OKC Thunder Land in Group B for NBA Cup, Ousmane Dieng not playing Summer League

OKC Thunder Land in Group B for NBA Cup, Ousmane Dieng not playing Summer League

on today’s lockdown Thunder podcast the Oklahoma City Thunder are set to open up Las Vegas summer league action Usman Jang will not be there let’s talk about that and the Thunders grouping for the NBA cup you are locked on Thunder your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every 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 and Thunder beat writer for inside the Thunder Sports Illustrated Thunder Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter L thunderpod email the show L thunderpod gmail.com on today’s show we’re diving into the Oklahoma City Thunder beginning their Vegas summer League without Usman Jen he will not be there we’ll talk about that we’re going to grade Salt Lake City summer league we’re going to preview Vegas’s summer league and the Thunder have been placed into the NBA group uh Cup group so the NBA cup is now replacing the uh NBA inseason tournament so we’ll talk about that as well we also have a jam-pack week of shows coming your way there are plenty of guests from the draft space from the Thunder Universe Brian rabar Michael Martin you have the draft guys like Richard staman we’re gonna have Keenan wmac from draft digest on Sports Illustrated we have a lot of different characters coming in uh and kind of uh giving us shows for next week Monday though is a mailbag Monday we’re going to recap that first Summer League game against the Raptors on Saturday we’re going to recap that on Monday in a mailbag podcast so get your questions in with a mailbag edition of lockon thunder on Twitter Ryland Styles and also on the YouTube comment section locked on Thunder YouTube channel which is where you can also find your show but we’re going to have a lot of good guests next week the vast majority of the reason why we’re gonna have a lot of good guests on is because they’re awesome and they’re great guests to talk to a small percentage of why we’re having a lot of guests on next week uh is to let you in on a peek behind the curtain we’re recording like four shows Sunday and Monday because night I will become a multi-time national champion with the Kansas j-hawks in college football 25 so uh gonna be a little busy uh this upcoming week but you’re still gonna get shows uh and they’re going to be shows that are really really fun and really good now let’s talk about uh the NC the let’s talk about the n Season tournament with the NBA cup so from now on it’ll be referenced as the NBA cup instead of the n Season tournament I I would have preferred them to just like make this switch last year like when the in the first season because this was always like a very great name for it I think that the first time like I really well I mean a lot of people referred it to as this but front office show with ke Smith and Trevor Lane they’ve referred to it as NBA cup for the longest time uh and I just love the name and I think that it’s much more simpler and smoother uh to talk about but here are the groups so it’s it’s the same kind of formula as the groupings for last year of like the last three seasons record and then you kind of pick you know four teams or whatever six teams or whatever uh split by three all within conference for all 30 teams so the Western Conference groups because we don’t particularly care about the East we do have locked on NBA we do have locked on blank for all 30 NBA teams so you can go check those out for for those group breakdowns but the NBA cup for the West group a is Minnesota the Clippers the Kings the Rockets the Trailblazers Group B is Oklahoma City Phoenix the Lakers the Jazz and the Spurs Group C is Denver Dallas New Orleans Golden State and Memphis uh so when you look at these groups all laid out the one thing I think that the NBA did an incredible job of with these groups is creating drama creating storylines yeah group a I think is is by far the easiest group uh because I’m just not sold on the Rockets making some leap I’m not sold on of course the Blazers and then I think that with the Clippers you know the loss of Paul George and like that that team is just are we convinced fully that kawaiian company will take the regular season seriously and you know for the purpose of the inseason tournament like if if you miss a couple of games of group play that’s kind of all she wrote for you in terms of advancing to win this cup so I think that West a by far the easiest but you look at the other groups I think West SE is by far the hardest like that is the group of death across both conferences like this is the hardest that you’ll see and in the east of course can’t really be that hard because it’s the Eastern Conference although I do think that East a is really tough with the Sixers magic Nicks uh Nets and hornets but West se you have joic vers Luca that’s ex extremely fun you have Klay Thompson against Golden State that’s gonna be a marquee game you have Zion and jaah and then from there you just kind of you know spin it around of like ja vers Luca and you have you know Zion and Luca you you have all these like Superstars you have all these teams that I think are really high quality teams like would it surprise you if every single team from West SE made the playoffs and by play playoffs let’s extend that to the play in tournament I don’t think it shock you obviously the odds say that like someone has to fall out of that realm because you’re also going to take some