What are the expectations on the Thunder, OKC’s playoff rotation, Favorite Playoff matchups

What are the expectations on the Thunder, OKC’s playoff rotation, Favorite Playoff matchups

On today’s lock on Thunder podcast how have the expectations changed for Oklahoma City we’ll talk about that and more with Michael Martin on today’s show you are locked on Thunder your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day let’s get it going on the lockdown

Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your team every day I am your host beat writer for inside the thunder.com Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod email the show L thunderpod gmail.com on today’s show we’re joined by Michael Martin to

Discuss the Thunder at the All-Star break how have the expectations changed the playoff rotations matchups and what’s to watch for for in the second half Michael how are you doing today doing great ready for Allstar Weekend how are you doing I’m doing good cannot wait to be in Indiana for all the

Festivities and you have something very special on your YouTube channel for those people to hold themselves over as we get a little bit of break in the NBA schedule without much to do in the NBA until after the weekend yeah I’m excited um I had a chat video that came out a

Few weeks ago about his shot blocking and now I have one about Jaylen Williams and his um great start to 2024 mainly in the fourth quarters but just overall how he’s been this season that’ll be a lot of fun go check that out Michael on Sports and all social platforms

Including on Twitter but Michael the Thunder have been fantastic this season frankly uh they are going to be in the mix for the top seed in the west and uh right now they currently set a game back with a game to play until the All-Star break how have the expectations changed

Compared to the start of the season now as we enter what is the second half of the season unofficially of course of course not by the numbers but we usually use the All-Star break as a line of demarcation how have expectations changed for you well not to step on the

Toes of your point because we previewed a little bit about this but I had something similar in the sense of I think some fans are getting a little um uncomfortable with the idea of them falling to four or five or something like that which is the reality is if you

Said that in the preseason every fan would have signed up said you’re the four or five seed you have home court that’s great but it feels like as the team keeps playing well and is at the top of the Western Conference if they fall just even a little bit it feels

Like there is some level of panic even though this team is way ahead of schedule yeah this team is so far ahead of schedule that whatever happens this year barring some just horrendous collapse is going to be an officially you know great season by every measurement you look at where this team

Is at and you mentioned it top of the conference is all just razor thin separated by a game a game and a half you know we’ll see where the dust settles on Thursday but the the home court you know this top four seats to get down to five for these teams like

The Nuggets Clippers Thunder and Timberwolves they have you know a a five game cushion on on five and they’re they are in Prime position those four teams are to be the home quarter Advantage team once the regular season is over and I think that you know the expectation at

The start of the year was hey if you can get into the top six and avoid the playing tournament that’s a that’s a great year if you can be solidly in the play in tournament and not worry about it at the end of the year and you’re

Seven or eight that’s also really good to be a homecourt Advantage team is something that you know is out of the realm of possibility for even the wildest homers you know if you would have said that in on August 1st or October 1st you would have been just

Picked apart for that approach and just viewed as just an obnoxious you know Thunder fan but everything’s broken right and it’s all turned out the the Thunder’s way that I look at this second half of this season and re-evaluating where they’re at maturity wise reevaluating where they’re at in terms

Of what they’ve been able to accomplish I think that this n team a good goal for them in the second half and an expectation for them in the second half is it doesn’t matter where you finish one two three or four but manage that four game cushion manage that five-game

Cushion up on a home court advantage and make sure that you’re hosting a playoff series at least one um in in the first round of this uh playoffs yeah I’m with you especially for a younger team and knowing the homecourt advantage Thunder have had historically I think that’s

Very very important you don’t want to throw a lot of these guys out in their first playoff series on the road in a hostile environment and the reality is with these top four teams like you mentioned with how razor thin the margins are it’s not like there’s a

Durant Warriors team that’s hovering at number one that you’re like well we got to play sort of the bracket here and make sure we Face them in the Conference Finals there’s not a team like that I mean the nuggets are still number one in my mind I still think that they’re kind

Of coasting and once they get into the playoffs they’ll be the hardest team to beat in the west but it’s not a situation where you’re like well we have to avoid them I think that for this team like you we’ve already talked about they’re playing with a lot of house

Money and just getting to the second round and having competitive Series in my mind would be an absolute giant win so I’m I’m I’m with you as long as they hold Pat and stand Pat in the top four you’d want them to get the higher seed

If you can but home court is enough for me no matter if it’s one through four yeah I think that’s still be a great staple and we kind of touched on it there about uh ations once the new season starts in the postseason but come playoff time I don’t think that there’s

