OKC Thunder 2022-23 Regular Season Discussion

[jake_swivel]

Jalen, Joe, or Wiggins makes so much more sense next to shai and giddey rather than dort.

[QPR]

That was a masterclass in ball movement and making the extra pass. It's obviously a star's league and SGA is that star, but I'd be surprised if anyone held the ball for more than a couple of seconds tonight.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

[Patches Perry]

I really like watching this team. Jalen has been my favorite since draft night and he hasn't disappointed, but I'm glad to see Jaylin start getting some burn also. He gives me such a Nick Collison vibe

[slick_watts]

the game that isaiah joe just had is unbeleivable. he made a side step three, he made a pull up three in transition, he took a dude off the dribble and yammed on his head for the and-1, he made two backdoor cuts for layups, made a tough dribble layup over grant williams, drove into the lane and kicked out to the corner to an open kenrich williams for three, lmao. what the heck is happening?

[jake_swivel]

the game that isaiah joe just had is unbeleivable. he made a side step three, he made a pull up three in transition, he took a dude off the dribble and yammed on his head for the and-1, he made two backdoor cuts for layups, made a tough dribble layup over grant williams, drove into the lane and kicked out to the corner to an open kenrich williams for three, lmao. what the heck is happening?

Under contract for two more years at bargain bin prices, too.

[Dadouv47]

We still lack talent but our roster is slowly getting better. Every Thunder player not named Mann improved from last season (not counting Bazley because I think he's gone). Jalen Williams is having a major impact on our team and Isaiah Joe was a great signing.

We could definitely become a great team if Chet comes back healthy and making the playoffs next season is not likely but not crazy either.

[jake_swivel]

We still lack talent but our roster is slowly getting better. Every Thunder player not named Mann improved from last season (not counting Bazley because I think he's gone). Jalen Williams is having a major impact on our team and Isaiah Joe was a great signing.

We could definitely become a great team if Chet comes back healthy and making the playoffs next season is not likely but not crazy either.

This team has a lot of talent with a missing link at center. The team is supposed to be multipositional offensively while being able to protect the basket and switch on the perimeter. Chet being what he’s projected to be makes all of the talent on this team fit. Obviously that’s a big question mark with his health. But the talent on this team is being severely underrated in this forum (and overrated on Reddit). If they wanted to make the play-in this season, they could by trading for a decent shooting big who could defend. They’ve been trotting out Poku as the center for goodness sake.

[Big nick]

I was very impressed with jwills passing last night.

[kdthunderup]

Isaiah Joe needs to get more minutes. Dude can straight up shoot, handle the ball a bit and defend fairly well.

His offrtg, defrtg, raptor and his BPM suggest he has the largest impact behind SGA this season.

[ThunderBolt]

Isaiah Joe needs to get more minutes. Dude can straight up shoot, handle the ball a bit and defend fairly well.

His offrtg, defrtg, raptor and his BPM suggest he has the largest impact behind SGA this season.

I agree with slick that Presti is often targeting players he thinks will stay in OKC. More often than not that involves a bias towards his own picks that have been immersed only in OKC culture. However that's not always true as we've seen with Kenrich and Muscala. Joe growing up in Fort Smith, Ar on the Oklahoma border and playing at U of A certainly seems like it could be positive to prevent us from not keeping a quality player that we are scared might leave.

[ThunderBolt]

We still lack talent but our roster is slowly getting better. Every Thunder player not named Mann improved from last season (not counting Bazley because I think he's gone). Jalen Williams is having a major impact on our team and Isaiah Joe was a great signing.

We could definitely become a great team if Chet comes back healthy and making the playoffs next season is not likely but not crazy either.

I think Jalen's ceiling is being undersold by some due to his age. With continued development (which does happen with older rookies), i think he can be a third piece on a contender. That's going to involve finding a consistent three point shot.

[jayu70]

What are OKC's plans for Bazely and Muscala?

[ThunderBolt]

What are OKC's plans for Bazely and Muscala?

Both sides seem to be content to keep Muscala in a mentor role for the time being. Bazley has fallen out of the rotation most nights and seems to be on the way out.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

/photo/1

Sounds good. Curry obvously with an insane undeserved number of votes but whatever.

[Devilanche]

Spoiler:

Josh Giddey, getting what he wants
I have no idea what Giddey will be in five years. He's 20. It will be hard for him to become the primary creator on a good team without a bankable jumper; Giddey is shooting 33.7% on 3s and 38% on midrangers. He rarely attempts long 2s.

But there is a huge middle ground for so-so shooters between "No. 1 ball handler" and "stand-still spot-up guy" -- a gray area where tall passers who rebound, cut, and defend can thrive as connectors.

Giddey is 6-8, and he sees every pass from every spot. He's an elite rebounder and a solid defender already. (Keep an eye on the Thunder collecting similarly sized big wing players who can switch on defense and flip-flop roles on offense.) He's at 34.5% on catch-and-shoot 3s; if he can get into the high 30s on more volume, that's a career-changer.

