i have watched this team at the highest mountains and in the lowest depths, I have stuck with them since 2011 and would never change teams, i watched as we went through a rebuild, watched shai in his first season with okc, watched dort dive for a loose ball possession against the timberwolves in the 2019 season not knowing he was gonna be a key piece to this championship, watched us trade cp3 after the 2020 season, watch us be not a good team for 2 years, as we drafted poku, theo maledon, giddey, jre, tre mann, aaron wigs, watched as we took down the mavs with a joe miracle while i was at a party, watched us go 40-42 last year and take down the pels in a play in game and ofc watched this season as well, to say i am so happy to be a loyal thunder fan is a understatement and i have never been so excited for the next nba season to start...THUNDER NATION LETS GOOOOOO
I been with deez boys since they were the SuperSonics. When they had cats like Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce was my dude. Never had I sold dem out, even when they lost Durant.
It is really nice to stick with your team for this long, you get to see all the bad stuff, but also all the growth, the development of core players and the complete rebuild happen in slowmotion. The OKC Thunder are probably the prime example, that showed after a failed few championship attempts and retools, how you should rebuild from the base. They did everything over completely, starting with Shai and drafting around him. Their insane wealth of picks isn't even used up yet, as a possible championship contender, they have more draft capital than any other team, which is almost unfair. Just to let you know, some franchises handle this extremely badly. They often don't know who to draft, how to develop them, who to trade with and for how much, or even how to use their players on the court. I think the Thunder showed all of these things and they are here to stay for quite some time.
@Clarence-bx2dl Oh my goodness, really? So have I. I was a fan when they were Sonics. I live about an hour and a half from Seattle stick with them to OKC ⚡️
okc is unfair right now, they are building their team perfectly , who knew trading arguably the best plyer in franchise history in russ and also pg would set them up for all of this
The thing that everyone is missing with the Hartenstein signing is the team option in year 3. OKC could accept that option, and package Hartenstein with picks. Year 3 is also when Chet and JDub need to be paid, so now we have a LOT of flexibility to either let Hartenstein walk or trade him, we can do whatever we want
he is there just to rebound and play defense and he was top tier at both they have more then enough shooting plus he has shown he can kinda shoot a little at least so you can’t just ignore him at least
@@jasewalsworth6852 mavs lost DJJ and signed a washed klay, shai > luka, j dub is gonna be better and now we have a center who won’t get bullied by dereck lively II. thunder in 6
Happy for you! I been a Heat fan for decades and I've been thoroughly happy as a fan the whole time. That's what happens when your organization is competent.
This Ain’t Even About Just Next Season Like Fellas This Is About Us Being Good For YEARS .. Extending Joe & Wiggins Solidifies Us Being On Of The Deepest Teams Until 2030 Honestly .. Not Just Good Which We Be But DEEP .. Nuggets Just Lost KCP .. Mavs Lost DJJ .. We Won’t Have Those Problems & We Have The Picks To Replenish Any Players We Lose Like Cason Wallace .. Lu Dort .. Cant Keep These Top Of The Line Defenders Forever Teams Will Come Calling Just Like We Did With IHart .. To All My Thunder Ik We Was Good Last Year But WE BACK & BETTER THAN EVER
Thunder fan here, I live in the heart of OKC, and I could not be more pumped up after losing Durant & Westbrook, and coming so close with those guys to winning it all. Thunder have officially contenders now, Sam Presti & company are phenomenal!
I think they should get James Wiseman. He will be cheap as hell. He will gladly take it, be humble being backup center, & if he could develop to be 50% of his talent, he could be a 6 ppg 8 rpg off bench, & a 10 ppg 12 rpg as a strarter. No need for him to be a focus of offense. Just be a Nick Collison type, set screens, rebound, defend the paint.
No reason to waste cap space on Wiseman when they already have a backup center in Jaylin Williams. They both provide similar production but JWill is on a cheaper deal. That’s the real key
Skeptical of the Hartenstein signing, he could be the Bismack Biyombo of 2024... For those of you too young to remember, back in 2016 (God, that feels like a lifetime ago) Bismack Biyombo was able to parlay an above-average showing in the playoffs with the Toronto Raptors where he put up some highlight worthy blocks and dunks including a 26-rebounds game against Lebron's Cavs but still single digits points and rebound averages (sound familiar?) into a 4 year 72 million dollar contract with the Orlando Magic... which was horrendous then and even more so in hindsight! That was the summer of nightmarish contracts. I would think that after the Kendrick Perkins fiasco of the Thunder 1.0 that Uncle Sam Presti would have learned his lesson and shy away from offensively limited big men... Now, Hartenstein is a better player objectively overall than Biyombo and Perkins. He plays solid defense and has a nice floater and touch around the basket. He's no Jokic, but he can make the right reads and passes. He's not a blackhole with the ball in his hand; he does have some dexterity, skills, and ability to play-make for himself and his teammates. We just have to wait and see if his performance in this last playoff was a flash in a pan or something sustainable that he can build from, and whether or not he fits with this iteration of Thunder 2.0. The best part about his contract is that it's really only a 2-year contract, with the third year being a team option, so if he doesn't fit in, he'll be gone after next season. This reminds me a lot of the contract Bruce Brown received last offseason after his championship run with the Nuggets. For the Thunder, if Hartenstein doesn't work out, it is big enough that it can be used for matching salary to trade for a better player, maybe even a star possibly (*cough* Giannis *cough*).
