Thunder Take Nikola Topic at 12

Thunder Take Nikola Topic at 12

one okay go morning evening and welcome episode one four eight eight of down two dunk you can find us on the athletic and anywhere else you subscribe to your podcast go theathletic.com give me for $1 I am Luke join this evening by Andrew slam through Taylor hey what’s going to be the the topic of discussion today boys topic of discussion today boys I was trying to go topic topic topic we got it y good one and Jay it’s Jay and Alex hey hey we’re coming to you live from the good people at the Jones assembly Jones assembly if you’re watching live on YouTube We sitting in a booth on the second story of the Jones assembly uh one thanks to everybody that came to the party it was very very fun uh we appreciate all the dunkers that made it out uh the Thunder this was such it’s such everybody said it was going to be a weird draft no one really knew what was going to happen and that’s exactly how it went like no one had any clue where this was going and topic is somebody that fell to the Thunder because of injury and I I I can see the vision he’s very thundery he can really pass he’s very skilled he thinks the game at a high level really young he’s really young European European he is uh he’s he’s from poville apparently he from the same place is poker I know that’s amazing I know is that like I mean would you all know is that it is it like they are from pedmont Oklahoma together or is that like hey they’re from a giant City like it’s a great question milli people are yeah sorry Taylor why you’re on your phone poku didn’t make the list of notable Serbian draft picks no he did not so no one knows we’re talking about anymore yeah Po’s over he did not how about Ron Holland to the Pistons that was very shock very wild very pisty uh toic measured at 66 200 pounds with shoes or without shoes I think without shoes so mean he’s he’s tall foot with shoes and he’s going to the Thunder have done this before like he’s going to red shirt his his rookie year and he’s going to come in and play his second year so the Thunder obviously have done this before he he checks a lot of Thunder boxes size her position check he’s a point guard he’s six’ seven he’s very skilled good passer on movement and the thing that’s different from him a lot of people are going to make the giddy comparison and some of that is apt and some of it isn’t but he shot it well at this age from the free throw line and shot 68% at The Rim when he played for Mega which is really good yeah I think yall talked about it today on the what day is today Wednesday talked about it this morning is that topic topic topic Topo topic Topo Chico too Cho so he Sho did you say he shot 89% from the free throw line yeah I think it was actually like 87 % which is nor like you made the leap which is not an abnormal leap to take where guys that are consistently that from the free throw line are normally going to translate into pretty effective three-point Shooters yeah that and the touch around the rim yeah so I’m just not that worried about it like I don’t think you can lump him in with another guy like Ron Holland yeah like I don’t think saying both of those guys are bad Shooters means the same thing yeah or or Bellis for that matter or bis yeah so I and now he’s going to get a year off and by the way when we go into the 2025 draft yeah he’ll still be one of the younger players in that draft like he is 18 right now yeah he’s one of the youngest players in this draft deepest voice in the NBA though that’s true the I’m a cry for help deep voice you remember Gerald Wallace’s voice we’ll uh never forget we’ll have to get some of his uh quotes as as drops I’m gonna have because he does have a distinct voice I’m gonna have him do the entire down to dunk inro that would be great okay no I I just love this pick so much because unlike a lot of folks I just looked at this draft and didn’t see anyone other than maybe Devin Carter before they made the Caruso trade yeah where I was like I could actually see them playing minutes for this team in the playoffs next year yeah I just didn’t see it so why not take a flyer so why take a flyer on a guy who if he had not torn his ACL would have gone significantly higher in this draft yeah probably would have gone to the Spurs possibly or to Washington I mean there were people that have him number one yeah on their on their draft boards so me mostly it’s on my personal draft board so looking at some of his percentages this past season he was 87.8% from the free throw line 30% from three but in the previous year he was 85% from the line he shot 36.9% from three that year so he’s not like some some guy that’s never shot the ball or some hopeless shooter like the biggest thing with him is the injury coming back from towards ACL which is not obviously not what it used to be I think he’s going to be fine yeah it says it was a partial tear it’s a partial tear my guess and I don’t have info on this yet is that they’ll just they’ll sit him out the whole season make sure that he’s healthy even with the full ACL tear you could technically be back probably by January or so you could get back what the point like he’s not coming back to contribute like oh let’s get let’s get topic ready for the playoff run it’s like no it would