud having 3 Michigan players in the lottey.

Don't recall about coach Cal attendance for Shai MVP but might be the case.

[ThunderBolt]

Don't recall about coach Cal attendance for Shai MVP but might be the case.

Of course he also had Cason, Fox, KJ and probably someone else I’m forgetting.

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[ThunderBolt]

Calipari has put 41 players in the first round of the NBA draft since 2000. Rose is the only other player to win an MVP. Seems fair to say the Shai is the best.

[yves15]

Thunder draft #41 Otega Oweh

[Mr Thunder Nick]

Oweh is compared to Lu Dort

[Devilanche]

Is that the first time we traded down?