OKC Thunder 2022-23 Regular Season Discussion

[Dadouv47]

Dieng might end up being a good player but I don't understand drafting a project like him if u are fully committed to build a team around Shai.

why?

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

[ThunderBolt]

Dieng might end up being a good player but I don't understand drafting a project like him if u are fully committed to build a team around Shai.

why?

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

Drafting a project like Dieng doesn’t really bother me. We’re still really young. Drafting bazley when we had Russ and Paul George was a bit baffling.

[Dadouv47]

why?

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

Drafting a project like Dieng doesn’t really bother me. We’re still really young. Drafting bazley when we had Russ and Paul George was a bit baffling.

It's history repeating itself. We tried to develop Perry Jones, Mitch McGary and Huestis instead of trading those picks for vets when we had a top 2/top 3 roster in the NBA (and we did the same with Ferguson more recently). I get that we gotta keep some players under rookie contracts for salary cap reasons but that was way too much and for players that were far from being able to help and compete.

[kdthunderup]

Dieng might end up being a good player but I don't understand drafting a project like him if u are fully committed to build a team around Shai.

why?

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

It's gonna take a while before nearly everyone we draft to start really hitting their stride. Only very few players are stars/positive contributors in their first few seasons. Guys like PG13, Kawhi, Giannis, Butler, Middleton, Ingram and even Shai all took until about their 4th season before they took that leap.

Dieng was worth a swing because he has all the fundamentals needed to be a 3 level scorer in the league. He is a 6'10 wing with a strong handle, good court vision, smooth looking jumpshot, decent lateral quickness. It just takes a while for guys to bring it all together and adjust to the league.

There were more guys who are closer to being NBA ready available at #11 but none of them had a high-enough ceiling to move the needle.We already have enough guys on this roster that fit the mold of decent starter level/rotation piece. Presti swung to fences with Dieng and made a safer pick at #12 with Williams.

[Dadouv47]

why?

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

It's gonna take a while before nearly everyone we draft to start really hitting their stride. Only very few players are stars/positive contributors in their first few seasons. Guys like PG13, Kawhi, Giannis, Butler, Middleton, Ingram and even Shai all took until about their 4th season before they took that leap.

Dieng was worth a swing because he has all the fundamentals needed to be a 3 level scorer in the league. He is a 6'10 wing with a strong handle, good court vision, smooth looking jumpshot, decent lateral quickness. It just takes a while for guys to bring it all together and adjust to the league.

There were more guys who are closer to being NBA ready available at #11 but none of them had a high-enough ceiling to move the needle.We already have enough guys on this roster that fit the mold of decent starter level/rotation piece. Presti swung to fences with Dieng and made a safer pick at #12 with Williams.

I understand why Presti drafted him and u explained it pretty well but I have some issues about "high ceiling" projects that never showed up anything that they could potentially develop. I'm not sure the risk/reward ratio in guys like Dieng or Poku is worth it (maybe I'm saying this because I was already low on Dieng before the draft).

I was willing to spend 4-5 FRPs to move up from #6 to #3 for Mobley because he showed all his potential in college..it wasn't just based on some physical talent and a couple of good games/plays in a bad league.

We passed on Sengun at #16 in 2021 and it was a steal that late in the draft...even if he had many flaws before being drafted, he also showed a lot of his potential in a good league.He isn't an unicorn and a future superstar like some Rockets would like to but the odds of him becoming a good NBA player are higher than Dieng IMO. Same for guys like Duren or Aj Griffin that we could have drafted.

I really hope I can read my posts in two seasons and laugh at myself for being so wrong about Dieng

[Big nick]

because it's gonna take a very long time for him to become a relevant NBA player.

It's gonna take a while before nearly everyone we draft to start really hitting their stride. Only very few players are stars/positive contributors in their first few seasons. Guys like PG13, Kawhi, Giannis, Butler, Middleton, Ingram and even Shai all took until about their 4th season before they took that leap.

Dieng was worth a swing because he has all the fundamentals needed to be a 3 level scorer in the league. He is a 6'10 wing with a strong handle, good court vision, smooth looking jumpshot, decent lateral quickness. It just takes a while for guys to bring it all together and adjust to the league.

There were more guys who are closer to being NBA ready available at #11 but none of them had a high-enough ceiling to move the needle.We already have enough guys on this roster that fit the mold of decent starter level/rotation piece. Presti swung to fences with Dieng and made a safer pick at #12 with Williams.

I understand why Presti drafted him and u explained it pretty well but I have some issues about "high ceiling" projects that never showed up anything that they could potentially develop. I'm not sure the risk/reward ratio in guys like Dieng or Poku is worth it (maybe I'm saying this because I was already low on Dieng before the draft).

I was willing to spend 4-5 FRPs to move up from #6 to #3 for Mobley because he showed all his potential in college..it wasn't just based on some physical talent and a couple of good games/plays in a bad league.

We passed on Sengun at #16 in 2021 and it was a steal that late in the draft...even if he had many flaws before being drafted, he also showed a lot of his potential in a good league.He isn't an unicorn and a future superstar like some Rockets would like to but the odds of him becoming a good NBA player are higher than Dieng IMO. Same for guys like Duren or Aj Griffin that we could have drafted.

I really hope I can read my posts in two seasons and laugh at myself for being so wrong about Dieng

I feel the same I just don't see dieng making a good nba player. I know he has the physical tools just don't see the upside. There were some really good players on the board when we drafted him.