I wanted this guy in our team a year or 2 ago so I'm happy to see this fella here now especially after the season we had last season love it!!! It's like I knew we were getting this guy
Okc fan. Sam Presti’s best pitch to free agents. Russ and pg trades literally jumps started the re-load. Now he can say okc develops stars. He’s only been doing it for a decade and a half through 2 coaches. He has a young coach that’s probably the best basketball minded coach he’s had. Sam Presti leaves OKC we literally wouldn’t be a team. THUNDER UP!!!!!!!
Honestly I don't think Sam Presti can go wrong with whatever he decides to do Becaause I think next year were getting the most favorable of picks Houston Philly and us if Houston doesn't end up in the top 4 Also Miami first round pick would become unprotected if they end up making the lottery next year which by the way would be the same season Jimmy Butler ends up becoming a free agent So we might be getting 2 lottery picks in next years cycle which hopefully means we get Cameron Bozer that's the one thing that's missing from thi team
if the thunders big three was shai, ihart, and caruso, they'd still be a high level team. those two guys are likely coming off the BENCH for this stacked team
@@henry7486Dort is probably going to start with Caruso being the 6th man. Caruso has more offense than Dort so it makes more sense for him to be an extra punch off the bench
So far, I think the Thunder did everything they are supposed to be doing. It must be great to be an OKC Thunder fan. You and Ryan must be stoked so far, as the only 2 teams that legit got nearly everything sorted are the ones you both support. I'm not even convinced which was better to have, Caruso or IHart or even keeping their trusty roleplayers Wiggins and Joe. Why not ALL of them? :) So far, I'm very cautiously worried about my two teams, the Pelicans and Mavs. I was really disappointed seeing Naji go, but he went to the Mavs so that one is in a good place, going to shine next to Luka and hopefully start for the season or have more than enough minutes off the bench. This free agency thing is really stressful. Not only do you not want to lose your core players that you've grown to love and know their strengths, when they walk or get signed by someone else, you could get them see replaced by someone that isn't anywhere close, or on a contract that doesn't make sense. I have legit nightmares after losing both Larry Nance and Jonas Valanciunas, that our new NBA center will be Omer Yurtseven or something equally unbelievable.
@@KingK_09 Hey King K, was nice having you in the chat during the live stream. Sometimes you meet random people in a see of a thousand and have a little moment thinking about a shared team. And yes, the Omer Yurtseven was a joke. The stress of the free agency is certainly not. Losing Jrue for Bledsoe still is a heavy scar that remains for this pelican squad. I also disliked losing Devonte Graham, especially after having his best year and that crazy long range bomb from across court. But I guess Josh Richardson worked out for the most part. For some reason it seems like all that stacked talent that was there a few years ago, slowly went elsewhere. The only guys that are left of the old core are Zion, Herb, Ingram and Trey. Now don't get me wrong, that is still an amazing core, but with all the talks about Ingram, I don't want to lose yet another player. Also, so far the only player they gained was Murray. He is legit good, but not replacing 4 players good. Who else are they going to field besides him? They don't even have a single center on the roster apart from their rookie. We can pray for a Derrick Lively II experience, but that doesn't happen often.
Trading Giddey is going to go down as a horrific trade but at least they addressed the elephant in the room with signing a solid big man who can help when they go up against teams like Minnesota and Dallas who have a couple of bigs that really hurt them. Anybody out there though who thinks that OKC got the best end of the Giddey trade truly doesn't know basketball. Giddey is capable of averaging a triple double and you'll all find out how good he really is in the next few years. Caruso isn't even as good as Wiggins. I don't get it.
After watching Giddey try to match up with Dallas' bigs, hedging inside but unable to stop anything down low and not being able to close out the corner 3, I was seeing the writing on the wall. That problem is solved.
@@JerrySkarky LMAO Yeah you always want to give up on an extremely talented 21 year old who is an integral part of the starting lineup on a team that just went 57-25 exceeding all expectations, finished 1st in the brutal west and came within one play of probably making the western conference finals. That's always a really smart thing to do. Come to think of it since Lebron played terrible against Dallas and San Antonio they should have benched him and then traded him the next year using your logic! Good stuff bro....
