20-21 OKC Thunder Regular Season News

[kdthunderup]

Honestly just rest him up for the season. We really need to lower our record to be in a better position to move into the top 3. The dream scenario from here on out would be;

- Trade for John Collins (willing to offer anything besides SGA or a top 3 pick)
- Move into the top 3 on lottery night
- Pray that Houston falls just out of the top 3

I feel like this would really setup our franchise for the next 4 or so years. We would have two young star players locked in long term with a bunch of high lottery assets and future picks.

[ThunderBolt]

Honestly just rest him up for the season. We really need to lower our record to be in a better position to move into the top 3. The dream scenario from here on out would be;

- Trade for John Collins (willing to offer anything besides SGA or a top 3 pick)
- Move into the top 3 on lottery night
- Pray that Houston falls just out of the top 3

I feel like this would really setup our franchise for the next 4 or so years. We would have two young star players locked in long term with a bunch of high lottery assets and future picks.

Unfortunately this team will continue to win even without him. Im definitely changing to the camp of accelerating this rebuild. For now we just have to wait it out and hope we get lucky in the lottery.

[hardenASG13]

Haven’t watched a ton of OKC this year, hows the rebuild going? Is maxing out SGA a lose/lose situation (you’ll never win a title with him as the best player)?

I know we’ve had issues in the past....man I was crazy to say the league was all about shooting, defense wasn’t nearly as important as offense, and playing a non shooter 30mpg next to Westbrook (elite at everything besides shooting) made absolutely 0 sense. While also playing Perkins and later Adams. I now see all the non shooters getting 30mpg at sg around the league. How’s Roberson doing post OKC by the way, haven’t been following him?

Call this trolling like usual, but man you guys talked a lot of crap on the topic. OKC would’ve been better than the warriors had they surrounded KD and Westbrook with shooting, which they had in harden and later Martin, and decided to shift to defense only sgs in thabo and then even worse, Roberson, who had below average offensive skills for a college player. But D rating, O reb % and screen setting are what’s important, not shooting haha, especially not next to 2 guys like Durant and Westbrook who create open shots for shooters at will. It’s too bad OKC, like this board couldn’t see the league had shifted to an offensive, shooting league where spreading the floor is an absolute necessity, especially for Westbrook! They made things so hard for him with non shooters sitting open in the corner and packing the lane, and even then he was still amazing. KD would’ve stayed after winning titles, he left bc they played 3.5 on 5 offensively while other stars played with shooters everywhere. He said as much by mistake through his burner. But the rebuild must have promise, that’s a lot of draft picks! Grant Can’t!

[ThunderBolt]

Haven’t watched a ton of OKC this year, hows the rebuild going? Is maxing out SGA a lose/lose situation (you’ll never win a title with him as the best player)?

I know we’ve had issues in the past....man I was crazy to say the league was all about shooting, defense wasn’t nearly as important as offense, and playing a non shooter 30mpg next to Westbrook (elite at everything besides shooting) made absolutely 0 sense. While also playing Perkins and later Adams. I now see all the non shooters getting 30mpg at sg around the league. How’s Roberson doing post OKC by the way, haven’t been following him?

Call this trolling like usual, but man you guys talked a lot of crap on the topic. OKC would’ve been better than the warriors had they surrounded KD and Westbrook with shooting, which they had in harden and later Martin, and decided to shift to defense only sgs in thabo and then even worse, Roberson, who had below average offensive skills for a college player. But D rating, O reb % and screen setting are what’s important, not shooting haha, especially not next to 2 guys like Durant and Westbrook who create open shots for shooters at will. It’s too bad OKC, like this board couldn’t see the league had shifted to an offensive, shooting league where spreading the floor is an absolute necessity, especially for Westbrook! They made things so hard for him with non shooters sitting open in the corner and packing the lane, and even then he was still amazing. KD would’ve stayed after winning titles, he left bc they played 3.5 on 5 offensively while other stars played with shooters everywhere. He said as much by mistake through his burner. But the rebuild must have promise, that’s a lot of draft picks! Grant Can’t!

Will do.

[Old Man Game]

Now that's how it's done. Good loss. More of those, please.

Sent from my moto g power using RealGM mobile app

[ThunderBolt]

Now that's how it's done. Good loss. More of those, please.

Sent from my moto g power using RealGM mobile app

It’s shaping up to be a good night around the league for us. We just need the kings to win and we’ll be sitting pretty.

[kdthunderup]

Haven’t watched a ton of OKC this year, hows the rebuild going? Is maxing out SGA a lose/lose situation (you’ll never win a title with him as the best player)?

