Tank World Order (XIV) Here we go, The Final Stretch of the 2025 Tank Season!!!

[CazOnReal]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Presti also traded James Harden for a package where the best player to come out of said deal was Steven Adams and failed to capitalize on Russ by trading him when his value was at its highest when KD/Harden was clearly a more competitive pairing and seemingly less likely to tear itself apart like Durant and Russ not gelling did.

He also...
-Almost traded SGA with the 6th pick...
-which he used to draft Josh Giddey over Franz Wagner or Alperen Sengun
-Traded a bunch of picks to acquire Dieng who has languished in OKC (And the pick they used involved passing on Mark Williams AND Jalen Duren)
-Assisted in bolstering the Mavericks team that would knock the Thunder out of the playoffs in 2023 via facilitating the Gafford trade
-Traded Tre Mann for the corpse of Gordon Hayward who did f*ck and all for the Thunder in the playoffs
-And plenty of other moves that one could argue were bad at the time or in hindsight i.e. giving up Sabonis and Oladipo for Paul George (Though obviously in this case, hindsight is irrelevant since you got SGA out of essentially trading Serge Ibaka to the Magic)

Presti is an excellent GM but he is far from flawless and with the new CBA, I am extremely hesitant to say he won't bungle up this new contender's window due to luxury tax nonsense. And to be blunt: Sam might have had a window with KD and he has one with this current core but none of this rebuild's success matters if they don't actually win a chip. It didn't matter that the Thunder had 3 future/then-current MVPs on the roster when they failed to return to the promised land, it didn't matter that Presti managed to retool around Russ with PG and Melo (less so with Melo mind you but still) and if this new Thunder core fails to get the job done then it won't matter how quick of a rebuild it was if those 60+ win seasons fail to result in any hardware, especially with the Supersonics likely being revived and thus OKC has no claim to a title of their own.

[DelAbbot]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

"Presti would not have gotten SGA without Masai's help"

[Clutch0z24]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Idek what people are arguing at this point lmao...Are these posters trying to say Sam is a bad GM and Masai is leaps and bounds better?....Because im pretty sure if you ask any OKC fan they would all take Presti> Masai as their GM because of what he was able to build 2 times and he has a good track record with making good draft picks......Both Masai and Sam are high level GMs....And again everything people are discrediting Sam with Masai himself got just as lucky with things and also made the same mistakes....So look in the mirror when typing all the discrediting of Sam...

I seen someone say Jdub was a product of Clippers pick so it doesn't really count.......Same can be said about Kawhi....We got the 9th pick from the Knicks which was used on Yak which was a piece in the Kawhi trade....See how silly that sounds?....Presti still had to make the trade and make the right draft pick at the end of the day.

[mdenny]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Presti also traded James Harden for a package where the best player to come out of said deal was Steven Adams and failed to capitalize on Russ by trading him when his value was at its highest when KD/Harden was clearly a more competitive pairing and seemingly less likely to tear itself apart like Durant and Russ not gelling did.

He also...
-Almost traded SGA with the 6th pick...
-which he used to draft Josh Giddey over Franz Wagner or Alperen Sengun
-Traded a bunch of picks to acquire Dieng who has languished in OKC (And the pick they used involved passing on Mark Williams AND Jalen Duren)
-Assisted in bolstering the Mavericks team that would knock the Thunder out of the playoffs in 2023 via facilitating the Gafford trade
-Traded Tre Mann for the corpse of Gordon Hayward who did f*ck and all for the Thunder in the playoffs
-And plenty of other moves that one could argue were bad at the time or in hindsight i.e. giving up Sabonis and Oladipo for Paul George (Though obviously in this case, hindsight is irrelevant since you got SGA out of essentially trading Serge Ibaka to the Magic)

Presti is an excellent GM but he is far from flawless and with the new CBA, I am extremely hesitant to say he won't bungle up this new contender's window due to luxury tax nonsense. And to be blunt: Sam might have had a window with KD and he has one with this current core but none of this rebuild's success matters if they don't actually win a chip. It didn't matter that the Thunder had 3 future/then-current MVPs on the roster when they failed to return to the promised land, it didn't matter that Presti managed to retool around Russ with PG and Melo (less so with Melo mind you but still) and if this new Thunder core fails to get the job done then it won't matter how quick of a rebuild it was if those 60+ win seasons fail to result in any hardware, especially with the Supersonics likely being revived and thus OKC has no claim to a title of their own.

