Are the OKC Thunder Being Aggressive Enough This Summer

Are the OKC Thunder Being Aggressive Enough This Summer

on today’s locked on Thunder podcast how did the Oklahoma City Thunder handle the draft what will happen as free agency opens tonight and are the Thunder being aggressive enough 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 the lockon podcast Network your team every day I am your host meet member and Si thunderbeat writer Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter at Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod joining me today as promised Nick crane crane MBA on Twitter uncontested podcast SI Thunder and everywhere you find basketball content including draft I just as we are about to talk about the draft Nick how are you doing today I’m good I’m a man of my word last time I was on the show I said between now and free agency we will jump on when I got the text from you last night was a no-brainer we just had to find the right time and here we are here we are what a time to be alive as free agency is soon to tip off at 5: PM local time so uh this is going to be our free agency preview and draft recap and everything else Nick working backwards to the draft the Thunder walk away with three selections after entering the draft with only one pick they walk with with Nia topic with Dylan Jones and AJ Mitchell what did you think working from 12 about the the topic selection uh like just give us a download on topich and kind of how you view that value-wise with a team that’s kind of balancing uh still shooting for win now you know and at pieces and also with with upside yeah I think it’s a it’s a long-term move obviously um Tobit will not play this upcoming season um expected to have ACL surgery missed the entire year um but I think when you’re a a really good team that wants to contend for a long time like I’m not going to use the word dynasty yet because you got to win something to be a dynasty but if you want to set yourself up to be a dynasty you have to think about like a five-year Championship window and that window has to move each year like if you believe that you’re a contender today and can be for the next five years based on your contracts and your players with each consecutive season you also need to make these sneaky moves where your window continues to bounce where that that five years in the future continues to be five years instead of going Four 3 two and then you’re sucked into this small window so topic feels like a move and and to like talk about him as a prospect um Serbian guard 67 incredible IQ uh great playmaker great passer uh projects to be a decent shooter in my mind like the comparisons to Josh giddy I I get to a degree if you go back and watch Josh’s film not to like say that he’s a better or worse Prospect than Josh but Josh the jumper was always like a uh that this looks nonfluid can he become a good shooter topic though he was just above 30% from three last season has like a a Smooth release a quick release you could see it coming around right he’s he’s more meich like I think than than Josh like you know so you think about these guards and what they can do his his jumper I believe um so I think he’s he’s a long-term move he’s not going to play this season I know Thunder fans were kind of upset about that you don’t get a win now guy but he’s the youngest guy to go in the first round I think he’s the second youngest in the draft of of guys that got drafted so it’s like this delayed sense of satisfaction a year from now Ryland when we’re talking about the next free agency and summer leagues coming up and we’re talking about nicoa topic coming in at at 19 he’ll be 19 then a year from there he’ll be 19 years old going to Summer League next year um I just think it’s going to be one of those like man what a great move by Sam it’s it’s hard today because you want to see somebody tangibly help the team um but all indications I got talking to Scouts and teams pre-injury everybody thought he was going like four or five when San Antonio even got four in the lottery um there it was still uncertain the situation with his knee didn’t know he was going to be a red shirt at that time there were still conversations about him going forward to San Antonio so in a move that you can continue to push your five-year window and get a guy that’s a top four talent in this class just have to be patient and wait a year I think it’s a solid pick is it is it the the funnest pick no but is it the best pick at 12 probably yeah I think that you look at that you have to you have to kind of look at the whole picture number one it would have been tough as much as I love Jared McCain and Devin Carter uh and and dton connect to an extent like I like those guys a lot I’ve read about those guys a lot it it would have been tough still to find the uh playing time for those guys right away even for as good as they are and I think they’re ready to compete for their respective rosters uh right away but on this roster with this rotation that’s already uh 10 Deep it would have been tough to get them minutes anyway uh although I think they could have done it with with topic what you’re looking at is like you said if it hits then that’s just incredible like if he hits his ceiling that’s an awesome selection I do think he’s a better Prospect than Josh kiddy was just because of the shot indicators and because of where he’s at you know even even for his age where he’s at compared to where Josh was and we just saw that like you could not have scripted a worse season for Josh kidy at all like there’s nothing you could have added in that would have made that season worse and his trade value was