teams from West B and West a but when you look at West C I am a firm believer in Memphis and if you listen to the show you know that I was not high on Zack Edy coming into this draft as like as a prospect I do think though that there are prospects who like the environment and the fit matters he’s one of them and that fit in Memphis is phenomenal that he could not I don’t think have dreamed up a better fit for himself than playing in Memphis alongside jiren Jackson Jr to help him with his defensive limitations playing with the team that’s already used to and like whenever they played at their best as a core they played with with jannis Valen junis they played with Stephen Adams when they were playing at their best so like you have JN you have Desmond you have JJJ like these are guys that are used to playing next to a more heavy-leg Center um you know who who can only play in drop coverage and and is you know a good role threat but a really good screener to earn separation so I think that that’s a perfect fit for him it makes Memphis really good I’m all in on Memphis Grizzlies if they’re healthy and of course on the court um and so that’s their like weakest draw by the record thing but that is not uh you know they’re not the weakest team in terms of like when they’re actually a finished product and then you you you can never discount the Warriors as long as they have Steph Curry like you can talk about how down they’ll be this year comparatively to their Dynasty run they’re no longer a dynastic team but they’re still a force to be reckon with at any given moment and then we know it the nuggets are we know what the Mavericks are and the and the Pelicans I don’t buy into them as a playoff Contender you know I think that it’s it’s great that they’re trying you know making the moves from Murray it’s good that they’re trying but they’re still too reliant you know on ye Mei who I don’t know that he’ll be ready like I think that they’re trying to cap capture that lightning in a bottle um that the Thunder did that the Mavericks did with rookie bigman but there’s a reason why those things are an anomaly there’s a reason why those things got hyped up as much as they did this season of like with the Mavericks and thunder being able to count on young big men it’s because that hardly ever happens and I don’t think that E Mei is one of those guys that will make it happen this year as like one of your lone bigs on the roster so I I don’t buy them as like a contender I do buy them as a fun fun fun fun regular season team that you do not want to play and then you know joic and Murray you know Luca Kyrie and Dallas you know they they’ve made some interesting changes to their roster I don’t foresee them have gotten worse I don’t know how much better that they’ve gotten but I don’t think they’ve gotten worse by any stretch they’ve they’ve at wor stayed the same and I think you can give them a touch better whenever you factor in the Luca curve of like yeah maybe heads up right now you think that DJJ is a better player than n niji Marshall let Naji Marshall play a season with Luca and then let’s see what you think about him and I think that that’ll kind of go up for him so I think that it’s it’s indisputable that West C is the toughest uh group and while West B is a friendlier draw for the Thunder by no means does it lack storylines by no means does it lack drama and while the Thunder should come out of it it’s going to be a dog fight and we’ll talk about that coming up but first want to say right now about good friends over at betterhelp check out betterhelp today and go there and get started right now because betterhelp is awesome better help is there for you uh because I think at times you know you could always benefit from getting something off your chest not letting it Fester with you uh and whenever you look at better help it brings you all the benefits of therapy and for me one of the things that’s like stopped me from therapy in the past is just like oh you know I’m too busy I I can’t go to a brick and mortar like office and and go get the help I need there I I don’t know where look I don’t know where to go and I’m too busy where better help comes in is better help is therapy and the benefits of it all online all designed for your convenience for your flexibility and suited for your schedule so you go fill out the brief questionnaire and it matches you with the licensed therapist you can switch therapist at any time with no additional charge so you can you know look and get things off your chest with betterhelp that’s betterhelp.com MBA today to get 10% off your first month betterhelp.com loock innba today to get started with a 10% off your first month at betterhelp we’re back on the lockdown thiner 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 talking Thunder basketball well let’s talk about it the Oklahoma City Thunder and their group so we’ve set it up I I I again do not think we need to spend much time on group a we spent a lot on group but Group B the Thunder THS Lakers Jazz Spurs let’s only look at this from a thunder aspect and then you know you can you can go check out locked on suns locked on Lakers locked on Jazz locked on Spurs for their aspect of this group from a thunder aspect of it the Suns as of this moment they’ve done nothing but try to run it back as best they can and they’re still going to have Booker Beal Durant so you’re going to see you know a KD vers the Thunder uh regular season game that does have a tinge more meaning and I think that the way that the