Did OKC mismanage the former Euroleague MVP?

[JayMKE]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo

How was Navarro unplayable? He was just fine. Good NBA rookie. Also Nando wasn't EL MVP when he was in the NBA, he became one long after NBA stint, when he improved and hit his prime. Same with Spanoulis, won MVP in 2013, he was in the NBA in 06...

But what does that even mean, guy is Euroleague MVP, so he can't be playable in the NBA? We all know you dont care for EUroleague, you dont need to show trolish animosity.

I was just naming euroleague MVPs off the top of my head that had a cup of coffee in the league. You can't pretend like those guys are anywhere near as effective in the NBA as they were overseas come on now, obviously nobody is going to say that about Luka Doncic. Why are some players successful in Europe but not the NBA?

[Nuntius]

We all know you dont care for EUroleague, you dont need to show trolish animosity.

He doesn't but, sadly, this is what happens anytime a EuroLeague player, prospect or team is mentioned on the GB. There will always be animosity and trolls.

Yep, we know why these comments are even made, it is not even technically incorrect, because yes, some of these players really flame out, but like yeah, not every player, especially veteran pan out from lower level, what a revelation... Not every top Duke, Arizona or Kentucky star hit either.

Yep. Nuance is necessary when it comes to ascertaining whether a player has succeeded or not (and why) but GB doesn't always do nuance. And it definitely doesn't do nuance when nationalistic feelings are riled up like they often are when discussing EuroLeague (or sexist feelings when discussing the WNBA et cetera).

[EmpireFalls]

Simply put yes. The guy is incredible.

They had to put Giddey the Kiddey Diddler on the court for 30 mins a game over him for “reasons”

But also Micić thrives with a rim rolling big and cutters, that’s not OKC’s 5 out system which focuses on creating iso situations and drive&kick.

It’s more nuanced than just minutes. He’s a true floor general and requires primacy to be most effective. He wasn’t gonna get that opportunity in OKC.

Please avoid commentary that's just going to enflame and derail the thread. We don't need to rehash the Giddey thing again. Thx. -b

[wegotthabeet]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo

Luka Dončić...totally unplayable in the NBA.

[UcanUwill]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo

How was Navarro unplayable? He was just fine. Good NBA rookie. Also Nando wasn't EL MVP when he was in the NBA, he became one long after NBA stint, when he improved and hit his prime. Same with Spanoulis, won MVP in 2013, he was in the NBA in 06...

But what does that even mean, guy is Euroleague MVP, so he can't be playable in the NBA? We all know you dont care for EUroleague, you dont need to show trolish animosity.

I was just naming euroleague MVPs off the top of my head that had a cup of coffee in the league. You can't pretend like those guys are anywhere near as effective in the NBA as they were overseas come on now, obviously nobody is going to say that about Luka Doncic. Why are some players successful in Europe but not the NBA?

Because NBA is higher level. We all know that my man, and when you transfer player from lower level to higher level, not all of them translate. I mean D'uh, you do not need to go here just because you saw ''Euroleague MVP'' in the title and just throw a negative stereotype, I have seen these comments over the years and this is exactly what it is. Every player is different, lots of older Euro players made the league and actually never won EL MVP, if you don't have anything to say about player discussed, it is possible to just not say anything at all.

[Godymas]

no and Euroleague is a joke and the awards winners are not actually indicative of anything. Reminder that Doncic was the Euroleague MVP at 18 and won literally everything that year and he comes into the NBA and has a very good rookie year before adjusting and becoming a superstar.

If Micic was actually good enough for OKC to contend they'd hold onto him, but clearly OKC would rather have Hayward's veteran presence on the team. Gordon Hayward would probably win a Euroleague MVP if they played a full season today.

[JayMKE]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo

Luka Dončić...totally unplayable in the NBA.

Literally said the opposite, don't take it as a personal attack against all Euro players dude some just aren't built for the NBA

[Nuntius]

I was just naming euroleague MVPs off the top of my head that had a cup of coffee in the league.

Right. And you were wrong about half of them.

You can't pretend like those guys are anywhere near as effective in the NBA as they were overseas come on now, obviously nobody is going to say that about Luka Doncic.

Except that people were absolutely saying that about Luka Doncic before he was drafted. That was literally the argument against drafting him.