steel Alex Caruso who is a fit like a glove incredible piece for this Thunder team so could topich have anything happened to him worse than what josk just did and you were still able to recoup that value I I don’t think so so like this is a move that it could be for the future where like he’s on the court and on the Thunder uh number one it also could be to trade where the Thunder are not a team that has found free agency success as we’re going to talk about coming up and that their only real avenues for bolstering this roster especially once you pay your core is via the trade uh and topic is really good for that and then topich also comes into a much different environment not only is he a better Prospect in terms of his shot indicators and everything else but the sit situation is not going to change on him like Josh’s situation changed every single year topich understands exactly what he’s walking into exactly what’s going to be asked of him and exactly how to how to execute that and the Thunder thought that they figured out a way to leverage Josh giddy skills heading into this fourth year before Josh did not want to come off the bench so they clearly have an idea of how to use this archetype um you know to its fullest extent that they want to see executed they want to see what it looks like and so topich gives them that chance on top of the other luxuries my biggest thing with this pick is that the only way it matters is a positive let’s just say that he sucks and he’s aw and this is a terrible pick who who really cares you you have a billion first round picks you have a billion you know you know chances to get out of jail free on this election and I just keep coming back to you it can’t be worse than this last year of Josh giddy who had stuff happened to him you know on off the floor off the floor played off the floor in the playoffs like and still you were able to capitalize on his value you’re going to be able to do that with topic as well yeah the reality is Topic in a worst case like they do the ACL surgery his knee still is not right and he never plays basketball like worst worse like that not not going to happen worst case scenario that doesn’t in my opinion at all hinder the Thunder’s ability to be a for a long long time right it’s it’s it’s gravy is what it is and on the flip side if if he becomes a a top five talent in this draft yeah then you’ve got the best of both worlds where you can either use that to Parlay into uh you know a trade in a position of need or use it to strengthen your roster uh with a cost controll talent that you’re going to need as you quickly pay some of these young guys that you’re going to need to do now Dylan Jones was a bit of a surprise on the surface of here’s a guy that many people did not have mocked in the first round few people did uh but clearly the Thunder felt like they had to go get you know into the first round to go get them there’s been anecdotes revealed that you know the Celtics had worked him out a lot and that they might have been the team targeting him uh what do you make of Dylan Jones what do you make of Jones as a first rounder just his game in general yeah he’s he’s very very unorthodox like a tough eval because of it too and that’s why I think a team like the Thunder drafting him tells you a lot one of the best in the league we talked about this on on the last pod that I was on with you pre-draft of like any guy this team takes almost like they’ve missed just like every every scouting department has but when they take a guy that you feel is like a reach jayen Williams for example you just have to trust it right um what makes him a Hardy V is because he is like the ultimate tweener where he’s the size of a guard 6 566 but the build of like a short forward where he’s got the 611 wingspan he’s he’s very very sturdy um second best defensive rebound rating in college basketball last season it’s like a dominant rebound if if you saw his statistical profile on a rebounding standpoint you’d think he’s a seven-footer if you looked at his St statistical profile as a passer you’d think he’s a point guard and he played a lot on ball um he’s just this weird archetype that like doesn’t exist a lot in the NBA like I’ve I’ve made a comparison not to say he will be this guy they look very different on the court but statistically when looking at what they do production Wise It’s a lot of Josh Hart where it’s like this guy’s that small and rebounds that well and and impacts winning that much and those are the kind of guys that you almost like we think of unicorns as like the porzingis and the chat and the wimy these seven plus foot guys like there can also be unicorn horns in in role player situations where because you can’t picture how he fits people viewed as a bad thing but maybe it could be like he does all these things and we don’t have these kind of guys in the league very often which makes him special which I think is why Oklahom City liked him on top of the fact that if anybody tuned in to the rookie presser he’s just a phenomenal human being and I’ll let you provide some context there to Ryland but great guy um Oklahoma City’s looked at him for multiple years now and the fact that he doesn’t have many comps and you can’t really picture how he fits in the league because he’s so unique I view is a good thing because that just means you got a guy that’s hard to find versus just like a I love Trey Mann but you can get six Trey mans in every draft right it’s just not a unique player and Dylan Jones is super unique in a great way so I I agree that Dylan Jones is exciting I I think that you know partly um because when you look at Jones and his unorthodox nature