Around the League: 2024-25 Season

[Idiosyncratic]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

[drsd]

..

Marvin Bagley hits a huge three to cut the lead to 49

Watch on YouTube

[YosemiteSam]

I just don't know about the math. Jalen Williams and Holmgren will get the max - Shai is super max. Hartenstein is >$28M. They have this year and next and then the numbers get stupid. If they do have "10 starters" like pepe said, they are going to have to trade some of that talent away and then (and this is key) have the same success with mid round draft picks as they have had up to now. That is the only way they maintain this dominance is to have 5 players contributing high quality at $6M a year or less. Or they will have to pay a payroll like the Celtics, Suns or Warriors - and that may prove tough in a market like OKC

[drsd]

I just don't know about the math. Jalen Williams and Holmgren will get the max - Shai is super max. Hartenstein is >$28M. They have this year and next and then the numbers get stupid. If they do have "10 starters" like pepe said, they are going to have to trade some of that talent away and then (and this is key) have the same success with mid round draft picks as they have had up to now. That is the only way they maintain this dominance is to have 5 players contributing high quality at $6M a year or less. Or they will have to pay a payroll like the Celtics, Suns or Warriors - and that may prove tough in a market like OKC

OKC will have to cycle a lot of those players out for new ones; but that's how a dynasty is built. The Bulls two three-peats had all kinds of guards and bigs. The GS-Warriors was built on properly timed contracts (and a fortuitous injury to Curry lowering his market value). Etc.

The Thunder has so many assets that trading a "Jalen Williams" and two picks for a lower priced; better player is very possible. The team is so well managed that this musical-chairs will keep the team competitive around Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander for a long, long time.

[Idiosyncratic]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

Yeah I do think our FO's biggest flaw right now is sticking with guys like Cole, Gary, JI, Wendell and Fultz too long and not trying to unearth some gems or even bring in more stable presences with different skillsets as replacements. I think that is a very legitimate criticism at this point. I may disagree with how ready our core is to win and valuation of picks and such, but I can't disagree with that.

I guess I am just optimistic that it can still be salvaged. In my eyes none of our contracts are really huge crippling types. Wendell's is the worst, but it's not too expensive and he is at least average. Plus owning all of their picks is a huge leg up on other teams, it just is. And I do think our big 3 need to continue to improve their efficiency. Maybe additions help with that, but if we add players and they don't improve I think that is when I would finally start really worrying.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

Yeah I do think our FO's biggest flaw right now is sticking with guys like Cole, Gary, JI, Wendell and Fultz too long and not trying to unearth some gems or even bring in more stable presences with different skillsets as replacements. I think that is a very legitimate criticism at this point. I may disagree with how ready our core is to win and valuation of picks and such, but I can't disagree with that.

I guess I am just optimistic that it can still be salvaged. In my eyes none of our contracts are really huge crippling types. Wendell's is the worst, but it's not too expensive and he is at least average. Plus owning all of their picks is a huge leg up on other teams, it just is. And I do think our big 3 need to continue to improve their efficiency. Maybe additions help with that, but if we add players and they don't improve I think that is when I would finally start really worrying.

I agree with the bolded point, I have minimal faith that this FO knows what to do to turn it around.

[BadMofoPimp]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

Sell high on AB?

[BadMofoPimp]

I just don't know about the math. Jalen Williams and Holmgren will get the max - Shai is super max. Hartenstein is >$28M. They have this year and next and then the numbers get stupid. If they do have "10 starters" like pepe said, they are going to have to trade some of that talent away and then (and this is key) have the same success with mid round draft picks as they have had up to now. That is the only way they maintain this dominance is to have 5 players contributing high quality at $6M a year or less. Or they will have to pay a payroll like the Celtics, Suns or Warriors - and that may prove tough in a market like OKC

OKC will have to cycle a lot of those players out for new ones; but that's how a dynasty is built. The Bulls two three-peats had all kinds of guards and bigs. The GS-Warriors was built on properly timed contracts (and a fortuitous injury to Curry lowering his market value). Etc.

The Thunder has so many assets that trading a "Jalen Williams" and two picks for a lower priced; better player is very possible. The team is so well managed that this musical-chairs will keep the team competitive around Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander for a long, long time.

Trade those players for decent 1st rounders to fill in the gaps then have those rookie contracts for 3-4 years as cheap replacements.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

Sell high on AB?

In terms of moving off players that don't fit. Cole should've been moved by now, Fultz last 1.5 years was a waste, why is Gary Harris still here? Probably a few others I'm missing but after 2 years you know if a player fits or not and our FO just sits still vs trying to find something that possibly will.

I'm on the fence right now where if it takes AB being added to a 1st get x player would I do it. I know I'd 1000% try to move KCP and give picks vs AB but I doubt KCP still has that value. It would likely depend on who that player is and what other moves I could make after that because I'm not just making 1 move this offseason if I were in charge

[Skybox]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

...and they will be dumping Caruso and Hartenstein when they are no longer worth the vet overpays that made sense at the time...as soon as they have homegrown talent to replace them, they will have served their purpose. Presti just knows how to manage "assets" not family members...it's just a smart guy who takes his job and his obligation seriously.

[Skybox]

The Thunder are just a unique situation. They have so many picks that they can keep trading them for future picks and have an unlimited stockpile. You cannot match what they are doing. Their rebuild trades were too good.

They have barely even made any post rebuild player trades-- they turned 1 year of Giddey who they didn't want anymore because they played worse with him on the court into Caruso. Small Tre Mann trade after he couldn't crack their rotation in 3 years. And they signed Hartenstein.

The rest of the team is essentially homegrown. Small caveat that Shai was traded for in a rebuild and Joe was signed off the scrap heap, but they developed both.

I think they maybe should have considered a scorer/ball-handler at the deadline to improve title chances, but hard to blame them for not wanting to mess with what is a historically great season. There may be a time where if they fail to win a title soon that they make a major trade, but for now they have so many picks that they can really just replace the underperformers with new picks until the end of time. They have the ability to sustain this with what they have for a long time. But they also have the ability to make a major trade, something they haven't done yet, if they fail to win a title.

an aggressive FO who knows a player doesn't fit and gets off of them for value vs what we have shoving a square peg into a circle hole and saying oh well we tried

Sell high on AB?

Might need to...which sucks, because he's ready NOW to take KCP's spot for a third of the price...but KCP's overpay, as you said, makes him tougher to move for any value. IF there was some kind of big, ballsy move - KCP's larger salary might be handy because he IS a good player and you can't just stockpile 4 scrubs to salary match for one player incoming...that'd be the best scenario, imo. I really like KCP but his signing is just a hurdle to the next step up, rather than the positive it was meant to be.

[Optimus_Steel]

Everyone thought Durant/WB/Harden would be a dynast for 10 years and then whoops. In the NBA you just never know, especially when you have a cheap owner…

[KillMonger]

[BadMofoPimp]

[quote="KillMonger"][/quote]

[SOUL]

Watching Pistons FA hitting threes and playing PG

[Optimus_Steel]

This Det/NY series is chaotic lol

Bickerstaff with a terrible challenge that he was certain to lose lol

[basketballRob]

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[Bensational]

I’d love to see the Pistons upset the Knicks just for the upset value.

[eyriq]

Memphis whooping dat