An absolute failure unless you just get like embarassed or like swam out of a series like you losing four or five if you even take the first round to six or seven and lose I don’t think that that’s like a failure obviously it would be a disappointment considering what they’ve

Been able to accomplish this year but given the fact that there is no like team that is a clear Runway like you mentioned those Warriors teams were and there is no team where it feels like the Thunder have to play tremendously above their skis to beat what do you view as

The as the kind of kind of level of competition can play in the postseason I know that they’re young how much do you do you value their inexperience mixed it with you know what we’ve seen so far this season against that Trend so just them trying to Buck the trend of being a

Younger team and playing in some of these big games essentially right how how much do you kind of like put into oh they’re young so they can’t go in a couple series and go on a Deep Run versus this team has already kind of proven that they are already an anomaly

For such a young team I wouldn’t say they can’t do it I’d say the odds are against them that doesn’t mean they can’t do it like I think their cealing right now is playing in a Western Conference Finals uh beyond that I just think it’s a lot to ask for a team

That’s young there’s a reason why they bring up that Durant Westbrook Harden team that went to the finals there aren’t a lot of examples like it that that’s the one so this would be an anomaly and they’ve been in anomaly this season but I think it’s a big ask and um

The reality is there are a lot of things to play playoffs that we just haven’t seen these guys have proven it somewhat in the regular season but we haven’t seen Shay as the number one guy on a scouting report in the playoffs where teams just say you’re not doing this or

Dub in a lot of situations the number two and Mark in a playoff series really prepping for seven games or whatever it is that doesn’t mean that I’m doubting these guys but it is just a whole different animal compared to the regular season and then going back to something

You said about disaster I mean the only way that it would be a disaster is if the guys look totally un and underqualified and unprepared and it’s something like the Pelicans and the Blazers from a few years ago where the Blazers looked like they were just going

To take it and the Pelican just swept them but that’s about it I can think of that’s going to be we’d be here and be like oh what are they going to do next yeah so I think that with this Thunder team I I would agree that the The

Situation’s going to change in the postseason a big point that I would would wholeheartly want to expand on that you made about Mark preparing for a a a playoff series Mark’s been very clear the last couple of years that you know the preparation you do game to game

In the NBA for the 82 Game season is way more focused internally than externally and I believe that that’s the case for the majority of NBA teams to where even that aspect of it like you mentioned preparing for the Thunder much less them preparing for someone else is totally

Different whenever you get to zero in on one team for the length of a seven game series and make adjustments in those series I believe that Mark will be able to handle that I think that the Thunder will be able to handle that but that is an obstacle in their way that isn’t

Prevalent in the regular season as much because you’re you are more worried about your internal stuff most of the time now with the with the players I think that um on one hand you know I’ve been saying it’s kind of silly to to think that on April 1 the Thunder are

Not going to be able to play good basketball but it is different in terms of the basketball um kind of strategies and playing more in the half court for a team that loves to force turnovers and play out and transition all that is changing what I would say the

Expectation is for the postseason would be compete in a seven game series or better uh you know in the first round I think they can get out of the first round and we can talk about playoff matchups and playoff rotations I don’t think that the expectation should be

That they’ll get to the Conference Finals or they’ll go to the NBA finals I also don’t think that that’s off the table though that’s the beauty of it but expectation level of what they should do they should take a six seven game series um in the first round at at a bare

Minimum and I think that whenever we’re going to talk about kind of their matchups that is that is a fair fair fair assessment of this rusher so far yeah I’m with you I think that as long as there’s a competitive first round series I think that’s all you can ask

For I mean it might be a little be bit disheartening if it’s a team that fans feel like they’re ahead of already in terms of maybe like the Kings or the Pelicans but other than that if they play a really solid series and there’s things that we can build on as we go

Into the summer talking about this team I don’t think there can be too many complaints they’re they’re still very early and way ahead of schedule as we’ mentioned so let’s continue on talking about you know playoff matchups that would favor the Thunder and also matchups where uh it kind of change your

Your view because a lot of this is going to be matchup dependent plus what will the playoff rotations look like for Oklahoma City all coming up but first want to say you right now but your friends over at Robin Hood check out Robin Hood right now because they’re

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Hood we’re back on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day I’m your host Ryland Styles joined today is Michael Martin at Michael on Sports on all social platforms Twitter Youtube Tik Tok everything else now we’ve talked about the expectations changing from the

