Official NBA General Discussion 2025-26 V1.0

[OakleyDokely]

If the Pacers win, they'd be a new team to win as well (OKC stole Seattle's records)

Franchises without a title:
Indiana
Phoenix
Utah
Brooklyn
Orlando
Charlotte
LA Clippers
Memphis
Minnesota
New Orleans

Franchises who've never been to a finals:
Charlotte
LA Clippers
Memphis
Minnesota
New Orleans

[Dr Positivity]

The Pacers have a fantastic team that would be the best finals loser of this decade if Okc wins in my opinion.

[YogurtProducer]

What is with this weird little Presti fan club on here.

Everyone in the league trades PG13 for what Presti did. He was literally in a “right place right time” situation and the rebuild of the thunder has more to do with Kawhi/PG than it does Presti.

Like at the end of the day OKC doesn’t care how it happened, but it’s not like you can simply sing Prestis praises for accepting the most brain dead obvious trade of the modern NBA.

Exactly.

They also seem to forget that they wanted OKC to trade SGA so they could bottom out and get their superstar. SGA didn’t fit the “timeline” was the narrative here.

Presti has no doubt added some good pieces but the reality is they are a play-in team without SGA. And without him they’d be firmly stuck in the middle with a flawed core.

Who is "they wanted OKC to trade SGA"? Show receipt of me saying that

Plenty of OKC fans didn’t buy SGA as a future stud. They thought they should tank more and get a real superstar in his place.

I don’t think he directly meant you, but tbh with your post history you probably did when he wasn’t a superstar day 1

[WaltFrazier]

What is with this weird little Presti fan club on here.

Everyone in the league trades PG13 for what Presti did. He was literally in a “right place right time” situation and the rebuild of the thunder has more to do with Kawhi/PG than it does Presti.

Like at the end of the day OKC doesn’t care how it happened, but it’s not like you can simply sing Prestis praises for accepting the most brain dead obvious trade of the modern NBA.

Exactly.

They also seem to forget that they wanted OKC to trade SGA so they could bottom out and get their superstar. SGA didn’t fit the “timeline” was the narrative here.

Presti has no doubt added some good pieces but the reality is they are a play-in team without SGA. And without him they’d be firmly stuck in the middle with a flawed core.

Who is "they wanted OKC to trade SGA"? Show receipt of me saying that

Also, when SGA came to OKC he was a very good young talent, not yet a superstar. He became a superstar and MVP after a couple years.

[Los_29]

Exactly.

They also seem to forget that they wanted OKC to trade SGA so they could bottom out and get their superstar. SGA didn’t fit the “timeline” was the narrative here.

Presti has no doubt added some good pieces but the reality is they are a play-in team without SGA. And without him they’d be firmly stuck in the middle with a flawed core.

Who is "they wanted OKC to trade SGA"? Show receipt of me saying that

Also, when SGA came to OKC he was a very good young talent, not yet a superstar. He became a superstar and MVP after a couple years.

But that just makes it even worse. They thought SGA wasn’t good or young enough so he should be traded.

To be fair, no one expected this. SGA showed dramatic improvement but I think it’s a great example of the impatience that some people have. Always want that mystery box over proven players.

[WaltFrazier]

Who is "they wanted OKC to trade SGA"? Show receipt of me saying that

Also, when SGA came to OKC he was a very good young talent, not yet a superstar. He became a superstar and MVP after a couple years.

But that just makes it even worse. They thought SGA wasn’t good or young enough so he should be traded.

To be fair, no one expected this. SGA showed dramatic improvement but I think it’s a great example of the impatience that some people have. Always want that mystery box over proven players.

Makes what even worse? Who thought SGA was too old and should be traded for? Who are the "some people"?

I'm not sure what your argument is, and I'm not on a side here. But I seem to remember a season or two where OKC shut down SGA early when he wasn't hurt that badly. Although he didn't play in that 2021 Olympic qualifier loss to Czechia so maybe he was hurt. In any case Presti had a plan in place and never planned to trade him.

[Los_29]

Also, when SGA came to OKC he was a very good young talent, not yet a superstar. He became a superstar and MVP after a couple years.

But that just makes it even worse. They thought SGA wasn’t good or young enough so he should be traded.

To be fair, no one expected this. SGA showed dramatic improvement but I think it’s a great example of the impatience that some people have. Always want that mystery box over proven players.

Makes what even worse? Who thought SGA was too old and should be traded for? Who are the "some people"?

I'm not sure what your argument is, and I'm not on a side here. But I seem to remember a season or two where OKC shut down SGA early when he wasn't hurt that badly. Although he didn't play in that 2021 Olympic qualifier loss to Czechia so maybe he was hurt. In any case Presti had a plan in place and never planned to trade him.

I’m not saying Presti wanted to trade him.

But on this forum the ones that were in favour of tanking thought OKC should trade him because he could get OKC some extra wins which could jeopardize their chance of a top pick. They also said he didn’t fit the “timeline” which became a running joke around here.