@@joeldriver-sp2rg I watched every Thunder game this year, and almost all of them during the rebuild. Giddy wasn't enjoying himself much of the time the last two years. He played bench minutes many of the games. I defended him all year, but I can see that he can't defend the position he has to defend if he's to be a positive. His offense isn't the problem, but he's now the third ball handler after JDub. That's not fair to him, and Alex has several good years left in him. I hope Josh blossoms in Chicago, but his game has flaws that make him sometimes unplayable for the Thunder.
The Thunder are just too deep now man, y'all got Shai, Dort, J-Dub, Chet, and Hartenstein as the guys I'd start most nights, plus on the bench you have Wallace, Caruso, Joe, and Wiggins, plus J-Will as the situational backup 4 or 5. Y'all could actually go ten deep in the playoffs and it wouldn't be a detriment to your team. Wouldn't be advisable, but also not automatically a bad thing
YES 👏!! Sam Presti and the others in management have been looking like Geniuses since the westbrook/George trades! They still have many years of draft picks from the clippers as well! The teams is a Finals Contender Now! This is huge with Alex Caruso as well! Alex is a dog on defense man. I’m going to enjoy next year. This year was great experience for them. Now is the time to win it in the next few years!
I don't think it's as simple as "he will strat or be a sixth man". I think it depends on the opponent. Against most teams they will play their upgraded small-ball lineup with chet at the 5, but they will also play Chet at the 4 with I-hart against bigger teams like the nuggets, wolves, bucks. This gives them great versatility. I love it.
I love the lineup of SGA, Dort, Caruso, JDub, and Chet to close the game. I love that lineup as a killer option you can pull out. It is an amazing option to have. I hate the lineup of SGA, Dort, Caruso, JDub, and Chet to open games... I hate it with a passion as an opening lineup...
Still need another shooter. The Mavs clearly got better than us with Klay alone. IHart is great but we didn't lose because of rebounds. We had nobody to cancel out PJ Washington. We need Lauri plain and simple.
Presti may never pay for a meal in town again. especially if they win a ring. which I think is in the cards. how this is set up for now and the future is as good as I've ever seen from any gm
I’m confused, you said Hart was going to come off the bench yet in the Caruso video you also said he’s coming off the bench??? I’ve been on the wave of Hart starting and Caruso and Cason run the secondary guards👀👀. I respect whatever opinion you give, just feel like Hart is too big of an acquisition to not start?
I dont see a clear favorite. Any of OKC, Minn, Denver and Dallas can finish #1 in regular season but i think playoofs will come down to health. Denver is probably the weakest as they really lack a blow-by offensive threat but i dont like doubting Joker.
Denver's bench vs OKC's bench is a super one-sided competition... The game is tied, starters are getting subbed out, by the time the starters start trickling back in the Nuggets are down 15.
yea nuggets are pretty overrated. Once they lost a 3/d player like kcp theyre out of the contending conversation Okc, boston, dallas, nyk, indy, orlando, and houston have a better bench than denver@@1O1O11
3 point efficiency will matter to this team when it comes to the playoffs they don’t have knock down shooter really .Your best player is a horrendous 3 point shooter .
Not horrendous, but not too good. Agree that three point shooting is more important than the two defensive players they just added. If their playoff 3 point shooting would have been as good as their regular season shooting they wouldn't have lost to Dallas. Their drive to the paint guards must have three point shooters to pass to for the system to be at its best.
I think the biggest winner is Dallas, you got an upgrade from DJJ in Naji Marshall and Klay while also getting rid of Tim Hardaway Jr, I think Dallas now has to be without a doubt the #1 team in the west
Fr, you know Luka will keep getting better. He's only 25. Made it to the finals.. at 25.. shits impressive. Just got to hope the Celtics don't make the finals. Cuz Kyrie can't seem to win in Boston.
I Hart may be a bit of an overpay, but no big deal considering how many team friendly deals they have. Getting I Hart & Caruso checks all the boxes - size, defense, shooting & rebounding without costing a single draft pick! All of this at a total cost of losing Giddy, who was a really bad fit anyway? Unbelievable! Plus they managed to lock up Joe & Wiggins, draft a player with the 12th pick that arguably has the highest upside of anyone in the entire 2024 draft while still retaining their mid level exemption to add even another player? That's just crazy. Finally, although we just finished the 2024 draft, it's nuts to think about next year's draft and their FOUR first round picks in what is projected to be a really deep draft. Wow!
OKC have 10 guys that will be in the rotation not including players from the draft. If Topic, Jones, and Mitchell all pan out like our 2022 draft class, then there is no way that we don’t win the finals next year in my opinion. We just have so much talent.
