Do the OKC Thunder miss a playmaker? Mailbag Questions

Do the OKC Thunder miss a playmaker? Mailbag Questions

on today’s locked on Thunder podcast what have we learned at Summer League plus your mailbag questions you are locked on Thunder your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day let’s get it going on the lockdown Thunder podcast and the lockdown podcast Network your Team every day I am your host me member and inside the Thunder beat writer SI Thunder beat writer Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter L thunderpod email the show L thunderpod atg.com on today’s show we’re diving into the Oklahoma City Thunder summer league action as they transition to Vegas what have we learned plus we’re going to dive into your mail bag questions so a lot to get to today brought to you by FanDuel go check them out today uh because you can make every moment more with FanDuel at fanduel.com lockon right now to get started well here it is summer league is in full swing what does it truly mean not much in general but especially not much with this current roster I think that on Saturday kind of per perfectly encapsulated summer league of this is a roster that without Usman Jang without you know a plethora of meaningful young players that you know you watch individual performances and you move on the thunderer boat race 9469 in this game it was not a nice game from OKC as they started out just dreadfully 10 10 and one run by the Raptors and they got up by 25 points so the Raptors were on it from the Geto the thunder made a little bit of a run they got within single digits But ultimately fall uh 9469 when you look at this team honestly the players that matter are Adam Flagler on a two-way contract AJ Mitchell on a two-way contract Dylan Jones on a standard NBA contract you know you you can watch for Keon Johnson who’s a free agent right now and had a really good g-league season I like watching Kyler Kelly because I think that he can be very valuable for the blow but past that like I’m not GNA sit here and try to sell you on the NBA outlooks of cor MC Ryan the NBA Outlook of Miller cop these guys can have fine g-league careers they can have fine uh careers in other Realms of professional basketball but it’s not necessarily going to translate to anything that that the majority of you care about which is the Oklahoma City Thunder so you know yeah the Thunder got blown out but like Adam Flagler was awesome like Adam Flagler went six for seven from Beyond The Arc scoring 23 points like he was really really fun offensively now you know Dylan Jones and AJ Mitchell I think individually played well the box score plus minus and uh you know the the result might not lead you to believe that but given the circumstances like given who they were surrounded by they played really well I mean they were asked to do everything it was literally just those two guys um trying to create trying to to initiate the offense and and all that stuff with flagler’s three-point shooting so there wasn’t much that Trio could do in terms of you know netting a win keante over for four only played 19 minutes the reason I think that that Kyler Kelly could matter is not at all for the Thunder or for that open roster spot or anything else I think that he could matter in the sense of you’ve seen him play really well in the g- league he helped the Celtics get to the g- league finals and with what you trying to develop like like who are you trying to invest in in the g- League this year you’re trying to invest in AJ Mitchell you want to invest in Adam Flagler you want to invest however often that Dylan Jones goes down there you want to invest in him what can they all benefit from a screen setting big who who makes life easier and helps you get separation so like him and KJ Williams getting that familiarity getting that that opportunity to play with them I think that that can translate that can be something that you build on for um you know next year which again I know that nobody cares about the Blues win loss record and you know luckily for the blue they won the finals last year but it does matter the sense of making the developmental aspect of their system easier so those two guys then move to the Forefront more so than they otherwise typically would but the bottom line is you know this is what summer league is the thunder fans were spoiled a little bit with their last you know most recent summer league where you had a a huge draft class that was more than two players where you had plenty of returners and you and you had these kind of popping situations that that’s not the case with this year’s team you have three guys that you really you look at three and a half depending what you want to classify keante and classify Kyler Kelly as you know I think that tante I think that he has NBA stuff I think that you saw a g-league season from him that was very very very high quality He Still Remains a free agent right now uh on July 14th in the year of Our Lord 2024 so we’ll see how that all shakes out but ultimately I can’t sit here and like act like this stuff is going to be groundbreaking I think that I think that you’ve gotten out of it what you want to see you got three games of Usman Jang which is like the the typical game allotment for a third-year guy last year Trey man played Four a little bit of a special circumstance last year with that team that was with all who was on that team last year but typically you know three to four games that’s all you really see and you get those data points uh and you just kind of let them run the floor a little bit and play the end scenario is we’ve seen you know us play plenty against you know g- League level competition and you know summer league level competition uh it would have been way more enjoyable from a selfish standpoint of like seeing um you know a guy like us who you can really dissect and pick AP part in this game versus like we’re not pick aart we’re not going to pick apart cor mcan’s four shots on this PO we’re just not going to do that I’m a sicko I am someone who does cover the g-league I’m not gonna sit here and act like we’re gonna break down the 0a for night from cor MC Gran so like it would have given you another name to watch but overall doesn’t change much of the Outlook this is just how summer league operates whenever you’re an actual uh good contending team because you still have guys that you want to watch you want to see Dylan Jones play you want to see AJ Mitchell play if topic was healthy you would have had topic as well which would have been awesome because he could have made some highlight pick and roll plays in summer league but like at the end of the day like summer league is just no longer the thing for Oklahoma setting it feels like everything’s pretty solidified and it’s solidified with guys that are you know not going to be playing in in