Are the OKC Thunder the Favorites in the Western Conference? With Brandon Rahbar

Are the OKC Thunder the Favorites in the Western Conference? With Brandon Rahbar

on today’s show are the Thunder of the favorites out west with the new Isaiah hartstein signing we’re get Brandon rbar opinion of this matter 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 teams every day I am your host me member in si thunderbeat riter Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles joining me today is daily Thunder beat writer radio extraordinaire at Brandon orar you can find them literally everywhere talking uh Thunder basketball Brandon thanks for coming back on after the draft we have a lot to discuss uh you called your shot on uh one p platform as you kept shuffling the deck of your picks and you actually did talk a lot about topic on this show so we’re going to recap the draft uh coming up but initially the biggest news of the week the biggest news of the summer and some of the biggest news in Thunder franchise history is convincing Isaiah hartstein in in a in a I would imagine muggy night in Eugene Oran to come to Oklahoma City to to turn his back so to say on a contending New York team with a significant pay raise but also uh with the with a move that makes the Thunder legitimate title contenders for the foreseeable future what was your initial reaction whenever you just saw that the Thunder actually landed their biggest free agent signing in in Thunder history my first reaction was this is a Difference Maker like this is the dude the Thunder obviously needed to get some size and I think that we all thought that they were going to go out and get some size uh you know I know a lot of people were screaming why aren’t they getting size in the draft I mean this was the plan all along so the initial news hits I’m like this is the best big that was available in the free agent market and the Thunder went out and got him and I know that hartenstein loved it in New York this is New York City this is an East Contender that just got Mel Bridges so they’re going to be even better they were offering him as much as they could and my thought was if Sam prey is flying to Eugene Oregon this man is going to steal the deal I mean we saw it with Mike muscala uh a few years ago so now he’s two for two he is two for two he is the an Immaculate inhome recruiter uh something that maybe he can take advantage of in college football rankings uh once he’s done with the basketball world but you mentioned that Haren Stein’s a differen maker I think that there’s still a pocket um of listeners who maybe look at like the raw box score and don’t really grasp the full picture uh because you know it’s hard to follow 82 games of one team uh much less keep up with the New York Knicks backup center who was thrusted into a starting role uh due to injury how do you see hartenstein being a Difference Maker for the Thunder yeah looking at just his raw box score I don’t think tells the full story one because his minutes you know weren’t as high because you know Mitchell Robinson was playing then he was out and you know precious like there is some things going on with with the big minutes there in New York but when he’s on the court when you look at all the advanced stats like defensive EPM like the dude is number two that like I mean all the advanced stats love hartenstein it’s because he does all the little things um his defense is just so good you know the Thunder beat the mass when Chad hongren was on the court it’s when Chad was sitting that the Thunder lost to the Mavs in the playoffs they needed paint protection when Chad was sitting and hardenstein provides that he provides a real second guy that can protect the paint in a big way he’s a great rebounder so he’s got defense he’s got rebounding he’s got this little putt shot this little push shot that is incredibly efficient like if the offense breaks down just hand it to him in the paint and let him do his little push shot and then the other thing is his screening like jayb and Shay like they weren’t around you know Shay was with stepen Adams for one year so he’s going to recall those Glory Days of some you know hard-hitting screens in the space that he got with those JB hasn’t had anything like that yet like hartenstein is a great screener and then the other thing is his playmaking his passing we’ve seen that the Thunder have set a premium on playmaking from every position and hartstein is truly one of the best passing bigs in the league so it’s it’s all the little things combined like you can’t just point to one thing and be like that’s it he’s like a jack of all trades and usually when you hear jack of all trades it’s like okay he’s decent at a lot of things I don’t think he’s just decent at a lot of things I think he’s really good at a lot of things yeah I I think that the two biggest acronyms in Oklahoma right now are Bo brsb of burgers and defensive EPM uh there there’s been a ton of EPM talk ever since uh the signing is hartenstein but his passing is Elite for position I really like his physicality on the glass and also in the paint uh defensively and you mentioned the screen setting his ability to move free up driving Lanes fortino already heavy and already did their damage inside that’s massive 61% on floaters and Runners uh this season just kind of illustrates how good he is at those push shots as kind of a safety valve when plays break down uh and he has the ability to make you pay whenever defense is break down because of his passing because of that push shot where as you mentioned if you get a bit chaotic and you need to have a hot potato of the basketball to the big man type of scenario that’s great