Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder

Moderators: Dadouv47, retrobro90

4 Questions

Poll ended at Thu Jun 3, 2021 12:27 am

Q1: Keep the GM
6
29%
Q1: Fire the GM
0
No votes
Q2: Keep the coach
5
24%
Q2: Fire the coach
0
No votes
Q3: Performed better than expected
5
24%
Q3: Performed as expected
0
No votes
Q3: Performed worse than expected
0
No votes
Q4: Rising Team
4
19%
Q4: Treadmill Team
1
5%
Q4: Waning Team
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 21

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Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#1 » by ElectricMayhem » Wed Jun 2, 2021 12:27 am

I thought this would be a good idea to do for all of the eliminated teams. Each day I will post one team that did not make the playoffs and any playoff teams that were eliminated that day. Answer as many of the following questions as you'd like:

GM: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Al Horford ($27m)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($5m)
Gabriel Deck ($4m) (not fully guaranteed)
Aleksej Pokusevski ($3m)
Darius Bazley ($3m)
Ty Jerome ($2m)
Theo Maledon ($2m)
Kenrich Williams ($2m) (not fully guaranteed)
Luguentz Dort ($2m) (not fully guaranteed)
Isaiah Roby ($2m) (not fully guaranteed)
Moses Brown ($2m) (not fully guaranteed)

Team Options:
None

Free Agents:
Tony Bradley
Mike Muscala
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
Josh Hall
Jaylen Hoard

Draft Picks:
2021 draft:
Own 1st
Houston's 1st if outside of Top 4. Otherwise, Miami's 1st
Own 2nd
Minnesota's 2nd
Denver's 2nd

2022 Draft:
Clippers' unprotected 1st
Phoenix's Top-12 Protected 1st
Own 2nd

2023 Draft:
Own First
Clippers Right to Swap
Denver Nuggets 1st (Top-14 protected for 3 years then 2 2nd rounders)
Miami Heat 1st (Top-14 Protected for 3 years then unprotected)
Own 2nd
Most favorable between Dallas/Miami 2nd.
Washington's 2nd

2024 Draft:
Own 1st
Rockets 1st (Top 4 Protected then 2 2nd rounders)
Clippers unprotected 1st
Own 2nd
Charlotte's 2nd
Minnesota's 2nd

2025 Draft:
Own 1st
Right to swap with Houston (Top 10 protected) or Clippers
Philadelphia's 1st (Top 6 protected - then Top 4 twice - then turns into 2nd)
Own 2nd
Atlanta's 2nd
Philadelphia's 2nd (protected 31-55)

2026 Draft:
Own 1st
Houston's 1st (Top-4 protected then 2nd round pick)
Clippers unprotected 1st
Own 2nd
Dallas' 2nd
Philadelphia's 2nd

2027 Draft:
Own 1st
Own 2nd
Houston's 2nd
Indiana's 2nd
Miami's 2nd
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#2 » by falcolombardi » Wed Jun 2, 2021 12:49 am

i would seriously consider trading dort right now, his value is never gonna be higher than with his current contract. is unlikely for okc to be a contender before his contract is up and his salary goes up (and value down), a contender team likely would love to get him in a trade witj his current salary

but it would be a hard choice and is not like thunder is looking for picks (what contending teams could give back)
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#3 » by ElectricMayhem » Wed Jun 2, 2021 3:59 am

OKC has a veritable treasure trove of draft picks coming up. Obviously they're not going to suit up all of these 36 draft picks, but what will they do with them all? How can they package them? When do they start? It's amazing how they've amassed so much draft capital but they're eventually going to need to combine picks and/or talent to make a play. I'm interested to see when they start.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#4 » by OkcSinceSGA » Wed Jun 2, 2021 4:07 am

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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#5 » by Statlanta » Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:38 pm

I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#6 » by Dadouv47 » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:22 pm

Statlanta wrote:I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.


We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#7 » by bwgood77 » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:37 pm

Dadouv47 wrote:
Statlanta wrote:I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.