Yah the next couple years are gonna be painful for Thunder. They have to pick 3 players and pay them. Probably Sga, jdub and chet. Then they're gonna lose their depth.

The only out I see is a massive consolidation trade where they match SGA with a major star like giannis or jokic. Because those 3 are not gonna be perennial contenders without all the high end role players (who they won't be able to afford). I guess it's also possible they turn some of their picks into 4 year low contract guys.

I get that he's shown alot of patience...but he's gonna have to pull the trigger on a top 10 player at some point or this era of the team will just pass by without a chip again. Giannis makes the most sense. They, more than anyone else, have the assets to do it.

[Clutch0z24]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Presti also traded James Harden for a package where the best player to come out of said deal was Steven Adams and failed to capitalize on Russ by trading him when his value was at its highest when KD/Harden was clearly a more competitive pairing and seemingly less likely to tear itself apart like Durant and Russ not gelling did.

He also...
-Almost traded SGA with the 6th pick...
-which he used to draft Josh Giddey over Franz Wagner or Alperen Sengun
-Traded a bunch of picks to acquire Dieng who has languished in OKC (And the pick they used involved passing on Mark Williams AND Jalen Duren)
-Assisted in bolstering the Mavericks team that would knock the Thunder out of the playoffs in 2023 via facilitating the Gafford trade
-Traded Tre Mann for the corpse of Gordon Hayward who did f*ck and all for the Thunder in the playoffs
-And plenty of other moves that one could argue were bad at the time or in hindsight i.e. giving up Sabonis and Oladipo for Paul George (Though obviously in this case, hindsight is irrelevant since you got SGA out of essentially trading Serge Ibaka to the Magic)

Presti is an excellent GM but he is far from flawless and with the new CBA, I am extremely hesitant to say he won't bungle up this new contender's window due to luxury tax nonsense. And to be blunt: Sam might have had a window with KD and he has one with this current core but none of this rebuild's success matters if they don't actually win a chip. It didn't matter that the Thunder had 3 future/then-current MVPs on the roster when they failed to return to the promised land, it didn't matter that Presti managed to retool around Russ with PG and Melo (less so with Melo mind you but still) and if this new Thunder core fails to get the job done then it won't matter how quick of a rebuild it was if those 60+ win seasons fail to result in any hardware, especially with the Supersonics likely being revived and thus OKC has no claim to a title of their own.

Yah the next couple years are gonna be painful for Thunder. They have to pick 3 players and pay them. Probably Sga, jdub and chet. Then they're gonna lose their depth.

The only out I see is a massive consolidation trade where they match SGA with a major star like giannis or jokic. Because those 3 are not gonna be perennial contenders without all the high end role players (who they won't be able to afford). I guess it's also possible they turn some of their picks into 4 year low contract guys.

I get that he's shown alot of patience...but he's gonna have to pull the trigger on a top 10 player at some point or this era of the team will just pass by without a chip again. Giannis makes the most sense. They, more than anyone else, have the assets to do it.

So on one hand you say Presti Lucked into the team so hes not that good of a GM....But on the other hand he has the best assets to trade for a top 5 player? ...Which one is it? Because having them kind of assets is good Gming....The fact its possible they could potentially have a higher draft pick thn us this year while being a champion is enough to be said.

[mdenny]

Presti also traded James Harden for a package where the best player to come out of said deal was Steven Adams and failed to capitalize on Russ by trading him when his value was at its highest when KD/Harden was clearly a more competitive pairing and seemingly less likely to tear itself apart like Durant and Russ not gelling did.