Lakers handled the the first ever inseason tournament and the way that they raised the banner and the way that they competed for it um and the way that LeBron embraced it I think that those things will like as the time goes I think that those things will will show you that this NBA cup it will never reach the status of the Larry O’Brien trophy of course but it will feel important and I think starting this year it’ll feel important after you’ve seen how the players have taken to it and reacted to it and so having Kevin Durant come to town in this you know going to be a funky Court probably I mean I imagine they keep that around in some capacity that’s just a complete guess but I imagine in some capacity they’ll have a funky Court going to be some new uniforms I’m sure to go along with it just like they were last year but that’s another guess but at the end of the day it’ll be a game that counts for double because these are still regular season games that are also trying to get you to the NBA Cup playoffs and and eventually the NBA Cup Championship and you also in Oklahoma City see a team that cares about the regular season that cares about competing no matter what at every level at every stage at every point of the season they showed you that they care and that this is one of the teams that care the most in the NBA it’s how got it to 57 wins last year so right off the bat you’re going to see Kevin Durant and the Suns come to town love them or hate them or or think they’re good or not or or contenders or not it’s a tough game then you got the Utah Jazz com to town which doesn’t have like the sex appeal of the Lakers or wanyama or or the Kevin Durant example but again as of this moment the Jazz have kind of just hung out for the most part they’ve made really good draft selections like I I really enjoy that you know their best player available strategy but this was a middling team last year that I think will still be middling and now they they have Lori Mark and they have Cody Williams brother of Jaylen Williams it’s like you have that interesting drama storyline aspect of things and they are not a complete just utter pushover as they’re currently constructed then you know about the Spurs the NBA has made no bones of about it they’ve tried to hide not at all of how much that they’re pushing that rivalry and pushing that you know kind of clash between the Thunder and wanyama chat and wanyama they want that to be the thing and the IT thing and for the second straight year you find yourself in the same grouping as Victor wanyama and the San Antonio Spurs so that needs no introduction and let me tell you that will be the Spurs Super Bowl and I don’t say that in a disingenuous way I don’t say that as a way to pick out our good friends at lockdown Spurs the lock Time Podcast Network I say that as this Spurs team they’ve made some Savvy moves I love Chris Paul you SOI did for this young Thunder team back in 2020 I really like Harrison Barnes as a tool to have next Toyama they’ve made some svy moves but this season is about utilizing those veterans to make life easier to continue to mold these young guys so so possibly they have this jump and this and this and this leap that we’re not expecting the tough Western Conference as Chris Paul’s been a part of a couple of times but in re you know in reality on paper right now you’re looking at just a more competent team that’s trying to make life simpler for young guys this will be one of their biggest games on their calendar this will be a circle of the NBA schedule specifically for the Spurs and the thing about the n Season tournament and and the NBA cup that you look at it happens on Tuesdays and Fridays in November and and this time it leaks into December a little bit but it happens in on Tuesdays and Fridays in November and it starts on November 12th you know there’s not a ton of Runway before that to where like this might be one of the first just Boom games for the Spurs depending on how the schedule shakes out so you’re going to get the Spurs best shot and that fan Back Time oklah city is a great fan base they’ll pack the payom center as much as possible for every game that Spurs fan base is not guaranteed any big games next year you know barring something dramatic happening like some strange uh unheard of circumstances with injuries like the Thunder are gonna have playoff games next year they’re gonna have games to look forward to this is the date for the Spurs to look forward to that will be a hostile environment that will be a competitive game that’ll be one that wama wants to win no matter how often that chat plays the proper game of like you know casting away the individual rivalry once he gets on the court it’s very clear the way that he shows emotion in those games against wiama how much that means to him this will be a a get your popcorn ready game in San Antonio and oh yeah the team we haven’t talked about yet is LeBron James and the Lakers it’s LeBron James and the purple and gold with JJ reic on the sidelines it’s podcaster versus coach of the year ad LeBron who who every spent the entire last season shaking in their boots of the possibility of the Thunder playing in the playoffs last year it’s those guys against the thunder in the uh artist formly knows the Staple Center this is a this is a easier group than Group C it’s still a competitive group and it’s still a heck of a lot of fun because let’s see what that looks like again last year the Thunder won 57 games and everybody was shaking about that possible first round