We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(


Seems like a joke. Anyone you are hoping for in the draft? You think Presti will try and trade up to top 3? He has a lot of assets but he's not a guy that seems like he'd overpay, which would make it hard, especially if he tried to get to 1 which probably isn't even possible.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#8 » by Dadouv47 » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:45 pm

bwgood77 wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:
Statlanta wrote:I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.


We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(


Seems like a joke. Anyone you are hoping for in the draft? You think Presti will try and trade up to top 3? He has a lot of assets but he's not a guy that seems like he'd overpay, which would make it hard, especially if he tried to get to 1 which probably isn't even possible.


Well I wanted Cade or Green so...not gonna happen.

I think it's unlikely Presti moves up because other than SGA, we don't have premium assets (except if Houston badly wants their picks back, but it doesn't really make sense for them). That lottery was terrible for us...I'm higher than most on Kuminga so still some hope we can move up to 5.

At least the draft is pretty stacked so I hope we can move up some spots with our picks 16 & 18 (to get a guy like Sengun for example). I would use a couple of future FRPs if necessary because we badly need to develop some talent ASAP if we want to keep building around SGA
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#9 » by MoneyTalks41890 » Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:58 pm

Dadouv47 wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:
We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(


Seems like a joke. Anyone you are hoping for in the draft? You think Presti will try and trade up to top 3? He has a lot of assets but he's not a guy that seems like he'd overpay, which would make it hard, especially if he tried to get to 1 which probably isn't even possible.


Well I wanted Cade or Green so...not gonna happen.

I think it's unlikely Presti moves up because other than SGA, we don't have premium assets (except if Houston badly wants their picks back, but it doesn't really make sense for them). That lottery was terrible for us...I'm higher than most on Kuminga so still some hope we can move up to 5.

At least the draft is pretty stacked so I hope we can move up some spots with our picks 16 & 18 (to get a guy like Sengun for example). I would use a couple of future FRPs if necessary because we badly need to develop some talent ASAP if we want to keep building around SGA


Imo a good lottery could've meant we had some top guys and pivot to trying to win. I worry that this result means a deeper rebuild.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#10 » by flranger » Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:26 am

I can't imagine how pissed Presti was at the Clippers for losing that last game against them
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#11 » by Mike lorenzo » Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:31 pm

Change Kemba..to LAC?
PBev / Kennard / Zubac for Kemba
1 expiring veterans and 2 young guys ..

Trade NOP ..
Adams / # 10 a THUNDER
Dort / K. Williams a NOP

Gets Veteran Like Mentor + Other Pick

NOP saves a ton, (to spend on FA) On a better fit (B.Portis?) And bring Lonzo back gets 2 settings for Zion / BI

Portis / Hayes
Zion / Williams
Ingram / Bledsoe
Dort / NAW
Lonzo / Lewis


TRADE Houston ...

Houston24 / # 10 / # 16 / Bazley to HOUSTON

# 2 / Gordon to THUNDER

Houston Gets a Rebuild Package
Thunder pick # 2 Green # 6 Barnes or Kuminga / # 18 Garuba

Adams / Zubac
Poku / # 18 / Roby
Barnes / Gordon
Green / Kennard
SGA /Maledon/ P.Bev
1+1=11
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#12 » by Saints14 » Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:49 pm

They've only been bad for one year. What's one more. See what you have in the non-SGA young guys, and maybe get another top pick in 2022. Then pivot to winning or at least pushing for the playoffs before SGA gets inpatient, assuming he's still the guy we think he is. With OKC so heavily invested in other teams picks, there's less incentive for them to have to tank their own
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#13 » by BostonCouchGM » Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:07 am

Dadouv47 wrote:
Statlanta wrote:I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.


