2024-2025 OKC Thunder Games Thread

Devilanche · Post #161 » by **Devilanche** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:56 am

Mr Thunder Nick wrote:
Devilanche wrote:The price is too high and 1 season too long for me . Prefer 15-17m for 3 seasons.

For me the price is ok. The only concern I have with Alex is his healthy. The kind of his play is however injury dangerous.

It’s why I’m concerned of the 4th year.

Money wise not a big difference that will change anything but still of the view he’s not a 20m player .

Post #162 » by **Dadouv47** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 1:06 pm

definitely a small overpay given age/injury but we knew that was gonna be the amount once we traded Giddey for him and I'm fine with it. Worth case scenario is that it will cost us a bad FRP to move him in a couple of years which is something we can afford to. He can still be a key piece for us moving forward so I'm fine with that.

Post #163 » by **Dadouv47** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 1:12 pm

Weird season...great record but we are worse offensively than last year, we need Chet back and I was hopeful Jalen Williams would take a bigger leap. Hartenstein is showing he was a great signing but still can't take too much from it without seeing us play with Chet. I do think there's a good chance Presti was right about signing a Center like him instead of trading for a decent PF like I wanted to but still need to see them playing together.

Small sample size but to me the most positive aspect about this season is Chet showing he can be a legit franchise player / superstar and was playing out of his mind before his injury...which sucks and is concerning but I'm still optimistic he will be at full strength late in the season and for the POs so I don't mind some injury bad luck now.

Zagor · Post #164 » by **Zagor** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 5:52 pm

Devilanche wrote:The price is too high and 1 season too long for me . Prefer 15-17m for 3 seasons.

I wouldn't worry about lenght of contract because he will not be in Thunder jersey in his last year. This is a contract that will be a trade chip after two seasons.

Post #165 » by **Clav** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 6:12 pm

Zagor wrote:
Devilanche wrote:The price is too high and 1 season too long for me . Prefer 15-17m for 3 seasons.

I wouldn't worry about lenght of contract because he will not be in Thunder jersey in his last year. This is a contract that will be a trade chip after two seasons.

Yeah, agree here with Zagor. Caruso's contract (and a rising cap) make this a competitive price, and one that will take him through his prime. Contenders will definitely come calling as wing defense is a major priority.

If we win a championship with him, it's worth it full stop.

Post #166 » by **slick_watts** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 7:01 pm

the alex caruso extension is not an overpay. it's less than what kcp got, and caruso is better than him. 11% of the cap for a player of caruso's caliber is fine. he hasn't shown any decline unless you take his poor shooting seriously, but it's a very small sample and he'd been a 37% shooter for the last six seasons.

if the thunder did not agree to this extension with caruso at this price he would get as much or more in free agency from another team in the offseason.

the thunder will eventually move on from him, dort or wallace in the next year or two imo.

Devilanche · Post #167 » by **Devilanche** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 10:22 pm

Clav wrote:
Zagor wrote:
Devilanche wrote:The price is too high and 1 season too long for me . Prefer 15-17m for 3 seasons.

I wouldn't worry about lenght of contract because he will not be in Thunder jersey in his last year. This is a contract that will be a trade chip after two seasons.

Yeah, agree here with Zagor. Caruso's contract (and a rising cap) make this a competitive price, and one that will take him through his prime. Contenders will definitely come calling as wing defense is a major priority.

If we win a championship with him, it's worth it full stop.

Yea if we win , everything is good. But at 30, the contract will take us to the end of his non MLE ages as well.

He will have utility so long as he’s relatively healthy .

Post #168 » by **ThunderBolt** » Tue Dec 24, 2024 12:27 pm

I wish Caruso hadn’t forgotten how to shoot. I do think his effectiveness defensively is a bit reckless at times and results in him always being beat up. Laying out for a loose ball is great but not if it causes you to miss 3 games. Joe is the guy I’m worried about.

Zagor · Post #169 » by **Zagor** » Tue Dec 24, 2024 3:38 pm

Right now, Joe is a big problem. I think he's leading candidate for trade.
Joe, Dieng and maybe 1 FRP for.....someone.

And how is he playing lately, it will not be hard to upgrade on him.

Woerzboerg · Post #170 » by **Woerzboerg** » Wed Dec 25, 2024 1:45 pm

Zagor wrote:Right now, Joe is a big problem. I think he's leading candidate for trade.
Joe, Dieng and maybe 1 FRP for.....someone.

And how is he playing lately, it will not be hard to upgrade on him.