He also...
-Almost traded SGA with the 6th pick...
-which he used to draft Josh Giddey over Franz Wagner or Alperen Sengun
-Traded a bunch of picks to acquire Dieng who has languished in OKC (And the pick they used involved passing on Mark Williams AND Jalen Duren)
-Assisted in bolstering the Mavericks team that would knock the Thunder out of the playoffs in 2023 via facilitating the Gafford trade
-Traded Tre Mann for the corpse of Gordon Hayward who did f*ck and all for the Thunder in the playoffs
-And plenty of other moves that one could argue were bad at the time or in hindsight i.e. giving up Sabonis and Oladipo for Paul George (Though obviously in this case, hindsight is irrelevant since you got SGA out of essentially trading Serge Ibaka to the Magic)

Presti is an excellent GM but he is far from flawless and with the new CBA, I am extremely hesitant to say he won't bungle up this new contender's window due to luxury tax nonsense. And to be blunt: Sam might have had a window with KD and he has one with this current core but none of this rebuild's success matters if they don't actually win a chip. It didn't matter that the Thunder had 3 future/then-current MVPs on the roster when they failed to return to the promised land, it didn't matter that Presti managed to retool around Russ with PG and Melo (less so with Melo mind you but still) and if this new Thunder core fails to get the job done then it won't matter how quick of a rebuild it was if those 60+ win seasons fail to result in any hardware, especially with the Supersonics likely being revived and thus OKC has no claim to a title of their own.

Yah the next couple years are gonna be painful for Thunder. They have to pick 3 players and pay them. Probably Sga, jdub and chet. Then they're gonna lose their depth.

The only out I see is a massive consolidation trade where they match SGA with a major star like giannis or jokic. Because those 3 are not gonna be perennial contenders without all the high end role players (who they won't be able to afford). I guess it's also possible they turn some of their picks into 4 year low contract guys.

I get that he's shown alot of patience...but he's gonna have to pull the trigger on a top 10 player at some point or this era of the team will just pass by without a chip again. Giannis makes the most sense. They, more than anyone else, have the assets to do it.

So on one hand you say Presti Lucked into the team so hes not that good of a GM....But on the other hand he has the best assets to trade for a top 5 player? ...Which one is it? Because having them kind of assets is good Gming....The fact its possible they could potentially have a higher draft pick thn us this year while being a champion is enough to be said.

I didn't say he lucked into anything?

He's a good gm. But the honeymoon is over next season. They have to resign Jdub and Chet to max extensions after next season.....and the summer after they have to resign SGA for the ultimate max (ie 65 to 70 per year). If they don't win this year (which I think is likely) they only have 1 more year before they start losing guys for nothing. The window is closing fast. They need to consolidate.

It's really unfortunate for OKC fans. This current team would be looking alot better under the old rules. Ownership refused to go deep into lux tax under the OLD rules and the new rules are much more costly.

[Clutch0z24]

Yah the next couple years are gonna be painful for Thunder. They have to pick 3 players and pay them. Probably Sga, jdub and chet. Then they're gonna lose their depth.

The only out I see is a massive consolidation trade where they match SGA with a major star like giannis or jokic. Because those 3 are not gonna be perennial contenders without all the high end role players (who they won't be able to afford). I guess it's also possible they turn some of their picks into 4 year low contract guys.

I get that he's shown alot of patience...but he's gonna have to pull the trigger on a top 10 player at some point or this era of the team will just pass by without a chip again. Giannis makes the most sense. They, more than anyone else, have the assets to do it.

So on one hand you say Presti Lucked into the team so hes not that good of a GM....But on the other hand he has the best assets to trade for a top 5 player? ...Which one is it? Because having them kind of assets is good Gming....The fact its possible they could potentially have a higher draft pick thn us this year while being a champion is enough to be said.

I didn't say he lucked into anything?

He's a good gm. But the honeymoon is over next season. They have to resign Jdub and Chet to max extensions after next season.....and the summer after they have to resign SGA for the ultimate max (ie 65 to 70 per year). If they don't win this year (which I think is likely) they only have 1 more year before they start losing guys for nothing. The window is closing fast. They need to consolidate.

