OKC was 2-1 vs the Spurs with JDub and/or Mitchell healthy.
The loss was in double overtime.
OKC was 1-3 vs the Spurs without JDub and Mitchell.
Having 2 of your top 5 players is important.
Another regurgitated false narrative is OKC & San Antonio were built similarly through tanking.
OKC missed the playoffs 3 years:
#6 Giddey (traded for Caruso)
#2 Holmgren
#12➡️#10 Wallace (play-in)
Spurs missed the playoffs 6 years:
#11 Vassell
#12 Primo (play-in)
#9 Sochan (play-in)
#1 Wemby
#4 Castle
#2 Harper
Pretty simple on what Presti should do:
·Let Dort walk.
·Pick up Hartenstein team option or re-sign him for a 2/50 or 3/75 type of deal.
·Trade 12 and 17 for 8, 9 or 10 to ensure Yaxel.
·Extend Cason to a 4/100 type of deal.
·Trade Wiggins and Joe for future picks or an offensive minded wing.
·Re-sign Kenrich to a vet minimum.
2026/27 roster:
1.Shai
2.Chet
3.Jalen
4.Ajay
5.Hartenstein
6.Caruso
7.Cason
8.Jaylin
9.Mccain
10.Sorber
11.Yaxel
12.Kenrich
13.Topic
14.Carlson
15.37th pick or Wing (would have about 10 million to spend on a wing)
Credit to Castle for the honest answer.
But the question illuminates how the media has fed into and amplified the false narratives surrounding OKC and the Spurs.
again, okc is the only team where every individual is overrated who also waltzed into 64 wins and a 7 game WCF series without an all nba guy despite nobody being actually good
NBA discourse is crazy sometimes.
OKC won 2025 title, took Spurs to 7 without their 2nd + 3rd best offensive creators, and people act like they are at a major inflection point.
Do they have tough roster + $ questions?
Yes but 90% of NBA would love their roster + “problems”.
You don’t make brash roster decisions when you were one 30 footer away from making the NBA Finals without your 2nd and 3rd best offensive players.
Need to trade Dort.
Need to keep iHart.
Could use Wiggins along with Dort and the 12 & 17 picks to trade up in the draft.
You definitely don’t trade a guy that scored 40 points in the NBA Finals last year. It was just one of those years for Dub. The hamstrings will heal, he’s only 25.
You could perk my interest with a Chet trade, but not for 31yo Giannis, who is a proven diva and has gotten multiple coaches fired trying to play GM, and has an injury history. Let’s not forget that Chet is great against 28 other teams and is only 24. Would have to be a LOT in return for Chet.
We already know that the Thunder will add an All-NBA player (Dub), an elite PG defender that averaged 20+points a playoff series this year (Ajay), and a first round center (Sorber) to the team that was one 30 footer away from making the NBA Finals.
There doesn’t need to be some overhaul.