if the defenses get out of position rotating around he can fire to the corner and you’ve kind of elevated all the positions around him as well to where now you’re firing the ball to some really good Shooters uh on the perimeter for a team that was already top in the NBA in three-point percentage so I I think that whenever you look at this move in the scope of what it does uh for for the roster uh it just gives them more versatility for a team that already was relying on being versatile uh you now can play you know a massive lineup you you also can play uh you know the best small ball you also just simply uh put have the ability to pass the Baton to another rim protector which is what they did not have against Dallas and what kind of ultimately doomed them down the stretch of last year it was a it was a scenario where you know you lost to the eventual Western Conference Champs in six games but it has a zero point differential to kind of show uh despite everything that went wrong like despite you couldn’t play giddy despite that you didn’t have the backup big like you were still right there um you know with with JB not not playing up the performance that you would expect like with everything that went wrong uh you’ve really mitigated some of those things in the offseason already and I think that you’ve positioned yourself really well if you’re Oklahoma City uh to take yet another jump and it feels like they they should be out of jumps by now after two straight 15 plus win improvements and in all likelihood the jump won’t necessarily be in the win column the jump will be kind of just the eye test and the production level and things of that nature but this move seriously makes them allot better uh how do you think it looks functionally in terms of the starting five where you’re at with the contract like that kind of stuff yeah so the contract first of all you know we know that it’s front loaded and we know that the third year is non- guaranteed and I think those both these terms are good for the Thunder and for hartenstein you know hartstein gets his bag he’s earned it and he’s getting a big big pay raise and he’s getting much more than the than the Knicks could have got and they tried I mean like they could have given him like four years 72 million and some change uh some changes like hundreds of thousands of dollars in this case uh but $72 million but the Thunder kind of blew that out of the water but the cap is still clean for the thunder in that third year when like dub and Chad are due for a pay raise that cap is still clean but they’ll have options that year you know they could still keep him they could decline it they could trade him like they could extend him so many different things they can do with that non-g guaranteed third deal if it’s a team option and you know I think that the Thunder played this the right way they do this they resign and extend Wiggins and Isaiah Joe they took care of business with the big fish with hartenstein what they needed and then took care of key role players for the long term as far as the starting five goes this is still a mystery box to me I mean we know for a fact it’s going to be Shay G Alexander Lou Dort Jaylen Williams and Chad hongren that fifth spot is it going to be Isaiah hartstein and they play two bigs together uh I think in any case Chad hr’s going to be the primary five um do they go smaller and start Alex Caruso and bring hartenstein Off the Bench that’s the way I’m leaning right now I think it’ll be Caruso or maybe there’s a wild card maybe it’s Dylan Jones for instance Dylan Jones I I don’t think it’s gonna be Dylan Jones just be wild card right that wild card gets said it’s just about Dylan Jones yes absolutely uh or maybe it’s matchup dependent maybe they don’t you know commit to one guy and they play game by game um but we need to get that wild card started I kind of like that it really does fit him um so if if I were to bet right now I would think Alex Caruso is the the primary usual starter and hartenstein comes off the bench but I do think hardstein is going to play a lot of minutes 25 plus each night um and I think that are going to be you know 10 to 12 minutes per night where he and Chad play together whether that means they start together he comes off the bench they play some minutes maybe they close together but hardenstein is gonna have a big big role yeah they will play more than two% of their minutes uh with two bigs on the floor unlike in the past season will that happen in the starting five I’m also skeptical of that I think that like they won’t be as rigid as they were previously were like these are five guys if they’re healthy they’re starting I think that it could be more dependent on on flow and and feel of the point of the season and also of matchup uh but I think that ultimately the starting five will typically be you know Caruso in place of giddy I I think that these moves you know when you look at them in the scope of the actual roster and not so much as evaluating how good is hardstein as an individual how good is Caruso as an individual then the moves look even better if that’s even possible because these moves have gotten a resounding A+ grade from everyone we’ll talk about that coming up as well as has the perception of the Thunder INF free agency changed at all after Monday but first one’s here right now better friends over at game time check out game time today to get started game time is great it’s the best place to buy MLB tickets and tickets for anything really from theater to comedy shows uh whatever you need they have it for you including on concerts this summer so they get the last minute deals lowest prices guaranteed save up to 60% off