When The OKC Thunder Destroys NBA Draft Expectations…Again

When The OKC Thunder Destroys NBA Draft Expectations…Again

when you’re a team like the OKC Thunder that has a ton of cap space that you can use to acquire free agents and also a ton of draft assets which could help you maneuver the trade market it wouldn’t be shocking if you simply approach the NBA draft with a best player available mentality and when the best player available is actually a big guard who can score at will and who’s considered the best playmaker from his draft class when he slides all the way down to you at number 12 you definitely have to pick that player up which is why when 6’6 Serbian guard niika toic fell all the way down towards the end of the lottery I wasn’t even a bit surprised when the Thunder took him with a 12th overall pick well it isn’t a secret that just a few months ago top pitch was widely projected to be a top five pick in the 2024 NBA draft but after suffering a couple of knee injuries which culminated with a partially torn ACL just a month ago Topic’s draft St took a huge hit but nonetheless as an 18-year-old player topic looked like a star in Europe’s Adriatic League while competing mostly against grown men where in this past season he averaged 15 points six assists and three rebound bounds while shooting more than 50% from the field all while having a major shot creation and playmaking role for his team Mega and red star and that’s totally not a normal type of production for someone so young in such a competitive professional League well sure top pitch most likely won’t suit up for OKC this upcoming season to rehab his injury but when he finally steps into the NBA floor healthy top pitch could easily look like the biggest steal of the 2024 NBA draft class but then late in the first round OKC continued to double down in their rotation after acquiring ing 6’6 Weber State forward Dylan Jones with a 26th overall pick Jones is an older Prospect at 22 years old but he ended his four-year college career while practically averaging a double double of almost 21 points almost 10 rebounds together with five assists this past season well the fact that Jones is built like a tank at 235 lbs while also having a 6’1 wingspan is already impressive but the fact that he’s also a dribble shoot and pass type of player who can also defend multiple positions makes him look like a Thunder type of player even more so what’s good everyone it’s real balls here and today let’s dive more into these two prospects and why they actually look like absolute draft steals for the OKC Thunder let’s get to [Music] it I’ve been hearing a lot of Josh giddy comparisons made with Nicola topic right off the bat as soon as topic got drafted by OKC however aside from both of them being oversized playmaking guards I just don’t really see a lot of obvious similar ities in their skill profiles entering the NBA first off it’s worth noting that despite not being an extraordinary athlete or a knockdown shooter topit was still able to easily put up multiple 20-point games in Europe this past season and a lot of that has got to do with his unique ability for a guard to easily apply pressure at The Rim well topic doesn’t necessarily have top speed and flashy handles and is also not vertically explosive but he has sneaky athleticism together with a quality first step and high level understanding of driving angles BAS basically top pitch gets from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible he composed enough to dribble through traffic while also being aware enough to find driving Lanes no matter how small they may be and once he gets to the rim topit has the craft in touch to finish with either hand and also the strength to finish against contact plus the good thing is he’s very comfortable applying all that Rim pressure whether he operates in isolation or as a pick and roll ball handler it isn’t a fluke that almost 60% of his shots this past season have come at the rim and that shot a highly efficient 68% clip from that area while also generating 4 and a half free throw attempts per game basically top pitch enters the NBA already an elite ball handling driver especially for his age making him immediately a great fit with OKC’s drive heavy offensive attack well obviously there are questions as to whether or not his finishing skills could translate at the next level given the scale up in terms of the athleticism and defense that he will have to face in the NBA but even when he has to adjust to the speed and pace of the NBA is a sh maker top pitch can still make an impact for OKC right off the bat using his playmaking ability he’s easily the most advanced and most creative playmaker from his draft class who can make advanced passing reads and who can dish out practically any type of pass on the floor top pitch is such a high IQ and high level passer who constantly runs the pick and roll and who able to capitalize on any slight mistake that the defense makes and this past season while with mega where he played most of his games topit averaged seven assists per game while producing just three turnovers per contest which basically equals to a 2.2 assist ratio which actually lies in between lamelo ball and Josh giddy’s production during their pre-draft Seasons as two playmaking guards who also played professionally as teenagers just like topic well sure critics would say that topic has produced a high 16.9 turnover rate but I think it isn’t as bad as it seems given how ball dominant he actually was in his role in fact when you look at some previous ball dominant guard prospects just like John Morant Tyrese halberton and even Shay Gil’s Alexander you’ll see that all of those guys even had higher turnover rates than topit during their pre-draft Seasons it’s just that when you factor in everything and when you include the film I think you could easily project Topic’s playmaking to be translatable at the NBA level and in the context of OKC I think once is healthy it’s not a reach to say that topich can immediately step in as the main offensive facilitator for the Thunder second unit Place him to operate with a ball in his hands next to constant off ball movers and Shooters like Cas Wallace Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wick and the Thunder second unit should be able to drive but obviously for him to be a clean fit in OKC’s five out offense topit would have to at least become a League average outside shooter well to be fair topit only converted 21 three-point field goals this past season which might be a cause of concern but the thing is he also only took 73 attempts from Deep that’s actually a very small sample size to try to use to project someone shooting trajectory but aside from the low percentages his shooting stroke doesn’t look broken at all his Elite finishing at The Rim as well as the fact that he shot 85 and 89% from the free throw line the past two seasons also actually indicates good shooting touch for a guard it’s just hard to imagine someone with such high percentages at the rim and from the foul line to simply not become at least a League average catch and shoot guy in the NBA but for sure his ceiling