matchup as a potential 81 upset so now you throw hardenstein in the mix the Thunder have kind of made adjustments what does that matchup look like that’s one of the that’s one of the most you know that’s one of the biggest benchmarks that the Thunder will face this year is like when you play Minnesota when you play Dallas when you play La what does it look like how does it function compared to last year this is going to be a ton of fun the Thunder or a bunch of competitors where they’re going to take this seriously and and they’re going to try to win it and they have a good shot to win it so again Group Play will be November 12th through uh December 3rd The Knockout round the first you know quarterfinals happens you know in Market that’ll be December 10 through 11 and then you move on to Vegas for the final four on December 14th and the championship on December 17th Thunder are are in a good spot to be playing in in Las Vegas I don’t know you book your flights yet but you get on the Delta app you get on the Delta app and you start you know checking it out because that that that could be a spectral uh Christmas in Las Vegas there’s a good song Christmas in Kansas City I’m sure that there’s a song about Christmas in Vegas and if there’s not well then just go watch Viva Las Vegas with Elvis Presley and and Margaret uh and then and then listen to VI Las Vegas by Elvis which is of course the theme of the of the movie uh I will say Joe Mado loves VI Las Vegas him and Derek Parker I showed both of them that movie whenever we were in Dallas for the playoffs that’s what that’s what we were doing at night I’m sure that there was uh more fun activities but we watched Viva Las Vegas with uh with some with some you know nice Beverages and hung out anyway coming up Usman jangs not playing summer league how did Salt Lake City go and what can you look forward to with Vegas but first want to say you right now about get friends over at eBay Motors folks eBay Motors is great because they know that passion Drive patience that’s the formula for winning championships it’s also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need need to maintain your vehicle and level up the performances from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more so you can go check them out today at ebaymotors.com eBay guaranteed fit uh 1222 parts to choose from for your number one die candidate go there right now keep your die alive at eBay Motors L bottoms only exclusions apply and eBay Motors guaranteed fit is only available for us customers we’re back on lock on Thunder podcast on the lockon 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 talking Thunder basketball we’ve talked a lot about the NBA cup let’s talk about summer lake first and foremost Usman Jang is not GNA play in the Vegas schedule which you know I I I see a lot of people you know having these strong opinions about it here’s the deal the Thunder playing two summer leagues every year he’s played in three games already the Thunder have no shortage of you know opportunity of evaluating wman Shen he got he got exceptional runway for the G League team last year he played it you know he’s played his first year in both stint of course he has a lot of film there and he has three Summer League games this is not abnormal there there’s there’s no tinfoil hat to put on there are no tea leaves to read through and purse through it is what it is now selfishly as someone who has to talk about summer league what I prefer that we get more Jang minutes than cor mcryan minutes of course it’s more fun you guys care about it more you guys will listen to it more and then that’s what I care about but from a team standpoint I don’t think this I don’t think you can infer anything from this you played three games you had one you know disappointing game depending on how you look at it as we broke it down fully on Monday uh I think that was Tuesday actually uh and then he had two other games in Lake City on Tuesday and Wednesday where you know he he took a step forward looked more comfortable looked more like his g-league self the thing that I would say to those freaking out in either direction like either you think that the Thunder just like you know are done with who or that they think that he’s awesome what would happen if he dropped a triple double Saturday he’s playing Jonathan magbo and the and the Toronto Raptors you wouldn’t care like that that wouldn’t sway your opinion of who us is what the plan for him next year is what it looks like what it feels like your thoughts on his career to this point he has three Summer League games under his belt which is if the Thunder didn’t play in Sol Lake City all he was going to play in Vegas anyway because you look around the League this is how things go and I know that like you can you can get Tunnel Vision on the Thunder because like listen it’s tough to to to to watch the whole league and then watch all 30 teams and see how they’re doing business so you know you focus on one team every team does this you look around and you you see like like the Grizzlies didn’t play Zaki the last two sou Lake City games because they want to showcase him in Vegas for the league and for their Partners but like only player guys two or three Summer League games especially older guys like ja played well tonight uh for Memphis he’s I don’t think he’s going to play again us had two good Summer League games and back-to-back games he played three day three games in three days and the thing that you’re missing from us is not game reps