All-Star break I I think that we can both agree that like home court advantage would be a massively good goal for the Thunder especially compared to the preseason talk about the postseason a little bit let’s dive more into that again I think that you know you can only

Expect them to do a solid first- round series but there’s also in turn no cap on them as we look through the standings and look at some more favorable matchups as you look at the standings right now who would you say that’s the team that I would Circle for the Thunder of wanting

Them to play and who would be the immediate team where you just want no parts of for the thunder in an obviously very competitive West where there’s no just Cakewalk starting with the team that I would want the most just given their age and sort of how they match up with the

Team is the Warriors I mean they’re still in and out of that playin mix so they’re probably a team that unless you obviously get in the one-two spot that you’re probably not going to get to play I think the the kings are a fun matchup

Um we just saw the Thunder beat them I think that Chad has figured out a lot more about sabonis and how to play his matchup and then as far as teams that or if you want to go first I can let you do that before I get to the the tougher

Teams yeah so I think that whenever you look at this this kind of layout obviously there’s no no series I don’t think in the in the west where you just think that it would be a boat race for the Thunder or for the opposite side

Either I think this is going to be a very competitive postseason and one that I I cannot wait to watch unfold I like what we’ve seen uh from you saying the Warriors because what we’ve seen this season we’ve seen the Thunder handle Warriors in a in a high pressurized

Environment going to overtime on the road playing nail biting games down the stretch and also we’ve seen them you know handle the Warriors whenever the Warriors weren’t having a good night but the fact that this team has already shown that they can handle those Avalanche moments from Golden State I

Don’t think that they have very many of them left in their system because of their age because of what they’ve shown to this point in the regular season obviously they’re going to turn it on the postseason they’re going to have a game or two in the postseason where it’s

Old School Warriors and the crowds into it and they’re knocking down threes but the entire body of work this Thunder team despite their age I think is emotionally able to handle that so I would have to agree about the Warriors and then as far as toughest teams it’s

Just going to be the teams at the top of the West it’s not very fun to say but it’s the other top four seeds between the Wolves the nuggets and the Clippers who all just have their own unique matchup problems the Clippers can kind of neutralize small ball with just how

Many big wings they have and their versatility the uh nuggets do it a different way because it’s hard to play small ball against the best player in the world and then the Wolves are just obviously this ginormous team who kills you on the boards that’s not to say that

Thunder wouldn’t have a chance we’ve talked about and preached here for a while is that any of these series could go either way but they’re the ones who I Envision giving Oklahoma City the most trouble what do you think yeah so clearly you have to agree with that it’s

It’s the top four teams for a reason and again they they all have that kind of four game cushion on the rest of the West so for as good as the West has been these teams so far have separated themselves as much as you can in a very

Tough West for the sake of presenting another aspect I’m gon to say the Dallas Mavericks I I not just because of the Saturday game but because of what Luca is in the playoffs you talk about how the playoffs are different and how players react differently and perform differently Luca has proven every step

Of the way even even beginning in the bubble that he is just a different load to handle come postseason time and come playoff series and he can just change them on a dime you’ve seen Kyrie hit big shots in the playoffs and if PJ Washington and if n gatford are as good

As they’ve shown to this point for that team to kind of round out their roster you give Luca any sort of help and any healthy help I’m going to pick Luca more often than not and so think that the dangers of that especially in a very

Loud rockus AAC and the the playoff feel will be so I think overwhelming for each team because those fan bases are going to travel back and forth down I40 and and figure it out to to pack each Arena I just I would be kind of against playing Luca in any playoff format

Honestly yeah I’m not leaning towards playing Luca by any means either and the thing is with Superstar players we know they can affect the games in different way it’s not just offense defense rebounding shooting whatever Luca does a great job of doing with pace and we see

Guys like LeBron do it Steph rust in his prime and you’re just G to play at Luca’s Pace he’s going to slow it down the Thunder aren’t going to play at the pace that they have this season of just getting up and down and you are going to

Play 48 minutes basically of halfcourt basketball against Luca and he’s the ultimate chess master at that right now where he controls all the other pieces on the roster so yeah I I still think the other three teams I would fear a little bit more but by no means am I

Going let me face that guy you’re muted right now thank you I look at I look at Dallas in these playoff series and and I I see you know the path to winning a playoff series is four games you got to win four how do you win those four out of seven

Well Luca as you saw on Saturday and the whole Maverick’s team right now they can have just nights where there’s nothing you can do about it I mean yes the the Thunder down the stretch of that game played terrible defense and did not have the energy but but at the beginning of