most likely depends on how he can develop as a shot Creator from the perimeter and again we haven’t seen topic operate as a pull-up shooter a ton of times especially with his preference to mostly drive to the basket but I think the technique the fluidity with his dribble to shot mechanics and most especially his confidence as a pull-up guy is definitely there just like in this play you can see topic initially using a ball screen he gets switched to a big man so he patiently backs down creating just enough space away from his Defender before he decides to launch the Deep pull-up three-pointer with a hand in his face this time top pitch uses a high ball screen and again as he gets the switch against a more favorable matchup he uses a quick Cross and creates just enough separation off the dribble as he hits the tough fadeaway jumper the bigger question though I think with tow pitch comes on the defensive end obviously at 6’6 with a 7 foot wingspan he definitely got above average physical tools for an NBA guard but the thing is he actually had low rates of steals blocks and rebounds in Europe this past season topit also wasn’t really relied on to defend from the point of attack although what I love about the potential is that because of his lengthy frame top pitch has at least showed the ability to act as a middling Team Defender who was able to jump off off passing lanes and who was able to even switch against opposing bigs in the paint while acting as a disruptor well for sure how much he can develop as a one-on-one defender in the NBA will also probably depend on how much he builds on his frame but I love the fact that Topic’s physical tools and high IQ and both ends already gives him at least a workable Baseline as an NBA Defender again his outside shooting and his defense are question marks heading into OKC but I think his comfort level and maturity running the pick and roll his kill in terms of getting shots at The Rim and his overall feel as a passer for a young 6’6 guard just really stands out at the very least I can easily visualize niket toic running the Thunder second unit as the team’s backup point guard of the future only behind SGA that’s not a bad outcome at all and if he develops accordingly I do believe topic actually has a star level player type of ceiling but moving on OKC landed another potential draft steel when they traded five second round picks to select Dylan Jones 26th overall Jones is basically a Do-it all type of wing and his versatility is actually backed up by the fact that last season he became the first NCAA division one player in over three decades to put up at least 600 points 300 rebounds 160 assists and 60 steals in a single season this guy projects to be an instant impact piece who could really be a good fit with OKC’s position L system on both ends first as a scorer Jones was very comfortable with a ball in his hands as he was Weber State’s go-to offensive option as a bigger ball handler he always has the advantage when creating his shot whether in isolation or in the pick and roll while he’s not a vertically explosive athlete but he has a solid First Step that gets him into the lane and he is a dangerous driver no matter how he wants to play it once he goes downhill he uses a mix of force finesse and angle manipulation to either Force his way to the rim or to create shots from the mid-range and he was very efficient scoring from those two areas last season as he put up a solid 61% shooting clip at the rim and a 40% shooting from the mid-range boat on solid volume well he won’t have to initiate much with a ball in his hands in OKC but Jones should immediately be useful as a floor spacer he isn’t a dribble jumper type of guy yet but he is solid off the catch with a clean compact stroke that he can get into quickly which led to Jones shooting a highly efficient 39% mark on catch and shoot three-pointers last season on a good volume of four attempts per game but aside from his scoring ability from all over the floor what I love even more about Jones’s dad he also projects to be a solid connective play maker at the next level last season as Weber States go-to option he registered a 30.3 assist percentage and a 2 is to one assist to turnover ratio both of which are numbers you only typically see from good passing point guards well most of his playmaking reps came out of the pick and roll but I also love that even when he was trying to create an isolation he didn’t really have the ball in his hands for too long and he was always able to display his passing vision and quick processing ability in this play you can see Jones driving to the Lane he hit hits his man with a change of pace and in a split second he sees the Gap in the weak side with his teammate having a cutting Lane so Jones dishes the quick Bullet Pass right to his teammate under the basket this time in semi- transition Jones brings the ball down Court he gets into the paint but instead of forcing his way in or throwing an entry pass to the big man he quickly identifies the corner cutter and he throws the one-handed overhead pass right where his teammate can easily get it but Jones versatility also extends to the defensive end he has a strong frame of 235 lb with a 6’1 wingspan and he uses all of those to his Advantage again he isn’t a vertical athlete but most of his vertical pop shows up as a rebounder in fact has produced a ridiculous rebounding percentage of at least 30% in each of his past three seasons in college while also averaging 10 and a half rebounds per game within that span of time that is just unbelievable for a 6’6 guy Jones should be a very good rebounding wing for OKC right from day one well when guarding one and one he isn’t necessarily a lock down Defender but has quick hands Advanced reading of the game and a knack for being at the right place at the right time which has caused him to average two steals per game this past season while also putting up a 2.7 steel percentage for his entire college career Jones is basically someone who you could easily deploy as part of OKC switch everything type of Defense where he should be able to find a role as at least a switchable and a disruptive Team Defender well sure his average athleticism puts a cap on his ceiling on both ends of the floor but it’s just hard to argue against OKC giving up five five second round picks to draft a guy who’s just so versatile and who just offers so much in terms of skill at the end of the day I think OKC was never going to be in a position to count on a rookie from this draft class right from day one anyway but I just love the fact that the front office went for the players they wanted and it just happens that these players really appear to be high level long-term fits with the Thunder’s existing core it’s now on the Thunder to bolster their rotation more with experience players as we’re entering NBA free agency so thank you guys if you’ve actually made it this far into the video feel free to drop your thoughts about the thunder draft selections on the comment section below and again if you’re new to the Channel please consider subscribing as well again this is R balls and I’ll see you on the next one peace

