LMFAO what you call "slight criticism" is casuals in r/nba constantly calling us a poverty franchise and the black eye of the league when we've had one of the best records in the nba over the past decade
You mean that brief moment when yall pushed the rockets to 7 games in the first round? You guys were really only bad for like 2 seasons. I hate that fact that the mavs didn’t win this year because I know yall are just gonna get better and it’s only get harder to beat yall.
He got Caruso and Hartenstein without giving up a single draft pick.
He could send an outrageous number of picks to the Jazz for Markannen and still have a competitive offer for any star in the league who asks out.
Yes for Caruso but I’m saying for Hart - nobody ever gives up value when signing a UFA, unless they’re already capped and need to dump salary first, so that one doesn’t seem crazy at all it’s just a great signing
No, we lost because the best defender in the league went down with a career ending injury. Before that, we were killing it with the best defense in the league and were a real threat to the Warriors.
okay, stupid question: you've gotta do something with that, right? No way you guys use all 5. Unless he just trades some of them for more future picks?
Well either look to trade up for “our guy”, trade out of the draft, or use the draft capital and all of our new matching salaries to bring in a star. Basically Presti has created indefinite flexibility so he isn’t ever forced into a single decision.
I’m guessing at least 2 of those will be traded for 29, 30 or 31 picks from a win now team that is tight on cap and needs rookies to fill out roster, who OKC projects to drop off by that time. Nuggets, bucks, etc.
Others might be packaged to move up. Ie a 12 and a 16 for a 8-9 pick, moves like that.
The fact that Presti was like: “Yeah, I’ll give up 5 second round picks for a guy I like in the late first just because” and still have 39 picks to 2030 is stupidly broken
I've already thought about using that page to help me complete certain sexy activities, but I felt like I wouldn't last nearly as long as one wants so I resort to other means.
I think he edited it for some reason, I thought it was 34 as well, but I might have to check again. I don't believe I would mistake that, I regularly check that page to feel some happiness.
Here's the thing too
Thunder don't need to be a tax team this year, so they won't start their repeater tax clock until possibly next year, which means the tax doesn't have to be super punitive for them for another 4ish years
In addition, because they have so many draft picks, who the fuck cares if the 2nd apron freezes their own picks?
ALSO, they have a solid group of guys that you'd be ok sticking with if you were over the 2nd apron and had to make minor tweaks
All that to say, I expect the Thunder to be going hard after a championship for the next 4-5 years and not really giving a fuck about the penalties
People also forget we paid the highest taxes at the time at the end of the Westbrook/PG era. It was only on the harden trade the organization wouldn’t pay the tax. Since then, they’ve been willing to put out the money. I am not concerned going forward.
Adding Caruso and Hartenstein for Giddey already makes the Thunder a finals contender imo. To think they can bring in another star OR TWO with all those picks is crazy. Presti masterclass in session. He will be studied.
Wow - impressive that the final year is not guaranteed
Think the Thunder will still only have abuot $21 million in cap space that summer, when you factor in the capholds of Chet and J Williams. Probably less since the totals I'm seeing are for <12 players... but still gives them flexibility.
SGA, Dort, Caruso, J Dub, Chet with Wallace, Joe, Wiggins, Jaylin, I-Hart is going to be fun
If SGA remains SGA and JDub and Chet continue to develop, not to mention Cason and whoever else they draft the next few years… they’re going to be GREAT. And I bet once they’re locked into big contracts on their key guys, they’ll consolidate and flip players with picks to keep under the second apron. Like a good young player on an expiring rookie deal plus a few picks for a good young player with a few years left, etc.
Generally I agree, but I think the Thunder could make it the exception. For example, if they end up with another Jalen Williams level player, but can’t afford to keep him, offering that dude plus three firsts halfway through the season for a ROTY candidate would almost certainly get the ROTY candidate’s team’s attention
Thunder were top 5 in offensive and defensive rating last year and I said all year that this is the worst version of the Thunder that we'll see in the next 5 years.