against g-league caliber players or against rookies thing you’re missing from moves is like you you can you can more you can maximize this time more in practice with Hands-On instructional and developmental time and things of that nature because you’ve seen it you’ve seen us in this setting and there are some fun names at Summer League every year I love Jonathan I love Jobe Walter I think this G be a fun game against Toronto but if he carves them up we’ll spend a lot of time with the Raptors 905 okay so again I I think that like selfishly of course you want to see his play every single day because he’s one of the guys he’s one of the guys that you know frankly you’re not signing up to watch cor mcryan you want to watch as many people that that you believe can can impact the Thunder as you can and so from that part of it I I totally get the the frustration or the disappointment but I wouldn’t go making any inferences about the Thunder and about o or whatever uh based on on this decision it’s pretty status quo it’s pretty typical it’s a typical summer league vehicle but there are still storylines to follow for this Thunder team in summer league one how much longer does Dylan Jones play by the same token you Dylan Jones has played three straight Summer League games and he’s looked really good in all three even if the box score lags behind a little bit he showed you how he can impact the game as a player he showed you his all-around nature like how how much more are you going to put him out there he’s for sure going to play against the Raptors I think but past that what does it look like uh same thing for AJ Mitchell he’s been awesome he was the offensive engine on the the game three what does that look like you know in terms of in Vegas whenever you’re playing uh Toronto and you’re playing Miami and Phoenix and Golden State and then keay Johnson I mean I mean this is a guy you spent a second round pick on last year he doesn’t have a roster spot right now as it’s projected to go right now the Thunder kind of um uh the Thunder kind of don’t you know have a two-way spot to get give them they do have an open roster spot on their standard contract but like he’s playing for a Showcase in the sense of like um a showcase for the Thunder a showcase for every other team and he’s and he’s spent last year in the G League playing really well playing really good basketball like watching him grow will be fun watching Adam Flagler grow will be as he gets further and further remove from that knee injury which he talked about on our show last week like he’s gotten better defensively can he continue to improve on that side of the Court despite his you know raw height and and and kind of uh that aspect of his game so there’s still some fun things to watch we’re still going to cover it all and I just don’t think that the US g-league uh summer league shutdown is uh is quite the notable uh notoriety storyline that that many people do but that’s where we’re at on that that’s as far as you know Salt Lake City summer league I thought AJ Mitchell and Dylan Jones were awesome I thought us got back in a gear and showed you what he was playing like with the blue on in those last two games and then from there I really liked uh Kyler Kelly I think that it’s important that you watch Kyler Kelly not for any Thunder reasons in in the sense of like the Oklahoma City Thunder like on the court but in the sense of like Player Development Kell is going to be important if you can secure him in the g- league whenever you’re trying to develop AJ Mitchell and Dylan Jones like two on ball players he is an on ball player’s best friend and he will really help them grow and develop in that area so like I really think that like watching him and the way that he he operates with ball handlers that stuff matters like whenever you’re filling out your G grage store yes you know you’re going you’re going to try to cash your net and try to get some some treasure right and try to try to find Diamonds in the Rough and try to maximize your roster but you’re also trying to maximize that roster to accomplish your goals and I think that the goal the blue this year will be to develop these two rookies for for however much they’re down there and a guy like Kyler Kelly helps you do that so watching him will be fun and then everybody seems to love Jack GOI who can light it up from three do you get a a jack gokki third game of Vegas 10 three night maybe possibly we’ll see and we’ll cover it all again thank you so much for for watching for listening subscribe on lockdown Thunder YouTube subscribe anywhere you get your podcast from this is the lockdown podcast Network your team every day so you can go find any local team including your next listen which is lockon OU or lockon OSU the pokes and the Sooners that’s almost college football season we mentioned College foot’s video game coming out soon you can go see what the Sooners and pokes are up to uh over there on lockdown Sooners lock on pokes until then be good and be good to one another

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen their Group draw for the NBA Cup. The OKC Thunder might not have the hardest draw but they do have an exciting draw with Victor Wembanyama facing off with Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams taking on Cody Williams, LeBron James against the youngsters and Kevin Durant back in town. Plus, Ousmane Dieng is done playing Summer League, Reviewing Salt Lake City and previewing Vegas.

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