Or they just keep all 3 of their main players for a long time and continue to build like they have been doing?....They also have a boat load of draft picks which can be under contract for cheap they can use to build with?.....Nothing is "Closing" in on them lol....They are perfectly fine and will be fine...

Just like how the Raptors built half their bench they have now in 1 draft with 2nd round picks....OKC can do the same....Shai/JDub/Chet will be together for at least 5 more years imo....They will resign JDub/Chet all while keeping Shai long term.

[PushDaRock]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Idek what people are arguing at this point lmao...Are these posters trying to say Sam is a bad GM and Masai is leaps and bounds better?....Because im pretty sure if you ask any OKC fan they would all take Presti> Masai as their GM because of what he was able to build 2 times and he has a good track record with making good draft picks......Both Masai and Sam are high level GMs....And again everything people are discrediting Sam with Masai himself got just as lucky with things and also made the same mistakes....So look in the mirror when typing all the discrediting of Sam...

I seen someone say Jdub was a product of Clippers pick so it doesn't really count.......Same can be said about Kawhi....We got the 9th pick from the Knicks which was used on Yak which was a piece in the Kawhi trade....See how silly that sounds?....Presti still had to make the trade and make the right draft pick at the end of the day.

People are saying the JDub pick is not attributed to tanking.

[PushDaRock]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

"Presti would not have gotten SGA without Masai's help"

can't miss a chance to blame Masai, so I agree

[mdenny]

So on one hand you say Presti Lucked into the team so hes not that good of a GM....But on the other hand he has the best assets to trade for a top 5 player? ...Which one is it? Because having them kind of assets is good Gming....The fact its possible they could potentially have a higher draft pick thn us this year while being a champion is enough to be said.

I didn't say he lucked into anything?

He's a good gm. But the honeymoon is over next season. They have to resign Jdub and Chet to max extensions after next season.....and the summer after they have to resign SGA for the ultimate max (ie 65 to 70 per year). If they don't win this year (which I think is likely) they only have 1 more year before they start losing guys for nothing. The window is closing fast. They need to consolidate.

Or they just keep all 3 of their main players for a long time and continue to build like they have been doing?....They also have a boat load of draft picks which can be under contract for cheap they can use to build with?.....Nothing is "Closing" in on them lol....They are perfectly fine and will be fine...

Just like how the Raptors built half their bench they have now in 1 draft with 2nd round picks....OKC can do the same....Shai/JDub/Chet will be together for at least 5 more years imo....They will resign JDub/Chet all while keeping Shai long term.

Bro....do the math. After those 3 they will have no money left. And those 3 really aren't screaming contender without depth.

I'd argue the WORST thing they could do is go with those 3 guys for the next 5 years. They need another top 10/top 15 guy to go with SGA.

[Clutch0z24]

Masai built a legitimate contender a grand total of 1 time in his tenure as GM with the Raptors and Nuggets. He just happened to win that one year, credit to him, and like with any championship luck played a factor.

Presti has built championship caliber teams - the KD teams had a 6 year window where they were legitimate contenders. This current core also looks like they have a long window of contending. We will see if luck swings their way this time around.

Presti is pretty clearly one of the best GMs. The dismissal of this current team as just Shai is so stupid. I love how Paul George seemingly just disappears as a trade piece in these hypothetical “OKC without Shai” scenarios

Idek what people are arguing at this point lmao...Are these posters trying to say Sam is a bad GM and Masai is leaps and bounds better?....Because im pretty sure if you ask any OKC fan they would all take Presti> Masai as their GM because of what he was able to build 2 times and he has a good track record with making good draft picks......Both Masai and Sam are high level GMs....And again everything people are discrediting Sam with Masai himself got just as lucky with things and also made the same mistakes....So look in the mirror when typing all the discrediting of Sam...