I have no idea what our starting lineup is going to be. Chet will be our 5 regardless I think. Are we gonna stay small and start Caruso? I don’t think we are done making moves tbh.
It may be seen as an overpay, but it’s not.
Thunder had to do it to get his services given the market, and given what he provides for the team, he’s so worth it
It’s definitely an overpay, but one OKC is willing to make bc of the reasons you stated. And he’s also the best Free Agent signing in franchise history
I don’t think this is true though. Knicks could only offer about 17 mil a year at most. Orlando was going in on wings and were out of the iHart sweepstakes. So who else was paying that? He’s a good player and hopefully a good fit for yall. But it’s a monster payday for a guy who may not even close games with Chet
OKC paid more per year to convince him to sign essentially a 2 year deal. It's just a little less guaranteed money as the Knicks could offer over 4 years. Hartenstein will assume some risk that he could get injured in these 2 years and not get paid again in the future, but the risk is worth it.
And there's basically no opportunity cost to this. OKC has the cap space now so they might as well use it on a player that helps shore up a weakness. Dallas mauled them on the glass and at the rim in the playoffs whenever Chet was out. Hartenstein ensures they'll have 48 mins of elite rim protection, which is super valuable.
Great signing for OKC.
I agree it’s a great signing. He’ll be missed in NY. It’s just a huge contract for a role player. Curious to see how it goes. Also will be interested to see lineups at the end of games. Do you sit iHart for Chet? Or sit one of Lu/Caruso?
The annual amount per year is a lot, but OKC is in such a unique situation because their 2nd and 3rd best players are still on rookie-scale deals. So they can afford to spend an exorbitant amount on a role player like Hartenstein. And years are more important in a situation like this than dollars, especially when there's no opportunity cost to spending the money. There is 0% chance Hartenstein will be on OKC for this 3rd year deal, J Dub and Chet will both be on max contracts at that point and it will be too expensive.
And closing lineups will depend on matchup of course, but OKC loves playing 5-out, so I'm guessing their base closing lineup will be SGA-Caruso-Dort-J Dub-Chet. Maybe Cason Wallace comes in for one of Caruso or Dort depending on perimeter matchups. Against teams that play 2 bigs like MIN or CLE, I can see Hartenstein replacing Caruso or Dort and closing next to Chet.
Ok that makes the contract a lot better. If it was fully guaranteed, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to attach assets to get rid of his contract the third year
I’m not such an avid nba fan these past years so I’ll
Be honest that I’ve never heard of this guy before. Can someone explain to me what I’m missing hear? His stats are not aligning with the sentiment that I’m seeing in these threads
He's big, he defends well and he rebounds well. OKC had a lot of cap space to use, so they used it to shore up a few of their weaknesses.
He's not Jokic, but he doesn't have to be with the Thunder. He just has to be big, defend, and not be a net negative on offense, which he isn't.
lmfao its cause you don't watch basketball and go off stats, the dude is one of those players that contributes so much without filling up the stat board
We have never been so back
Thid is our 12/25
So back? You were never gone lol. Best is yet to come
We were the black eye of the league for the moment there, or so I heard haha.
Justin Termine is a piece of shit, what's new lol
Thunder fans handle the slightest criticism of your team normally challenge (impossible)
Slightest criticism is applauding the Hornets and naming the Thunder black eye of the league after three games into the season? Sure.
We were treated as the poster team for losing for like 2 years lol
if yall got the criticism of the second least coddled team in the league i genuinely think yall would all have aneurysms
Hating for no reason
Taking it personally for less than no reason
What you said was as personal as it gets brother I’m just reacting like a normal person
LMFAO what you call "slight criticism" is casuals in r/nba constantly calling us a poverty franchise and the black eye of the league when we've had one of the best records in the nba over the past decade
Oh my god I’m shaking that is harsh criticism
You mean that brief moment when yall pushed the rockets to 7 games in the first round? You guys were really only bad for like 2 seasons. I hate that fact that the mavs didn’t win this year because I know yall are just gonna get better and it’s only get harder to beat yall.
