OKC is a disgrace

[slick_watts]

the QingJames dude in this thread should get a one week suspension for his takes alone.

[Dadouv47]

A 3 years rebuild with only one very high draft pick in Chet at #2. Don't think we will be able to win it all this season but there's no reason we shouldnt be able to contend for several years if we stay healthy. 3 more seasons of SGA's contract, 6 seasons of JDub and Chet team control and still many picks to use. Credits to Presti and to our coaching staff. I wish we had such a good coach in the KD/WB days instead of Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan.

Can't take it for granted though...Atlanta young squad went to the ECF and is a mess right now, Grizzlies are in some trouble even if I think they will be good again next season.

[Clav]

This was a surprising year for the Thunder. I had a great time watching them operate the offense and torch teams in the transition and TO game. Lots of questions to be asked in the playoffs, but they have improved considerably from the two-ish years near the bottom of the table. Internal development, like in 2010-era Thunder, has driven this.

That is evident by the youth on the roster getting a #1 seed, and also the OKC Blue (GL) is in the GL Finals, a deciding Game 3, tomorrow night vs the Maine Celtics (Boston's team).

Lots of alignment going the right way with the play on the court and the chemistry of the players, but still lots of questions to answer, like does Giddey fit in OKC and who is going to help Holmgren in the post?

[Potential]

There's a reason I called them a superteam in 2022

Before this season started:

I have SGA winning MVP and Finals MVP this year with a stacked OKC winning the championship

OKC my championship favourite is 2-0 definitely not a surprise to me. ORL and IND who I have making potential Finals runs are also unsurprisingly undefeated

[ThumbsUpBaby]

Welp, time to +1 all the bad takes so that they can read their foolery.

[Dr Aki]

Welp, time to +1 all the bad takes so that they can read their foolery.

Why? Tanking is disgraceful anytime and Thunder certainly engaged in it in 2021

[slick_watts]

Welp, time to +1 all the bad takes so that they can read their foolery.

Why? Tanking is disgraceful anytime and Thunder certainly engaged in it in 2021

tanking is necessary for small markets if they are going to compete with the large markets who can attract and retain free agents easier. if you can't or won't tank you're just rolling the dice on hitting a giannis or something with a low lottery pick- which may only come after decades of futility.

unless there is some other way to even the playing field, tanking will always happen.

[Dr Aki]

Welp, time to +1 all the bad takes so that they can read their foolery.

Why? Tanking is disgraceful anytime and Thunder certainly engaged in it in 2021

tanking is necessary for small markets if they are going to compete with the large markets who can attract and retain free agents easier. if you can't or won't tank you're just rolling the dice on hitting a giannis or something with a low lottery pick- which may only come after decades of futility.

unless there is some other way to even the playing field, tanking will always happen.

Still doesn't mean it's not disgraceful.

Practical and prudent yes, but never not disgraceful.

[Residual-Heat]

Congrats OKC fans

[Revived]

Thunder fans bumping this may want to wait to find out if Lakers (who went 3-1 against thunder btw) are their first rd matchup or not…because if it is and Thunder lose a #1 vs #8 matchup in rd 1 then all the chest thumping will have been for nothing. Sure Thunder will still have a bright future and yada yada yada but living in the present, round 1 may be a major problem.

[slick_watts]

Why? Tanking is disgraceful anytime and Thunder certainly engaged in it in 2021

tanking is necessary for small markets if they are going to compete with the large markets who can attract and retain free agents easier. if you can't or won't tank you're just rolling the dice on hitting a giannis or something with a low lottery pick- which may only come after decades of futility.

unless there is some other way to even the playing field, tanking will always happen.

Still doesn't mean it's not disgraceful.

Practical and prudent yes, but never not disgraceful.

ok? these value judgments don't matter.

[slick_watts]

Thunder fans bumping this may want to wait to find out if Lakers (who went 3-1 against thunder btw) are their first rd matchup or not…because if it is and Thunder lose a #1 vs #8 matchup in rd 1 then all the chest thumping will have been for nothing. Sure Thunder will still have a bright future and yada yada yada but living in the present, round 1 may be a major problem.

if they lose they lose. the rebuild was successful, and all the casual trolls in this thread look foolish.

[Dr Aki]

tanking is necessary for small markets if they are going to compete with the large markets who can attract and retain free agents easier. if you can't or won't tank you're just rolling the dice on hitting a giannis or something with a low lottery pick- which may only come after decades of futility.

unless there is some other way to even the playing field, tanking will always happen.

Still doesn't mean it's not disgraceful.

Practical and prudent yes, but never not disgraceful.

ok? these value judgments don't matter.

Why wouldn't it? This entire thread's basis is lambasting the Thunder and other teams for tanking

It's also literally the title of the thread.

[slick_watts]

Still doesn't mean it's not disgraceful.

Practical and prudent yes, but never not disgraceful.

ok? these value judgments don't matter.

Why wouldn't it? This entire thread's basis is lambasting the Thunder and other teams for tanking

It's also literally the title.

right, the basis for the thread is a worthless value judgment that now looks incredibly foolish.

[Patches Perry]

Thunder fans bumping this may want to wait to find out if Lakers (who went 3-1 against thunder btw) are their first rd matchup or not…because if it is and Thunder lose a #1 vs #8 matchup in rd 1 then all the chest thumping will have been for nothing. Sure Thunder will still have a bright future and yada yada yada but living in the present, round 1 may be a major problem.