I seen someone say Jdub was a product of Clippers pick so it doesn't really count.......Same can be said about Kawhi....We got the 9th pick from the Knicks which was used on Yak which was a piece in the Kawhi trade....See how silly that sounds?....Presti still had to make the trade and make the right draft pick at the end of the day.

People are saying the JDub pick is not attributed to tanking.

Tanking is a strat teams use that have no hope....Wizards type teams that have not much assets to get said players via trades, and are not a free agent destination....Basically teams that got forced to go that direction because its the only real way to improve the team or at least a chance to get a game changing talent....

Not all teams need to go that direction to succeed....Asset managing and making smart trades with the assets you have is another way and teams like OKC have done very well at that....And when OKC did tank the 2 years they at least ended up with #2 pick which helped their team alot by getting Chet....

But the JDub pick was gotten by good scouting to make the pick and through a trade they made....Just like if they end up with the 7th pick from the 76ers this draft....It still comes down to good Gming by an elite GM in Presti....So idk why he gets so much hate and discrediting here....Its amazing for a 50 + win team to have lottery picks while being that good still...Why knock it? ....Masai would be praised if we had that Kawhi season while getting a lotto pick the following year....

[PushDaRock]

Yeah and like good on Presti there, but it was the ultimate example of lucking into something. He had all the leverage to squeeze every ounce out of LAC, especially when it was clear TOR was not a likely option for PG and Kawhi.

But lets not forget that in the 3 seasons prior that OKC team won 47/48/49 games and lost in the first round each year, and then the first year with SGA they won 44 games playing a Gallo/CP3/Schroder core big minutes to lose in the 1st round again.

They were the ultimate treadmill team who got absolutely bailed out with the PG13 situation. For some reason that gets ignored, and then Masai gets slammed for doing the same thing with Siakam. Weird (or it isn't, if you see the posters making these arguements)

Yeah and it’s even more shocking he ran with Westbrook as his 1st option for so long despite having so many limitations. Masai tanked for Scottie and paired him with three players that are doing very well on their new teams. There was at least some plan in place there.

I don’t know if we will ever see a George type deal again. That’s how rare it is. What a lucky, lucky man Presti is. Chet/Giddey core doesn’t excite me.

He did turn russ into multiple picks bc of it, took on Chris Paul, who then lead them to the playoffs while russ went downhill.

And then traded Paul for picks

These 2 moves are probably his most underrated trades. Got value for Russ who was just starting his decline by taking on Paul who's contract was toxic at the time with 5 years left on it, rehabbed his value with a good year in OKC and then managed to trade him for value to the Suns.

That was a really risky deal at the time because Paul was an undersized guard who don't historically age well, getting injured a lot and looking like he could have gone on a steep decline having just turned 34 and you're looking at paying him till he was 39.

[PushDaRock]

Idek what people are arguing at this point lmao...Are these posters trying to say Sam is a bad GM and Masai is leaps and bounds better?....Because im pretty sure if you ask any OKC fan they would all take Presti> Masai as their GM because of what he was able to build 2 times and he has a good track record with making good draft picks......Both Masai and Sam are high level GMs....And again everything people are discrediting Sam with Masai himself got just as lucky with things and also made the same mistakes....So look in the mirror when typing all the discrediting of Sam...

I seen someone say Jdub was a product of Clippers pick so it doesn't really count.......Same can be said about Kawhi....We got the 9th pick from the Knicks which was used on Yak which was a piece in the Kawhi trade....See how silly that sounds?....Presti still had to make the trade and make the right draft pick at the end of the day.

People are saying the JDub pick is not attributed to tanking.

Tanking is a strat teams use that have no hope....Wizards type teams that have not much assets to get said players via trades, and are not a free agent destination....Basically teams that got forced to go that direction because its the only real way to improve the team or at least a chance to get a game changing talent....

Not all teams need to go that direction to succeed....Asset managing and making smart trades with the assets you have is another way and teams like OKC have done very well at that....And when OKC did tank the 2 years they at least ended up with #2 pick which helped their team alot by getting Chet....

