Sam Presti is Building the Perfect OKC Team

Sam Presti is Building the Perfect OKC Team

OKC made some big time moves they traded for Alex Caruso they signed Isaiah hartenstein this team was the first seed in the west last year they won 57 games do you think that they are now the best team in the west of conference and should be favorites to make it out the West uh Oklahoma City is going to the finals next year I’m really confident in that Alex Cruz so you get the best perimeter Defender and statistically you pair that with statistically the best Premier defender in Al lugan Stewarts here’s the thing you have a little bit more of a li reliability on Alex Caruso on the offensive side another guy that can handle the ball guy that can stretch the floor a great passer also but what you brought him to this team to do is to fit your culture on the defensive side and carus is going to do that and then some now you also bring in Isa hardenstein what did you lack you needed rebounding you needed another interior presence you got the best available on the market you had to overpay for him that was the main reason why you were able to drag him away from New York but it’s not that he’s going to clog up space and and be a negative in that regard because he is a great connector he is a great passer he has great touch around the rim Riv you and I already talked about how he has that little sky jump hook that’s just cash every single time he throws it up he was Uber efficient for them and on the defensive side he fits exactly what they want to do because he was one of the best big defenders in the game last year so to me I look at this roster the fact they were able to bring back Aaron Wiggins the fact they were able to bring back Isaiah Joe on team friendlies I I anticipate SGA to be just as good or maybe even slightly a little bit better than what he was this past season which locks him to be a first team all NBA player Jay dub only should get better CH hrin now that he has the experience of being in a playoff setting he should only get better this team is near perfect I think that they are the favorit to come out of the Western Conference and this would be my team to to do it I said this uh when we having the argument about big three you could talk about the Caruso pickup you could talk about the hardenstein pickup um resign their own guys but if they do want to be favorites which I I think they should be right now but if they want to execute that and actually get to the finals I think you need to see some sort of leap from jayd dub or Chad I think where SGA is right now he could definitely take another playmaking leap as we’ve discussed earlier in the show and become you know an above average to really good playmaker because right now he’s probably hovering around just an average uh playmaker for his position but if Jay Dub’s able to take another leap and he’s efficient in the playoffs if Chad’s able to um of course have another year under him coming off the injury be able to hit the three more consistently maybe be able to take advantage more consistently as we saw porzingis to kind of later in his career of course ched is still super young that’s the key for me that unlocks everything for the Thunder because Caruso is a great pickup we know L dor can play great defense especially on bigger forwards like a Luca donic um just big wings that should be but if those two can step up right because we know what Caruso is going to give us we know a can give us if those two can step up that’s how this team gets over the hump and hell this was a team that if they even just got average shooting against the Dallas Mavericks we could talk about them being in the Western Conference Finals we’ll see what happens when they go up against Minnesota um because that would be a really tough defense to go up against but they have great offense I think would would match that well but they weren’t that far away from kind of being in that realm they went toe-to-toe with Dallas of course they lost in six but again just a couple couple possessions a couple games that they had they had a big comeback they leted up a big comeback they were in all of these games so when we’re going into next season talking about the top groups whether it’s Dallas whether it’s Denver whether it’s OKC I don’t feel any less confident in OKC than I do all of those teams because I think them and Dallas another seven game series that could go either way with Denver missing uh kcp of course losing Bruce Brown last year now you’re adding Christian Brown into the starting lineup you’re relying more on your younger players who need to step up OKC has the continuity they’re probably going to get better and they have playoff experience under their belt so I think going into next year they should be especially after being the number one seed this previous year which was came out of nowhere it’s a little bit different now because you kind of snuck up on teams right we were all expecting a bit of a leap but we’re expecting them you’re a top six team you’re out of the playing uh you know you solidify yourself as like one of the upand cominging teams so it’s kind of easy to sneak up on guys now that you have that stamp we’re the number one seed SJ just said an MVP type season Jay du broke up broke out into like a top 30 40 type dude now it’s a little bit different when you’re going into these regular season games because people are like okay this is a four real team uh but I definitely think they should be in that conversation when we’re talking about tiers in the western conference I think OKC is easy to grasp on to because they’re the only team in the west that didn’t lose anything and gained a whole lot with the Mavericks they got Klay Thompson but Derek Jones Jr in that Series against OKC held SJ at 37% from the field he was an elite defender on him and losing him it is going to be felt but the Mavs are hoping to get a boost on offense Denver loses kcp Minnesota adds Rob dillam they didn’t really lose much either they lost Kyle Anderson who for certain matchups is is more um is better is beneficial for them like against Dallas when they had him guard Luca But ultimately OKC they improved and they didn’t lose anything at all and they’re the only team now that has five players outside of the Boston Celtics within the top 50 of BPM it’s SGA Isaiah hardstein surprisingly is number 14 then they have CAD Jay dub and Alex Caruso this is a very talented team in the Western Conference it all depends on who gets hot at the right time cuz Dallas got hot at the right time and that’s why they made a run I think Minnesota Dallas and because of joic and what he can provide you in any series they can go ban for ban for OKC but