buying last minute tickets uh at game time I love game times all in pricing you can just see everything right up front there’s no surprise fees at check out you know what you’re getting into I also love the view from your seat so you can see the Angles and the sight lines and what you’re getting into uh if you’ve never been to that venue before that’s really really helpful so go download the game time app create your account today use code locked locked in NBA for $20 off your first purchase that’s terms and conditions applying again create your account redeem code locked in NBA l c k d o and NBA for $20 off your first purchase go there right now to game time we’re back on the lockdown theer podcast on the lockdown podcast Network you are teams every day thank you so much for making us your first listen every single morning every single day we’re here for you talking Thunder basketball Brandon does the signing of Isaiah hartstein change the look of the Thunders free agency at all and I and I don’t think we’ll have this answer for many years to come because they now have in a position where um you know their moves from here on out are really internal it’s it’s retaining chat in J and Shay uh it’s it’s making moves via trade necessarily more so than than free agency but you know I think that the days of like thinking that the Thunder can only get a Patrick Patterson R muscala are gone are they gonna bring in the number one free agent in any class probably not but like I think that they have elevated themselves both reputationally as an organization the city as a city everything is kind of elevated to where they can start to be more players than they were before while also not getting like crazy no I think you’re exactly right and I think that it’s a few things that play into this I think that the reputation of the organization Sam presty has taken care of each player that’s come through here whether it be Chris Paul Al Horford these vets even guys like you know g-league guys two-way guys he gets all all these guys into positions that will be best for them and you know players and agents importantly remember those things and you build those relationship ship and you build that reputation and the Thunder have built that reputation not only with players and agents but just like you know being a first class organization being a winning organization and being a place where players can Thrive and then you see this team led by Shay and JB and Chad and how they’re on the rise and how much fun they’re having together and the chemistry and they’re barking after postgame and everybody’s talking about how this is kind of the young team of the future and how this could be a team that win some titles so I think all these things are into play I agree that the city is getting bigger and the reputation with the city is getting better also the fact you know as far as hartstein goes in the past with the KD Russ Harden teams they didn’t really have a surplus of money uh this was kind of the first time they had a big amount of money plus a young winning team to go fill a spot so you know it’s I think it’s a good thing that you know the first time they go out and try to get a coveted highly recruited free agent that they land him um but but I do think you know famously they didn’t get you know the one recruited guy that you know Katie and Russ tried to get was pow Gasol we still don’t have any Opera Houses here but you know maybe like Maps seven or eight M Maps nine we’ll get take care of those Opera Houses and and we volunteer to be the first act at the Opera House me me and you yeah oh yeah yeah the Opera oh I’ll let you take lead I will back you up um but yeah I I think I’ve heard you sing you could do it uh you if there’s any Opera that like has a rap in the middle I’m your guy um but but I do think though that this was big for the Thunder and it’s big you know every everybody sees this everybody sees hartenstein was wanted by the New York Knicks a place where he was comfortable a place where he was winning a place where he probably has a starting role and has a lot of money and he walks away from that to go to OKC yeah they gave him a lot of money obviously that’s but but still it was a place where he wanted to be and he made that decision and there were other teams that were recruiting him so I think this is a big win for the Thunder to land hartenstein so what do you make of this roster in general like like is there anything uh that you see right now that they’re really going to struggle with or that they’re really going to thrive in just what’s your overall temperature check on this roster it’s a really really good roster and it’s it’s really deep um but to be a a successful team you need two things you need like topend talent and the Thunder have that they have a guy that finished in top five in MVP voting two straight years and he’s still 25 years old they have JB and chat two emerging all stars and then you got to have good depth and the Thunder have really good depth when you’re when your fourth fifth and sixth best players are Alex Caruso Lou dorton Isaiah hardenstein like that mid-tier depth is really good and then their deep depth is really good you need that deep depth and um you have that with Isaiah Joe Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins um I think that they’re really diverse I think that they’ll have a lot of options and flexibility when it comes to lineups having hartenstein and Caruso I think are game changers because it’s two more two-way players the Thunder are stocking up on two-way players every single one of these guys can play offensively and defensively and I mean even Isaiah Joe like you know he’s