I know we’ve had issues in the past....man I was crazy to say the league was all about shooting, defense wasn’t nearly as important as offense, and playing a non shooter 30mpg next to Westbrook (elite at everything besides shooting) made absolutely 0 sense. While also playing Perkins and later Adams. I now see all the non shooters getting 30mpg at sg around the league. How’s Roberson doing post OKC by the way, haven’t been following him?

Call this trolling like usual, but man you guys talked a lot of crap on the topic. OKC would’ve been better than the warriors had they surrounded KD and Westbrook with shooting, which they had in harden and later Martin, and decided to shift to defense only sgs in thabo and then even worse, Roberson, who had below average offensive skills for a college player. But D rating, O reb % and screen setting are what’s important, not shooting haha, especially not next to 2 guys like Durant and Westbrook who create open shots for shooters at will. It’s too bad OKC, like this board couldn’t see the league had shifted to an offensive, shooting league where spreading the floor is an absolute necessity, especially for Westbrook! They made things so hard for him with non shooters sitting open in the corner and packing the lane, and even then he was still amazing. KD would’ve stayed after winning titles, he left bc they played 3.5 on 5 offensively while other stars played with shooters everywhere. He said as much by mistake through his burner. But the rebuild must have promise, that’s a lot of draft picks! Grant Can’t!

I think SGA in his prime could be the best player on a really well-rounded team and compete for a championship. If you're going by the way OKC built their teams in the past (2 star players + trash) then no.

[bbms]

Haven’t watched a ton of OKC this year, hows the rebuild going? Is maxing out SGA a lose/lose situation (you’ll never win a title with him as the best player)?

I know we’ve had issues in the past....man I was crazy to say the league was all about shooting, defense wasn’t nearly as important as offense, and playing a non shooter 30mpg next to Westbrook (elite at everything besides shooting) made absolutely 0 sense. While also playing Perkins and later Adams. I now see all the non shooters getting 30mpg at sg around the league. How’s Roberson doing post OKC by the way, haven’t been following him?

Call this trolling like usual, but man you guys talked a lot of crap on the topic. OKC would’ve been better than the warriors had they surrounded KD and Westbrook with shooting, which they had in harden and later Martin, and decided to shift to defense only sgs in thabo and then even worse, Roberson, who had below average offensive skills for a college player. But D rating, O reb % and screen setting are what’s important, not shooting haha, especially not next to 2 guys like Durant and Westbrook who create open shots for shooters at will. It’s too bad OKC, like this board couldn’t see the league had shifted to an offensive, shooting league where spreading the floor is an absolute necessity, especially for Westbrook! They made things so hard for him with non shooters sitting open in the corner and packing the lane, and even then he was still amazing. KD would’ve stayed after winning titles, he left bc they played 3.5 on 5 offensively while other stars played with shooters everywhere. He said as much by mistake through his burner. But the rebuild must have promise, that’s a lot of draft picks! Grant Can’t!

He's in the same ballpark as Westbrook and Harden in their third seasons.
The last three combo guards to have a rookie max deal were De'Aron Fox, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker.

This is his market.

Easy call on max SGA. Especially with that filthy step-back 3-ball. On-ball guards with 25+ USG% and 40+ 3PT% that is money on crunch time don't grow on trees.

[ThunderBolt]

"I think he walked in this morning and that's when we started to kinda unpack it," Daigneault said of the injury. "I don't have a ton of detail on it to be honest with you. It happened pretty quickly today."

I just don’t think this sounds that serious. Just being extra cautious.

[Old Man Game]

"I think he walked in this morning and that's when we started to kinda unpack it," Daigneault said of the injury. "I don't have a ton of detail on it to be honest with you. It happened pretty quickly today."

I just don’t think this sounds that serious. Just being extra cautious.

I'd bet every dollar of my savings that if we were in the hunt for the playoffs instead of trying to tank he'd magically be better. For real. It's one of those, 'Shai, why risk it buddy, think of your future' scenarios with him recognizing the reality of what we are playing for, nor more accurately, not playing for this season.

[Dn4sty]

Haven’t watched a ton of OKC this year, hows the rebuild going? Is maxing out SGA a lose/lose situation (you’ll never win a title with him as the best player)?

I know we’ve had issues in the past....man I was crazy to say the league was all about shooting, defense wasn’t nearly as important as offense, and playing a non shooter 30mpg next to Westbrook (elite at everything besides shooting) made absolutely 0 sense. While also playing Perkins and later Adams. I now see all the non shooters getting 30mpg at sg around the league. How’s Roberson doing post OKC by the way, haven’t been following him?