it does seamlessly fit with what the Thunder are trying to do and building this unorthodox team and there just seems to be this Synergy between Jones in the Thunder who’ve targeted him for multiple years the way that Jones described Sam pry the way that Jones would look at Sam pry whenever questions were asked at the the big Podium for level it just seems to be like they get each other and they get it and the fact that like like Dylan Jones was the guy at Weber State and and he was the man and he’s a first round pick he bet on himself and he won and he doesn’t even give himself two days of being the man before he just comes in and says yeah I know I’m gonna be a guy here like I’m not gonna be the guy I’m not gonna be like the number one number two number three like I know I’m just gonna be a guy uh and like acknowledges that like the time spent being the man actually translates into him knowing how to be just a guy like I think that that perspective is really to have for a young player heading into the NBA especially on this team because that lets you maximize um your opportunity and an opportunity that I think he’ll get like we know how adventurous that Mark will be we know that he doesn’t like look at your raw age or experience column and just say well that means you can’t play this year sorry like they’re not going to just hide them away like like the Pacers do with dce Walker or you where Carlile and any other team does with rookies I think they’ll play right away and they’ll and they’ll evaluate him as a starting point of like hey you’re going to get a ton of preseason minutes you know some minutes early on in October and if you need to go to the G League that’s no problem if not and you need to write it out like K did then that’s awesome as well so like it’s really exciting to kind of see how this will all fit together because you know him playing off ball more he only was the beneficiary of of you know screens and roll 12 times getting that more into his game and shooting more off the off the screen as a roller or as a popper with his shot like I think that that will unlock something for him uh especially you know being in the in the form of just a guy and then you can maybe blend in like some on ball stuff in the secondary unit there’s just so many ways to use him that if you believe like Sam prey does that he’s going to be a solid NBA Defender he can scale up and be a part of something which I think he could more so than what his film might indicate because he’s going to be surrounded Now by a top tier NBA defense and athletes then it gets really exciting for like what he could do in in uh in year one yeah I something I want to call out I talked to couple Scouts about Dylan just like their perspective on him and the thing that stuck out and I heard multiple times was at Weber State Dylan was the guy if you haven’t watched Weber State he was the guy um he he shouldered a significant load on offense like which is tiring he also is in a situation where they cannot afford for him to get in foul trouble or Worse Fout a lot of people believe smart people that that evaluate the draft believe in a lesser role where he’s not shouldering the offensive of load and he doesn’t have to worry about not fing out and like there’s you can see it on there’s plays where it’s like oh he just didn’t want to fou there like he probably could have cut the guy off or he just can’t get in fou trouble there’s reason to believe he can be much better defensively at the NBA level in his role than he was at weeper state so I I would totally agree with with those and and and just see see how this all unfolds as a rookie coming up let’s talk AJ Mitchell and let’s talk free agency as as we get closer to the start of free agency but the first one to say right now but good friends over at FanDuel check out FanDuel because we all love sports but they’re not happening right now we never want them to stop but the playoffs are done and you know the football season’s long over and now it’s just Major League Baseball where you can go and bet on MLB but you can also continue to to check out FanDuel all summer long because FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost and bonus daily that’s right there something for everyone every day all summer long from Major League Baseball uh to everything else that they have to offer at f.com lockon uh so go start making the most of your summer over there where FanDuel is the official Sports partner of Major League Baseball if you only like the NBA and only want to bet on the NBA they still have stuff for you to bet on including MVP odds where SG is third in MVP odds only trailing Nicolo yic and LCA donic you can maybe bet on him to win the MVP they still have bronnie James bets well bronny James score 20 plus points in any 2024 2025 regular season game if yes it’s a plus 1100 Nick do you think that he will or won’t score over 20 points I think he would take 16 shots so I am gonna take the no which would not be good betting odds so don’t take that take have fun get on there and bet bronny James over 20 points you have nothing to lose put 20 on it yeah put a little five spot on it if if you’re so inclined at f.com lockdown we’re back on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day thank you so much for making us your first listen every single morning every single day we’re here for you talk and Thunder basketball subscribe for free across all podcasting platforms including on YouTube Nick crane joining us uncontested pod SI Thunder draft digest at crane NBA AJ Mitchell seemingly going to be on a two-way contract but you watch how you can score at all three levels can get to the free