OKC is a disgrace

[RunOKC]

Disgraceful win tonight against the Toronto Raptors. Fire Presti!

[GSP]

Shows how good and valuable Sga and Giddey are. Thats a fun duo going forward

[payton2kemp]

Just one and a half year away from a playoff berth. Both in last season and this one, the Thunder Ws > Pythagorean Ws.

What a hysterical thread.

The point isn’t that they’re bad or disgraceful for missing the playoffs.

The point is that they are intentionally putting out a shamefully bad product. It’s one thing to want to have a losing season by virtue of just giving your young guys a lot of run (still not a great strategy to develop a player) but it’s quite another thing to actively be trying to put a G league roster out in the NBA. They’re an embarrassment.

SGA has been injured. They're playing their best players and developing them. I mean if they were tanking so hard they should've lost tonight.

[QingJames]

Shameful behaviour by the OKC front office.

I feel bad for the fans of teams that lose to such a shameful franchise. Gotta be embarrassing, especially at home.

IncrediblyZ

[QingJames]

Just one and a half year away from a playoff berth. Both in last season and this one, the Thunder Ws > Pythagorean Ws.

What a hysterical thread.

The point isn’t that they’re bad or disgraceful for missing the playoffs.

The point is that they are intentionally putting out a shamefully bad product. It’s one thing to want to have a losing season by virtue of just giving your young guys a lot of run (still not a great strategy to develop a player) but it’s quite another thing to actively be trying to put a G league roster out in the NBA. They’re an embarrassment.

SGA has been injured. They're playing their best players and developing them. I mean if they were tanking so hard they should've lost tonight.

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Raptors tank beats OKC! Incredible victory for the raptors!

[payton2kemp]

The point isn’t that they’re bad or disgraceful for missing the playoffs.

The point is that they are intentionally putting out a shamefully bad product. It’s one thing to want to have a losing season by virtue of just giving your young guys a lot of run (still not a great strategy to develop a player) but it’s quite another thing to actively be trying to put a G league roster out in the NBA. They’re an embarrassment.

SGA has been injured. They're playing their best players and developing them. I mean if they were tanking so hard they should've lost tonight.

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

Management team is developing its young players in SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley. All young guys, they aren't benching any of them on purpose. What would you like them to do? OKC has tanked as much as the Raptors have. 1 year each, OKC was a playoff team the year prior.

[Wargreymon]

Someone change the thread title to "Raptors are a disgrace" after losing at home to the tank commander Thunder franchise. SMH

[FrobeBryant]

They’d be 82-0 if they played the Lakers every game.

[slicedbread2]

Good game on the Thunder by beating the Raptors. Dort, SGA and Giddey are pretty fun to watch. Really brutal last possession by Vanvleet. They got the tip in, but they failed to beat the buzzer.

Look based on the Thunder's reality here's what's happening now:

1) Resetting the luxury tax penalties. Last season was their 1st under the tax. They were over the luxury tax by 700k during Chris Paul's lone season in Oklahoma City making them repeat taxpayers for the 6th time in 7 seasons. To reset those penalties, they have to go 2 consecutive seasons w/o going over the tax.
2) Developing the young guys. There will be major growing pains. Seeing Dort, SGA and Giddey play well is a good sign. The other young guns will need some seasoning. They got some good vets in Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala to help the young guys which will be important.
3) Reaching the cap floor. They are at $78M right now. The floor for this year will be $101M. They have over $34M in cap space including Kemba's buyout cap hit that they can use to take advantage of teams looking for cap relief especially if they are trying to get under the tax. They could easily add some more picks down the line from teams looking for said cap relief

Long term outlook: Once Kemba's dead cap expires after next season, expect the Thunder to start making moves as they've already made it known to SGA AKA Sega genesis what the plans are and he's on board.

[hoosierdaddy34]

OKC has the same number of wins as the Spurs and one more than the Pelicans.

Not to mention more than Orlando and Detroit.

[QingJames]

SGA has been injured. They're playing their best players and developing them. I mean if they were tanking so hard they should've lost tonight.

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

Management team is developing its young players in SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley. All young guys, they aren't benching any of them on purpose. What would you like them to do? OKC has tanked as much as the Raptors have. 1 year each, OKC was a playoff team the year prior.

Try to acquire actual NBA players instead of shipping every half decent player away for some distant future pick. Presti is selling snake oil to the fans while stocking the team with the cheapest G league players he possibly can.

[slick_watts]

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

yes, that is called tanking. it's what teams do when they want high draft picks, especially small market teams which are less competitive in free agency. the thunder certainly have the cap space and trade exceptions to take on some veteran talent if they wanted but what does that accomplish for them? criticizing the thunder for undertaking the same plan that built the foundation for the team that contended for a decade is hilarious and dumb.

[slick_watts]

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

Management team is developing its young players in SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley. All young guys, they aren't benching any of them on purpose. What would you like them to do? OKC has tanked as much as the Raptors have. 1 year each, OKC was a playoff team the year prior.

