The Thunder Roundtable

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[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

"Bobby Portis is set to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, on a 4-year deal north of $40-million"@JakeLFischer

He's really become a central figure in the Bucks culture & has played excellent basketball since moving to Milwaukee.

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

Oklahoma City are going to have to do a better job guarding the perimeter

This collapse into the paint defense isn't going to work vs Miami because Coach Spo is a master of manipulation

Those shots could be there all day - a recurring theme over the last 5 or so games

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

Twitter finally allowed me to tweet after like 6 months. I had a restriction on this account due to the FIBA violations

Great to be back and tweet about OKC again 💪

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@AndrewKSchlecht There is going to be some filtering of players on this roster at some point. We are going to lose a ton of games by shooting many jumpers - especially 3s - & allowing teams to dominate our glass.

This was a key observation tonight & the prior 6 games.

[James Piercey @JamesPiercey11]

Man there was a huge and extremely vocal “Wemby/Chet will be busts because skinny = bad” crowd…all deleted the app or?

[Thunder Moneyball @geola388]

This is Chet Holmgrens shot chart & it's mostly green (which is great).

But I have two major issues with it:

1. He's only TAKEN 11 shots in the paint in 5 games

2. He's taken 16 3PT shots

OKC is using him like he's Mike Muscala & that HAS to change (I love Musky as well).

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

Oklahoma City needs to get back to getting easier buckets inside. Right now, too 3-happy.

Quick trigger 3's, It's become very stagnant & not pretty to watch.

Run some offense. The "your turn, my turn" offense is not going to cut it. Let NO back in the game.

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

Shielded from criticism? You're trying to rewrite the past lol

That man was slandered to hell and back for two whole seasons with the Lakers.

Here's some advice - move on, everyone else has. You got a game today.

[𝙎 ⁶𓅓 @OVOLakeShow]

Russell Westbrook became so bad at basketball during his laker tenure, fake narratives came out of absolutely nowhere were used to defend him.

We saw moments of pouting, bad attitude, questionable locker room quotes, and lack of accountability after games which led to his fanbase using these moments we commented on to conclude that *laker fans specifically* called him a "bad teammate."

Next thing you know, the Avengers unite, and podcast clips from all around came about with 15 year old stories from ex teammates saying Russ was the best teammate I ever had, when nobody in laker nation denied nor cared about that in the first place. He just didn't perform on the court for a multitude of reasons.

What pisses me the fuck off the most is him getting constantly shielded from criticism by the statement "it wasn't all his fault." Calling out his bad play was so clear to the human eye and blatantly obvious that it became a tired take so they had to cape for him to sound different by stating "but it wasn't all his fault, it was just a bad fit." This shit was constantly said and the reality is he had a lot of control over becoming a better fit through finishing at the rim, defensive focus, and a better attitude towards our coaching staff.

Nobody talks about the team being a bad fit for LeBron/AD but one of those dudes somehow averaged 30. You don't lead the team in assists if you're thrusted in the corner as a 3&D player. The team wasn't fit to build around a $47M contract, but his individual weaknesses that were in his control are independent of that.

Nonetheless, glad he's happier and playing better elsewhere. That's the last I ever speak on that experience. Both sides won and this laker fan def got his joy back.

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

It's been one way traffic in the first quarter. OKC came out slugging & NO are just standing there taking them on the chin

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

The shot attempts shouldn't be the complaint IMO. It's where he's taking his shots from.

Not using him as a diver to finish in the paint - an area he's always been elite in - is terrible.

The shot attempts itself aren't a problem given how many shots are available.

[Sports Fan 405 @405Fan]

I’m fine with okc getting Giddey going. They need him to be good to be at their best but at some point you need to prioritize your guy with the 77.5% TS who is shooting 62.5% from 3. 5 shots is dumb. It’s fine for game 4 though really. They’ll figure it out.

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@rameshdataya @405Fan Yeah I didn't read "pick swap" as a set phrase. I actually meant the swap of picks

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

Oklahoma City involvement in the Harden trade is likely an Unprotected pick swap in 2030 or 2031.

That will be so valuable when it comes around given OKCs stars will be in their primes.

7 years from today, SGA will be 32, Giddey 28, JDub 29, Chet 28 etc.

Great value.

[Andrew Schlecht @AndrewKSchlecht]

The Thunder now have an extra year to have control of the Clippers first round picks

‘24
‘25 swap
‘26 protected
‘27 swap

The Paul George trade continues and it is a masterclass in NBA GMing

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

There seems to be some confusion around this pick.

OKC protects the 2026 pick to the 76ers so there's a possibility it could convey to OKC

2027 pick swap is great because the Clippers should be in full rebuild & OKC's pick should be in the 21-30

Two bites at the apple

[Andrew Schlecht @AndrewKSchlecht]

According to @wojespn the Thunder are protecting the 26 Clippers first rounder that is being sent to the Sixers

They are also getting a 27 pick swap from the Clippers

This gives the Thunder potentially another first round pick when SGA, Chet, Dub and Giddey are in their prime

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@405Fan @rameshdataya It's actually quite a clever transaction. By the time OKC will receive the swap in 2027, the Clips will be dead & the Thunders pick should be 21-30. Nice job by Presti

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@405Fan @rameshdataya Probably a sweetener on top. Pushing the pick out similar to the Denver situation is fine

2026 ➡️ 2030/2031 + sweetener is more than fine

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@realbraannxo @AndrewKSchlecht If I had to guess, the pick is probably 2030 or 31. Makes sense given where OKC are in their development

[Cooper Jones @CooperJNBA]

“Who’s the most likely to get crossed up on an island?”

*JDub smirks and points at Chet Holmgren*

*Discussion*

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: “Yo Jalen, didn’t you cross Chet on an island?”

Chet: “Way back in college, when he lost by 25, he did make me fall.”

(via @SLAMonline)

[Kevin Butler @KevinButlerOKC]

How Aleksej Pokusevski is pulling up to the game tonight.

Any stat predictions? Also just because he is off the injury report doesn’t mean he is guaranteed to play.

[Thunder Moneyball @geola388]

Player Stats for the starting 5 for OKC this season:

SGA 26-6-5 on 48-35-85
Chet 13-8-3-2BLK on 52-35-75
JDub 15-5-4 on 48-36-80
Giddey 14-9-7 on 45-35-79
Dort 12-4-3 on 41-32-81

Time to roll #ThunderUp

[The Thunder Roundtable @NBASkoolOfThort]

@DortPOY @AndrewKSchlecht I've always liked Brooks. I think he just got piled on because it was popular to do so.