But the JDub pick was gotten by good scouting to make the pick and through a trade they made....Just like if they end up with the 7th pick from the 76ers this draft....It still comes down to good Gming by an elite GM in Presti....So idk why he gets so much hate and discrediting here....Its amazing for a 50 + win team to have lottery picks while being that good still...Why knock it? ....Masai would be praised if we had that Kawhi season while getting a lotto pick the following year....

I'm only pointing out what people mean when not "counting" the JDub pick.

Not sure where I'm saying otherwise?

There's no question he's done a fantastic job.

[Clutch0z24]

I didn't say he lucked into anything?

He's a good gm. But the honeymoon is over next season. They have to resign Jdub and Chet to max extensions after next season.....and the summer after they have to resign SGA for the ultimate max (ie 65 to 70 per year). If they don't win this year (which I think is likely) they only have 1 more year before they start losing guys for nothing. The window is closing fast. They need to consolidate.

Or they just keep all 3 of their main players for a long time and continue to build like they have been doing?....They also have a boat load of draft picks which can be under contract for cheap they can use to build with?.....Nothing is "Closing" in on them lol....They are perfectly fine and will be fine...

Just like how the Raptors built half their bench they have now in 1 draft with 2nd round picks....OKC can do the same....Shai/JDub/Chet will be together for at least 5 more years imo....They will resign JDub/Chet all while keeping Shai long term.

Bro....do the math. After those 3 they will have no money left. And those 3 really aren't screaming contender without depth.

I'd argue the WORST thing they could do is go with those 3 guys for the next 5 years. They need another top 10/top 15 guy to go with SGA.

They are the best team in the league....They will be fine....They will have money left because we do not know the exact deals they will all sign yet....Also like i said they have alot of draft picks and other assets they can use to make trades for depth.....They will be fine lol....Raptors right now have Barnes/Quickley/Ingram making over 30 mill ....Ingram and Barnes making 40 mill each...While Barrett will be wanting a pay day soon as well....

If OKC who have the best team in the league are in "Trouble" what can you say about us?

[mdenny]

Or they just keep all 3 of their main players for a long time and continue to build like they have been doing?....They also have a boat load of draft picks which can be under contract for cheap they can use to build with?.....Nothing is "Closing" in on them lol....They are perfectly fine and will be fine...

Just like how the Raptors built half their bench they have now in 1 draft with 2nd round picks....OKC can do the same....Shai/JDub/Chet will be together for at least 5 more years imo....They will resign JDub/Chet all while keeping Shai long term.

Bro....do the math. After those 3 they will have no money left. And those 3 really aren't screaming contender without depth.

I'd argue the WORST thing they could do is go with those 3 guys for the next 5 years. They need another top 10/top 15 guy to go with SGA.

They are the best team in the league....They will be fine....They will have money left because we do not know the exact deals they will all sign yet....Also like i said they have alot of draft picks and other assets they can use to make trades for depth.....They will be fine lol....Raptors right now have Barnes/Quickley/Ingram making over 30 mill ....Ingram and Barnes making 40 mill each...While Barrett will be wanting a pay day soon as well....

If OKC who have the best team in the league are in "Trouble" what can you say about us?

I'm not comparing us to them. And yes...we do know the deals jdub and chet will get. They will get max extensions.

You seem intent on charcaterizing everyone as "hating" Presti. I don't hate Presti. I think he's a great gm who has made employed alot of innovative and outside-the-box tactics. Kinda like the Billy beane of basketball in that he did things other Gms didn't have the imagination or guts to do in a small market.

But he still needs to make the big move. They can't just keep slowly evolving because the numbers don't lie. And if all that building and evolving results only in an underwhelming big 3 then the whole thing was for nothing.

You won't be able to have the hartenstiens and the Dorts and the Carusos once their big 3 are paid without going into the 6th and 7th aprons lol.

That big move will be the one that ultimately turns this team into a long term success or just a fading regular season top seed.

