[Source](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1xrknxoCxJnvdbqvFv3c4F?si=KXUcNIO0Tdms3QKiyoq8rw&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A6rZnRL3IFXCu5ps0KJ9VF2&t=3877)
>With OKC doing this year-after-year in a small market that’s not supposed to be paying into the revenue sharing system, the league has pretty much turned a blind eye.
>What the Thunder did with Al Horford and with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is far more egregious and far more “tanky” than anything Sam Hinkie’s 76ers ever did.
>They didn’t openly sit healthy players or turn a little ankle sprain into a season-ending malady.
by lopea182
38 Comments
[X] to doubt.
Thanks for your opinion Fischer
I mean, I disagree completely. There is more talent on some of these Thunder teams that were trotted out than some of those 76ers rosters
“Year after year” so two years?
Was Shai not injured? You can’t make this claim unless you’re accusing OKC of lying about Shai’s injuries.
And regarding Horford, non tanking teams sit vets who are waiting to be traded pretty often. It’s kind of happening with Jae Crowder right now and the Suns obviously aren’t tanking.
The Sixers purposely didn’t stock their tank teams with any actual talent. Just look at the guys who started games lol:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2015.html
>doing this year-after-year
“Year after year” is certainly one way to describe two years.
shai’s injuries have largely been legit, he sat Canadian team stuff last summer because of the plantar fasciitis he sat out with, is presti making the Canadian team tank as well?
Jake Fischer just unloading every thought he’s ever had today, huh?
That’s cause the Thunder *have* actual talent on the roster, but Hinkie purposely went out of the way to sign and play the worst guys possible so even if he was playing his best guys, they were still awful.
Shai sitting last year (2022) was 100% a tanking move.
Him sitting in 2021 was legit planar fasciitis that also kept him out of playing for team Canada. After Shai was out, it didn’t make sense for Al Horford to keep playing. Similar to what Houston did with John Wall the entirety of last year. It doesn’t make sense to put mileage on aging players when they have an opportunity to go elsewhere and make an impact.
These Hinkie truthers are worse than the salty seattle fans
They just drafted players that missed whole seasons instead (Noel, Embiid, Simmons)
Strong disagree. Simply by virtue of having those guys on the roster and playing at all, the Thunder put out an infinitely better product then the process 6ers did.
Inflammatory comment that holds little to no basis in facts and is designed to anger readers for attention
Yep he’s an NBA journalist alright
Pretty wild that in 2022 people are still pretending Hinkie got railroaded.
Hinkie would have traded away Shai by now
Jake Fischer’s takes are just his his sources. Baseless, worthless, and incorrect.
Yahoo Sports Moment.
Shai being a young player, makes you wonder how much longer he can put up with not playing. Dudes whole career is going to pass him by.
I never understood how we got away with the Horford thing. But Shai has had genuine injuries the past two years
180 million dollar contract, it’s not like playing for OKC kept him from getting paid. The best chance SGA has to win a title is either a contender getting really aggressive around the deadline and bankrupting their future for a pretty good player like him, or OKC’s hoard of picks turning into two guys who are better than he is. Asking out is just gonna end with him on the Knicks or some other hopeless team.
SHAI HAD A PLANTAR INJURY THAT KEPT HIM OUT OF THE OLYMPICS QUALIFIERS WITH CANADA. Unless Presti has something incriminating on Justin Trudeau, Shai is not the thunders’ problem!
The Thunder were in a Game 7 in the playoffs barely over two calendar years ago. The embellishment about the duration of the Thunder’s rebuild is bullshit.
SGA has had legitimate injuries in each of the past two seasons. And it’s entirely reasonable not to play an aging vet like Horford on a rebuilding team with no playoff aspirations.
Also: the Thunder have had the fourth best lottery odds each of the past couple seasons. Why are they being singled out for tanking when they aren’t even bad enough to fully optimize the situation?
Lol is this a joke ? They CHOSE to draft guys who were injured, drafted 3 straight centers in the lottery, wasted a full seaosn playing 2 of them, started a season with 0 point guards on the roster only to end up trading for Ish Smith to give him 25% usage. Traded the reigning rookie of the year (which was a GREAT decision).
OKC has only tanked for 2 years, they never even had the worst record in the NBA in those 2 years, I don’t know why everyone is so obssessed with them, I wish my team did that 10 years ago
If a 20 win team is what ‘egregious tanking’ looks like after odds-flattening then it is clear that the changes were a complete success.
Its insane that people cant see these as different situations
Yes
Reminder:
Jake Fischer is the guy that made up the fake news about OKC offering SGA and 6 for Cade.
He’s a certified Thunder hater and proven liar.
One of the worst people in media.
Because the Thunder allow the rest of the league to use them as a Settlers of Catan style port where they turn your 3 wheat into brick
There’s nothing wrong with tanking
He’s moaning because he got burned by the Thunder when he thought he had a scoop in the bag
Shai during the summer on team canada – fully healthy, best player on the court in everygame and seemed to be enjoying it more than any other player
Shai once okc camp starts- shut it down bro, your injured
Whoops, don’t bring that sentiment here or all the r/NBA nephews will have a fit.
We purposely built a dogshit roster, but our guys never tried to lose once the games were being played. All tanking was done strategically at the front office level and not at the coach/player level. We did the best we could with what we had. We just intentionally didn’t have much.
We’ll always be the main example because we were probably the first really blatant multi-year tanking, but this also gave guys like Jerami Grant, RoCo, TJ McConnell, etc a chance to develop into the players they are today. Without the process, there’s a good chance none of these guys ever stick in the league.
Eh I’d say the rockets and John wall agreeing to do nothing is worse
Handling of Shai was awful tanking.
But Horford? That always seemed more about doing Horford a favor and protecting him free burning out his career. It’s not like full time Horford was going to move the needle on that Thunder team.
Hinkie just stockpiled assets while putting a ridiculously young team on the court that played hard every game. This was Hinkies attempt to get the Sixers out of a decade long purgatory of mediocrity.
Players like Robert Covington, TJ McConnell, and Jerami Grant were able to make themselves a career out of their playing time on the Sixers.
This is also just me defending the Sixers as I’m also in the camp that nothing the Thunder has done is wrong.
The goal is to win championships and every team deserves the right to have their own strategy in achieving that goal.
OKC are a joke and I hope they never see success