Why are some players successful in Europe but not the NBA?

That is a question that needs to be asked about each individual player. "EuroLeague players" aren't a category all of their own, just like "Duke or UNC players" aren't a category all of their own.

There are a lot of reasons why some player may flame out in the NBA. None of those reasons has anything to do with where they played before.

Stereotyping players based on where they played before is lazy and a proven terrible way to judge talent.

[EmpireFalls]

no and Euroleague is a joke and the awards winners are not actually indicative of anything. Reminder that Doncic was the Euroleague MVP at 18 and won literally everything that year and he comes into the NBA and has a very good rookie year before adjusting and becoming a superstar.

If Micic was actually good enough for OKC to contend they'd hold onto him, but clearly OKC would rather have Hayward's veteran presence on the team. Gordon Hayward would probably win a Euroleague MVP if they played a full season today.

There is a 0.0% chance Hayward would be healthy enough to win a Euroleague MVP.

[wegotthabeet]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo

Luka Dončić...totally unplayable in the NBA.

Literally said the opposite, don't take it as a personal attack against all Euro players dude some just aren't built for the NBA

Euroleague MVP has been around for what 18 years?

Some of them were or could ball in the NBA at a high level. Kirilenko, Parker, Mirotic, Rodriguez, Doncic, Bjelica etc…

There’s some really good players there. Some aren’t as good obviously though.

[JayMKE]

I was just naming euroleague MVPs off the top of my head that had a cup of coffee in the league.

Right. And you were wrong about half of them.

You can't pretend like those guys are anywhere near as effective in the NBA as they were overseas come on now, obviously nobody is going to say that about Luka Doncic.

Except that people were absolutely saying that about Luka Doncic before he was drafted. That was literally the argument against drafting him.

Why are some players successful in Europe but not the NBA?

That is a question that needs to be asked about each individual player. "EuroLeague players" aren't a category all of their own, just like "Duke or UNC players" aren't a category all of their own.

There are a lot of reasons why some player may flame out in the NBA. None of those reasons has anything to do with where they played before.

Stereotyping players based on where they played before is lazy and a proven terrible way to judge talent.

Nobody was saying that about Luka Doncic tho, he literally would have been the #1 pick had Sarver didn't prefer the guy from his alma mater so saying people argued against drafting him because he is European is nonsense. How was I wrong, did those guys have successful stints in the NBA under different aliases or something? You guys have an insane persecution complex and just running with your favorite narrative even tho its not what I said at all. You don't think there is a different type of athleticism especially at the guard position needed in the NBA? Mayyyyybeee that's why these 6'3" unathletic short armed guys tend to struggle, IDK that's speculation you tell me.

[mg]

Simply put yes. The guy is incredible.

They had to put Giddey the Kiddey Diddler on the court for 30 mins a game over him for “reasons”

But also Micić thrives with a rim rolling big and cutters, that’s not OKC’s 5 out system which focuses on creating iso situations and drive&kick.

It’s more nuanced than just minutes. He’s a true floor general and requires primacy to be most effective. He wasn’t gonna get that opportunity in OKC.

Yep he can be very good but again he needs to be given minutes in the right system.

FWIW the Thunder will need to keep making more difficult decisions as they still have a ton of draft picks and not nearly enough rotation spots or minutes. It was a bit baffling to me why they couldn't move some of that draft capital this deadline to bring in a big who can play in their system. Someone like Olynyk would've fit in their 5 out offense for the playoffs but maybe they saw him as too old or a guy who will be a FA this summer. Regardless they are a team that will likely need to consolidate most of those picks or at the very least deal them for picks down the road or will continue to have Micic situations with no minutes to give them. There are just too many teams like Charlotte who don't have enough talent in their rotation to be hoarding guys who could be playing for other teams.

[Johnny Bball]

By the time OKC starts to consolidate its talent and picks they will be capped out and it will be too late to easily get done.

[Godymas]

no and Euroleague is a joke and the awards winners are not actually indicative of anything. Reminder that Doncic was the Euroleague MVP at 18 and won literally everything that year and he comes into the NBA and has a very good rookie year before adjusting and becoming a superstar.