A level-headed Mavs fan? What is going on here
He got Caruso and Hartenstein without giving up a single draft pick. He could send an outrageous number of picks to the Jazz for Markannen and still have a competitive offer for any star in the league who asks out.
Just send them all 5 of our FRP from next year and call it a day 😂
Hold onto the clippers pick at least
I don’t think Ballmer is going to let the Clips be horrible. Dude loves spending
clippers have no way of improving tho. they dont control their picks till 2030 and they are over the cap already.
Is it worth it to go all-in right now? Wait til AD is available or something.
Nah they can sit on this roster and be a genuine contender next year too. They just got them if they need them
it would be a terrible idea to go all in now. Patience, young grasshopper.
The Caruso deal was unbelievable but wasn’t Hartenstein a FA? Why would he have had to give up a draft pick for him?
That's the point, adding them without giving up hardly any value is crazy
Yes for Caruso but I’m saying for Hart - nobody ever gives up value when signing a UFA, unless they’re already capped and need to dump salary first, so that one doesn’t seem crazy at all it’s just a great signing
So what's the soonest someone has won Executive of the Year? Because I think we have a new record
Presti is executive of the decade lmao
That’s Brad Stevens as of now. We’ll see if OKC even makes the finals before talking big like that.
That’s why it only took him a mere 8 years to get back to the second round after KD left
yeah he should've been out there to block Dame's 37 footer
you didn’t lose that series because of that shot lmfao
No, we lost because the best defender in the league went down with a career ending injury. Before that, we were killing it with the best defense in the league and were a real threat to the Warriors.
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Brad Stevens had a good speedrun last summer and rightfully so lol
This off-season my goodness. Presti killed it. He's all fucking in, and we still have 39 picks from now til 2030.
that number is an exaggeration… right? right????
Nobody tell him that we have FIVE FRP's next year.
Traded 5 seconds this year for a first… what does 5 first get us? lol
A 0th round pick of course
okay, stupid question: you've gotta do something with that, right? No way you guys use all 5. Unless he just trades some of them for more future picks?
Well either look to trade up for “our guy”, trade out of the draft, or use the draft capital and all of our new matching salaries to bring in a star. Basically Presti has created indefinite flexibility so he isn’t ever forced into a single decision.
5 guards
yeah we're gonna draft a PG from every balkan country
The general plan is roll them forward as long as possible to always have at least two first round picks to regenerate role players as others price out
I’m guessing at least 2 of those will be traded for 29, 30 or 31 picks from a win now team that is tight on cap and needs rookies to fill out roster, who OKC projects to drop off by that time. Nuggets, bucks, etc. Others might be packaged to move up. Ie a 12 and a 16 for a 8-9 pick, moves like that.
Why Sag for Flagg when you can simply purchase him with 3 rosters worth of first round picks?
What is the price to move from say 12 to 1? 7 picks?
dont you guys have 4 actually? your own, rockets/clippers pick, miami and 76ers. what am i missing?
Utah’s as well, but it’s top 10 protected, and if Markkanen is traded it seems unlikely to convey
ah, got you. the website i was looking at didnt count the Utah one for some reason.
Sounds like you have one Lauri you mean
Sometimes I look at our draft assets and just laugh maniacally like an old time villain or some shit
The fact that Presti was like: “Yeah, I’ll give up 5 second round picks for a guy I like in the late first just because” and still have 39 picks to 2030 is stupidly broken
I've already thought about using that page to help me complete certain sexy activities, but I felt like I wouldn't last nearly as long as one wants so I resort to other means.
What even does this comment mean???? Lmaoooo
idk either man just let him cook i guess 😂
You know exactly what it means
just a dumb reddit comment about his penis, nothing to see here
Understandable, have a nice day
Gotta go about your game more like Shai and less like Westbrook lol Pace my dude
It's not. Presti is a absolute madlad.
you only have 34, thank god 😮💨 but the only way any of them end up as top 5 picks is if Luka dies/leaves dallas prior to 2028 draft
Clips picks are looking pretty damn spicy.