throw line and kind of some of the uh defensive upside there is there uh especially with this organization with this developmental staff is AJ Mitchell the next in line to go from a two-way contract to a standard contract and be a very you know cost control very you know valuable guy I think he’s got a good chance I for a lot of the Season he was a first round grade by a lot of people um ultimately slips to the second round goes 38 to the Thunder um I think it’s important to conceptually realize what the Thunder did to get him it was Lindy waters for 52 52 in cash to get to 40 40 in cash to get to 38 so just like we talked about topic where it’s like if it works great if not oh well we could look back on this AJ Mitchell let’s say he never plays NBA minutes you give up lendy Waters and cash it’s all good it’s it’s gravy once again but I do think he is talented enough and has a skill set that he could absolutely be converted to a full-time contract this season and be the next next guy in line to do so um good size um smooth smooth score operates well in the pick and roll um facilitates like he has lead guard skills but he also like when you look at his scoring off the ball I asked this in the rookie pressor yesterday he gave a great answer um I think he’s got upside as an off ball guy too like a spot up shooter um in limited minutes like I think I think there’s a role for him in the NBA super mature um I I just think that he has the right mindset again just like Dylan the right mindset and the right approach that whether he ends up being a a full-time NBA guy this season or down the road um he’s the kind of guy that you you bet on to be a guard that one day if a consolidation trade happens let’s say Lou Dort or Cason Wallace or both or Isaiah Joe is traded in a big deal for like a big or a four or a wing he’s the kind of guy that you could bring up and like he could be in a 13th man spot in two years and you feel great about him at pick 38 right or conversely he doesn’t work out and you give up Lindy Waters in cash and Lindy Waters wouldn’t G be on the team in two years anyways it’s it’s a no-brainer lowrisk High reward move by Sam pry and although he took a third I I don’t want to say they took three guards because Dylan Jones I don’t think he’s gonna be a guard in the NBA I think he’s be a wing although they took three ball handlers in the draft and you can argue they didn’t need that um it’s okay because one the roster changes quickly and two what they got AJ Mitchell for was basically nothing yeah it was literally nothing I mean I think that the story book for for lendy was already over in Oklahoma City it was a great fairy tale but like the reality is they had to make business decisions to maximize their roster and he was just not someone uh worth bringing back because you know what Lindy Waters is he’s a theoretical shooter who’s really improved defensively uh but this is a team that wants to maintain their flexibility and how does AJ Mitchell over Lindy Waters maintain flexibility as you mentioned the trade deadline like if if if you send out three guys for one at the deadline that immediately you go from way too many guards to now you’re lacking depth and AJ Mitchell has a way better chance of being ready to contribute at a high NBA level at the deadline than Lindy Waters does because Lindy Waters just not going to get there like it’s a great story he’s an amazing human being he’s not going to reach the heest that AJ Mitchell can can reach the potential is no longer there hopefully he has a great career with the Golden State Warriors hopefully he goes there and can fill a role for them but I think that the Thunder ready to to move forward um without him as it was heav evident that they were because they traded him for the 5502 overall pick and were likely to decline his option but AJ Mitchell I I think what’s unique about him is that while he’s a four-year college guy his background goes deep than that because of his upbringing in Belgium where he’s played so many different styles of basketball and I asked him about how at College he didn’t really uh do you know guard to guard screens and do some of the stuff that the Thunder do but he actually mentioned that you know in his upbringing he did a lot of that we didn’t use that much uh in college uh I think for me growing up I like we used to do that back home in Belgium so kind of used to it uh but I think I think it’ll be a fun adjustment for me uh just playing a different role different way so it’ll be it’ll be pretty cool as a player to come to a team like this that relies so much on versatility is that exciting for you or is it kind of a different challenge no for I think it’s exciting for me especially I feel like my game’s pretty complete so just getting better at everything I do will really help me but really excited to be part of this team it’s going to be exciting to see how AJ Mitchell uh kind of fits in and I can’t wait to see of course what he does with the blue now so far Nick crane no deals have happened because freen is not yet open however it opens in mere hours have the Thunder been aggressive enough to this point to prepare them eles for this win now opportunity uh we’ll review the offseason to this point and preview what’s next for Oklahoma City we’re back on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day thank you so much for making us your first listen every single morning every single day we’re here for you taken Thunder basketball Nick crane the 2024 NBA Draft recap we’ve gotten through all three prospects now now it’s offseason time so so far the Thunder have swapped giddy for Caruso which it cannot be you know oversold