just come back and get in the G League they’re trying to do backto back yeah back toback G League champions championship out there giving it giving it their best the the thing that I like about topic the most is that he’s gonna have actual versatility because he is big like he can play on the wing it it is it’s kind of funny because they just Creed a guy who’s not he he’s not that dissimilar from giddy in a lot of ways and that he’s a big point guard that can really pass the basketball and it’s a it’s an interesting chance to put him in the role that they wanted to put Gideon and then like that’s where that’s his starting point for btim I think what yall said this morning talking about topic isn’t that right didn’t you say am I losing my mind I thought this morning your you were like yeah stop you want I remember that no but I just y we’re talking about the fact that like you can put him in that Reserve position and unlike giddy where it’s you making the transition from a starting role to a bench roll is far different than saying hey from the beginning we brought you in to be a reserve point guard to run the offense whenever but we’re what three years away from topic being something that you would expect contributions from it’s going to be pretty low expectations I think coming in next year because they’re going to have a whole year to further develop this current rotation I mean we’re going to have a different starting lineup than we did last year that starting lineup is going to probably play a lot because that’s what they like to do and so he’s going to come in not with an expectation of like oh this guy has to be our starting point guard you know he has to immediately fill that giddy slot yeah he can come in and and be a scorer Off the Bench and the thing I really like about him is you look at the playoffs and one of the things we talked about was how when guys would get it on the perimeter how many guys on this team was the other team really afraid of when it came to their drives yeah I do think he is a player who could develop into the sort of guy who you are afraid of him when he is driving because he is such a good finisher around the rim he’s gonna have to get stronger obviously like his first 13 games in mega there was a drop off when he went up to the wherever he was next um played for red star yeah when he went to play for Red Star there were bigger bodies like the the physicality wasit was greater so but he’s 18 like he’s going to develop that and to have that sort of touch around the rim at 18 in a pro league I think that’s the part that’s really exciting because they need more guys like that and so someone who can handle it and I just I just believe in the shooting because of all of those touch indicators um that I’m not really that worried about it m so I I kind of love love the pick yeah why don’t you marry it I might I might Luke wow I inevitably was going to be underwhelmed with it’s a good reason for you to subscribe on H YouTube I I knew I was going to inevitably be underwhelmed by a draft pick just because there was I think in my mind at least as you start convincing yourself like maybe there’s somebody available that could be part of what could really complete this roster but once you get to 12 and I I don’t even think anybody drafted before him would be somebody to be like oh that’s the guy that really contributes immediately so yeah for me it was hard to be like I don’t honestly care about the draft in years like now where it’s like awesome cool don’t have any expectations from topic for for a while so it makes it to where it’s not quite as enjoyable because I’m like what I wanted to see tonight was like all right so Thunder trade 12 plus three future firsts for Anthony Davis you know or whatever it is and and knowing that that’s not I mean rarely if ever happens it just is one of those things where you’re like yeah take a swing on who you think maybe has the best potential this is a no I it’s a high high reward lowrisk pick like who care if it turns out awesome if it doesn’t fine that’s what I do like about that it has that upside that I just don’t think some of these other picks in this range really had no you kind of knew who you were going to get and I don’t think the Thunder wer going to take kakor who went 13 uh that’s dein Carter Devin Carter did yeah who I would have been excited to get because I like Bob was still there some of those guys but CH D Silva went a few picks later Jared McCain went a few picks later yeah yeah you’re talking about if they wanted a ball handler Off the Bench which they they they wanted get they legitimately wanted gety to do that and he didn’t want to do it and also you have to pay giddy there’s a lot of complicating factors that led to Giddy being traded but like this is a legit chance to have that bigger guy come off the bench and be your backup point guard and also be a little bit more versatile than that because he is six foot seven now he’s not quick and he’s not the best defender there’s a lot of things that he’s going to have to work on he’s got nothing but time at the NBA level but this is this also just kind of tells you too like where the Thunder still believe that they’re at like they still feel like they can develop players they still feel like they’re at