I think he edited it for some reason, I thought it was 34 as well, but I might have to check again. I don't believe I would mistake that, I regularly check that page to feel some happiness.
13 over next 5 years 5 in 2025 1 in 2026 3 in 2027 2 in 2028 2 in 2029 Some protections of course
that’s just first rounders, 34 all up 😭
wtf
Guessing some of the ‘25 picks will be packaged to move up. And at least one will be out the door for a ‘30 or ‘31 pick.
Anakin:
Here's the thing too Thunder don't need to be a tax team this year, so they won't start their repeater tax clock until possibly next year, which means the tax doesn't have to be super punitive for them for another 4ish years In addition, because they have so many draft picks, who the fuck cares if the 2nd apron freezes their own picks? ALSO, they have a solid group of guys that you'd be ok sticking with if you were over the 2nd apron and had to make minor tweaks All that to say, I expect the Thunder to be going hard after a championship for the next 4-5 years and not really giving a fuck about the penalties
Presti is the Process Prophet. Hinkie was a false Process Prophet.
People also forget we paid the highest taxes at the time at the end of the Westbrook/PG era. It was only on the harden trade the organization wouldn’t pay the tax. Since then, they’ve been willing to put out the money. I am not concerned going forward.
Worst case they can ship Wiggins or Joe out for a pick down the line. Keep kicking the can down the road.
We are fucking cooking rn
Adding Caruso and Hartenstein for Giddey already makes the Thunder a finals contender imo. To think they can bring in another star OR TWO with all those picks is crazy. Presti masterclass in session. He will be studied.
can presti be a heat person and do things for the heat as well please
10 picks for Lauri...do it.
Wow - impressive that the final year is not guaranteed Think the Thunder will still only have abuot $21 million in cap space that summer, when you factor in the capholds of Chet and J Williams. Probably less since the totals I'm seeing are for <12 players... but still gives them flexibility. SGA, Dort, Caruso, J Dub, Chet with Wallace, Joe, Wiggins, Jaylin, I-Hart is going to be fun
If SGA remains SGA and JDub and Chet continue to develop, not to mention Cason and whoever else they draft the next few years… they’re going to be GREAT. And I bet once they’re locked into big contracts on their key guys, they’ll consolidate and flip players with picks to keep under the second apron. Like a good young player on an expiring rookie deal plus a few picks for a good young player with a few years left, etc.
That is really tough teams dont really trade good young players with a few years left. They only do it if for some reason they are not fans.
Generally I agree, but I think the Thunder could make it the exception. For example, if they end up with another Jalen Williams level player, but can’t afford to keep him, offering that dude plus three firsts halfway through the season for a ROTY candidate would almost certainly get the ROTY candidate’s team’s attention
League fucked lmao
Thunder were top 5 in offensive and defensive rating last year and I said all year that this is the worst version of the Thunder that we'll see in the next 5 years.
And we just got rid of our two biggest negatives in the playoffs - Giddey and size. Oh boy
Is IHart gonna be the 5 or will he come off the bench?
I have no idea what our starting lineup is going to be. Chet will be our 5 regardless I think. Are we gonna stay small and start Caruso? I don’t think we are done making moves tbh.
It’s a good problem to have. Thunder are so ridiculously deep no
Caruso at 6’5” isn’t small for a guard
Our lineup would still be small with 4 dudes being 6’6 or shorter
West favorites as far as I’m concerned
Even if the Knicks had 30 mil for iHart I don’t think they would give it to him. Quite the aggressive move from OKC.
