I think any serious basketball fan would take Jokic over Giannis. The only way Giannis would be preferred if he miraculously became the kind of 3 pt shooter and passer that Lebron is.
Umm, the Rockets have a really deep team with the big missing piece being a star. Not counting OKC, the Rockets likely are the team most equipped to acquire Giannis without having to gut the team.
Am Amen’s shooting is a legitimate concern. It is obvious he worked on it in the off-season and, at least to my untrained eye, his stroke looks improved and his short jumper is looking much better. Amen doesn’t have to be a great shooter to be a superstar just a good one. I think that will come in time, but it will be a source of frustration on this team that is full of crappy shooters for awhile.
The Thunder didn't trade SGA for an aging Jimmy Butler or a loser like KAT. They let him develop and he became a star. He was a not a star two years ago (at the age of 24). The star is already on the team, just needs time to develop. Let the turkey bake.
I could also see him being paired with Sengun if Sengun's 3PT shot is passable by then. Giannis is at his best when he's a roaming defender that supports the C. I can also see him like you said just being the C but surrounded by elite defenders. There's still a small chance his own 3pt shot stabilizes, sometimes happens when players enter their 30's. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this possibility. He's been one of my favorite targets too.
Amen is gonna be a menace in that paint in another year or two when he gets real comfortable handling the ball down there
https://www.si.com/nba/wizards/wash...hompson-named-washington-wizards-trade-target I wouldnt trade Amen Thompson for the entire Wizards team.
This is a weird post. The Thunder can offer ~10 FRPs for Giannis. The Thunder can let the turkey bake while ordering pumpkin pies online. The players the Thunder would have to send out are also likely worth FRPs such that the Thunder could possibly send out 11-12 FRPs if they got a 3rd or 4th team involved without touching their starting lineup (unless Hartenstein is considered a starter despite not playing a game for them yet).
You think the Thunder can afford to pay SGA, Giannis, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren? Giannis makes 49 and SGA 35. SGA will get a max deal eventually as well. Jalen and Chet are both 35-40mill a year players. Just those 4 players by themselves would put them over the cap.
Amen needs FVV to have a 6-8 game absence so he can seize the point position as his own for a few games and find a groove. He averaged ~5 apg when Fred was injured just before the ASB.
I think Amen is more of a forward, but he is really someone you can use for "positionless" basketball. When he plays with Reed, I can see them switching quite a bit on offense where Amen has the ball and Reed spots up because he is the better shooter, but on defense, Amen takes the bigger guy.
Considering Chet and Jalen are still under rookie deals and making significantly less than 35-40 million and Hartenstein salary would offset about 2/3rds of Giannis's contract, yes. 2 seasons from now, maybe OKC has to deal one of Chet or Jalen. When Chet and Jalen are due bigger contracts, OKC at that time can send one of them out to get back 4 FRPs. There is no reason for OKC to look to deal Chet or Jalen now unless they want.