a place where they can bring a guy like Topic in and he can and he can become you know something down the line like he’s not going to be I mean who knows if he can be a contributor from day one when he’s healthy we don’t know uh but he’s probably the highest upside swing at that pick at this point there was I have a question yeah who is the Thunder’s most successful person that they’ve done that with what like drafted and developed no drafted and developed like not playing right away but like developed not like not chat but I’m talking about like yeah player like like l d I don’t think so I don’t think play for the jump yeah he played from the I mean we don’t know if he is going to play from the jump that’s the thing it’s like we don’t know yeah we don’t know what that looks like he there could be an open Lane for a a guard to come in next year to handle the ball that that could still be the case we we just don’t know so the good thing though is that like he does have a year and the Thunder have a year to kind of figure some stuff out with him and so who knows what that looks like he he did say that he hadn’t met with anybody he didn’t work out for the Thunder obviously he’s not working out for anybody because he’s hurt but like he didn’t meet with anybody in person um with the Thunder and so I think there might have even been some surprise on his part yeah and it just goes back back to the fact that like Sam historically has just been really connected in he knew he’s a drafting stash and he knows like these like he’s been watching probably topic play yeah probably for many years yeah and to be aware of what his potential could be and here’s the other not saying this could happen but being such a young draft pick he may still like physically there’s so much space for him to get stronger to maybe he get you know taller faster like all of those physical developments could be part of that too I I’m like I I think kind of the word I’ve been using was indifferent just because I just it’s inconsequential I think to the overall next two years of the Thunder which I feel like the potential for what we’re the rumors we’re hearing and some of the potential changes in this roster and I think that adding Caruso really just elevates that expectation for me at least for what this team could be yeah so it’s like it’s hard for me to get really to even really ultimately care about the 12th pick in this year’s draft so maybe three years I’ll be like man I’m so dumb for not being higher on topic but it’s whatever think about next summer how they’re they’re going to get more draft picks and topit is coming in don’t they have like five picks in 2025 we’re gonna be T we’re GNA be hyping it up going into next season summer league will be fun next year when topic is out there running it yeah and us is playing his fourth year in it stop you mentioned as athleticism which you you’ll read that a lot in the scouting reports so he’s not like an Uber athletic guy I don’t think he had any dunks this season as an example of that yeah but there was a really good article on swish theory about him yeah and specifically talking about his shin angle which that’s the kind of angle of your shin on drives in relation to the court and like the best players like Kyrie or Shay can get their Shing Shin angle such that it’s like almost parallel to the court like they get their their legs so low to the ground and they were using it as a comparison for topic saying that yes he’s not going to like jump out of the gym but he has this like crafty athleticism in the same way that Shay does where his his drives to the rim are kind of like the same kind of like snaking like going up and under and all that kind of stuff which I do think that fits into kind of the overall athletic profile that we’ve seen for a lot of Thunder players you know what really helps with their uh Shin Shin angle it’s a Squatty Potty it put you in the position to do it right a great Point great Point um all right so that brings me to I’m on the uh Bleacher Report and they have uh Pro comparisons being Goron dragic and Shay gildas Alexander must the sh what you guys have I think it’s the shin angles God Dr drit is is actually a pretty good yeah comp for him and that would be unbelievable if you got a player that’s that good because like dragic wasn’t some like crazy athlete but he was crafty he was a good passer he can get to the hoop that that’s the kind of player that and also could play off ball yeah which topic like when he was with at Mega for those 13 games this year he was like the main guy you know primary distributor all that when he went to Red Star he played a lot more off ball yeah and he wasn’t as good as he was at Mega but I I do think it showed that like this isn’t this is a going to be a guy who’s already got some off ball experience and it’s not going to be someone who you who comes in and you feel like you like have to give him the ball yeah um maybe he’ll be a little bit more used to that role then someone like Josh kidy who had to like completely change the way he had played basketball um in order to try to fit into that very specific role this season yeah yeah I think that’s right I think it it is it was a very very interesting oh the the nixer trading the pick 26 to the Thunder oh we’re