To be fair I don't think there will ever be a 2022 draft class again for OKC with Chet and JDub being franchise type players, Dieng coming in to the rotation this next season and playing some valuable minutes and JWill being an invaluable piece off the bench as a genuine back-up centre
i have watched this team at the highest mountains and in the lowest depths, I have stuck with them since 2011 and would never change teams, i watched as we went through a rebuild, watched shai in his first season with okc, watched dort dive for a loose ball possession against the timberwolves in the 2019 season not knowing he was gonna be a key piece to this championship, watched us trade cp3 after the 2020 season, watch us be not a good team for 2 years, as we drafted poku, theo maledon, giddey, jre, tre mann, aaron wigs, watched as we took down the mavs with a joe miracle while i was at a party, watched us go 40-42 last year and take down the pels in a play in game and ofc watched this season as well, to say i am so happy to be a loyal thunder fan is a understatement and i have never been so excited for the next nba season to start...THUNDER NATION LETS GOOOOOO
I been with deez boys since they were the SuperSonics. When they had cats like Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce was my dude. Never had I sold dem out, even when they lost Durant.
It is really nice to stick with your team for this long, you get to see all the bad stuff, but also all the growth, the development of core players and the complete rebuild happen in slowmotion.
The OKC Thunder are probably the prime example, that showed after a failed few championship attempts and retools, how you should rebuild from the base. They did everything over completely, starting with Shai and drafting around him. Their insane wealth of picks isn't even used up yet, as a possible championship contender, they have more draft capital than any other team, which is almost unfair.
Just to let you know, some franchises handle this extremely badly. They often don't know who to draft, how to develop them, who to trade with and for how much, or even how to use their players on the court. I think the Thunder showed all of these things and they are here to stay for quite some time.
@Clarence-bx2dl Oh my goodness, really? So have I. I was a fan when they were Sonics. I live about an hour and a half from Seattle stick with them to OKC ⚡️
Been here since '07! Came with KD & been riding with them ever since! I love the development of this team 👏🏽 In Sam Presti we trust!
WATCHED MY TEAM GET BEAT BY 76 POINTS!!!!!
okc is unfair right now, they are building their team perfectly , who knew trading arguably the best plyer in franchise history in russ and also pg would set them up for all of this
Danny Ainge knows a little bit about trading aging talent for future success.
Best player was Kd easily greatest is Russ because he stayed longer.
@@user-dh7dj3yw1bthat how it works dwade is consider the greatest heat but the best is lebron
@@user-dh7dj3yw1bkd is gay tho
With Hartenstein at center, the Thunder can finally move Holmgren to point guard as they always planned.
Don't u men powerforward
@@Bball-Countyno, point guard
@@BestShootermanUbz they already have shai
@@Bball-County no, he’s getting cut
@@BestShootermanUbz funny now I see that your trolling
The thing that everyone is missing with the Hartenstein signing is the team option in year 3. OKC could accept that option, and package Hartenstein with picks. Year 3 is also when Chet and JDub need to be paid, so now we have a LOT of flexibility to either let Hartenstein walk or trade him, we can do whatever we want
Let's not forget to thank the Clippers for giving us SGA and all of those first round picks for what ended up being nothing.
to extend wiggins and joe AND get hartenstein makes me 100% confident we’re winning the 2025 championship
Wiggins and Joe resignings were amazing but I'm not sure if Hartenstein is the guy, also he got payed a lot.
Lol celtics still clear luke kornet finals mvp 2025
he is there just to rebound and play defense and he was top tier at both they have more then enough shooting plus he has shown he can kinda shoot a little at least so you can’t just ignore him at least
You are way to confident mavs still beating yall
@@jasewalsworth6852 mavs lost DJJ and signed a washed klay, shai > luka, j dub is gonna be better and now we have a center who won’t get bullied by dereck lively II. thunder in 6
Man oh man it feels good to be a thunder fan
Happy for you! I been a Heat fan for decades and I've been thoroughly happy as a fan the whole time. That's what happens when your organization is competent.
Same man same.
Hell yeah brother
Dont it😂
This Ain’t Even About Just Next Season Like Fellas This Is About Us Being Good For YEARS .. Extending Joe & Wiggins Solidifies Us Being On Of The Deepest Teams Until 2030 Honestly .. Not Just Good Which We Be But DEEP .. Nuggets Just Lost KCP .. Mavs Lost DJJ .. We Won’t Have Those Problems & We Have The Picks To Replenish Any Players We Lose Like Cason Wallace .. Lu Dort .. Cant Keep These Top Of The Line Defenders Forever Teams Will Come Calling Just Like We Did With IHart .. To All My Thunder Ik We Was Good Last Year But WE BACK & BETTER THAN EVER
That's the crazy thing. The team is built to win now and the future
Presti always looks like a cold calculated Bond Villian. The dude was put on this Earth for Thunder Basketball.