We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(


I can't imagine looking at a roster with SGA, Bazley, Poku, Roby, Dort and Maledon and thinking there's only one good young player, let alone being an OKC fan and thinking this. That's a seriously lack of ability to judge talent and you must be miserable right now and don't even bother watching games. There aren't many, if any, rosters with more young talent, nor franchises set up better due to having future draft picks and arguably the best drafting G.M. in the game. Yikes.

to answer the OP

*Keep
*Keep
*expected
*rising

I trade Kemba and Dort asap because I don't want anyone taking minutes from the very talented young players on this roster. They all need to play and develop together and we need to see the cream rising to the top. I'm taking Barnes or Mitchell at #6. If it's Barnes, then at #16 I take Grimes. If it's Mitchell, I take Sims.

SGA-Maledon
Grimes
Bazley
Poku
Barnes-Roby

or

Mitchell-Maledon
SGA
Bazley
Poku
Sims-Roby

either way, that's a nice roster that will excel in small ball full of length, defense and shooters. Not too shabby for having one good young player.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#14 » by Richard4444 » Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:46 am

BostonCouchGM wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:
Statlanta wrote:I think the core is declining/treadmilling despite their age especially since they haven't made the playoff this year to iron out their mistakes. They are gonna run into the same problem as the early 2010's OKC Thunder.

A good team, maybe even a contender that can't pay everybody because they have a normal small market owner group.


We basically have one good young player so we are far from that :lol:

I'm not worried about money though. Bennett was cheap before Harden left but he learned his mistakes and was willing to pay the tax several years after that.

We need more skill/luck at drafting than in the lottery :(


I can't imagine looking at a roster with SGA, Bazley, Poku, Roby, Dort and Maledon and thinking there's only one good young player, let alone being an OKC fan and thinking this. That's a seriously lack of ability to judge talent and you must be miserable right now and don't even bother watching games. There aren't many, if any, rosters with more young talent, nor franchises set up better due to having future draft picks and arguably the best drafting G.M. in the game. Yikes.

to answer the OP

*Keep
*Keep
*expected
*rising

I trade Kemba and Dort asap because I don't want anyone taking minutes from the very talented young players on this roster. They all need to play and develop together and we need to see the cream rising to the top. I'm taking Barnes or Mitchell at #6. If it's Barnes, then at #16 I take Grimes. If it's Mitchell, I take Sims.

SGA-Maledon
Grimes
Bazley
Poku
Barnes-Roby

or

Mitchell-Maledon
SGA
Bazley
Poku
Sims-Roby

either way, that's a nice roster that will excel in small ball full of length, defense and shooters. Not too shabby for having one good young player.


1) Sims and Grimes are second-rounders in most mocks.

2) OKC has to play some vets to help the young core.

3) The rookies from OKC are not very promising. I know they have potential but it's not a sure thing. Bazley had shot poorly. Poku after a terrible starting had really good games. Maledon is average, he gives Frank Knitlikina feelings. Dort is improving but it's nonsense overpay to keep him. OKC has a lot of picks. They can't be too sentimental about mediocre players. Trade them if they not improve.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#15 » by stormi » Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:11 pm

BostonCouchGM wrote:at #16 I take Grimes.


Would meltdown if we drafted Grimes at 28... There's far better value to be had.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#16 » by cupcakesnake » Thu Jul 1, 2021 12:35 pm

It's so hard to project OKC's core. We've never seen a team with so many incoming picks. It's hard to analyze the future of this roster with so little idea of how many of these guys have anything to do with that future. I've even heard SGA trade rumours and I just have to roll my eyes and shrug. Will they try to build a young core and then sell off future picks for veteran help? Will Presti keep trading everyone and rolling the dice until he has a Durant level cornerstone? Will OKC maybe decide that the real purpose of the NBA is obtain the most draft picks, so franchises chasing championships are missing the point?

Scottie Barnes jumper is looking more normal in workouts. The only big reservation on him as a prospect was that his jumper looked horrible. If the long term projection on that jumper: SGA, Dort, Barnes at the 1-2-3 would be a monstrous perimeter defense. One fun thing about SGA is that he's really honed his ability to thrive on and off the ball by being forced to share the backcourt with guys like Lou Will and Chris Paul. He feels like a guard that you could play next to anyone and he can thrive as the primary or secondary attacker. Whether he plays this season primarily with Kemba Walker or Theo Maledon or whoever else, SGA is going to do his thing.