how much of a win that is for Oklahoma City how much that that really improves their roster this is a 57 win team and I saw some concern that like maybe the Thunder you know having an establish themselves yet and like look at the Kings who had a huge uptick in ws and then went right back down uh this Thunder team is is way more positioned to to avoid regression than any team that that could be a flash in the pan like this team do you really expect Shay to not be a top five guy do you really expect jadb and and Chad not to take another step do you really expect Cas Wallace to not produce do they expect you know the the the things that have to happen to get the Thunder to not repeat their performance is way too long for for it all to come together it’s never going to be as good as you think it is or as bad as you think it is there might not win 57 games again because 57 wins and above is an ungodly number but they are going to be a top six team they are going to be a homeart Advantage team and and you move forward from there in the west that’s kind of all you can ask for this is a team that’s a 571 team that won their first playoff series since 2016 that took the Mavericks to six games with a zero point differential who went on to win the Western Conference and they traded in their their worst player production-wise who got put off the floor and who didn’t fit their style for one of the very very very best fits for what the Thunder try to do so they’ve already done that I think that that I think that because that happened two weeks ago it’s forgotten about they’ve already done that then they added this draft class which if you don’t think that it’s inspiring for win team I can’t really push back on that and now they head into the off season and the and the free agency opens up and that’s whenever trades also happen they have top five in the league cap space they’ve declined the option on Wiggins and Joe with the intent to resign them both to long-term deals one do you believe the Thunder been aggressive enough or or aimed to be aggressive enough and just what do you make of the idea that like people are freaking out right now about all this yeah um the Kus trade this is this is going to be disliked by the fan base I think that in itself if nothing else happens is enough to be excited for next season to be better next season right um for for all the reasons you mentioned Josh was not the guy in the playoffs Caruso I don’t think this is a hot take you put Caruso in for giddy last playoff series given the Thunder were a corner three foul away from going to a game seven with the Mavericks not that they would have beat the Mavericks in that game seven but I think if you put Caruso out there and you give him all of Giddy and Gordon hayward’s minutes I think they’re going to the Western Conference Finals I also want to call out for next season to to set the stage Oklahoma City winning 57 wins should not be the barometer right if they win 55 that doesn’t mean they’re a worse team they could actually be a better team um regular season wins do not indicate fully if you improved or not so just want to call that out um I I think because of that all that to say the Caruso deal is significant enough that I think if they did nothing else they were aggressive enough to take a step forward maybe it wasn’t the leap that the fan base wants I also think that this is a team that uh the trade deadline could be really interesting for them like you see what this team looks like with Caruso the first couple months of the season and then you really analyze what you need like Sam’s very tactical he always says like you know you don’t buy paint for the house before You’ have bought it and seen it like there there’s a there’s a reason to believe you shouldn’t maybe make a huge Splash this summer all that said I think they will continue to be aggressive I think they will make another halfway significant acquisition um I don’t know if it’ll be free agency it may be more of a trade I think this team historically if you look at the the three biggest free agent moves they ever made Derek Fischer on the buyout Market uh Patrick Patterson 2017 I think it was free agency and nland Noel 2018 free agency that’s the bar folks like in the almost two decades this team has been here that’s their free agent signings um I think it’s partially team philosophy organizational philosophy it’s partially like you’re Oklahoma City you’re a small market so to think that they make a Big Splash in free agency they absolutely could I’m not putting my money on it I think they will likely improve the roster more outside of the Alex kuso trade via another trade that’s that’s my take on their aggressiveness and like how they’re going to approach the rest of the offseason and I’m glad you point out the trade deadline because fans are sick and tired of hearing about like the time the time to time because like the last couple of years has been all big picture oriented but even for a win now team it’s still big picture oriented in the sense of look at the Dallas Mavericks last year who rushed into some moves of like let’s go get Grant Williams let’s go improve this roster and they still had to Pivot at the deadline and without that trade deadline and without the master class that Nico Harrison pulled off at the deadline the MAV are not in the NBA Finals at all like the two biggest parts of their finals runs especially PJ Washington like you’re not there without PJ Washington you’re just not and so even for a team that was aggressive and felt like the Clock Was ticking on on Luca and Kyrie and they missed the playoffs and they you know they tanked on the end they still