Debate: Should OKC Make a BIG Trade This Season?

Debate: Should OKC Make a BIG Trade This Season?

Um one other Western Conference team I want to touch on with Oklahoma City um they are currently number two in the west uh they’ve got a top 10 offense number nine offensively they got a top six defense number six defensively number three Net rating by all accounts

This team is ahead of schedule ahead of schedule and on top of that they’ve got a treasure Trove of draft picks like they are as well positioned as any team to make a big move should they are they close enough right now would they be close enough

With one big move to potentially be a championship level team this year I guess some of that’s going to be dependent on who we’re talking about right and that’s always the case you’re going to weigh the risk reward of going after a certain guy in this spot because you you

Know nobody’s putting them on that top tier yet right but clearly like okay okay there’s something there you got to pay attention to what’s going on here right and some of their some of their pieces like the jayen Williams and Chad hom of the world and how good they

Become as 2A players this fast to go with one of the best offensive players in the league yeah okay let’s start paying attention to them so that risk reward of how much do we give up to get who you like you have to have a specific

Name and then you kind of start to to for me I would analyze it that way let’s calibrate this deal based on what that guy is going to do in terms of moving them they do you think they’re one guy away like if they add a perennial All-Star caliber

Wing 20 point scoring type Wing like with some size and length I’ve seen this on Twitter for the last five to seven days the marketing thing is really interesting to me it’s really interesting to me and on top of that I was surprised when I looked up their starting lineup

Pedestrian in terms of their offense yeah um they have a you know like a 3.4 net rating 109.0 offensive rating they’re they’re fine defensively um marinin to me would be a pretty damn good fit again you get more positional size at the four I think his ability to stretch and

Shoot his ability to rebound he can score in inside I think the fit with him and of course giddy’s the odd man out let’s be honest giddy’s the odd man out there and he hasn’t been good this year no and and you obviously have to wonder

All the stuff Weighing on him right now with the ongoing investigation um for both the league and uh the Newport Beach police but the idea of Shay Lou Dort Jaylen Williams Markin and and Chad holgren that’s a pretty damn good lineup and the pieces I think all

Fit I’m not I’m not the of the camp that they should go out and get a Zack LaVine or Demar D rozan at the Bulls how about a seak yeah I I think the the OG sakam thing I think that that makes sense too I just I I love the fit of marinin

Because of the shooting specifically because of the shooting yeah because you’re talking about a guy that brings a dynamic off of a guy like Shay like a two-man game with Shay yeah and marinin it’s also pick and it’s also the off ball stuff that that will hardy uses

With marinin just in terms like you know he played that year at the three and Cleveland and sort of by default had to had to move a little bit more and and with Utah they’re running him off staggers and he’s shooting off the C like that adds another layer to Oklahoma

City’s offense that that F and maybe they don’t do anything maybe they don’t they just ride it out with this group and hope giddy you know plays better as the season progresses but to me they’re that good right now yeah they seem awfully close with the right piece the

Right pie him so maybe then what they do an organization like this that’s got this this franchise guy to build around and and it’s it’s like happening like the pieces is fit maybe he is that guy that guy maybe you ride this out and see where does this end up this year

Maybe you have a better gauge for how close you are what you actually need if you run into a Denver a a Laker team a phoenix team whatever may be and who maybe you win a round and it tells you more that you’re closer than you think

Maybe you lose the first round to one of those teams and you’re exposed in a certain way to crystallize more clearly exactly the type of thing we need to go get so so I think there’s a lot of uh a lot of value in kind of waiting this out

This year and seeing where it ends up like where does this road end this year and you are much clearer about what your weaknesses are and what you think you need to to add and also there’s just going to be by the end of the year probably more names we’re not even

Mentioning right now that might get into the mix that you can go get um a few things so number one I want to be clear the these were actual reports uh by an NBA journalist I’m not just throwing markkanen’s name out there because I saw it on a random Twitter thing like this

This was a report that Markin and now is not Untouchable and I’m not saying the Jazz this is not coming from the Jazz they’re not I’m not speculating on that but when the report came out I thought to myself oh if marinin would be available OKC has

The the picks and and the assets to make it work that’s intriguing to me so I want to say that second thing your point is very well taken for me you know we did a DraftKings Islands In The League episode last year on inseason trades that led to a championship in the

History of the NBA there’s a handful of them a handful of them so Oklahoma City is as well positioned as any franchise they just got their new Arena deal approved they’ve got one of the youngest teams in the NBA uh a couple of them on team controlled rookie scale

Contracts they don’t need to rush Shay their best player still kind of just entering his prime yeah they don’t need to rush so that point is very well taken for sure

In this clip, JJ Redick and Tim Legler discuss the recent play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and The Oklahoma City Thunder and debate whether they should trade for a player like Lauri Markkanen.

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