a three-point specialist in theory but the dude takes charges he competes he works hard um so he’s he’s not like a a bad Defender like You’ normally think of like a three-point specialist and you look at his size so that’s just kind of the culture you know in the past you you had like a guy like Andre Robertson Elite defensive player but you know Couldn’t Shoot obviously then you have like three-point Specialists like Amo or Alex sabrinas or whatever but you know they can’t play defensively we saw with inis cancer the whole Billy Donovan can’t play cancer like when they get to the playoffs they want guys that can play two ways they want diverse guys and that’s what they’re building yeah and I think that when you look at this roster of like how it fits together uh they have a championship level core right now right this second uh top to bottom like they have a CH they have the ingredients for a championship the biggest question that I have for this roster is just when is JB and Chad gonna be ready because if JB and Chad are ready to be like playoff risers playoff just Immaculate players then this team is going to win a championship like like this team is that good they should be the favorite to Wi the West they should be the favorite to go toe-to-toe with anybody uh including Boston again and Boston’s a formidable team and they’ve lost nobody and going to be the favorites to win the title for for a long time uh but the Thunder are right there if those two guys take a step forward and what I think that is so good about the offseason for the Thunder is that they’ve made this roster so that at any moment whether it’s this season next season the season after that they are prepared for whenever that jump does happen they’re gambling on that jump happening I think it’s a really good bet I think that it’s a it’s a bet worth taking because these two guys have shown every indication of being guys who can raise their game and I look at with this done for chat hren and I think that your first instinct might be to go to like well he doesn’t have to play the center now I think that that’s the complete wrong way to look at it I think it’s just gone to an area where one as you mentioned pulling him off the floor uh in in that Maverick series for small you know for those spells in that mavic series is no longer dooming the Thunder and no longer dooming the team that’s really good but two you look at how teams defended the Thunder and a lot of people will look at how they ignor Josh Giddy and Pinn it on Josh giddy it had a lot to do with chat hren as well like cross matching to where you can hide your Center away from Chad because you understand your Center cannot guard Chad straight up on an island well now you’re crossmatching off of either Caruso or Dort uh and likely of those two guys you’re going to pick Dort but Dort has shown you that with the volume of Threes that you’d expect him to get in that scenario he’s able to knock them down more consistently and and if they leave Caruso certainly he will get them out of it and so the Thunder just more prepared now to either um you know capitalize on you cross matching or get you out of a cross match and if you do that if you come out of your cross match the way that they can just completely exploit you with chat on an island with a center or even a smaller guy on them if he gets more comfortable shooting over small guys uh it just opens up so many things that I think that that before you even talk about any sort of skill leap from chat holgren a comfortability leap from him uh will just do wonders for the production and for how good this team uh can be so when you look at it from like the moving parts of just how how they work together and not necessarily what Caruso’s points per game were what isaah hartstein points per game were uh once you put them together with the in-house you know production we’ve already seen I think that it gets you even more interested in how good this team can be yeah and and this team defensively has the potential to be really special and you know usually when teams are this good defensively when you have a guy in Caruso who’s been you know second Team all defense and First Team all defense back toback you have hartenstein we we talked about him being second in defensive EPM you have Chad hren Shay gild Alexander and Lou Dort who are all in top 15 all defensive voting then you have case Wallace an upcoming Defender JB really an underrated Defender you have all these guys and and if you’re wondering like you know okay well who plays the four who play you know is that too many guards you know same pressy talked about how Alex Caruso you know can guard Kevin Durant he can play against Paul George he can guard up and so you know when you’re looking at like who’s the four who takes this guy who takes that guy the Thunder can just throw all these defensive guys at you but they still don’t suffer offensively because they have an elite score and this guy that has all this gravity and SGA and then he’s surrounded by Shooters they have a a great secondary scorer and JB and like you said if he takes that next leap which I think we all expect him to that All-Star type believe that sends this team into another level you have a big in Chet who can shoot from three and space the floor you have Alex Caruso everybody talks about his defense but the man shot 41% from three on five attemp per game Lou Dort uh shot nearly 40% from three last season on high volume so the Thunder and and it’s very similar you know to the Celtics it was like you know they they’re just smothering teams defensively and you would think you get a break on the other end at least like if they’re going to