had to Pivot at the trade dead line after making moves to get omx and ran Holmes after trading for Derrik Lively after signing Grant Williams so for any team the deadline is huge especially nowadays where right now this moment in time find me the Western Conference team that just says all right forget it we’re not even G to try with the play in tournament where 10 teams make it everyone’s trying yep in February that picture becomes more clear especially with a good draft I mean you can speak to the 25 draft class like it’s really really talented so you you get a team that’s that’s middling at like 10 to 11 or in the plan tournament with an with aging rosters they’re gonna say screw it let’s just go get Cooper flag or whoever else cam Johnson’s not traded this summer believe he will be traded at the deadline believe that the Nets want to be as bad as possible get a clear picture of all this stuff yeah once you get to the deadline so I know that there’s a little bit more time to wait but the bottom line is this team’s good enough to ripoff wins out the woo from October till February from October till April so the they’re really looking at how to improve the roster from April to June and that comes with time that comes with being measured of of look at what just happened the Thunder entered this offseason with top five in the league cap space they made a one- forone one Swap and took on $2 million more than they gave out and they’re hard capped y like this new CBA people don’t understand it as evident by people like thinking that the offseason was over yesterday as soon as they declin the options people don’t understand it fully and I think that you’ll be shocked why teams are being so calm and not giving out Timothy mzca stupid deals and like being reserved is because of how much you are penalized for doing anything even a one forone swap of your worst player frex cruso you get penalized so I think that they have to be measured and like you mentioned this team’s never signed free agents before and there’s too many reports out there for example whenever you know if hartenstein picks somewhere else or goes back to New York there’s two many reports out there that think the Thunder just didn’t check in on hartstein they they’ve obviously checked in on hartstein it’s it’s coming from reputable people you know what they can’t do though they can’t pull Haren Stein’s wrist slam it on a table put a pin in it and force him to sign a signature they can’t make him leave New York they can’t make his his supermel wife in New York not want to be a model in New York and come model for bram’s uh Billboards they have to actually you know get the agreeance from both sides yeah yeah yeah not Thunder’s history is Thunder’s history of free agency or lack thereof is not because they don’t try to bring in big names it’s it’s a two-sided coin it is a two-sided coin now there are some coins that that that that the Thunder could could grab this summer realistically and and I think that like you’ve really got to take a step back if you’re like freaking out right now in the comments because we’re we reading them we’re seeing them it’s exhausting and realize that like if I told you that they signed jayen Jaylen Smith in in two hours from now and that would make you calm down that make you think everything’s perfect you gotta really really reevaluate why you’re so why you’re so Furious right now if all it’s going to take is a Jaylen Smith to your deal yep same with the draft likely at 12 assuming and and not assuming this is what happened Kling and Edie were both off the board um you had wear you had Holmes you had Bon you a you had a couple guys that were interesting you wouldn’t maybe take any of those guys at 12 you may move back those guys probably weren’t going to fix the Thunders front cor rotation I think Derek Lively being so dang good last year has like poisoned the mind of NBA fans of like oh just take a first round Center and he’ll end up being like the third most impactful player on a on a finals team that’s not something that you can like hang your head on happening so draft aside free agency aside um there’s not assuming hartenstein signs elsewhere the draft and the free agent Market are likely not going to your answer in the front court so you’ve already freaked out about the draft you shouldn’t you may freak out about free agency you shouldn’t there’s more options to improve the roster and it’s likely going to be via trade in my opinion yeah and you look at Brooklyn of like cam Johnson Dorian FY Smith like some of these names that are that would easily be uh you know grabbable is there any free agent uh that jumps out to you like I I don’t think that the hartstein stuff you we’ll see if it happens obviously the Paul George thing is trending towards Philadelphia at this current moment in time um clay seems to be turning toward Dallas as of the latest reporting from Mark Stein where they’re somehow going to have Clay and DJJ come in this offseason with with Quinton Grimes but is there anyone that jumps out to you as like you could really realistically see both sides kind of Coming to Terms Jaylen Smith is is like the cleanest in my opinion we won’t talk about him because that’s like the obvious one I’m gonna give you a name that I’ve brought up in multiple forums over the past week and i’ I’ve been grilled for bringing it up but I I want to explain myself when I say it Tobias Harris he is a big body he’s a guy that can score when needed to I think he’s a guy that at this point in his career would be open to taking more of a back seat like Philadelphia he was like asked to be the third guy a lot he would not be that in Oklahoma