getting hold on Daddy a oh my god oh this live live on the Pod yeah this is live oh yes finally breaking news on the Pod oh my gosh Thunder is selecting Dylan Jones oh is that a guy from Texas um let me pull up his profile real quick my God Luke what do you think breaking news I heard he was here that he is now Dylan Jones is such an interesting player you played at weever State I heard one I I heard that he was at chever with Nick Collison just a few nights ago so hey Sunrise Christian isn’t that where uh buellis went uh I believe that’s correct he is a thick daddy number one yeah 6 fo5 237 tell me the wings span though look at that he’s got a 611 wingspan he can he can this is going to be a guy to show for summer league he can handle the basketball he can get his own bucket what’s his number one stat strength he can pass he’s a defensive rebounder he’s like a small forward that he kind of did everything for Weaver State I am so excited that they drafted are you more excited about this than tobic well he is he is like it seems like listen he is really really fun he is like he’s also a guy that was mocked in like the 40s by some people so a lot of people are going to see this as like a huge reach KOC has him 67th on his big that’s what I’m saying but the dude bully ball point guard with I was thinking mocked in the 40s I was like how old is this guy yeah unorthodox style of play Given his size shades of Grant Williams crossed with Julius Randle he’s got the weirdest game he is so much fun though Andrew’s leaving do you have to go oh bye Andrew he’s got to take a very important call all right what do you want to talk about call somebody get his microphone what do you guys want to talk about well let me let me give you some stats about uh Dylan Jones who I’ll be honest with you I’m just learning about um played in The Big Sky played we State all four seasons he is uh Andrew said 66 235 this year for Weber State averaged 21 points per game almost 10 rebounds per game five assists two steals not exactly a shooter shot 32% on three and a half attempts per game 32% career shooter from three uh on not a lot of attempts uh I’ll be honest I can’t immediately tell you why they would move into the first round uh for Dylan Jones how old is he well un they really thought Minnesota I think he’s a 22 years old they’re showing highlights right now at the Jones assembly of wones he’s gonna be 23 basically at the start of next season the Dylan Jones assembly oh the Dylan Jones assembly wow Dylan Jones assembly that’s very good oh man he had a 2.82 shuttle run man it’s crazy he’s able to do all this with the chandelier in the way oh man this is weird yeah I don’t know how to feel about this one I I’m once again don’t really care ultimately about what they get but the trade to 26 for a guy that you probably could have got I know that’s that’s a part undrafted free agent unless you thought Minnesota was going to jump up and get him well remember I mean they they’ve obviously done this before they’ve taken guys in the first round surprised everyone Josh hustace being the obvious example we also know that they’ve tried to trade up for guys who were projected to be in the second round and then they didn’t get them Santi Al dama is the one there with Memphis like moving up to steal him from OKC I would love to know though who they thought was taking him and maybe the they see some benefit in giving him a first you know a first round contract as opposed to being on a a second round contract uh that that one’s kind of shocking what they what they trade do we know what they trade we don’t know what they traded yet and we have so many assets like we were saying they have five next year why not trade you know if you have is sending five is that really what it is five second round picks to the Knicks for d for Dylan Jones at number 26 wow okay Ben feifer is super excited so that actually makes me feel a little bit better uh five seconds wow that’s actually a pretty good deal then I was really worried that they were giving up like a one of their bad future first but they actually don’t have any bad future first so this makes more sense to me and for the Knicks they obviously just made a trade where they gave away a ton of picks so they’re recouping some pick value even though they’re not first round pi five seconds is an absurd amount of seconds to me five second guess what you have five second round draft picks what if you did it all in one draft I mean they had to use them for something five seconds in the 2025 draft so now we know that the what you can get with five seconds is either Jay Crowder yeah or you can get a first round pick in the draft that is that actually puts it in pretty good perspective I know you’re kind of joking but that does help me understand so thank you you got it I’m not sure if it’s like a normal first round pick or it’s just like like just Sam just being Sam well I don’t know deciding GNA get a GU Phoenix what if Phoenix really wants him Jones there you go they asked for it hey what what’s your guys favorite thing you had to eat at the Jones mine was the the dip the dips and bread thing the cookies okay so going back to the start of the draft nothing surprising until five yeah which as you mentioned the Pistons took Ron Holland someone