The game to demoralize them the the Mavericks hadit very tough shots including Luka donic where you know L Dort was falling in in his lap and he just still cashed in threes he’s gonna have a game or two like that in that series and then Mavericks role players

Are gonna have a game or two where they just cannot miss from three that’s already one strike against you and then if both teams play their aame The Edge can go to either side and Luca is gonna get his at some point that’s two games

Right there so if you have any you don’t have that much room for error when you play guys the caliber of Luka donic and so that’s why I just would not kind of want in a playoff Ser that uh you know the Warriors even though they have the

More flashier names and and there’s kind of that PTSD feeling of what it was like facing the Warriors in the playoffs before that’s why I even have them uh above above Dallas on the list of of who you’d want to have playing you know playing against them now for the playoff

Rotation the Thunder have so many different aspects that they can hit you with in the postseason with this roster what would be let’s let’s start this what would be your overall like generic playoff game these are the players who should be playing regardless of kind of the situation then we’ll get into more

Situational aspects of it okay so I had seven guys for sure one on the bubble and then three they situational the seven for sure AR Shay dub Chad Gordon Hayward Dort Isaiah Joe and kenrich I think those guys can play against any team on the bubble is case only because

Of his youth I don’t think he just like gets played off the floor in any series but you know it’s it’s hard for rookies in a lot of these bigger games and you know Chad has a lot more big game experience just being a number two pick

And playing in some games in Gaga and whatever and then on the uh in matchup dependent I have Wiggins Giddy and Jay will just because if they play somebody like the Wolves you’re gonna see a lot more Jay will if you play against somebody like the Clippers you’re going

To see a lot more Wiggins you’re G to play a lot more small ball but I think the Ironclad like solid written in stone guys that are going to be playing in the playoffs for sure major minutes are dub Shay Chad Hayward Dort Joe and kenrich

Yeah I would agree with that I I think that you know outside of the starting five you’re going to have to play is Joe every single night uh you’re gonna have to play Hayward you know as long as he’s healthy you’re gonna have to play him every single night to provide that

Scoring punch we’ve both been huge fans of Wiggins you have to include him that’s already up to eight names right there before you even kind of move forward past those those names now Josh giddy can can obviously see massive minute reductions in the postseason I mean even against Sacramento things were

Were heading pretty well for the Thunder for the majority of the game he plays only 20 minutes in that contest so um you know he is in that eight but he’s not really uh a massive minutes eater for the center team as of this moment uh

So where I kind of have the line at it for kind of your bubble would be more so in the three backup bigs I love kenet trams there’s also been moments this year where he’s looked like an old 30-year-old similar to how we’ve talked about you know stepen Adams looking like

An old oh I can’t believe he’s only this years old you know with Stephen Adams kich at times looks a little bit beat up uh to where you know you want to manage his minutes I believe from now until the end of the season to to allow him to

Maximize what you know what he can provide in the postseason but between kenrich jayw will and then what do you think of bismack bambo as an addition to this team as a playoff tool I think he’s going to be sort of break in case of emergency or maybe

Something it’s where will looks a little bit overwhelmed or maybe needs some fouls against a guy like goar I think that if bomo is playing extended minutes no offense to him I think something bad has happened so I think that he has he

Can have a role on this team he can be a lob threat he can be somebody who just Dives to the rim who blocks him shots plays him drop covered and does him a lot of things I think more than anything he’s insurance and you hope that he’s

Somebody who just doesn’t hurt you but just stabilizes things yeah I I’ve I’ve do not think that he’ll be a fixture of the rotation I do not think that that he will be someone who um Demands a ton of minutes or or anything but as you mentioned break glass in case of

Emergency the playoffs are so crazy because you look at what the Mavericks did against the Clippers where they put out bowon against the Clippers and it works and like they they just threw a wrench and everything and it and when you really break down the playoffs each possession matters and each segment of

Game matters so if you win you know a fem minute stretch that’s huge in a 48 minute game and whenever you only need to win four games out of seven so I think that he can be something like that where he in in a way contributes you’re never going to forget those bowon

Contributions if you’re a Maverick fan if you’re someone who followed that series but at the end of the day it’s not as though uh it was the end all Beall type of thing for him so I I would totally agree that bambo will not I don’t think have a lotted minutes toward

Him but uh in a game where you need to change your pace in a game where you need more strength or more size or whatever it’s always better to have the option to have a someone like that than to just have to throw your hands up and