OKC is the most talented team I think the only question with them is can it really match up with Boston and handle that physicality because you look at Boston and it feels as if Boston is a more mature version of what OKC is currently building Chris H porzingis is a mature version of Chad Jaylen Brown is a mature version of Jay dub SJ is the only one that goes toe-to-toe with Tatum and then you look at the RO players the Thunders Isaiah horstein and Caruso I think they’re great but that’s not better than Derek white and Drew holiday so I just think that the Celtics are a more mature version but the OKC Thunder they’re the most talented team in the west I think um my only concern is more about how offense is going to run you know are they going to change their philosophy of the five out offense you know are they going to plug in two man line two big man lineup you know how does Shay come into next year being a better playmaker you know not having a big that he can hit on the short Ro like hardenstein like this is a whole it’s not a I wouldn’t say a whole different philosophy or scheme but this is something Mark is definitely going to have to draw up and you know teams aren’t you know shocked by you now they’re going to be waiting for you expecting you have a bit of a better game plan for you so that’s really the only concern for me cuz I think bringing in crusaw I think he’s an easy plugin player you know he comes in he defends well he shown the ability shoot the three ball he can hit uh you know he he can be a good playmaker a good connector so it’s just really about how are you going to adjust to hartenstein and shut this new Dynamic big you know type difference especially when SGA is more under the three-point line like he’s more mid-range to the rim will he come in with a different type of three will he take more volume threes you know Jay duub how is he going to produce you know I do think Dells has a point where they did make improvements but you still it’s still I think the West is still matchup dependent you know I think you still have Minnesota who if if you run a two big lineup I think that’s the perfect thing for them that’s the way they like to play you know I think defensively they get a lot more aggressive you know with Dallas I don’t think you know they’ve dropped off a ton I think the players they got are much better than the players that they had you know and I think they already beat OKC so going to the matchup I don’t think that’s still a far off bet to still take Dallas you know because I think they have improved so it’s really just a matchup depending you do have to rely on Jay dub or Chad to make that leap but you have to also you know rely on Mark dagno to kind make these adjustments and kind of you know Tinker with this offense and Tinker with this pick and roll that they love to run you know cuz hardenstein ranan a lot of dhos when he was with New York with Jaylen Brunson SGA doesn’t use a [ __ ] ton of pick and rolls you know that’s not really a big element to his game so it’s going to be interested to add that to his game now see what type of leap he makes as a playmaker so I’m excited to see just OKC really just Elevate cuz I think that’s the interesting part about it yeah they were a number one seed but I still feel like there’s another level that they can get to maybe two more levels that they can get to cuz this team is so young you had KAS SGA Chad Jay du making debuts well not SJ but for the most part SJ making a debut as the guy in in the playoffs like not to mention dorts hasn’t been there a ton so he’s another guy that’s still fresh Aaron Wiggins Isaiah Joe like this team was fresh and new in the playoffs so are they the favorites I I wouldn’t be mad at putting them there you know they’ve made the Right Moves and on top of that you know how like how was how is Minnesota going to look you know how is Denver going to look but locing kcp you know it’s going to be different so but I think putting them in the favorite is fair but for me the top four is pretty simple it’s OKC Minnesota Denver and I am blanking Dallas Dallas is the fourth team and I think those are the four comfortables in the bers no bro Warriors no no shot we’ll get in I I definitely agree with with all the points you guys made I think it really just does come down to you know the the leaps that Jay dub and Chad make because those are your your supporting Stars those are the guys that have to be able to help Shay in a game seven or you know just other situations make plays I think you know figuring out how those two bigs work and which lineups and and how they play together how much does Chad play at the four and how can he still be effective in that I feel like we kind of have collectively acted like a 21 year old just is incapable of making certain leaps and being able to create advantages and score on wings and and those types of things so I think it’s still a possibility but we’re going to have to see it um and then I think the other only like concern I have with this team is just like adding a a third ball handler um it doesn’t necessarily need to be like a traditional point guard but uh at least in lineups when you know Shay does leave the court can Jay dub fully you know run the offense or is there somebody else out there to to be able to go get um with Caruso in there is Dort Expendable to to some extent you know you you push Cas up um if you believe in him in that way so that would be the only other concern I have like or just the way that they can reach that like next step but um yeah they have everything uh they would be my favorite going into this SE to be honest with you you you talk about pushing maybe ludor out of there and bringing in a Cas that makes a lot of sense against the Mavericks a lot of missed opportunity was because of missed open shots you saw lugan dorts get a ton of those looks and miss a good amount of them I won’t excuse Cas Wallace either you know that’s one of my guys Cas Wallace Ely [ __ ] that bed in game six but you already know that Alex Caruso is pretty reliable when it comes to knocking down an open shot we’ve seen him play in high leverage situations with the Los Angeles Lakers and step up to the play and hit home runs I think that he allows you that flexibility of hey this guy doesn’t have it tonight we’re not dropping off even a little bit on the defensive side if we do bring dorts to the bench we bring in kurus so we bring in Wallace who I still trust has a more reliable shooting option than lud dortz but he it’s not excuse you know I’m not going to excuse a bad performance a bad performance is a bad performance but how defensively versatile they are it’s it’s a luxury

#PickaSide #OklahomaCityThunder #389