Giddey knows defenders will go under screens against him, walling off the paint. He has already mastered several antidotes:

Instead of a rote pick-and-roll, Giddey pitches the ball ahead to his screener and sprints into a handoff. That gives him a chance to beat his defender to the spot if that defender -- Jaden McDaniels here -- slides under the pick. McDaniels wins that race, but he's backpedaling fast -- vulnerable to the change-of-direction move Giddey busts out.

Giddey is a muscly one-on-one player in tight confines -- cagey using his size to shoot over defenders. He fools defenders with nifty "Smitty" fake half-spins and other ploys. On pick-and-rolls, Giddey is smart about having screeners set two or three picks -- flipping the angle each time, moving one step lower -- until his defender gets hung up or he's chiseled into floater range.

There's a long way to go: Giddey ranks below average in pick-and-roll efficiency, per Second Spectrum data. But I can't wait to watch how Giddey and his teammates grow together

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/35389441/lowe-10-things-luka-doncic-marcus-smart-nba-card-counters

Giddey definitely working on his game and I believe he can keep his shooting improvement . He probably need to work on getting to the line more next season.

Bazely stock is at an all time low.
With Chet already out , JRE and Poku out … and even Jaylin out . The next best big that someone is suggesting for us to play is Moose and Kenrich. I hope he at least get considered next before Eugene.

https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2023/1/5/23540265/the-oklahoma-citys-thunder-hole-at-center-is-growing

[Dadouv47]

Spoiler:

Josh Giddey, getting what he wants
I have no idea what Giddey will be in five years. He's 20. It will be hard for him to become the primary creator on a good team without a bankable jumper; Giddey is shooting 33.7% on 3s and 38% on midrangers. He rarely attempts long 2s.

But there is a huge middle ground for so-so shooters between "No. 1 ball handler" and "stand-still spot-up guy" -- a gray area where tall passers who rebound, cut, and defend can thrive as connectors.

Giddey is 6-8, and he sees every pass from every spot. He's an elite rebounder and a solid defender already. (Keep an eye on the Thunder collecting similarly sized big wing players who can switch on defense and flip-flop roles on offense.) He's at 34.5% on catch-and-shoot 3s; if he can get into the high 30s on more volume, that's a career-changer.

Giddey knows defenders will go under screens against him, walling off the paint. He has already mastered several antidotes:

Instead of a rote pick-and-roll, Giddey pitches the ball ahead to his screener and sprints into a handoff. That gives him a chance to beat his defender to the spot if that defender -- Jaden McDaniels here -- slides under the pick. McDaniels wins that race, but he's backpedaling fast -- vulnerable to the change-of-direction move Giddey busts out.

Giddey is a muscly one-on-one player in tight confines -- cagey using his size to shoot over defenders. He fools defenders with nifty "Smitty" fake half-spins and other ploys. On pick-and-rolls, Giddey is smart about having screeners set two or three picks -- flipping the angle each time, moving one step lower -- until his defender gets hung up or he's chiseled into floater range.

There's a long way to go: Giddey ranks below average in pick-and-roll efficiency, per Second Spectrum data. But I can't wait to watch how Giddey and his teammates grow together

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/35389441/lowe-10-things-luka-doncic-marcus-smart-nba-card-counters

Giddey definitely working on his game and I believe he can keep his shooting improvement . He probably need to work on getting to the line more next season.

Bazely stock is at an all time low.
With Chet already out , JRE and Poku out … and even Jaylin out . The next best big that someone is suggesting for us to play is Moose and Kenrich. I hope he at least get considered next before Eugene.

https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2023/1/5/23540265/the-oklahoma-citys-thunder-hole-at-center-is-growing

Read on Twitter

at least he knows that

[ThunderBolt]

Obviously the team is still all over the place but there are a lot of positive things happening right now. Giddey and J Dub playing well is so encouraging.

[jake_swivel]

Obviously the team is still all over the place but there are a lot of positive things happening right now. Giddey and J Dub playing well is so encouraging.

I was worried about Josh. It felt like not having him run the show was going to play away from his strengths enough to extremely devalue his impact. Really impressed with his ability to be a secondary connector and get into the rhythm of running the team when shai is out. Obviously his improved shooting is the biggest factor.

Jalen is going to make an all-star team.

Chet’s skill set is going to be so interesting mixed with shai, giddey, and Jalen. And if Poku or dieng pan out, holy smokes is that ever going to be a fun squad to watch.

[ThunderBolt]

Obviously the team is still all over the place but there are a lot of positive things happening right now. Giddey and J Dub playing well is so encouraging.

I was worried about Josh. It felt like not having him run the show was going to play away from his strengths enough to extremely devalue his impact. Really impressed with his ability to be a secondary connector and get into the rhythm of running the team when shai is out. Obviously his improved shooting is the biggest factor.

Jalen is going to make an all-star team.

Chet’s skill set is going to be so interesting mixed with shai, giddey, and Jalen. And if Poku or dieng pan out, holy smokes is that ever going to be a fun squad to watch.

I totally agree. I see his ceiling as a lower tier all star that is the kind of player that every team wishes they had.