in a summer league circuit H hak has got a game of Summer League he dropped 30 points I would be stunned if you saw him tonight in the Cox Pavilion against Oklahoma City like typically this these things just happen right they just these guys don’t play in Summer l so at the end of the day uh we have a loaded week of lock down Thunder because we are not going to dissect each and every summer league game we are going to at the end of it all on Monday a week from today we’re gonna have a podcast where we grade uh every single player on the summer league roster uh and then we’ll move on from Summer League entirely but this week we have a loaded week we have this pod today which is your mailbag pod we have uh brand bar tomorrow talking about the thunder um talking about you know what what the you know New Look group is plus some summer league coverage we also have Wednesday Keenan wmac draft I just talking draft recaping the 24 class and previewing the 25 class we have Richard staman on Friday uh discussing the you know favorites out west from a from an NBA standpoint with the new draft picks with the offseason and we have uh Michael Martin on Thursday where we’re going to discuss the new additions and what that changes in terms of expectations so a ton of great guest a ton of great ponds it’s just that like the summer league is not going to be where R juice a lot of that out of but we’ll talk with Brit abar about summer league more tomorrow but now let’s get into your mailbag questions all coming up but first one say right now but good friends over at FanDuel check out FanDuel by going to fanduel.com right now to get started because you know while we know that know Sports aren’t sporting as much as they used to as much as we love sports we never want to see them stop but as the playoffs end it’s time to see fewer and fewer games and sports right now but FanDuel it keeps you going it keeps the sports going whenever I want and that’s all you want whenever you open up the app uh and team up and dream up with FanDuel to have all these great bets and keep you in a good mood when you’re looking at sports check it out today at f.com lockon and and f.com in general because all customers right now can receive that bonus can receive that boost uh daily in the summertime so if you’re a big NBA fan and you want to make these games more interesting we just talked about how the Thunder might not have a ton of interesting names on the court right now if you want to make it motion yourself check out the Thunder plus 6 against Miami tomorrow in their game against Miami in summer league you can also bet on the Home Run Derby and it will be All-Star Game and of course whenever the MLB picks back up you can bet on that as well but you can also bet on the next season for the NBA who will win the NBA Finals the Celtics have the best odds right now but who’s right behind them the Oklahoma City Thunder check it out today at f.com lockdown f.com ldon we’re back on the lockdown Thunder 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 your mailbag questions as we discuss Thunder basketball right here make sure you also check out lockdown Sooners as the Oklahoma Sooners head to SEC media day for the first time they’ve got boots on the ground coverage over there for lockdown Sooners you’re going to want to check it out and see what’s happening with u if you’re an U fan you also have locked on pokes and of course uh any other college that you support plus any NBA team any NFL team any M Mo team and our national selection which is headlined by lockdown sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel right now you can find it on YouTube and also on the Amazon Fire TV channels app as part of the lockon podcast Network you are Team every day has the biggest stories with our local experts covering it all on lockon sports today so let’s get into the first question from Ed in your opinion how has the Thunder done in addressing team needs and reshaping its roster and what else should be done I think that this offseason has been a resounding success for Oklahoma City when you look at what they’ve done and what they’ve accomplished with especially the lens of what it’s taken to do those things so you had a hole in your starting five like yes the starting five technically last year plus eight points you know you plus eight and then net points and all that good stuff like they they were good starting five sta statically but whenever you watch them the way that they had to work for that success and and you know kind of work against disadvantages you’ve swapped out that poor fit for Alex Caruso in a one for one swap who is fantastic across the board he perfectly can switch one through four and and play your switchable style and and play in your system where you want to see guys scale up defensively he knocks down 40% of shots from three on the offensive end he also adds some playmaking chops and some real good feel for the game stuff on cuts and everything else so like the bottom line is I think that Josh KY will have a fantastic career in the NBA and he and he’ll go on to have success I think especially in Chicago with Billy Donovan that was never gonna happen in Oklahoma City whereas Alex Caruso sees his you know play sty be elevated in OKC uh so it’s kind of a perfect swap so it was a one for one swap you did not have to do anything other than hey we got this guy who who I think if you would have said the day after the Maverick series ended you know this is disappointing but you’re going to add cruso to the starting five people would have been Overjoyed so huge huge huge check mark there then you go to the draft and you you get Topic at 12 who’s going to be out this whole season but is viewed as the best player available viewed as a top five you know talent in this Draft when healthy who can either offer you uh a top five talent in that class or offer you a really nice you know sweetener in any sort of package later on if if you choose to go that r like he gives you and keep such flexibility open to maximize the value of that 12th pick I think that was a smart move you know looking at it and looking at how the offseason unfolded you also picked up Dylan Jones and AJ Mitchell who who have been pressed so far in summer league but the most important part is you go to free agency and you have the perfect storm unfold the Thunder needed signs but the problem was like you couldn’t just say well go get Andre Drummond right like you couldn’t just say go get this this humongous big man because the Thunder need size they needed functional size and who’s on the market other than Isaiah hartstein who is the perfect big man for this team of course he does not shoot the three ball at a high clip and and he’s 26 maybe he can grow that but let’s just assume he’s never going to grow that three-point game to being a meaningful part