Call this trolling like usual, but man you guys talked a lot of crap on the topic. OKC would’ve been better than the warriors had they surrounded KD and Westbrook with shooting, which they had in harden and later Martin, and decided to shift to defense only sgs in thabo and then even worse, Roberson, who had below average offensive skills for a college player. But D rating, O reb % and screen setting are what’s important, not shooting haha, especially not next to 2 guys like Durant and Westbrook who create open shots for shooters at will. It’s too bad OKC, like this board couldn’t see the league had shifted to an offensive, shooting league where spreading the floor is an absolute necessity, especially for Westbrook! They made things so hard for him with non shooters sitting open in the corner and packing the lane, and even then he was still amazing. KD would’ve stayed after winning titles, he left bc they played 3.5 on 5 offensively while other stars played with shooters everywhere. He said as much by mistake through his burner. But the rebuild must have promise, that’s a lot of draft picks! Grant Can’t!

I hope my post response doesn’t break rules, but please post less if this is what you are going to add to this board. It got old the first time around and now you found time to come back to the board and type this incoherent rambling nonsense. Don’t you have better things to do with your time?

[thedoppelganger]

Read on Twitter

Forgot we hadn't already done this tbh

[1bigfan13]

A part of me doesn't believe SGA's injury is all that serious. Presti and crew clearly don't care about this season. I believe that's why guys are missing so many games for injuries that players typically play through in any other year. If OKC was a playoff contender with a winning record, there's no way these guys are sitting all these games for sore shoulders, toes, quads, etc.

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

[Dadouv47]

A part of me doesn't believe SGA's injury is all that serious. Presti and crew clearly don't care about this season. I believe that's why guys are missing so many games for injuries that players typically play through in any other year. If OKC was a playoff contender with a winning record, there's no way these guys are sitting all these games for sore shoulders, toes, quads, etc.

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

I understand your point and agree but sometimes whatever the line up is it feels like those young players are playing together for a while. All players trying to make the right pass and playing with high BBIQ (that's probably why I'm so high on Coach D so far)

It's a slow process so I guess next season we will figure out better each player role and roster weaknesses (mostly offense so far and we need some PF/C that can defend).

[cjmcallist]

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

I hear you. I actually think that's a part of determining who stays on the roster. Challenge the young guys in different situations to see what they can do - and then you learn who they are or what they might be. But, could just be how Mark D. is going to run it.

[jake_swivel]

Since the thunder can’t tank, I think they have to look to the case of Robert Covington. During The Process, Hinkie went through tons of G-league level players. He rehabbed their value and shipped them out for seconds.

This rehabbing of kenrich, roby, etc. plays similarly. One obvious difference to The Process is that OKC can’t count on high draft picks. That’s a problem. But a benefit should be that those g-leaguers with rehabbed value on borderline playoff teams should have the opportunity to be closer to R-Cov value than 2nd rounder value.

Kenrich absolutely could have been shipped out for a second rounder or two, I think. But if we aren’t going to count on high draft picks, Presti has to get these guys closer to the R-cov level—— a legitimately valuable player that was able to help scoop up jimmy butler when the 76ers looked ready to make the jump.

[ThunderBolt]

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

I hear you. I actually think that's a part of determining who stays on the roster. Challenge the young guys in different situations to see what they can do - and then you learn who they are or what they might be. But, could just be how Mark D. is going to run it.

It’s tough to tank and not create a toxic culture. It’s even harder when you have a piece like shai that you want to keep happy.

[retrobro90]

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

I hear you. I actually think that's a part of determining who stays on the roster. Challenge the young guys in different situations to see what they can do - and then you learn who they are or what they might be. But, could just be how Mark D. is going to run it.

I think the FO and Daignault are very much in tune right now and they're in the process of determining who will best fit with how they want this team to play. Think that's why they ultimately sold Hami despite him being a good young player and the minimal return they got for him. I'm fine with the lack of continuity this year as no one outside of Shai has cemented themselves as an unmovable piece of the future.

[ThunderBolt]

I hope this is right. It would be nice to get a look at him.

Read on Twitter

[bbms]

A part of me doesn't believe SGA's injury is all that serious. Presti and crew clearly don't care about this season. I believe that's why guys are missing so many games for injuries that players typically play through in any other year. If OKC was a playoff contender with a winning record, there's no way these guys are sitting all these games for sore shoulders, toes, quads, etc.

This brings me to my second point. I'm fine with losing games but the games would be more enjoyable to watch if there were actually some continuity with the lineups......specifically with core players we assume are part of the future. SGA, Maledon, Bazley, Pokusevski, & Dort. It's a minor miracle if I tune in to a Thunder game and the same starting 5 is used for two straight games.

That's one thing that I think they've gotten wrong this year. IMO, they should have placed more value on getting these young guys used to playing with each other. Doing so would probably accelerate the rebuild and help to better define player roles and roster weaknesses.

I wouldn't be surprised if the injury is completely made up.