Try to acquire actual NBA players instead of shipping every half decent player away for some distant future pick. Presti is selling snake oil to the fans while stocking the team with the cheapest G league players he possibly can.

they're paying kemba walker $20 million and he's not even on the team. they had the highest payroll in the nba a few seasons ago. this has nothing to do with 'being cheap'. it's about having a plan to rebuild the team and sticking to it. honestly, it sounds like you're jealous.

[QingJames]

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

yes, that is called tanking. it's what teams do when they want high draft picks, especially small market teams which are less competitive in free agency. the thunder certainly have the cap space and trade exceptions to take on some veteran talent if they wanted but what does that accomplish for them? criticizing the thunder for undertaking the same plan that built the foundation for the team that contended for a decade is hilarious and dumb.

Okay thanks, so we agree. OKC is trying to put out the worst product they possibly can. That’s disgraceful. Thanks for admitting it.

[slick_watts]

Well obviously the coaching staff and players aren’t going out there and trying to lose. The criticism is levelled at the front office which is plainly trying to put out the worst team they possibly can.

yes, that is called tanking. it's what teams do when they want high draft picks, especially small market teams which are less competitive in free agency. the thunder certainly have the cap space and trade exceptions to take on some veteran talent if they wanted but what does that accomplish for them? criticizing the thunder for undertaking the same plan that built the foundation for the team that contended for a decade is hilarious and dumb.

Okay thanks, so we agree. OKC is trying to put out the worst product they possibly can. That’s disgraceful. Thanks for admitting it.

your value judgement doesn't matter at all.

[QingJames]

Management team is developing its young players in SGA/Dort/Giddey/Bazley. All young guys, they aren't benching any of them on purpose. What would you like them to do? OKC has tanked as much as the Raptors have. 1 year each, OKC was a playoff team the year prior.

Try to acquire actual NBA players instead of shipping every half decent player away for some distant future pick. Presti is selling snake oil to the fans while stocking the team with the cheapest G league players he possibly can.

they're paying kemba walker $20 million and he's not even on the team. they had the highest payroll in the nba a few seasons ago. this has nothing to do with 'being cheap'. it's about having a plan to rebuild the team and sticking to it. honestly, it sounds like you're jealous.

Well they’re paying Kemba less than they would pay him or Horford to have played, but really saving cash is just a bonus from the plan. Really the plan is to sell future hope to OKC rubes who buy up Presti’s snake oil. They already have a potential first option in Shai and they’re still eschewing building around him in favour of acquiring future picks (and then trading those picks for more picks to avoid improving the team a la Sengun).

I’m not at all jealous of an organization that is trying to put together the worst product in basketball. However, I am extremely embarrassed that the Raps are genuinely so bad that they lost to an organization that is trying to put together the worst product in basketball.

[DudetheObscure]

Try to acquire actual NBA players instead of shipping every half decent player away for some distant future pick. Presti is selling snake oil to the fans while stocking the team with the cheapest G league players he possibly can.

That will be the next step. They still hope to acquire some very high level talent in the '22 and possibly '23 draft to add to a solid and young core of SGA, Dort and Giddey. In the meantime they need to continue to develop Bazley/Poku/Mann and see if they can be solid rotational players. I expect this year and next to be about drafting and development, but by 23/24 Presti will use his arsenal of draft picks to add solid veterans and start contending again. Sucks for fans for a couple of years (although this team is fun to watch) but that's reality in a small market.

[QingJames]

Try to acquire actual NBA players instead of shipping every half decent player away for some distant future pick. Presti is selling snake oil to the fans while stocking the team with the cheapest G league players he possibly can.

That will be the next step. They still hope to acquire some very high level talent in the '22 and possibly '23 draft to add to a solid and young core of SGA, Dort and Giddey. In the meantime they need to continue to develop Bazley/Poku/Mann and see if they can be solid rotational players. I expect this year and next to be about drafting and development, but by 23/24 Presti will use his arsenal of draft picks to add solid veterans and start contending again. Sucks for fans for a couple of years (although this team is fun to watch) but that's reality in a small market.

You’ll be saying the same thing in 2027.

[slick_watts]

Really the plan is to sell future hope to OKC rubes who buy up Presti’s snake oil.

lol what. that's the plan, huh. make the team bad to 'sell future hope'. to what end, exactly? job security? sam presti already has that. money? thunder are predictably having attendance and interest problems during this self-imposed winning lull. sam presti, himself, has been transparent about the team's goals, which is to accumulate high value assets and flexibility in order to rebuild the foundation of the team. i'm guessing you think sam presti's 'sell future hope' motivation is to fool okc fans on message boards.

at any rate, it doesn't even matter. teams in all sports tank when it is incentivized and the thunder are smart to do it and fortunate to have the ownership wherewithal to avoid chasing mediocrity in perpetuity.