Will be fun to see Poku in year 2. Hard to say yet if he's a real NBA player or not. His confidence is unreal and he does some things at that size that keep us interested. Was I the only one who was intrigued by Moses Brown? Bummed they lost him/hope he thrives in Boston.

If Barnes ends up climbing into the top 5, that means one of those juicy top 5 guys is falling to OKC. I know OKC got a bad draft scenario, but with Barnes making this a 6 person draft, OKC still figures to get an elite prospect. This is a fun draft to have a mid first round pick in too because there's just this solid glut from 7-25 of guys that might be really good. I think most teams are going to have someone they ranked higher on their draft board fall into their range.

This is the dreamer phase for OKC. Everything is more exciting before things settle into an actual reality.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#17 » by Dan Z » Thu Jul 1, 2021 9:45 pm

jamaalstar21 wrote:It's so hard to project OKC's core. We've never seen a team with so many incoming picks. It's hard to analyze the future of this roster with so little idea of how many of these guys have anything to do with that future. I've even heard SGA trade rumours and I just have to roll my eyes and shrug. Will they try to build a young core and then sell off future picks for veteran help? Will Presti keep trading everyone and rolling the dice until he has a Durant level cornerstone? Will OKC maybe decide that the real purpose of the NBA is obtain the most draft picks, so franchises chasing championships are missing the point?

Scottie Barnes jumper is looking more normal in workouts. The only big reservation on him as a prospect was that his jumper looked horrible. If the long term projection on that jumper: SGA, Dort, Barnes at the 1-2-3 would be a monstrous perimeter defense. One fun thing about SGA is that he's really honed his ability to thrive on and off the ball by being forced to share the backcourt with guys like Lou Will and Chris Paul. He feels like a guard that you could play next to anyone and he can thrive as the primary or secondary attacker. Whether he plays this season primarily with Kemba Walker or Theo Maledon or whoever else, SGA is going to do his thing.

Will be fun to see Poku in year 2. Hard to say yet if he's a real NBA player or not. His confidence is unreal and he does some things at that size that keep us interested. Was I the only one who was intrigued by Moses Brown? Bummed they lost him/hope he thrives in Boston.

If Barnes ends up climbing into the top 5, that means one of those juicy top 5 guys is falling to OKC. I know OKC got a bad draft scenario, but with Barnes making this a 6 person draft, OKC still figures to get an elite prospect. This is a fun draft to have a mid first round pick in too because there's just this solid glut from 7-25 of guys that might be really good. I think most teams are going to have someone they ranked higher on their draft board fall into their range.

This is the dreamer phase for OKC. Everything is more exciting before things settle into an actual reality.


I don't think they have a core right now. It's SGA and maybe Dort or someone else who steps up.

My guess is that Presti tries to trade into the top 5, but can't get a deal done, so he picks best available player with his three first round picks.

Then during the season he tries to trade Kemba.

Are there any FA's who are fairly young that are worth it for OKC to pursue? Probably not...they could offer a big deal to someone like Jarrett Allen, but I don't think their team is really ready for that kind of move.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#18 » by DroseReturnChi » Thu Jul 1, 2021 10:02 pm

OKCfanSinceSGA wrote:Dynasty 2023.


its not guaranteed bc thy missed cade and presti has history of breaking up mvp dynasty.
Number 6 is abolutely the worst spot they could draft bust in scottie and sengun might be the giannis of this draft.

also its still only 20 picks not 40 which were 2nd rounders. with rise of sga, presti will be forced to go atlanta version and use up most of the picks in 2 yrs.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#19 » by Chuck Everett » Fri Jul 2, 2021 4:02 am

SGA is not going to want to lose 50+ games because the organization wants to tank to get better. He's going to want his MAX and a trade. You can count on that.
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Re: Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder 

Post#20 » by DelAbbot » Fri Jul 2, 2021 5:01 am

#4 for SGA. How much more to add?

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