[Dadouv47]

Mann was on fire during preseason games but now it's a mess. I still think he could be a good role player / 6th man but he should stop shooting like he's Steph Curry.

[ThunderBolt]

Mann was on fire during preseason games but now it's a mess. I still think he could be a good role player / 6th man but he should stop shooting like he's Steph Curry.

It's really hard to not get irritated and question some of the minute allocation. The bottom line is Tre Mann hasn't earned squat. However players like Wiggins get DNPs constantly. It's almost like there is a bit of fascination with the few times Mann has shown flashes thinking he might take a huge leap and become a star. Meanwhile a guy like Wiggins probably isn't a star but looks like the exact kind of player our teams historically can't find, a solid role player.

[Dadouv47]

Mann was on fire during preseason games but now it's a mess. I still think he could be a good role player / 6th man but he should stop shooting like he's Steph Curry.

It's really hard to not get irritated and question some of the minute allocation. The bottom line is Tre Mann hasn't earned squat. However players like Wiggins get DNPs constantly. It's almost like there is a bit of fascination with the few times Mann has shown flashes thinking he might take a huge leap and become a star. Meanwhile a guy like Wiggins probably isn't a star but looks like the exact kind of player our teams historically can't find, a solid role player.

I agree. I do think that Mann's ceiling is a bit higher but the gap between them is closer than most think. Wiggins could be a decent role player for a playoff team next season.

[ThunderBolt]

Mann was on fire during preseason games but now it's a mess. I still think he could be a good role player / 6th man but he should stop shooting like he's Steph Curry.

It's really hard to not get irritated and question some of the minute allocation. The bottom line is Tre Mann hasn't earned squat. However players like Wiggins get DNPs constantly. It's almost like there is a bit of fascination with the few times Mann has shown flashes thinking he might take a huge leap and become a star. Meanwhile a guy like Wiggins probably isn't a star but looks like the exact kind of player our teams historically can't find, a solid role player.

I agree. I do think that Mann's ceiling is a bit higher but the gap between them is closer than most think. Wiggins could be a decent role player for a playoff team next season.

One thing I notice a lot of realgm is that people act like players are done developing at 23-24. It's just not true. The draft shows us that a lot of older rookies are much more of a sure thing and sometimes one of them blows up like Desmond Bane. I don't think Wiggins is a star or anything but he deserves more minutes than he's getting. It just feels like the organization has already determined he won't be a part of the future, similar to Roby last year.

FWIW, I'm not giving up on Mann. I just think he needs to start start playing better to earn the minutes he's getting.

[slick_watts]

mann has very poor shot selection. it's not surprising to me. the degree of difficulty on his 3's has increased this season from last, and it was already fairly high.

[ThunderBolt]

mann has very poor shot selection. it's not surprising to me. the degree of difficulty on his 3's has increased this season from last, and it was already fairly high.

Which is part of my issue with Coach D’s rotations. Why let him continue to shoot poorly on bad selection?

[Mr Thunder Nick]

It's clear.
If Marc D. don't rotate his roster like he is doing since the season started, we would win a lot of more games. This roster is too good to play for the ping pong balls in theory. Therefore all this changes (in the starting five as well on the bench).
When "Omorunyi" has a good game like against Toronto and "Joe" against Dallas and Denver they disappear from the roster for some games.
WE ARE TOO GOOD and we could easily make the playoffs, but therefore we must still have patience for one to two years.

And this with nearly only "YOUNG" players.

[Devilanche]

On the one hand they are young . On the other if they are on fire , they should get more minutes until they cool down.


Subtle tanking moves or daring those that we are invested higher in to show out ….


Note , agree with all that based on performance to date , wiggins / joe should be getting more minutes , Mann should be going to g-league .


There’s only so much positivity I can preach if we are lining it up stupid ….

[Dadouv47]

We really got the wrong LA picks...Clippers are a playoff team without PG13/Kawhi

[ThunderBolt]

We really got the wrong LA picks...Clippers are a playoff team without PG13/Kawhi

It’s hard for me to feel too upset about the position of the clippers picks. We got a lottery pick last year and they are still far from a sure thing to make the playoffs if George and Kawhi are injured. At the time of the trade a lot of people never expected a pick better than top 25. Oh and shai was just a nice young piece.

[Dadouv47]

We really got the wrong LA picks...Clippers are a playoff team without PG13/Kawhi

It’s hard for me to feel too upset about the position of the clippers picks. We got a lottery pick last year and they are still far from a sure thing to make the playoffs if George and Kawhi are injured. At the time of the trade a lot of people never expected a pick better than top 25. Oh and shai was just a nice young piece.

Please don't forget that we also got a trade exception for Gallo

I'm obviously not upset about those picks but they could easily be top 10 in the next two years without a rich owner. It's very likely the future picks will end up in the late 10's or early 20's so it's still fine.

[Devilanche]

We really got the wrong LA picks...Clippers are a playoff team without PG13/Kawhi

SGA is worth more than the picks though .

[Dadouv47]

We really got the wrong LA picks...Clippers are a playoff team without PG13/Kawhi

SGA is worth more than the picks though .

Of course. The PG13 trade was great even if we get picks #30 and #30 in 2024 and 2026. That wasn't my point...Clippers missing both their stars and still being able to have a decent record (GSW was terrible in 2020 and Lakers could give NOLA Victor or Scoot in the next draft).

Credit to the Clippers FO for doing a great job and they are lucky to have a rich owner willing to pay a lot in tax no matter what

[ThunderBolt]

This Jalen Williams kid is good.