I don't buy the idea that you can have a big 3 and use rookie contracts to fill out a team. I mean....there is no precedent for that approach to work. You need veteran role players. That's why the emerging trend under the new rules seems to be going toward a big 2 format rather than a big 3. And guys like JDub and Chet seem like low efficiency max contract guys at this point.

[Los_29]

Calvin Booth won a championship with Denver 2 years ago and he's fired already. Using a previous championship as justification to resist change has major risk profile in your decision-making.

You can’t judge Booth on the moves the previous GM made. You have to judge him based on the moves he made. Booth got hired in the offseason of 2020. At that point, Jokic, Murray and MPJ were already on the team.

Makes you wonder how Presti survived given all the assets he squandered from 2010-2020.

[Los_29]

Nope...not hating at all. I like how Presti has rebuilt the Thunder. He isn't perfect as outlined above. I think OKC wins a championship in the SGA era. That would put OKC on par with Toronto finally.

But our front office has done some work as well in the last decade to put together a championship team and we have actually won a championship unlike OKC. Yes I think Masai will even admit that for 2 years he wanted to compete but really we should have sold on Pascal, OG, etc. But with what we did with 1 late first round pick, Jalen McDaniels and a bunch of 2nd round picks....man...getting 3 young and dependable rookies who all figure to be rotation player at minimum...give Masai credit.

Like I said...there are many ways to build a contender. Just because Masai doesn't want to be a perennial tanking team like Charlotte, New Orleans or Utah doesn't make his approach wrong.

It's interesting to me to compare Presti & Masai. Both lost top 5 superstars for nothing. Both tried to compete for years afterwards since their teams were still decent until finally rebuilding years later.

2016 - Presti loses Durant, continues building around Westbrook. Rebuild truly begins in the summer of 2019.

2019 - Masai loses Leonard, continues building around Siakam. Rebuild truly begins mid season 2023-2024.

They build teams the same way, only rebuilding when their hands are forced. Neither tore it down to the studs.

OKC tanked for two years and got Caruso + Holmgren. Toronto tanked for two years and got Pöltl + whoever they draft in 2025.

Their methods of building and their outcomes aren't too dissimilar. The difference is SGA just blew up in a way that exceeded even the best projections. Scottie has next year to show what he is. If he can make a massive leap that changes the trajectory of this franchise. If he stays at roughly a top 50 level player than the ceiling is lowered for team.

Yep exactly ....They are both very sim and both have lucked into their best players Via trade....I just find it funny when posters Hate on or discredit Sam for this and say "He just got lucky" While on the same hand saying Masai is the best GM in the NBA and the Kawhi trade was all him and his asset building hes done...

Both are good GMs and both accomplished alot....Just Sams team will prolly outlast Masai team as in them being a contender for many years while having their players under contract for longer....We have the title they do not....

But i find a few posters here give Sam Unwarranted hate when he ever gets brought up on this board....When he obviously is on the same level as Masai as a GM...

It’s not comparable. Any team in the league could’ve got Kawhi, including Presti. Masai was the only one willing to take that risk. Without the Kawhi trade, Masai is still winning 50+ games. Without SGA, OKC is winning 35 games behind Chet and Giddey.

In terms of asset accumulation, it’s not close. I already mentioned Masai’s drafting skills. If you have time look through Presti’s draft record from 2010-2020. It’s atrocious.

Masai built an elite team, primarily because of how well he drafted and the timely trades he made.

[Clutch0z24]

It's interesting to me to compare Presti & Masai. Both lost top 5 superstars for nothing. Both tried to compete for years afterwards since their teams were still decent until finally rebuilding years later.

2016 - Presti loses Durant, continues building around Westbrook. Rebuild truly begins in the summer of 2019.

2019 - Masai loses Leonard, continues building around Siakam. Rebuild truly begins mid season 2023-2024.

They build teams the same way, only rebuilding when their hands are forced. Neither tore it down to the studs.

OKC tanked for two years and got Caruso + Holmgren. Toronto tanked for two years and got Pöltl + whoever they draft in 2025.