Kind of live with it that’s the exact thing that we talked about during the deadline is just giving yourself some options and the reality is with these playoff series they are Series so it’s sort of each individual matchup in itself so there are different playoff runs with different title teams where a

Guy is a big part of the first round and then not really in the second round and then he comes back in the third round and he’s a big part of the team so Biondo might be a guy who let’s say they get to the second round they play

Against a team where he is more useful and he gets lot more minutes than that but he’s more of a dnp in the first round but at least you have that option which is the thing that we’re hitting on the most so coming up what to watch for

In the second half of the Season what questions must still be answered and what will we learn about the thunder the rest of the way but first want to say you right now got a good friends over at hungry root check them out today because you know whenever you look at you know

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Sports today a 24-hour streaming channel of all the biggest news and notes of all the major sports leagues joined today by Michael Martin and Michael it’s the second half of the Season by way of a benchmark not necessarily the 41 game Mark but what are you most looking for

Forward to in the second half this can let’s start specifically with the Thunder then you can also transition into the NBA as a whole how does Mark handle Gordon hayward’s minutes because you just mentioned with kenich about saving him for the playoffs Gordon Hayward has a history of injuries that

Doesn’t really need to be gone over I think we all know and how do they ramp him up do they save him and then who who is he playing with is he going to be in those uh minutes in the first quarter and in the third with Shay or is he

Going to be in now a trio with Chad and dub so I’m just really interested to see how they deploy him and the roles Mark puts him in and how you know reluctant or cautious they are if Mark just throws them in the deep end it’s like we need as much chemistry as

Possible we got to microwave this we got to see how these guys gel together or if they’re more patient and say we have the long term of the playoffs in mind so we think this will work more than anything we just need you healthy yeah I I I totally agree that I

Think that this can uh you know be something that will be a focal point and a big talking point for the rest of the season and into the playoffs and you know there’s going to be talk about starting him and and changing the starting lineup I don’t think that the

Starting lineup is going to change I think that you could see the minute allocation change the Thunder have not been shy about benching Josh Sky down the stretch of games even dating back to last season uh benching Josh G down the stretch of games and now they have even

Better roster to do so so for me the lineup’s not going to change in terms of the first five but the closing lineup certainly well what is your thoughts on just that overall handl of Gordon Hayward that’s just one of those stress things that the fan base is getting into

That I just can’t really put too much thought into until we get closer to the playoffs like you mentioned it’s it’s more important who finishes the games than who starts it and I think Gordon hayward’s going to be a staple a lot of of a lot of those um end of game

Rotations and lineups because he just has so much versatility and a lot of experience but I’m very excited to see how Mark works with him and whenever I mentioned those minutes with Shay versus the ones with dub and chat I’m assuming he’s going to come off the bench as you

Are it’s just a matter of you know where he fits into some of those rotations because we know so far this season Mark loves to stagger those guys when you when you look at the second half what is a question you think still has to be answered besides you know Gordon

Hayward when does Mark start shrinking the rotation like we just talked about the rotation and we talked about nine 10 guys we were not getting into 13 14 15 which sometimes you see with Mark last year in the play in against the Pelicans they played nine guys 12 against the

Wolves which sort of caveat is that you know that game got out of hand a little bit fast so that’s a little bit different in the month of January they’ve played an average of 12 guys they’ve only played single digit guys once but keep in mind that was um

Against the Wizards coming off two losses to Atlanta and to Brooklyn so that was one they really really wanted so I’m just interested to see how Mark sort of as they rev up for the playoffs how minutes increase and how he kind of like I don’t know doesn’t show his hand

But kind of tests out the water on here are the main guys I want to be playing in this rotation come playoff time so I think that that’s a great question to be asked I think that also a question that has to be asked would be continuing to

Evaluate Josh giddy’s fit with this roster and Josh giddy’s fit with this team uh I think that against Sacramento it looked better um the box score was not better the the the shot off the side of the backboard was not better but using him more as a screener and a

Cutter was better as you do that more for him um can he eventually become efficient as a scorer in that way uh and can he find his Groove as a 21-year-old who’s had the changes role three times already in the NBA and is now kind of

Not getting to to play to the to the maximization of his skill set not being on ball a ton what does that look like for the next 30 games and then into the postseason especially I I’d like to see him you mentioned as a screener um if you can

Get the floater game going back a little bit more this would really help but just using him as a screener who rolls and does the short roll Draymond thing and then you have Gordon Hayward on the outside Chad and jdub and Shay’s on the perimeter they’re going to have to