who I would have liked to see fall it turns out his teammate Mattis melis was the one who fell everything after that just started to be a shocker like first you have the Hornets taking salon at 6 after there were rumors that the Grizzlies were trying to trade up for kingan because they can’t get a deal done now Kling and falls to the Blazers which the Blazers had a really interesting night we should probably mention Denny AIA who has been a thunder fan F favorite frvorite frvorite for a while now they end up trading Malcolm Brogden two firsts and two seconds for Denny ABIA man that’s a lot that’s a heavy load it’s a lot the Thunder absolutely could have matched it I do think you have to treat Malcolm Brogden as a first because I I do think Washington’s goingon to be able to flip him so that was essentially like three first maybe they’re not great first and two seconds for Denny AIA that’s a little rich I would have been excited if OKC had been on the other end of that deal but I also do think that’s pretty rich for abdia and looking at the Blazers now the overall lack of shooting that they have going forward with like CU like Denny on OKC he’s not some like Elite shooter he’s not some high volume shooter yeah but because he’s surrounded by other Shooters you feel kind of good about it hey now it’s like him and Shaden sharp yeah are shooting for them you think there any chance they put a lineup out there with DeAndre Aon Donovan Clingan and Rob Williams at the same time they might no one’s tried it just Zach when everybody else is yeah going five out we’re going to go five in no one’s done three towers but they could I don’t get whatever man Portland’s got a they probably took best player available on their board they probably did and and listen he does not space the floor for them at all but he is a really good screen Setter and that’s gonna help scoot so much next year because the eighton one is the one where I’m like golly just can you just wave and stretch him uh no I mean they they could maybe get value for him five seconds I mean he did have a good end of the season but yeah a little driveway I’m a little confused by their draft and then you had that huge trade at eight with the Timberwolves trading a future unprotected first a top one protected swap to move all the way to eight for Rob Dillingham and I’m just thinking about it from a Spurs fan point of view can you imagine seeing what wemy did the second half of the Year knowing that you have these two draft picks these lottery picks coming and then you essentially punt one for picks uh roughly what seven years from now like I saw I I saw Spurs fans on Twitter today that were getting on to the Spurs media members because they were kind of paring the uh like the company line of like there’s not going to be any big trades like this is even the opposite of a big trade this isn’t even like taking a guy at eight they’re like trading away that pick for pick seven years out when you have wimy I think that’s super interesting I I don’t know what they’re going to do the rest of the season but you think there’s off season but if I was a Spurs fan I know it would I would be frustrated by this because wmi is already to the point where you’re like you you’ve got your guy start building but if you just wait and have one more year where you’re mediocre even though they’ll be a little bit better like throw your hat in the ring to try to get a top five pick in a draft next year that has the likelihood of being far more I don’t know far better yeah you know like why not just give it one more shot which apparently kind of feels at least based on this draft what they’re trying to do I gu I just still like so many guys at eight and for them to trade out of that but especially I would have tried to find a point guard like just somebody can well they got they have the castle who believes he’s a point guard yeah can’t shoot he can’t shoot and neither can Sohan yeah that’s a that’s a problem should taking giddy should just taking yep yeah uh did you guys talk about the five second round picks for the 26 pick yeah yeah we just we just heard that yeah that’s a lot of picks it’s it’s fascinating what I I’m still a little perplexed could you could you tell us any more about Dylan Jones like in in my head I mean he he’s like a he’s a forward with guard skills this sounds like Deontay Burton he’s really strong it’s like it does sound like Deontay bton he’s a little Deontay bertony uh good good I’m excited about he’s a really fun player like go watch him for five minutes on YouTube and you’ll be all in so so what why is he why was he mocked like late in the second um he’s a little older yeah he’s gonna be 23 at the start of next season yeah I mean he played at Weaver State as well the competition campaign played no that’s it’s where Damen Lillard played in Utah it’s in Utah um where did campaign play Campaign was at um he played the same place that jaw played what about CJ McCollum Murray State Murray State yeah that’s right we have a few super chats uh Aaron sarasan says grab a couple cold ones uh also I’m not excited cheer me up okay we’re trying to do that Dylan Jones the the next thick daddy of the Thunder uh Daniel ciney says realistically the 12th pick shouldn’t play on this team uh like the pick