If Micic was actually good enough for OKC to contend they'd hold onto him, but clearly OKC would rather have Hayward's veteran presence on the team. Gordon Hayward would probably win a Euroleague MVP if they played a full season today.

There is a 0.0% chance Hayward would be healthy enough to win a Euroleague MVP.

you do realize that Micic won the MVP playing in 34 games for 1 season and 40 in another

Outside of the season where Hayward snapped his leg in Boston he's played at the bare minimum 44 games

and these aren't cases of him playing 20, getting injured, and then playing 20

no he's playing all those games in a row

[stillgotgame]

Who? A 30 year old rookie back PG had 18/9 in a game between 2 bottom feeders. If he's not from Euro league this never get's close to being mentioned.
There should be a separate forum for Euro league players, I'm serious.

I'm sure this is an exciting story for 6-7 people but why aren't we talking about GG Jackson? He's a 19 year old rookie 2nd round pick with Memphis that's been lighting it up lately.

[ThunderBolt]

Micic never felt like he was part of Presti’s plan. Time will if we mismanaged him but it’s pretty clear we were never interesting in trying to maximize what he offered.

[Patches Perry]

I think they brought him over with the intention to trade him by the deadline but their guard rotation was too deep to ever let him play enough to get a rhythm and drive up his value. SGA, Dort, Jdub, Wallace, Giddey and Joe is a lot of guys to play at the 1-3 positions. So many that we run Dort and Jdub at 4 regularly. The minutes just weren't there.

I don't think they badly mismanaged him but ultimately I'd say they didn't manage his situation well. He's a pretty good player and OKC got peanuts for him.

[UcanUwill]

no and Euroleague is a joke and the awards winners are not actually indicative of anything. Reminder that Doncic was the Euroleague MVP at 18 and won literally everything that year and he comes into the NBA and has a very good rookie year before adjusting and becoming a superstar.

If Micic was actually good enough for OKC to contend they'd hold onto him, but clearly OKC would rather have Hayward's veteran presence on the team. Gordon Hayward would probably win a Euroleague MVP if they played a full season today.

There is a 0.0% chance Hayward would be healthy enough to win a Euroleague MVP.

you do realize that Micic won the MVP playing in 34 games for 1 season and 40 in another

Outside of the season where Hayward snapped his leg in Boston he's played at the bare minimum 44 games

and these aren't cases of him playing 20, getting injured, and then playing 20

no he's playing all those games in a row

You do realize that they play in other leagues, where it also possible to get injured too, right?

That said, Hayward maybe could win Euroleague MVP, if he is healthy, maybe he wouldn't stand out, but pretty likely he would, he is good player when healthy, so that is no diss.

Who? A 30 year old rookie back PG had 18/9 in a game between 2 bottom feeders. If he's not from Euro league this never get's close to being mentioned.
There should be a separate forum for Euro league players, I'm serious.

I'm sure this is an exciting story for 6-7 people but why aren't we talking about GG Jackson? He's a 19 year old rookie 2nd round pick with Memphis that's been lighting it up lately.

You can always create a thread of your liking if you want. I think thread was created is because he gets traded and has a very good game right away and the fact he was MVP in best league in the world outside NBA, indicates that maybe he is something and is more than 3 ppg. in OKC?

I mean people here seriously just come to vent, because thread creator used words Euroleague MVP in the title, instead of just using his name. Like, if thread is not interesting to you, do not open it, I personally do that all the time, I don't know...

[UcanUwill]

I think they brought him over with the intention to trade him by the deadline but their guard rotation was too deep to ever let him play enough to get a rhythm and drive up his value. SGA, Dort, Jdub, Wallace, Giddey and Joe is a lot of guys to play at the 1-3 positions. So many that we run Dort and Jdub at 4 regularly. The minutes just weren't there.

I don't think they badly mismanaged him but ultimately I'd say they didn't manage his situation well. He's a pretty good player and OKC got peanuts for him.

Yes, I always assumed he would be traded, just hoped he could play moke. My ideal pre season goal would have had having Micic good enough so you could flip him for Larry Nance Jr. or someone similar.

[AleksandarN]

Probably not, a lot of these euro MVPs aren't really playable in the NBA; Juan Carlos Narvarro, Vassilis Spanoulis, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nando de Colo