Thunder fan here, I live in the heart of OKC, and I could not be more pumped up after losing Durant & Westbrook, and coming so close with those guys to winning it all.
Thunder have officially contenders now, Sam Presti & company are phenomenal!
I blame James harden for not winning it all. He choked in the finals.
Depending on the offensive leap of jdub and chet i think will be difference if we win the chip this year or not
That's really the biggest factor. If JDub and Chet become legit star level co-stars, OKC can be scary.
So basically they’re going 82-0 by the way he’s speaking about em
Even if it's not this next year, it WILL happen. Gotta love the Thunder as a whole. Let's see what happens with dieng this year
Mavericks vs Thunder part 2 in WCF next season is going to be a. MOVIE🍿
I think they should get James Wiseman. He will be cheap as hell. He will gladly take it, be humble being backup center, & if he could develop to be 50% of his talent, he could be a 6 ppg 8 rpg off bench, & a 10 ppg 12 rpg as a strarter. No need for him to be a focus of offense. Just be a Nick Collison type, set screens, rebound, defend the paint.
Wiseman is so ass reason no one wants or fix him even though he has physique be all star.
No reason to waste cap space on Wiseman when they already have a backup center in Jaylin Williams. They both provide similar production but JWill is on a cheaper deal. That’s the real key
james wiseman potential and size def better, never thought about this but for the remaining 8 mil could def become a 11 man rotation 😭
Wiseman can't play defense. Check his ratings. I'd rather keep J Will as a backup, plus he's only 22 years old.
@@cringedaothey basically don’t even have a spot for him. Look at their roster and see if he can even get any playing time.
From seeing paul watson, theo maledon, giddey and others, to seeing this unstoppable team is actually insane, OKC IN 4
@LeeBuckethow can y’all forget Vit Krejci!? Dude was a goat frl
We need to see the chemistry before I start saying they beat the Mavs in a playoff final but OKC lookin real scary now for sure.
If they try to run bigs like last time the paint presence of him and chet will be too much
WE ARE SO BACK 🥹🙏
Thunder fans we use pray for times like this again
We had to wait like 3 years while ome teams have been waiting decades.
@@ctoaun23 that’s bc they don’t have Sam presti
I been a fan since the sonics I love this team 2026 should be the year
In the context of 29M for a 5th or 6th man not worth at all. But in a context of 29M to fix your biggest problem 100% worth
Spot on!
I wanted deni avdija and hartenstein but can’t complain
Skeptical of the Hartenstein signing, he could be the Bismack Biyombo of 2024... For those of you too young to remember, back in 2016 (God, that feels like a lifetime ago) Bismack Biyombo was able to parlay an above-average showing in the playoffs with the Toronto Raptors where he put up some highlight worthy blocks and dunks including a 26-rebounds game against Lebron's Cavs but still single digits points and rebound averages (sound familiar?) into a 4 year 72 million dollar contract with the Orlando Magic... which was horrendous then and even more so in hindsight! That was the summer of nightmarish contracts. I would think that after the Kendrick Perkins fiasco of the Thunder 1.0 that Uncle Sam Presti would have learned his lesson and shy away from offensively limited big men... Now, Hartenstein is a better player objectively overall than Biyombo and Perkins. He plays solid defense and has a nice floater and touch around the basket. He's no Jokic, but he can make the right reads and passes. He's not a blackhole with the ball in his hand; he does have some dexterity, skills, and ability to play-make for himself and his teammates. We just have to wait and see if his performance in this last playoff was a flash in a pan or something sustainable that he can build from, and whether or not he fits with this iteration of Thunder 2.0. The best part about his contract is that it's really only a 2-year contract, with the third year being a team option, so if he doesn't fit in, he'll be gone after next season. This reminds me a lot of the contract Bruce Brown received last offseason after his championship run with the Nuggets. For the Thunder, if Hartenstein doesn't work out, it is big enough that it can be used for matching salary to trade for a better player, maybe even a star possibly (*cough* Giannis *cough*).
As of now theyre my pick to win it all. I think we'll get another new champion team this year!
Sam Prestie is the Tom Brady of GMs
They should trade for Dorian Feney-Smith and Denis Schroeder.
I wanted this guy in our team a year or 2 ago so I'm happy to see this fella here now especially after the season we had last season love it!!! It's like I knew we were getting this guy
The problem with the thunders is that they are the thunders 😂 y'all ain't gonna win
Everybody seems to be winning the NBA off-season 😂😂😂 I guess that's why we play the games
iHart holy overpay still, love the signings of Wiggs and Isaiah tho
Okc fan. Sam Presti’s best pitch to free agents. Russ and pg trades literally jumps started the re-load. Now he can say okc develops stars. He’s only been doing it for a decade and a half through 2 coaches. He has a young coach that’s probably the best basketball minded coach he’s had. Sam Presti leaves OKC we literally wouldn’t be a team. THUNDER UP!!!!!!!