smother you defensively you think you maybe be able to take advantage of like Target somebody you can’t Target anybody on the Thunder anymore like who are you going to Target um so no I I I think that the way this roster has been constructed and add and Caruso and hartenstein it’s just hard to find holes and if you if you pinpointed one spot you would say like okay they don’t have a true four like they have two great Sinners Haren sign and Chad hungr but like we said they’ve got dudes that can play up and down the lineup so they don’t need that right now I I just you know maybe in the future maybe they go out and get a four but but the way it’s roseris constructed they’re so diverse yeah I look in this team can be a historically great defensive team that’s not like a a hot take or anything just the amount of bodies that they can throw at you that are very effective defensively um are awesome I think the Chad will look awesome whenever he plays next to hartenstein uh in spurts I think that majority of the time you’re going to want to stagger those minutes that way you cover all 48 minutes with then uh a rim protection you know guy in the paint but at times you will play both of them together and those minutes will look awesome and then like you mentioned with Caruso of of yeah like when you spit it out right at tatat Shay Caruso dub you know chat hartstein that that doesn’t sound like as jumbo as it actually is functionally of like Caruso can can handle bigger bodies you saw what what JB can do scaling up and and really you know defending Kyrie really well against Dallas and also you saw he done against against power forwards throughout the season as well so how versatile this team is defensively is really encouraging and then you know the same thing can be said for JB that can be said for chat of like what went wrong for JB in the playoffs was he was excellent defensively like you could not have asked for for better defense on Kyrie Irving to limit him and Kyrie admitted as such as like this was the toughest matchup he’s ever had because of how athletic the Thunder were of like not letting him uh you know get to his spots and get comfortable offensively is where he kind of you know shrunk a bit if you want to put it that way but guess whose life gets really easy as we’ve mentioned before with this addition and and it doesn’t show up in the Box Score but he is second screen assist like it’s a a Hur sign of a guy who can pave the way for JB to get going and and what’s always said about scores is that you if you get a couple easy baskets early it can change your entire game and so who knows if you would have gotten a couple easy baskets for jdub in those staggered lineups against Dallas maybe instead of having a couple Clunkers he has a couple fantastic games and in a in a series with a zero point differential that can swing you to the Western Conference finals and then you roll the ball out there and see what happens next so like what what I’m getting at here is that like yes you had a basketball reference like the the points rebounds and assists column might not be something that jumps out to you but when youever you talk through how they going to use these pieces then you really see why I think that they are the favorites in the west we’re going to see if Brandon agrees that the Thunder are the favorites in the west coming up uh plus ask about the draft we’re back on the lockdown ther podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every today Brandon you have laid out how good this roster is and how good they can be defensively are you willing to officially say having seen Detroit lose kcp I mean sorry Denver losing kcp Detroit’s a nonf factor uh having seen Dallas make some interesting moves where they Shuffle out DJJ but bringing Naji Marshall and and Klay Thompson to fill in for DJ DJJ and Josh Green are you willing to say that the Thunder are the favorites in the very very tough Western Conference I am ready Ryland to say that they this was the number one seed in the Western Conference last year and they without a doubt got better I mean they they flip Josh giddy who I still believe is going to be a good player but didn’t fit with this team uh they flip him for Alex Caruso and Isaiah hardenstein they’ve obviously gotten better the internal development when when most of your team is so young we can expect JB Chad K Wallace these guys to get even better and then like you said like I you know all of last year Denver was the favorites for good reason they just come off a championship but this is two straight years where they’ve lost a very key player from Bruce Brown and now kyp and kyp his defense and his three-point shooting is vital to that team and this is a team that depended on their starters to win games they were already like we talked about the Thunders depth Denver’s depth is it’s hurting really really bad when you lose kcp um like their bench they’ve basically got four really good players and then a bunch of question marks after that like you said the Mavs was it a lateral move you know they probably improve a little bit their defense probably gets a little bit worse their offense gets a little bit better um you know maybe Derek liely I think we can expect him to get better um Luca maybe healthier so the mass probably a little bit better the Wolves they get Rob Dillingham really good player but he’s still a rookie he’s probably G to be a bench point guard there’s some question marks about his defense I think that’s still the big four in the west I think it’s OKC Mavs mini and Denver and that’s how I would rank them right now but I would absolutely have OKC on the top they may huge changes to get better and the