Double the ball probably out of Shay’s hands and then you’re on the fouron three scenario that Golden State’s been eating on for years and if he can get that floater going just at a normal rate that he normally is at I think that’s something that’s very sustainable and

Very good for the offense and then defensively um and just all other aspects the shooting is what it is and it’s been sort of dis it’s gone up this year but it’s not where fans want it and um I just need to see him more chip in

On the little things because you can’t really control when your shots going to go in how much he’s going to have the ball but what you can control his effort on the boards and defensively and those are the things I’d like to see him very

Much sharpen up we saw a lot of that same rebounding stuff against New Orleans in the play in last year so we know it h he has it in him it’s just a matter of can he bring it to the table this year I agree I think that um with

Josh kidy obviously it’s GNA be a very polarizing conversation but it’s one that that is going to have to be had the entire rest of the year and beyond that all the way into the summertime uh you know I think that from the NBA side of things there’s a ton of different

Things to watch because it is so close in all these races what what stands out the most to you that you’re watching for NBA wide it can tie back into the Thunder or just be just a an NBA observation as a whole who gets hot at

The right time we saw the Mavericks a few years ago when they made the Conference Finals they got hot at the right time and that’s that’s a lot of the stuff who hits their stride right when you get into the playoff mix right when you’re

At that time the Lakers hit a big surge last year so who is going to be able to ride the wave through the postseason and sort of just keep that going so I think that’s going to be interesting and then knock on would we don’t hope anything

Happens but history says it does of who has the most impactful injury you know there there’s so many guys you’re kawi your Paul Georges your steps your Durants your LeBron’s these older guys who have tons of miles on them and it feels almost inevitable and those things almost always change the brackets and

Just how we go about these playoffs so I’m interested to see who that’ll be yeah I think that that’s a great one I think that um watching Milwaukee with Doc Rivers’s jail will be fun to observe and then watching the bottom of this

Playin race i i i for the West I don’t I don’t necessarily know what Utah wants to accomplish but they do have a very fun team and and one that I think could be in the play in Houston of course has been gunning for a play and now they’re

It’s looking less and less optimistic but still a possibility where does this all fall out and of course LeBron and the Lakers are going to be a big storyline as as uh as they didn’t make a move at the deadline but did bring in Spencer and dity on the buyout market so

It’s gonna be a lot of fun we’re going to talk a lot more about the NBA about the thunder the second half of the year uh but we have we always do this at home games and we give these bold predictions uh that rarely ever come true bold

Prediction for Allstar Weekend what is it bold old prediction for Allstar Weekend um we get fourth quarter dub in the the rising stars challenge games I think that there we get at least one down the stretch really big clutch moments he hits the three he does the

Thing all that stuff I I think we’ve SE an appearance from him where he helps his team close out a game Big Time game from Jay dub on Friday night for my prediction you gota wait till Sunday but not too long on Sunday because Darius

Basley has a triple in the G League next up game that’s my that’s my prediction for Allstar Weekend that’s bold it’s uh off the board um yeah you you bet on somebody who nobody really was going against I think the right now our bookies are searching uh furiously to

Find what the odds are but um if that hits I’ll I’ll credit to you I’m I’d be very surprised but it is very Ryland styles of you to uh pick Darius basley and something like this shout out Darius basley shout out K Johnson in the uh in

The next up game as well in the G league and then of course you have Shay and the allstar you have jdub and chat and rising stars and case and Wallace as well than rising stars going to be a fun weekend for Thunder fans and they’re

Gonna be the Talk of the Town uh here in Indianapolis so Michael let them know what you got cooking what you got out there for them to go enjoy uh and start their weekend well as Ryan is graciously uh promoted for me at Michael on Sports

On Twitter Youtube and Tik Tok Tik Tok I’m just trying to test out but YouTube more importantly right now is where you’re going to find this next J video the king in the fourth where it’s just talking about his clutch numbers and how good he’s been to start 2024 I’m very

Very excited for that one and then just um a lot of uh podcasting a lot of Thunder talk and um hanging out with Ryland so it should be fun should be a lot of fun so for Michael Martin I’m R Styles until tomorrow be good and be good to one another

Rylan Stiles is joined by Michael Martin to discuss The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen their expectations change for them this season. Heading into the All-Star Break, what must the Thunder achieve this year? What should the OKC Thunder playoff rotations look like? What matchups are best suited for the Thunder to play each guy on their roster? Favorite NBA Playoff Matchups? What to watch for in the second half of the season for the Thunder and the NBA. Josh Giddey’s fit.

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