You're really moving the goalposts here.

Your post from almost exactly a year ago:

I don’t know if he’s wasting away or not but this isn’t the “gotcha” moment you think it is when your team is still not playoff team after what feels like 20 years of rebuilding and tanking. I don’t know when the Rockets will be good so no I don’t have anything to say about them.

You should’ve waited till OKC actually earns a playoff spot and then bumped this, then you would’ve got your due. Otherwise as you can see from all the other posters responding here as well, your bump just looks silly.

Keep in mind, the original claim you defended saying it's "not wrong" is that SGA is "wasting away" in OKC. That's not only wrong but spectacularly wrong. If OKC loses in the 1st round or 2nd round or whatever new bar you decide to give them after they clear the previous one, it won't make that take any less wrong.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

Thunder fans bumping this may want to wait to find out if Lakers (who went 3-1 against thunder btw) are their first rd matchup or not…because if it is and Thunder lose a #1 vs #8 matchup in rd 1 then all the chest thumping will have been for nothing. Sure Thunder will still have a bright future and yada yada yada but living in the present, round 1 may be a major problem.

You're really moving the goalposts here.

Your post from almost exactly a year ago:

I don’t know if he’s wasting away or not but this isn’t the “gotcha” moment you think it is when your team is still not playoff team after what feels like 20 years of rebuilding and tanking. I don’t know when the Rockets will be good so no I don’t have anything to say about them.

You should’ve waited till OKC actually earns a playoff spot and then bumped this, then you would’ve got your due. Otherwise as you can see from all the other posters responding here as well, your bump just looks silly.

Keep in mind, the original claim you defended saying it's "not wrong" is that SGA is "wasting away" in OKC. That's not only wrong but spectacularly wrong. If OKC loses in the 1st round or 2nd round or whatever new bar you decide to give them after they clear the previous one, it won't make that take any less wrong.

When people move the goalposts after being wrong, you know damn well to never have a conversation about sports with them again. They'll never be convinced that they were wrong.

Was what OKC did in 2021 tanking? Sure, it was. A disgrace? Maybe save that thought after 3 years. People were comparing Presti to what Hinkie was doing. Both had different approaches to their rebuild. Presti looked to compete within 3 years without having to aim for the 1st pick every year. He made clever moves to have more assets, and then build a team that can compete. Now OKC is one of the top teams. And they'll get even better, because Chet, J. Williams, Giddey, and bench players like Isaiah Joe and Wiggins will make that jump to turn OKC into perenial contenders.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

Still doesn't mean it's not disgraceful.

Practical and prudent yes, but never not disgraceful.

ok? these value judgments don't matter.

Why wouldn't it? This entire thread's basis is lambasting the Thunder and other teams for tanking

It's also literally the title of the thread.

Many people's premise was that OKC was going to stay as a tanking team while attaining lottery picks, and the basis of their assumption was Hinkie and the Sixers. If the team is blatantly tanking for 3 years to try and build a young core that can compete, sure that's disgraceful. That wasn't the case with OKC.

[Jimmy Recard]

Laughs in Presti

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

ok? these value judgments don't matter.

Why wouldn't it? This entire thread's basis is lambasting the Thunder and other teams for tanking

It's also literally the title of the thread.

Many people's premise was that OKC was going to stay as a tanking team while attaining lottery picks, and the basis of their assumption was Hinkie and the Sixers. If the team is blatantly tanking for 3 years to try and build a young core that can compete, sure that's disgraceful. That wasn't the case with OKC.

I don't think the length of time that NBA teams don't play their best players matters as much as the fact that they're doing it at all. Sure, it was quick for the Thunder, it was longer for the Sixers, but the Spurs didn't exactly try to trot out the best team this year, and there's a good chance the philosophy continues. And I don't think there was a suggestion that it wasn't a good strategy, the best players usually go top 3, why not trying to pair Wemby with a top 3 pick, but it's unfortunate.

It punishes teams that are legitimately bad and need better players, but make the mistake of actually trying. The reality is they're foolish for trying if other teams who already have talent bench them to jump the line in the draft, and should tank more themselves, until you have like baseball, which has been trotting out some of the worst teams of all-time recently.

[Thabo Sefolosha]

Thunder fans bumping this may want to wait to find out if Lakers (who went 3-1 against thunder btw) are their first rd matchup or not…because if it is and Thunder lose a #1 vs #8 matchup in rd 1 then all the chest thumping will have been for nothing. Sure Thunder will still have a bright future and yada yada yada but living in the present, round 1 may be a major problem.

You're really moving the goalposts here.

Your post from almost exactly a year ago:

I don’t know if he’s wasting away or not but this isn’t the “gotcha” moment you think it is when your team is still not playoff team after what feels like 20 years of rebuilding and tanking. I don’t know when the Rockets will be good so no I don’t have anything to say about them.

You should’ve waited till OKC actually earns a playoff spot and then bumped this, then you would’ve got your due. Otherwise as you can see from all the other posters responding here as well, your bump just looks silly.

Keep in mind, the original claim you defended saying it's "not wrong" is that SGA is "wasting away" in OKC. That's not only wrong but spectacularly wrong. If OKC loses in the 1st round or 2nd round or whatever new bar you decide to give them after they clear the previous one, it won't make that take any less wrong.

You got him