I wanna see a lineup of sga dort jdub chet hartenstein seems like a good lineup against stronger centers
Honestly I don't think Sam Presti can go wrong with whatever he decides to do
Becaause I think next year were getting the most favorable of picks Houston Philly and us if Houston doesn't end up in the top 4
Also Miami first round pick would become unprotected if they end up making the lottery next year which by the way would be the same season Jimmy Butler ends up becoming a free agent
So we might be getting 2 lottery picks in next years cycle which hopefully means we get Cameron Bozer that's the one thing that's missing from thi team
I don’t like the Thunder but this is probably the best roster since the KD warriors
if the thunders big three was shai, ihart, and caruso, they'd still be a high level team. those two guys are likely coming off the BENCH for this stacked team
won’t it just be Shai, Caruso, JDub, Chet and Hartenstein as the starting 5? I get what you’re trying to say tho
@@henry7486Dort is probably going to start with Caruso being the 6th man. Caruso has more offense than Dort so it makes more sense for him to be an extra punch off the bench
@eczotiic8026
Dort's defense looked pretty close to irreplaceable too in last year's playoffs.
SGA
Caruso
JWill
Chet
I Hart
Is this assuming the starting 5 is usually SGA, Wallace, Dort, Dub, Chet?
hard not to pick OKC to win the west
Facts. They got whaf they needed to clap the mavericks
They ain’t winning the west 🤣🤣
@@-hunt-6225 who’s winning then
@@-hunt-6225Evidently they’re a big enough threat for you to comment on a Thunder thread.
So far, I think the Thunder did everything they are supposed to be doing. It must be great to be an OKC Thunder fan. You and Ryan must be stoked so far, as the only 2 teams that legit got nearly everything sorted are the ones you both support.
I'm not even convinced which was better to have, Caruso or IHart or even keeping their trusty roleplayers Wiggins and Joe. Why not ALL of them? :)
So far, I'm very cautiously worried about my two teams, the Pelicans and Mavs. I was really disappointed seeing Naji go, but he went to the Mavs so that one is in a good place, going to shine next to Luka and hopefully start for the season or have more than enough minutes off the bench.
This free agency thing is really stressful. Not only do you not want to lose your core players that you've grown to love and know their strengths, when they walk or get signed by someone else, you could get them see replaced by someone that isn't anywhere close, or on a contract that doesn't make sense. I have legit nightmares after losing both Larry Nance and Jonas Valanciunas, that our new NBA center will be Omer Yurtseven or something equally unbelievable.
@@KingK_09 Hey King K, was nice having you in the chat during the live stream. Sometimes you meet random people in a see of a thousand and have a little moment thinking about a shared team.
And yes, the Omer Yurtseven was a joke. The stress of the free agency is certainly not. Losing Jrue for Bledsoe still is a heavy scar that remains for this pelican squad. I also disliked losing Devonte Graham, especially after having his best year and that crazy long range bomb from across court. But I guess Josh Richardson worked out for the most part.
For some reason it seems like all that stacked talent that was there a few years ago, slowly went elsewhere. The only guys that are left of the old core are Zion, Herb, Ingram and Trey. Now don't get me wrong, that is still an amazing core, but with all the talks about Ingram, I don't want to lose yet another player.
Also, so far the only player they gained was Murray. He is legit good, but not replacing 4 players good. Who else are they going to field besides him? They don't even have a single center on the roster apart from their rookie. We can pray for a Derrick Lively II experience, but that doesn't happen often.
Hartenstein and Caruso are two HUGE pickups. Wow.
I’m so excited for this coming season!!!
OKC fan bias lol. They won’t get past Mavs, Wolves, or Nuggets!
A fanbase is bias because they have team that can compete with other teams
Nuggets are trash
Wolves might have to lose kat
Mavs bench plummetted
Only team that could still be better are the celtics and maybe the new look knicks
They brought the top 2 black white dudes in the league
wiggins extension made me so happy by the time the contract is up he will be worth 2x that
Hey Thunder fans is it too late to jump on the bandwagon?
2011 was already too late...
Sam Presti, Nico Harrison and Brad Stevens running circles arround all other GMs.
We got our captain America, our Thor, our Iron man, our Widow, our Hawkeye, now WE HAVE OUR INCREDIBLE HULK
Trading Giddey is going to go down as a horrific trade but at least they addressed the elephant in the room with signing a solid big man who can help when they go up against teams like Minnesota and Dallas who have a couple of bigs that really hurt them. Anybody out there though who thinks that OKC got the best end of the Giddey trade truly doesn't know basketball. Giddey is capable of averaging a triple double and you'll all find out how good he really is in the next few years. Caruso isn't even as good as Wiggins. I don't get it.