I think he has a chance to redo giddy with a new idea of the team I don’t disagree with that and then Michael clampet is trying to alert us that pick 26 from the Knicks which so do you think uh is Dylan Jones it says he’s 235 which Jay Will’s listed at 240 yeah so he is very he very possible by the time we get to training camp he is like the biggest dude on the team yeah even though he is 66 yeah great rebounder he had a 24 rebound game wow so oh like he he he’s an interesting player I think that obviously he he has like a thunder skill set would you say he’s trible uh I don’t know if he’s electric but he’s electrifying I don’t know if he’s electrifying but he is a thick daddy that can handle the ball and that can get to the Lane and he’s tough there’s a lot to like about Dylan Jones and we did mention that he’s not much of a shooter as of right now shot 32% 32% from three but he had the ball all the time and he was like the guy for Weaver St sh 8 he’s another similar to topic shot 85% from the free throw line W so he’s not it’s not like he’s a not like not a shooter at all but you know he’s he averaged 20 basically 2011 and five yeah for Weber State I mean just one of the more productive college basketball players last season period can Weber State only average 40 points per game so that’s a big deal now yeah I’m I am like shocked I thought I mean who knows was he gonna be available I mean he was mocked in the 50s with some people in the 40s and the 6 I don’t know I mean it is a it is certainly a pre’s making a bet on his develop on what he thinks about weed about before I mean the Thunder find their guys and they do whatever it doesn’t really matter what’s expected they just go get that guy yeah so I that even gives me confidence in this pick okay he was mocked 40 50 60 whatever yeah the Thunder really like him and they do whatever it takes to get him yeah and they have a bunch of picks so why not do it they have confidence in that guy you pay 5 Second rounders you have to have some kind of info that he’s going to go that makes me he can actually shoot from three actually you know it’s like well really he’s going to be a 40% shooter in the NBA I mean it would have to be one of these last four teams had to have wanted him you had to have had some something that said that they were gonna yeah I was mentioning San Alama yeah um as a guy who was like mocked in the second but then gets taken at the end of the first yeah huh okay so so big picture we now know that they drafted someone at 12 who’s not going to be playing this season yep most likely yep uh they drafted Dylan Jones who maybe he plays this season maybe doesn’t but I’m not gonna I don’t have high expectations yeah for for him playing there’s a lane for a bigger forward to play but there there’s a chance that he’s with the G so do you think now looking ahead to the off season how confident are you that they’re going to use some of their cap space to get a a meaningful upgrade meaning like a a a legitimate rotation piece I think they’ll add another legitimate rotation piece yeah I think they will I don’t know who that is I think we we didn’t mention the OG deal which did get signed today yeah 42 and a half million per year yep which I still haven’t heard like a definitive they can’t bring hartenstein back but yeah there’s some people there yeah there’s not a definitive anything on that but he he’s he’s still in the table we got a lot of time to talk about it listen yeah I’ve got to go okay thank you guys got go for being here to the bathroom gotta get off the podcast we’re gonna stop the Pod uh thanks so much for important Callin what’s happening we can talk we gotta go thanks guys thanks so much thanks to the Jones assembly yeah it was great thanks for everyone who came thanks to Nick from Lively Beer Works for uh helping set all of this up uh very much appreciate that appreciate everybody at the Jones appreciate all the dunkers for being here dunkers so much fun uh we’ll have another podcast on Friday where we’re going to break this down a little bit more maybe we’ll learn a little bit more um I’m gonna have a lot on topic on Friday okay 30 minutes I’m gonna try to get a bunch of like topic drops ready okay for Friday it’s gonna be very fun I’ve been spending so much time trying to find fun I’ll spend the next 48 hours just studying Dylan Jones there you go okay okay that’s our assignment assignments uh okay rounds tomorrow oh this is kind can I just tell you one interesting anything happens yeah so Dylan Jones no thank you for listening this is from Cory TBA to TOA the you know those guys No Ceilings he had to play on the Portland generals at the Nike hoop Summit to get in front of NBA GMS so like Nike hoop Summit you know you have like all the guys who are going to be in next year’s draft come and they have to play against someone yeah he was on the team that they played against just to get in front of like NBA GMS yeah and he ends up being a first round pick pretty wide barely got invited to the g-league elite Camp last year before balling out and earning himself an invite to the 2023 draft combine bet on himself bald out now he’s a first round pick I love it so much Bal out I love when guys ball out I love it so much all right we will talk to you guys again on Friday