Their methods of building and their outcomes aren't too dissimilar. The difference is SGA just blew up in a way that exceeded even the best projections. Scottie has next year to show what he is. If he can make a massive leap that changes the trajectory of this franchise. If he stays at roughly a top 50 level player than the ceiling is lowered for team.

Yep exactly ....They are both very sim and both have lucked into their best players Via trade....I just find it funny when posters Hate on or discredit Sam for this and say "He just got lucky" While on the same hand saying Masai is the best GM in the NBA and the Kawhi trade was all him and his asset building hes done...

Both are good GMs and both accomplished alot....Just Sams team will prolly outlast Masai team as in them being a contender for many years while having their players under contract for longer....We have the title they do not....

But i find a few posters here give Sam Unwarranted hate when he ever gets brought up on this board....When he obviously is on the same level as Masai as a GM...

It’s not comparable. Any team in the league could’ve got Kawhi, including Presti. Masai was the only one willing to take that risk. Without the Kawhi trade, Masai is still winning 50+ games. Without SGA, OKC is winning 35 games behind Chet and Giddey.

In terms of asset accumulation, it’s not close. I already mentioned Masai’s drafting skills. If you have time look through Presti’s draft record from 2010-2020. It’s atrocious.

Masai built an elite team, primarily because of how well he drafted and the timely trades he made.

Whos the best team in the league today and looks to be for the next at least 5+ years and whos struggling to be an above .500 team in the NBA? ....Who cares about coulda shoulda woulda nonsense.....Facts are Thunder are better than us now and will continue to be better than us for the foreseeable future....Barnes is not some franchise savior like some thought and we have an injury riddled all star in Ingram who has not lead a team anywhere...

I like Masai for what hes done in the past but this is a what have you done for me lately business and lately hes put together some mid to bad teams.

[wegotthabeet]

Another tanking discussion lol

All these GM's operate different and have different strengths.

Presti is elite and built 2 seperate championship rosters. That's hard to do since many GM's cant even build one. He did some tanking, drafted well and made excellent trades along the way. I'd be shocked if they didn't pull it off in the next few yrs

Wait...am I missing something? He built 2 separate championship rosters without winning a single championship?

Let's not put the cart before the horse. Presti's good I will give you that...but I'll call him a championship caliber GM when he actually wins one.

Sure let's use caliber. I thought that would be understood lol. Presti's not just good, he's elite. As is Masai.. and both have different philosophies of building a roster. In the end, you build a team good enough to compete for a title - a true contender, which is what he's done multiple times. To get it over the hump you still need a lot of luck on your side.

I disagree with this statement. They have the exact same team building philosophy in my opinion, we're just 3 years behind where OKC is at and most likely without the future MVP level talent.

I think every great exec does the same thing in essence. Accumulate, wait, consolidate. They build up assets, wait for the right opportunity, then execute.

[WuTang_CMB]

Wait...am I missing something? He built 2 separate championship rosters without winning a single championship?

Let's not put the cart before the horse. Presti's good I will give you that...but I'll call him a championship caliber GM when he actually wins one.

Sure let's use caliber. I thought that would be understood lol. Presti's not just good, he's elite. As is Masai.. and both have different philosophies of building a roster. In the end, you build a team good enough to compete for a title - a true contender, which is what he's done multiple times. To get it over the hump you still need a lot of luck on your side.

I disagree with this statement. They have the exact same team building philosophy in my opinion, we're just 3 years behind where OKC is at and most likely without the future MVP level talent.

I think every great exec does the same thing in essence. Accumulate, wait, consolidate. They build up assets, wait for the right opportunity, then execute.

Presti focuses on draft picks at every opportunity. Masai doesn't operate like that. For example instead of trading OG for a pick package to Memphis, he chose to wait and go after competent players in NY. Those are major differences in philosophy since Presti loves to pick from the very top and Masai doesn't deplete the roster to get there. The only true similarity they have is they love the draft and they can both scout. Masai is also a willing spender with his draft compensation compared to Presti who (so far) likes to hold on