Y’all Giddey fans are hilarious
Giddy didn't fit the team. Not a good enough shooter and poor defender.
After watching Giddey try to match up with Dallas' bigs, hedging inside but unable to stop anything down low and not being able to close out the corner 3, I was seeing the writing on the wall. That problem is solved.
@@JerrySkarky LMAO Yeah you always want to give up on an extremely talented 21 year old who is an integral part of the starting lineup on a team that just went 57-25 exceeding all expectations, finished 1st in the brutal west and came within one play of probably making the western conference finals. That's always a really smart thing to do. Come to think of it since Lebron played terrible against Dallas and San Antonio they should have benched him and then traded him the next year using your logic! Good stuff bro....
@@joeldriver-sp2rg I watched every Thunder game this year, and almost all of them during the rebuild. Giddy wasn't enjoying himself much of the time the last two years. He played bench minutes many of the games. I defended him all year, but I can see that he can't defend the position he has to defend if he's to be a positive. His offense isn't the problem, but he's now the third ball handler after JDub. That's not fair to him, and Alex has several good years left in him. I hope Josh blossoms in Chicago, but his game has flaws that make him sometimes unplayable for the Thunder.
please make more videos just ranting about how good the thunder are i love hearing about it!!!
When I saw the Hartenstein deal I knew "Cone is gonna have a field day!" Holmgren and Hartenstein will be unreal
The Thunder are just too deep now man, y'all got Shai, Dort, J-Dub, Chet, and Hartenstein as the guys I'd start most nights, plus on the bench you have Wallace, Caruso, Joe, and Wiggins, plus J-Will as the situational backup 4 or 5. Y'all could actually go ten deep in the playoffs and it wouldn't be a detriment to your team. Wouldn't be advisable, but also not automatically a bad thing
As a Mariners and bills fan, I can confidently say this is the first time in my life. I think we actually have a shot.
YES 👏!!
Sam Presti and the others in management have been looking like Geniuses since the westbrook/George trades!
They still have many years of draft picks from the clippers as well!
The teams is a Finals Contender Now! This is huge with Alex Caruso as well! Alex is a dog on defense man. I’m going to enjoy next year.
This year was great experience for them. Now is the time to win it in the next few years!
I don't think it's as simple as "he will strat or be a sixth man". I think it depends on the opponent. Against most teams they will play their upgraded small-ball lineup with chet at the 5, but they will also play Chet at the 4 with I-hart against bigger teams like the nuggets, wolves, bucks. This gives them great versatility. I love it.
I love the lineup of SGA, Dort, Caruso, JDub, and Chet to close the game. I love that lineup as a killer option you can pull out. It is an amazing option to have.
I hate the lineup of SGA, Dort, Caruso, JDub, and Chet to open games... I hate it with a passion as an opening lineup...
Still need another shooter. The Mavs clearly got better than us with Klay alone. IHart is great but we didn't lose because of rebounds. We had nobody to cancel out PJ Washington. We need Lauri plain and simple.
If I was questioning if they can get to the Finals, these moves stop all that. Their team is stacked!
I don’t think the thunder could extend markkanen’s expiring contract next year and fix both Chet and Dub’s new contract. I don’t think… could they?
As a Bucks fan. I know how you feel and am happy for you. OKC is up next for sure
They can’t keep getting away with this 😅
I'm not a big fan of OKC. But based on the trades they made, solely looking at both teams on paper, I would pick this new OKC team to beat Dallas.
Another Body to throw at Luka and Kai, and someone to help Chet against Gafford and Lively. Sheesh Mavs the team to beat now
He hit 14/30 from 3 at Clippers, just being a threat will help
if we traded for Lauri thats the BEST our team could have done... which ive crossed all fingers and toes for. 😀
Cone the thunder actually can still get Lauri too. He only makes 18 mill this year. And our clippers picks have more value now
Lauri going to SA.
Presti may never pay for a meal in town again. especially if they win a ring. which I think is in the cards. how this is set up for now and the future is as good as I've ever seen from any gm
Is hartenstein still gonna wear 55? Huge fan of him last season. Incredible player.
Yooooo just found the RUclips channel love the content on BR. Just subscribed
They weren’t a contender this year but they will be next year
Shut up, they're Champions by next year.
@@franciscabunoc5377 put yo 💰 where yo 👄 is
If we get Markanen it is game over. He is probably going to the Warriors?
