OKC is the Future? OKC vs Rockets

We should shoot for the 40 wins OKC achieved this year. That’s a solid goal for making a pivot like we want to do.

I’m straight up jealous of OKC. I believe Chet is going to be ridiculously good next season. They will be even better.

everyone wanted to make fun of Presti’s hoarding of picks, saying it doesn’t translate into winning. Now look where they are. They can control the next several drafts and they have the assets to outbid anyone if a star becomes available.

I don’t think Stone’s done a good enough job hoarding picks.

 

I really hope Okc doesn't add Jarace Walker to their current team. They definitely have a good thing going so far.

All nba/all star lead guard who impacts winning with a emerging sidekick Giddy in the back court. Chet returning next year. top incoming draft pick in a few months. Young bigs and wings. Soon they'll be able to weed out who fits and who doesn't fit in their collection of players, when it comes to winning and establish a true core to move forward with and establish an identity.

 

Giddey has improved A LOT. More than I expected. I believe @Clutch was not high on him at all either, before the draft.

 

Lol at Ainge who is behind Presti.

Competitive at the wrong time.

 

The Thunder have a strong organization that is detail oriented and decisions are well thought out and fit into their larger philosophy.

They have drafted players that fit well together and they hired a coach that is very good at player development - they have supported their coach and let him do his job without having outside interference. There are clear cut job responsibilities and a packing order.

Basically, they are everything that the Rockets have not been.

The Thunder are not perfect - no one is - but they have to a degree maximized what they can by having a strong and clear culture, having a forward thinking and progressive front office and an organization that has a solid balance between basketball people and stats people.

Over the last two years they have added Holmgren (20), Giddy (20), Williams (20) and Williams (21).......... that is likely 3 long term starters and a very good bench player, and they all fit very well together. They all are long and can pass very well, and even fit well somewhat defensively.

Alexander has a 6'11" wingspan......Giddey has a 6'8" wingspan... Jalen Williams has a 7'2" wingspan.... Jaylin Williams has a 7'1" wingspan.... Chet Holmgren has a 7'6" wingspan... Alex Poku has a 7'5" wingspan ................ every single one of them is an exceptional passer and can play positionless basketball as well.

Now - compare that to most of the other rebuilding teams - the Rockets for example, have bottle necked themselves with some of their selections.

 

Yeah - Jarace Walker would be a beast on the Thunder. He fits well on both sides of the court.

 

Wing spans aren't the reason.

People really need to look at average age of team adjusted for minutes played. That is the answer in the difference between the two teams.

Their best player would be the most experienced player with the most years under their belt in our rotation. Currently KPJ is the most experience player in our rotation. KPJ...

So no, wingspan doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

Them deciding not to draft Sengun certainly was a factor for their success. Sengun would have been a major defensive liability for them.

 

OKC is the upstart young team the internet loves. I find it really annoying. I'm sure the pendulum will swing the other way a la Memphis.

Having an MVP caliber player in SGA makes things a lot easier, but they've been acing the draft and really developing their talent.

Jalen Williams is so much better than KJ. I recognize KJ's contributions and improvements, but he's an undersized PF that might be an average shooter. Williams is basically a wing creator. OKC has 3 PnR operators in their starting lineup, its ridiculous. It'll be interesting to see how they balance touches among Williams, Giddey, and SGA moving forward.

They basically got Dort for free. His efficiency sucks, but that'll be mitigated by giving his shot attempts to Chet and Jalen, and letting him focus on locking down the perimeter.

If Chet pans out..I don't even want to think about it.

 

The Rockets could hold a star to 5-8 years as seen with Harden but OKC might not be able to do so.

One or the other way, most guys want to be in LA, NY area or the oceanside, Miami, bay area......

 

this is SGA's 4th year in OKC. He's locked in and isn't a FA until 2027. so yeah they're definitely holding a star

 

I mean I don't want to put down Sengun but ya his skillsets don't match what OKC is doing with their 5 out offense that provides a lot of spacing and a lot of room to operate for their ball handling guards and wings.

 

One GM is experienced and is known for fleecing people in trades (including the Westbrook/CP3 Trade). He's also proven he can draft since he drafted 3 MVP players in a row in KD, WB, Harden.

The other GM is learning on the fly and has Patrick Fertita as his second hand consultant.

You tell me who's rebuild is going better

 

Just so everyone understands how fickle NBA media narratives are. It took a 10 game stretch by the Rockets bearing teams like the Suns and Bicks and they were instantly lauded as the team of the future on par with OKC.

The right coaching staff, the right veterans added and especially if we hit a home run in the draft can entirely.flip narratives so quickly. Narratives in the NBA are fickle, ever changing.

A couple of years ago everyone thought the Magic were a trash tier organization.

Right now OKC just won a play in game. In itself it's nothing special but in the heat of the moment you will see a lot of crazy takes and narratives from this one game. And if the Thunder get swept, then the narrative reverses.

 

aside from having the worst owner in the league, this also comes close to it in terms of how pathetic

 

He was also responsible for giving away Harden and wasting KD’s prime.

 

ya at the end of the day, the okc harden trade is probably the worst trade in the history of the nba in terms of lost championship equity

 

nah actually that belongs to Tilman when he foolishly traded for westbrick not only giving up the worse player but even multiple 1st round picks added to it. that catapulted the rockets chance from day 1 as a contender

 

How could he hoard picks he didn’t have? The Westbrook trade is why we are behind OKC in our re-build. We have plenty of draft capital and cap space. OKC started their re-build 2 years before us. We’ll get there, it’s just going to take some patience. Jabari, Green, and Sengun will all be better than Chet. OKC got a superstar in SGA to build around. With a new coach, we will be able to identify who we build around in the next couple of years. I think both OKC and the Rockets are going to be competing for the top spots in the West Conference in a few years. I’d rather have any of Wemby, Scoot, Miller, or Jarace over Chet as well. Giddy is good, but not great, but he is a much better player than KPJ and that along with Silas has made their re-build, so far, more successful than our’s.