Joe, Dieng and 2-3 FRPs should get us Cam Johnson, which would be a huge win and outbalance the roster.

Playoff-rotation would be:

SGA - Wallace
Dort - Caruso
JDub - (Wiggins)
Johnson - (Kenrich)
Chet - Hartenstein

or

SGA - Wallace
Dort - Caruso
JDub - (Wiggins)
Chet - Johnson
Hartenstein - (Kenrich)

regarding the matchup. This would be a great team and should bring us to the finals, maybe close to the title. Next year, Topic and probably one rookie (best case a big shooting wing) are added to the mix, while Ajay Mitchell should get the 14th rosterspot as soon as possible. So the team would be

SGA - Wallace - Topic
Dort - Caruso - Mitchell
JDub - Wiggins - Jones
Johnson - Kenrich - (Rookie)
Chet - Hartenstein - JWill

Should be best Team in the entire NBA.

Mr Thunder Nick · Post #171 » by **Mr Thunder Nick** » Sat Dec 28, 2024 7:41 am

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/news/kenrich-williams-giving-okc-thunder-valuable-bench-minutes-01jg59x5at7q

It's time to give honor on Kendrich Williams. He is so productive when he plays. He fights and does so much dirty work. Shoots well an is a great rebounder an never selfish. The only problem is: He does not play enough minutes. But he never shoes discontentment. For me he has to be in the race for "Teammate of the year"

Post #172 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sun Dec 29, 2024 1:09 am

Dillon Jones looks like a middle aged woman when he runs.

Devilanche · Post #173 » by **Devilanche** » Sun Dec 29, 2024 12:44 pm

I don’t get into fights with some middle age women though so he potentially can be an enforcer for the team .

Edit - I frankly don’t see a way that Dillon might be an effective bench contributor by next season .

Woerzboerg · Post #174 » by **Woerzboerg** » Sun Dec 29, 2024 1:41 pm

For next year, barring a bigger trade (revist my post above), the team should be set:

SGA, Mitchell, Topic, Wallace, Dort, Caruso, Wiggins, Joe, JDub, KWill, Chet, Hartenstein, JWill

These are 13 players. Ous should be gone, to make space for one rookie from the class of 2025. Regarding Jones, if we came to the conclusion that he shouldn't be part of the team longterm, he could as well as Ous be used to move up in the draft or to move out of the draft (for a future first) or to sweaten a bigger Deal.

Devilanche · Post #175 » by **Devilanche** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:05 am

Potentially from that 13 I guess Joe / wiggins / Jaylin potential pieces to match for trades I guess but expecting that 13 to be here by season end still.

Post #176 » by **Dadouv47** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:41 pm

We shouldn't take for granted what we have right now. Best regular season start in Thunder history. We have an incredible roster and Chet coming back hopefully would be a game changer. I have some concerns though because they messed up in big time moments (against Dallas last year, NBA cup finals this season) but Presti couldn't have done a much better job.

Still want us to move Dieng and some picks at the deadline for a decent vet. Don't see any reason to trade Joe or Wiggins anytime soon.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #177 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:59 pm

Dadouv47 wrote:Still want us to move Dieng and some picks at the deadline for a decent vet. Don't see any reason to trade Joe or Wiggins anytime soon.

Dieng, Kenrich and a FRP for Olynyk.

Post #178 » by **Dadouv47** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:22 pm

Kizz Fastfists wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:Still want us to move Dieng and some picks at the deadline for a decent vet. Don't see any reason to trade Joe or Wiggins anytime soon.

Dieng, Kenrich and a FRP for Olynyk.

I think Kenrich has more trade value than Olynyk and I'm not even his biggest fan. Feels like an overpay to me.

Is Olynyk the kind of player we need now with Hartenstein? I'm not sure. I would rather try to get a pure scorer to help Shai if our boys struggle but not sure who it can be and who will be available at the deadline.

Woerzboerg · Post #179 » by **Woerzboerg** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 10:11 pm

We need a big shooting wing, not a bigman. Olynyk would have been nice last year, but now we have Hartenstein.

Big nick · Post #180 » by **Big nick** » Mon Dec 30, 2024 11:12 pm

Kizz Fastfists wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:Still want us to move Dieng and some picks at the deadline for a decent vet. Don't see any reason to trade Joe or Wiggins anytime soon.

Dieng, Kenrich and a FRP for Olynyk.

That’s a big overpay for olynyk but I like him. I agree I don’t think we need him but a big wing that can shoot like cam Johnson would be awesome.