#NBA #OklahomaCityThunder #NBADraft

The OKC Thunder are building an NBA dynasty and they just landed potentially the steal of the 2024 NBA draft in Nikola Topic. Sam Presti and the Thunder front office have been very busy this offseason. They just traded for Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Josh Giddey. After being the number one team in the Western Conference behind a young core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and more, OKC has drafted Nikola Topic who was considered a surefire top-5 pick in the draft before he was hit by injury. Topic played in Europe this past season and dominated older competition.

The Thunder also traded five 2nd round picks to the New York Knicks to acquire Weber State wing Dillon Jones with the 26th pick of the draft. And in the 2nd round, OKC also made a trade to acquire Ajay Mitchell from UC Santa Barbara. The Thunder just might have lowkey won the draft after lottery selections like Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Stephon Castle, Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Bronny James, and Rob Dillingam made headlines. But did the OKC Thunder really draft solid pieces to add their potential dynasty?

The NBA offseason has just begun. We’ve already seen a number of trades such as the Josh Giddey-Alex Caruso trade, the Mikal Bridges trade to the Knicks, and the Dejounte Murray trade to the Pelicans. Free agency situations of Klay Thomspon, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Isaiah Hartenstein are also closely monitored by NBA teams. But will OKC make a big free agent signing too?

For similar content, please search for:
NBA news, OKC Thunder, Nikola Topic OKC, NBA draft winners and losers, Josh Giddey Alex Caruso trade, NBA mock draft, Sam Presti, Alex Caruso traded to Okc Thunder, Josh Giddey Chicago Bulls, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Dalton Knecht Lakers, Bronny James Lakers, Stephon Castle drafted by Spurs, OKC gets the steal of the draft in Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell, Mikal Bridges trade, NBA free agency

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