Okc Celtics finals gonna feed families
Bro lost me when he said KAT was a bruiser 💀 dude stays out on the perimeter more than a guard
thunder fans are the funniest xd
yeah they nearly won the championship last year 😂
Thunder r op
I’d say 76ers are winning it got pg and getting rid of Harris was a W
We are so back. Thunder up babyyyyy
LETS GOOOOOOOOO! Trust in OKC
I’m confused, you said Hart was going to come off the bench yet in the Caruso video you also said he’s coming off the bench??? I’ve been on the wave of Hart starting and Caruso and Cason run the secondary guards👀👀. I respect whatever opinion you give, just feel like Hart is too big of an acquisition to not start?
In place of who? He would hurt their offence more than he would help defense.
I dont see a clear favorite. Any of OKC, Minn, Denver and Dallas can finish #1 in regular season but i think playoofs will come down to health. Denver is probably the weakest as they really lack a blow-by offensive threat but i dont like doubting Joker.
Denver's bench vs OKC's bench is a super one-sided competition...
The game is tied, starters are getting subbed out, by the time the starters start trickling back in the Nuggets are down 15.
yea nuggets are pretty overrated. Once they lost a 3/d player like kcp theyre out of the contending conversation
Okc, boston, dallas, nyk, indy, orlando, and houston have a better bench than denver@@1O1O11
I love this team
they overpaid for a center… that will lead to a team blowing up once the rookie contracts are gone…
Definitely the 1st seed in the west convincingly this time
3 point efficiency will matter to this team when it comes to the playoffs they don’t have knock down shooter really .Your best player is a horrendous 3 point shooter .
Not horrendous, but not too good. Agree that three point shooting is more important than the two defensive players they just added. If their playoff 3 point shooting would have been as good as their regular season shooting they wouldn't have lost to Dallas. Their drive to the paint guards must have three point shooters to pass to for the system to be at its best.
I am saying it. If Jalen Williams manages to become 24 ppg player without becoming worse on defence, we are winning the title next year.
Bro is cheeeeeeesing
OKC needs to trade for Dennis Schroeder now
All of this to stop a 20yo from Dallas 😂😂😂😂
I think the biggest winner is Dallas, you got an upgrade from DJJ in Naji Marshall and Klay while also getting rid of Tim Hardaway Jr, I think Dallas now has to be without a doubt the #1 team in the west
Not mention Grimes replacing Josh Green and they've still got a couple million and maxi kleber s&t to work with and sign someone else
Fr, you know Luka will keep getting better. He's only 25. Made it to the finals.. at 25.. shits impressive. Just got to hope the Celtics don't make the finals. Cuz Kyrie can't seem to win in Boston.
@@SicariiDTenebrisat this point they'd still be favourites to make it back to the finals
@@Slimnz-89they're not though. You can check
I Hart may be a bit of an overpay, but no big deal considering how many team friendly deals they have. Getting I Hart & Caruso checks all the boxes - size, defense, shooting & rebounding without costing a single draft pick! All of this at a total cost of losing Giddy, who was a really bad fit anyway? Unbelievable!
Plus they managed to lock up Joe & Wiggins, draft a player with the 12th pick that arguably has the highest upside of anyone in the entire 2024 draft while still retaining their mid level exemption to add even another player? That's just crazy.
Finally, although we just finished the 2024 draft, it's nuts to think about next year's draft and their FOUR first round picks in what is projected to be a really deep draft. Wow!
Great video. As a Thunder fan, I share your excitement. Awesome day. Markkanen...if...wow.
I can't sleep either buddy, I'm night shift and my adrenaline is going lightspeed bruh
Sga can't carry so he's now getting bailed out by presti depth like the Js in boston. Gm merchants and he was already getting bailed by refs lol
As a Bulls fan, I'm sad to see AC go. As a basketball fan, I can't wait to watch OKC this coming season.
I wanted OKC to get Quickley, but his free agency was restricted and no way raptors were letting him go.
Smh the fact that my Knicks lost hartenstien…..smh…..
Dort and shay are pathetic and would go down at least a toer if reffed properly. That Dallas series was beyond pathetic
I like how sam didn’t want pay them less money they deserve that money I love my team this we going to playoffs nxt season
ive never seen cone like this
#ThunderUp
OKC have 10 guys that will be in the rotation not including players from the draft. If Topic, Jones, and Mitchell all pan out like our 2022 draft class, then there is no way that we don’t win the finals next year in my opinion. We just have so much talent.
To be fair I don't think there will ever be a 2022 draft class again for OKC with Chet and JDub being franchise type players, Dieng coming in to the rotation this next season and playing some valuable minutes and JWill being an invaluable piece off the bench as a genuine back-up centre
$30m/yr for 8pts and 8 rebs 🤔
Hes a winning player.
You should check the stats that matter when assessing players - advanced stats, impact on winning.
Now bring Steven Adams back
They should get a Backup big forsure
Isn't that what they just got?