Some have said Presti had a plan. But his plan would be looking incredibly mediocre with a core of Chet, Giddey, Jdubs and guys like Joe and Wiggins.

SGA is the main reason why they are where they are. Without him they are fighting for those play-in spots.

[WaltFrazier]

But that just makes it even worse. They thought SGA wasn’t good or young enough so he should be traded.

To be fair, no one expected this. SGA showed dramatic improvement but I think it’s a great example of the impatience that some people have. Always want that mystery box over proven players.

Makes what even worse? Who thought SGA was too old and should be traded for? Who are the "some people"?

I'm not sure what your argument is, and I'm not on a side here. But I seem to remember a season or two where OKC shut down SGA early when he wasn't hurt that badly. Although he didn't play in that 2021 Olympic qualifier loss to Czechia so maybe he was hurt. In any case Presti had a plan in place and never planned to trade him.

I’m not saying Presti wanted to trade him.

But on this forum the ones that were in favour of tanking thought OKC should trade him because he could get OKC some extra wins which could jeopardize their chance of a top pick. They also said he didn’t fit the “timeline” which became a running joke around here.

Some have said Presti had a plan. But his plan would be looking incredibly mediocre with a core of Chet, Giddey, Jdubs and guys like Joe and Wiggins.

SGA is the main reason why they are where they are. Without him they are fighting for those play-in spots.

When you say, without SGA, what scenario are you describing? Would there be a replacement, or is he just gone?. If you took Haliburton, or Pascal, off Indiana without replacement, they're a play in team at best also. Same with many teams.

[Brinbe]

Thunder going back to the Chet/IHart double big starting lineup. Love the coaching chess match as we get further into a series.

[PushDaRock]

Thunder going back to the Chet/IHart double big starting lineup. Love the coaching chess match as we get further into a series.

Wasn't a fan of changing it up in the first place. They're the 68 win team, Indy should be the ones adjusting to them.

[Brinbe]

ooo good start for the pacers

[execoftheyear]

Thunder going back to the Chet/IHart double big starting lineup. Love the coaching chess match as we get further into a series.

Wasn't a fan of changing it up in the first place. They're the 68 win team, Indy should be the ones adjusting to them.

I'm not a fan of the two big lineup in this series. Indy plays too quick and we're already seeing OKC being a step slower because of this slower lineup. What they should've done is bring Caruso instead of Cason for more size but still quick enough to chase Indy off the perimeter.

[RandomRaptorfan]

I've been praying the raps could get nembhard since the day Lowry left and people were looking at me like I'm crazy.

[execoftheyear]

I think OKC is over reliant on Shai's ability to get to the line but he's not getting the same calls in the playoffs and you can tell it's affecting OKC's conditioning/stamina. They often use Shai's free throws to catch their breath especially with the way they play defense. Also with the Pacers playing so fast, it's tiring OKC out even more on the defensive end.

[GIZMO]

Pascal 4 steals already in the first quarter

[Basketball_Jones]

OKC’s offense is so wreckless compared to Indianas. Chet is the dumbest of it.

[PushDaRock]

Thunder going back to the Chet/IHart double big starting lineup. Love the coaching chess match as we get further into a series.

Wasn't a fan of changing it up in the first place. They're the 68 win team, Indy should be the ones adjusting to them.

I'm not a fan of the two big lineup in this series. Indy plays too quick and we're already seeing OKC being a step slower because of this slower lineup. What they should've done is bring Caruso instead of Cason for more size but still quick enough to chase Indy off the perimeter.

I understand the thought process from a strategic perspective, I just think it wasn't good from a psychological one. OKC was the heavy fav and starting out the series on the defensive going away from what has been their starting lineup all year long.

[Pointgod]

Thunder going back to the Chet/IHart double big starting lineup. Love the coaching chess match as we get further into a series.

Wasn't a fan of changing it up in the first place. They're the 68 win team, Indy should be the ones adjusting to them.

Exactly. Such a dumb, needless move. Daginault outsmarting himself with that one.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Pascal is the league's first 4-level scorer:

Rim penetration/drives
Mid range
3pt
Post up

No one does that like Pascal

[execoftheyear]

Wasn't a fan of changing it up in the first place. They're the 68 win team, Indy should be the ones adjusting to them.

I'm not a fan of the two big lineup in this series. Indy plays too quick and we're already seeing OKC being a step slower because of this slower lineup. What they should've done is bring Caruso instead of Cason for more size but still quick enough to chase Indy off the perimeter.

I understand the thought process from a strategic perspective, I just think it wasn't good from a psychological one. OKC was the heavy fav and starting out the series on the defensive going away from what has been their starting lineup all year long.

true...they should've kept the lineup for game 1 and made adjustments if it didn't work. But at the same time, sometimes these unexpected changes can work in your favour because the opposing team is preparing for the other more predictable lineup. I think it would've worked if they used Caruso instead of Cason because Cason gives up way too much size in the post and Indy was hunting him in that area. Caruso is a much better post defender even doing a decent job on Jokic the prior series.