other teams either stayed the same got slightly better or got worse yeah I I see it the same way of of KC being number one I think that Dallas you know what they’re banking on is that like in the aggregate of like you spit out Tim Hardway Jr dra green and DJJ and you bring in Quinton Grimes and you bring in Klay Thompson and you bring in Naji Marshall at a minimum you stay the same defensively you can argue you got better def defensively because of what Quinton Grimes is when he’s healthy because of the idea of what n Marshall can do defensively and then you’re just rolling the dice on like hey those guys’ job gets a heck of a lot easier playing next to Luka donic like go look at what DJJ was offensively before he got with Luca and so um it’s it’s a gamble that’s worth taking I think because I don’t think that you got worse at all if you’re Dallas defensively and then offensively there there’s a sizable sample now of like guys like Luca just making guys better making guys uh who are capable of hitting open shots like we know what those guys can when they’re open uh so it’s a good gamble for them Detroit I I don’t keep calling them Detroit but Denver uh you know they they are uh interesting because like you just feel like jic is a momes in type player where like you can just put anyone around him and he’s gonna make them the the one or two seed in the west uh the the team that I find interesting in the west is uh is Memphis and I don’t know how good they’re gonna be but I I I could see them being a team for the Thunder specifically that regardless of record whether they’re the top two seed or they’re or they’re a five seed 10 seed whatever they are that they could be a team that stylistically matches up with OKC very well of um you look at zachi who neither one of us were like a huge fan of pre-draft but in that specific environment like Zach getting to play Drop coverage primarily with jiren Jackson Jr roaming with Desmond Bane taking on the perimeter assignment of your top guy like a shay the ability to score inside the York’s gonna be very tough that’s where the thunder make a lot of their bread and butter is inside the arc so how do you manage to keep Pace with that uh and then you look offensively what they can do with j and how he’s played off of Stephen Adams before and you you can use Edie in that Adams role next to uh jiren Jackson Jr Desmond Bane I think that Memphis could take a step forward in the west this year especially if healthy uh and I think that they could be a team that regardless of record uh Thunder fans do not like playing them this season because of how they match up with OKC and most of the time that’s what things come down to in the postseason his matchups I’d still lean the Thunder as the favorites obviously I’m picking the Thunder uh to win the West spoiler alert for uh October’s preview shows but the Thunder W in the west this year I think that they’ve done enough to do that you know with their raster with their you know head coach with their star players uh and and projecting the leap forward from from jdub and chat now they’ve also made some moves we haven’t talked about yet and that’s the NBA draft where they did take topic who you kept warning everyone about uh before the draft about a guy who can provide value now that that’s come to flourish uh what do you make of now the idea of red shooting topic as he’s hurt this year with a 20cl but being covered by like the additions of Caruso and and hartstein and things like that yeah I think I think it was the move I think when topic Falls to you at 12 you run that card in and draft him the value is too good this was considered a weak draft and there was only a few guys that were considered kind of star talents and that’s not to say that topic will be a star but he’s one of only a handful of guys that you know most most analysts most draft gurus said hey this guy could be a star when he’s there at 12 you got to take him like he’s he’s a playmaker he was the best playmaker in this draft he’s got a great first step he finishes at The Rim so well um there’s so much potential he’s got the size that the love like they love the big jumbo Playmakers and I know that there was a lot of comparisons to Giddy um but I think the difference is I do think that he has a higher potential to to become a better shooter uh when you look at his free throw numbers and you look at his three-point volume uh and then you look at the kind of shots he was taking and then that first step in his finishing at The Rim I think is a real Difference Maker as well so I I think it was a great move and because you go out and get Caruso and because you have hartenstein you don’t have to depend on a rookie if they went out and got a big if they reach for a big if they reach for you know a wing maybe you know those guys probably weren’t going to make a difference on this team anyway so regardless of who they chose um I I don’t think that those guys were going to bump you know obviously Caruso or or even Isaiah Joe or Aaron Wiggins um K Wallace out of the rotation so take the best player available take the high Talent the biggest upside you get a dude that was projected top three or four this dude everybody thought before his injury the Spurs were going to take him and the big pairing was going to be wimy and topic topic was going to be his point guard of the future like at number four when that dude falls to 12 and you have a loaded roster you got to take him yeah and I think that if there’s any team prepared for either scenario like prepared to Foster his development and prepared for him to be a really high-end player and a top five player on a draft uh it’s the Thunder and if there’s