City um I think he’s also he’s been sour in the minds of NBA fans in NBA Twitter because of his cont contract and I don’t know what to be honest like he’s a weird one if he signed for the mle I wouldn’t be shocked if he signed at 20 mil for two years I wouldn’t be shocked if he signed a really small deal also wouldn’t be shocked like I don’t know what his value is but if Oklahoma City could get him for the mle or for you know 14 mil for two seasons I just think that that that is one of those scenarios where you look at the playoffs they struggled that like what you thought Gordon Hayward could be is like get you a bucket when you need it but when you don’t need it he can play off ball and space the floor and hit spot up shots for the right price I like Tobias Harris for more than the right price I hate the idea of Tobias Harris but I think that he’s a name that people dislike because he’s been attached to his contract for so long but when you remove his contract like he’s actually an interesting piece yeah it’s a very delicate line to walk because if he was on a team-friendly deal people would have zero ill will toward Harris even in the Mean Streets of Philadelphia uh and he would he would blend into what the Thunder are are trying to do ball Legend too cannot forget that that’s a huge Plus for for him ball for life um Scotty Hopson might have laid the foundation for this but I I do I do like it’s an interesting one that people aren’t talking about but is but is uh eyebrow raising what I’ll give you an eyebrow raising one I want to get the one that you pitched off the air that I want to bring on the year high Jones like if you don’t believe that Dylan Jones is going to be a guard in the NBA which I don’t either uh and you know it’s tough to bank on AJ Mitchell like instantly impacting the Thunder uh you know just as a two-way guy I think that he he’s going to have a successful NBA career but it’s tough right now I still think that Thunder could use some additional table setting some additional playmaking and they’re going to try to make chett a better playmaker they’re G to try to put casin into a situation as a better playmaker um you know and we’ll see how that works out Caruso has some playmaking ability like tus Jones to just orchestrate the second unit I would be curious uh to to see if that would be interesting I know that people would freak out because it’s a card but I I think it’d be a great move um again for for all the names we’re gonna talk about at the right price should just be like the asteris like that’s always GNA be the asterisk um he is the kind of guy that everywhere he’s been you look at his Advanced numbers and onoff numbers like he just impacts winning and he does the right things and he’s gritty and he plays on both ends I think he’d be a phenomenal fit in Oklahoma City I wonder what it takes to bring a guy like him in that’s that’s always the question but in a vacuum I think that’s a phenomenal name and I think that’s a name that I’ve not heard but we probably should be talking about because I I think you’re right KAS has the upside to be a primary like point guard Off the Bench but in the world that he’s not ready or just not that guy in general it’d be good to have a guy like Jones it’s it’s a good insurance policy uh speaking of the Guard thing before we get to your name that I think will blow people socks off yeah uh in my days of broadcasting division to college basketball there was a specific team Arkansas Fort Smith which I’m surprised didn’t lure Away isaah Joe and Jay will from the Razer backs uh and they would always come to Theon Oklahoma and they would give the roster out to the uh play I play broadcaster which would be myself award-winning by the way no big deal and you look at the roster and the position column would be B’s all down the board bbbbb for basketball player now granted when I look when I look at the height column and one guy 71 and the other guy 61 kind of figure who’s gonna be what position but as just an Ode to how annoying the fan base is whenever you bring up guards it’d be funny if they just listed everybody as a guard list Chad as a guard list list Isaiah hartstein as a guard if you sign him just list everybody’s a guard yeah well the other thing is like lean into it the fan base is so against guards but then they also praise the team for being so good at small ball when they play Four guards in a big it’s like if you’re gonna play Four guards a bunch maybe you need a lot of guards you know like that that actually makes sense when you think about it amen amen now the the name you brought up I’m gonna let you defend you make me say it I’ll say the name I’ll say the name but I want you to defend okay I think it is an interesting thought exercise that is going to is going to freak people out like they’re going to start typing this comments in the YouTube comments before we even finish the sentence yep Jonas valunas yonas valent chunis okay so this is an idea I’ve had for a bit um an idea that many people don’t like and I think it’s an idea that may be dead because when LeBron came out and said he would take less or a player on the mle and yonas is on that list I don’t know if I’d pay yonas ml money but assuming you get him for cheap cheaper than than n um yes he was played off the floor in the Pelican series um yes he doesn’t fit Oklahom City’s style of five out yes there’s a lot of reasons he doesn’t fit what this team does but this team’s at a point where they’ve proven they can win in the regular season and I almost think every move you make has to have the playoffs in mind and against the Mavericks for example it would have been nice to have a