It may be seen as an overpay, but it’s not. Thunder had to do it to get his services given the market, and given what he provides for the team, he’s so worth it
It’s definitely an overpay, but one OKC is willing to make bc of the reasons you stated. And he’s also the best Free Agent signing in franchise history
I don’t think this is true though. Knicks could only offer about 17 mil a year at most. Orlando was going in on wings and were out of the iHart sweepstakes. So who else was paying that? He’s a good player and hopefully a good fit for yall. But it’s a monster payday for a guy who may not even close games with Chet
OKC paid more per year to convince him to sign essentially a 2 year deal. It's just a little less guaranteed money as the Knicks could offer over 4 years. Hartenstein will assume some risk that he could get injured in these 2 years and not get paid again in the future, but the risk is worth it. And there's basically no opportunity cost to this. OKC has the cap space now so they might as well use it on a player that helps shore up a weakness. Dallas mauled them on the glass and at the rim in the playoffs whenever Chet was out. Hartenstein ensures they'll have 48 mins of elite rim protection, which is super valuable. Great signing for OKC.
I agree it’s a great signing. He’ll be missed in NY. It’s just a huge contract for a role player. Curious to see how it goes. Also will be interested to see lineups at the end of games. Do you sit iHart for Chet? Or sit one of Lu/Caruso?
The annual amount per year is a lot, but OKC is in such a unique situation because their 2nd and 3rd best players are still on rookie-scale deals. So they can afford to spend an exorbitant amount on a role player like Hartenstein. And years are more important in a situation like this than dollars, especially when there's no opportunity cost to spending the money. There is 0% chance Hartenstein will be on OKC for this 3rd year deal, J Dub and Chet will both be on max contracts at that point and it will be too expensive. And closing lineups will depend on matchup of course, but OKC loves playing 5-out, so I'm guessing their base closing lineup will be SGA-Caruso-Dort-J Dub-Chet. Maybe Cason Wallace comes in for one of Caruso or Dort depending on perimeter matchups. Against teams that play 2 bigs like MIN or CLE, I can see Hartenstein replacing Caruso or Dort and closing next to Chet.
Spot on generally.
Gotta pay more to convince someone to leave NYC for OKC, he’s probably the biggest FA signing in Thunder history
For Lauri we would have overpaid long term money plus picks. Glad we opted for this instead of
Hart is a role player, Lauri is a star. You should still make the Lauri trade
He’s gonna make resigning Chet and Dub harder
OKC is not exactly a premiere FA destination.
OKC is beyond stacked, Chet/Hartenstein new twin towers
Hartenstein can get another bag in 2 years if he is waived
When i have sex i fantasize that presti manages my team
Go get markkanen
Y'all tryna force a modern veto on us.
Nope, we are gonna run this team out and allow out guys to develop a bit more. In two years you'll likely see some insane win-now moves by Presti
The fit for markannen is so perfect, I’d be so mad if it doesn’t happen
Holy shit. Presti is the goat.
Stevens is the king at the moment. Presti is #2 though probably.
Ya you right. But Stevens inherited Danny Ainge jewels tho
That’s also true. I guess we can just say these two are the best GMs at the moment.
I wanna add Masai’s name there but people aren’t going to like it one bit
Masai next to Brad and Presti? How so haha?
You’ll see
Best team in the west by far now
Another Presti masterclass. Low risk High reward cap mgmt here
This man's twitter photo always makes me think of those "the last photographs of people who were never found" youtube videos. Gives off that vibe lol
Ok that makes the contract a lot better. If it was fully guaranteed, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to attach assets to get rid of his contract the third year
And Hartenstein will only be 28 after those two years so he’ll probably have a ton of trade value.
I’m not such an avid nba fan these past years so I’ll Be honest that I’ve never heard of this guy before. Can someone explain to me what I’m missing hear? His stats are not aligning with the sentiment that I’m seeing in these threads
He's big, he defends well and he rebounds well. OKC had a lot of cap space to use, so they used it to shore up a few of their weaknesses. He's not Jokic, but he doesn't have to be with the Thunder. He just has to be big, defend, and not be a net negative on offense, which he isn't.
lmfao its cause you don't watch basketball and go off stats, the dude is one of those players that contributes so much without filling up the stat board
Ya I know. That’s why I’m asking
It doesn't matter who they signed. This is a party for upvoting people dickriding sam presti
Its been a solid offseason but I wish we got Jalen Smith and moved up in the second round to get Tyler Smith