any team prepared for like hey we took a shot at 12 it didn’t really work out you know and we need to find a way to Pivot it’s the Thunder like they they have all their bases covered in this specific example now they weren’t done though they went into the draft with just one pick but they came out with two more uh Dylan Jones they traded up for to go get it 26 uh you and I were in thunderon when that happened uh what is your what is your take on Dylan Jones now watching him over the weekend my take is he his selection on ryland’s all juice team was was deserved and very worthy um he is such a fun player to watch like you you don’t usually see these dudes like a a 66 dude like him 6566 built like he is like he’s like a bowling ball but he’s such a great playmaker he’s a he’s a scorer um he’s a great rebounder that 611 wingspan he plays hard he plays smart you know he checks all the Thunder boxes like after doing the Deep dive and watching like hours of film on him and and watching interviews and all those things he checks the boxes for the Thunder like physically like his physical profile with the plus wingspan and and the size but he checks the boxes like as far as toughness high IQ character and then the playmaking I go back to the playmaking like the Thunder you know Sam prey said in his exit interview the Mavs passing you know that was the factor in the playoffs that’s that’s what made them so good so he goes out and he gets topic the best passer he gets Dylan Jones who’s a great passer he gets AJ Mitchell who is a great passer and they also go out and get hartenstein one of the best passing bigs in in the NBA so Dylan Jones uh whereas I knew a little about him before the draft but not a whole lot um I completely get why they traded five picks to go out and get him and and again you get another first round pick and you didn’t have to use a first round pick the Thunder used zero of their stock of first round picks and they get Caruso hartenstein and another first round pick in this off season yeah I mean this was a really good you know offseason for the Thunder I I don’t think that anyone can give them lower than an A on their offseason grades whenever those things come du uh here in the dog days of August as we wait for the Olympics to really heat up but AJ Mitchell I I think is going to project to be on a two-way contract I think it’s an electric fying score you know a three- level guy who can pass and also score on the ball which can be a huge boost to this center team do you have any uh any AJ Mitchell thoughts for us no I did know you know and did know more about AJ Mitchell going into the draft than I did Dylan Jones uh because his numbers stuck out to me so I kind of did a deep dive on him and yeah like his scoring his shooting uh and again the playmaking and again the jumbo size like you know like a a lead guard with plus size uh that likes to pass first and and he has a high IQ again like the Thunder have a type uh and and I think AJ Mitchell fits that type and and to to get him by trading away Lindy Waters and obviously Lindy waters for good reason like fan favorite born and bred Oklahoma played all those basketball hoops here but I think the Thunder did him a solid by take giving him to a SP trading him to a spot where he’s going to stay in the rotation uh if not the rotation he’s gonna stay on the roster um but you trade him for a younger guy with some upside and AJ Mitchell that she can put on the two-way which opened up the roster I think it was a a really Savvy move and then just using cash the rest of the way to move up to 38 to get him like they traded Lindy for the second rounder and just like gave a couple teams some cash and boom you got AJ Mitchell I think one of the more underrated prospects in the draft it’s really exciting stuff all throughout it thank you again Brandon for joining us now sitting right now July 3rd 2024 the year of Our Lord are the Thunder going to win the West are we going to go cover the NBA finals oh man put me on the spot early Ryland the good thing is nobody remembers this if it’s that’s true that’s true unless it’s right if it’s right we’re gonna clip it out and uh 100 percent 100 percent just like I did on you know on my topic Tes on the on where I said topich and the good thing is for that we’re gonna have a preview show in October where you can just walk anything back that you want nice yes I will say I think they are ready to take that step I think they were close this year and that was with no playoff experience now they have the playoff experience now they’ve improved theost they shorten up their weaknesses internal development yes there it is thunder Western Conference Finals winners according to brener abar you can find them at Daily thunder you can find them on 1077th franchise and the ref radio as well Brandon thanks again let them know what you’re what you’re cooking up yeah you can find me at Brandon RAR on Twitter you can uh find me at Daily Thunder and then like Ryan said on the radio so Ryland as always thank you for having me my man thanks man thanks for coming on and until next time be good and be good to one

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed Isaiah Hartenstein, traded for Alex Caruso and rounded out their 2024 NBA Draft class. Are the OKC Thunder now the favorites in the Western Conference? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren poised to make another leap? The Oklahoma City Thunder have vastly improved their team, who could be a massive threat to them? Breaking down Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell and Nikola Topic as well with Brandon Rahbar.

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