guy like Jonas that could come in and like muck things up even if he’s not playing a huge role just like go in and match gafford’s minutes right and have chat match Lively like just to give you the extra wrinkle or like the tool in the toolbox I don’t care if you pay him 10 mil a year and he averages 11 minutes a game in the regular season just to have the the option to throw him out there the play every playoff series is so different so so so different even if you play the Timberwolves like I think you’d like to have AAS out there because Rudy goar is not spacing the floor that would be a good guy to have even if you don’t give him the ball he takes four shots a game just have a big body in there to to bang with the two7 Footers in Minnesota um I don’t love him as a player but I think he’s a nice wrinkle to have for the playoffs at the right price and I I don’t know if you can get him at that price I know that Thunder fans hate it because they just saw me get played off the floor in the Thunder series because the Thunder is a team that that doesn’t he doesn’t work well against but there’s other teams that they’ll face in the playoffs that he would work well against so I think he’s an interesting name to at least think about I think he’s an interesting name almost regardless of contract and now hear me out obviously don’t give him a Max contract but the Thunder are in this they’re in this unique position where they can thread this financial needle of of paying a guy maybe pay him too much CU let’s face it like Oklahoma City is not going to sign a non- thunder player to a Bargain Bin contract you have to overcompensate for being in a small market for being a destination that no one wants to go to you’re gonna have to overcompensate for that yep and so um whenever you look at you know Jonas Valen junis this would be a move that you have the luxury of paying for him paying the M mle let’s use that figure paying the ml for him and then you have everything C if a team goes small to play off the floor there is no better team designed for small ball than the Thunder absolutely no better team if a team tries to go big and really mess with you that’s perfect they’ve played into the hands of Alan chunis yeah and the Thunder would be able to maximize him whereas like all the Pelicans could do to maximize him was dump the ball in the post and see what happens they’re they’re bunting the ball down the line in baseball as I’ve always said about Valen Unis the last two years before the playoffs and postseason the Thunder would not have to use him that way the Thunder would be silly to use him that way they have guys who can generate their own offense and they have guys who can utilize him as a would he be the best screen Setter that Shay’s ever played with in Oklahoma City I mean like in in a contending capacity like as one of the better screen Setters as one of the better rollers for Shay and jdub that’d be huge a team mind you that that thrives getting downhill and getting to the rim has done so without a great screener yeah exactly and if you need them just should not play them as the Pelicans didn’t play him who cares like yeah you have you have the luxury of the money to burn for the two years and you then would would stylistically match up with everybody who stylistically could mess over the Thunder at that point nobody nobody you’ve got both and then he falls the three pay Shay and Chad and jdub and it’s it’s over yeah yeah it’s intriguing T Montana Best of Both Worlds love it Nick this has been a lot of fun uh we both expect Wiggins and Joe to be back for uh yeah for a team friendly deal obviously and uh long-term packs it does not in the it does not in the offseason and a good catch by crane even if they resign him quote unquote resign them at 501 and like the tweets are announced and they’re they’re resigned those tweets don’t mean anything in the sense of the Thunder can wait to send these contracts to the league and officially make it official until they use the cap space still so whenever you see the tweets if it’s at 501 people are going to freak out Shams w whoever is not God like that’s not when it happens the the the order of operations the pimos of signings is what truly matters I’ll tell you when it’s official is whenever you see the Thunders press release so when the press release happens if that happens at 501 or 502 whatever then yes it’s over but until that press release is sent out it’s not over and then these are just reported figures and reported options that we don’t know what the uh chain of action is until we do so that’s just a little tidbit for you because we know that people we’re going to freak out at 501 should that happen but crane thanks for joining us let them know I can find you and find all your your stuff at crane MBA um draft digest Thunder on SI Forbes the uncontested um as a guest unlocked on Thunder when I’m able to jump on is is always a good time so uh we’ve got Ryland two and a half hours at the time we’re recording this I’m sure you’ll get this up quickly but we are here and then we get to the summer league and then the dog days of summer in August so enjoy the content while it’s here dog of Summer which is alleviated a little bit as we all become Canadians in good call shout to the Olympics until tomorrow be good and be good to

Nick Crain joins Rylan Stiles to discuss the Oklahoma City Thunder’s aggressive level ahead of NBA Free Agency, the OKC Thunder Draft Haul of Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell. The Thunder targeting Isaiah Hartenstein, Jonas Valanciunas, Tyus Jones, Tobias Harris and More.

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