of his game he is still the perfect big man for OKC he’s not going to be exposed entirely on an island whenever you get switched whenever you get switched out there he’s going to be great defensively to give you an opportunity now to cover all 48 minutes with Rim protection whereas last year you could only protect the rim if chat was in there now you can protect it the entire game offensively his playmaking and his screen setting really makes life easier for you and so the Thunder what they’ve done is they’ve created a championship roster after this off season the Thunder have all the ingredients to win a championship and that’s why the thunder are are the top Western Conference favorites to win the title because all that’s left now the missing step what you’re waiting on before you have that Championship meal is you’re waiting on Shay Jay duub and Chad to be playoff level players and and to be players who can go win a title well Shay’s already there you’ve seen what Shay just did to the Mavericks in that series like Shay’s there Shay is a 16 game player he is an NBA champion level player now you’re you’re betting that Chad and JB can get there as well and what you’ve set yourself up for is whenever those guys do reach that Mark whether it’s this season or next season or the year after that you’ve prepared yourself for that opportunity you’re not gonna have to wait around and say okay well can they get there and then they get there and then you’re scrambling and saying well what do we do now you’ve done everything you you’ve laid it all out you’ve given them a championship core around them for whenever they’re ready and you’re hoping that they’re ready right now you’re hoping that they’re ready in April but when whenever they’re ready you’re now prepared whereas most of the time teams kind of wait around and say well are they ever going to become the guy are they ever going to become the guy that can win you a championship Thunder have gone out there and they have made this roster into a championship level one and now they’re just waiting on their top three which I think I think is a great bet because I I do believe that that Chad and JB will become those kind of players at the very top and now you’ve gotten the support around them at J gotfried is Las Vegas a big meth for anyone else I I just feel bad watching Jones and Mitchell try to compete with this group I mean yeah like it this this in to in the grand schem of things does not matter I think that um you have to look at it through the lens of individuals so like if they continue to play Dylan Jones and AJ Mitchell which again those guys are na to four games so we’re we’re kind of counting down the clock here uh on on a typical Rhythm of the summer league but uh you know those guys are getting meaningful reps because they’re coming from a mid- major where in a college rank where you weren’t playing you know guys who were on the precipice of the NBA right you weren’t playing guys who who have the opportunity to have a very good professional career and and you don’t play that top to bottom in division one either like you know High major basketball division one but uh you know especially at Mid Majors like you’re going to see some competition where like these guys just are well overmatched whereas like right here yeah it’s not the cre cream of the it’s not the best the NBA has to offer but the speed of the game’s different the pace of the game’s different and all these guys you know that the very minimum are good enough to be high level g-league players and good g-league players to where that’s a step up still for for Jones and Mitchell specifically that I think that you want to get a look at in this environment so you want to see how they do they’ve handled it very well they’ve looked incredible like that’s the value for them the value is not competing the value is not trying to win the summer league ring uh it’s just seeing what those guys look like the Thunder OKC Thunder fan life says how do you see nicoa topic fitting in with Mark’s rotation obviously he’s out this season but I I think that next season there’s two things that I’m very interested in number one you know having just experienced what they did for Chet holgren with his rehab and maximizing it both in terms of his health and because he was able to play all 82 games last year like that that is still uh you know just awesome to see we went from you know last August questioning can you play back to backs can he can he play three games in four nights like like what does it look like for chat to he played all 82 and not just all 82 he played the preseason he played 82 he played all the postseason like he played a fully healthy uh high high high usage um in that opportunity like like the demanding minutes that he played was very high uh so I I think that like seeing how they maximize his physical health was awesome seeing how they you know had him ready to play was awesome and and you see that he’s know topich I’m speaking of now is coming from a situation where yeah he’s only you know 18 years old right now and he’s still gonna be young when he steps on the floor but when you blend in the fact that he’s already played for a professional League like he’s already played against grown men he gets a whole year to observe how this league moves and how this league tracks and what everything looks like up close and personal with this league plus another year to to grow his game in any way that you can while being hurt I’m very fascinating to see what that looks like on the other side because this was already a top five Prospect for most people pre-injury what does that look like on the other side with all those other factors and then another thing I’m interested in about this whole thing is that like I think that people go to topich and like scream Giddy and then they think back to like the fit around Josh Giddy and this team was clunky why would you sign up for another clunky fit I think it was clunky because of like how the the the chain of events unfolded where like he was the first guy in he was the sixth overall pick he had a 218 game starting streak like he had all this stuff and and and the team grew apart from him whereas topic is now coming into a a train already moving he’s coming into a team where you know the role will be defined the expectation will be defined and you know frankly there’ll be no expectation right there’ll be no expectation of like like like starting or anything else like that whereas with giddy you saw every year of his career that you were changing things right like the expectations of the team changed very quickly the Personnel in the team teams changed every year the the talent of the team changed every single year the role changed every single year we’re like this thing started as like can can Josh and Sho exist who’s the point guard is Josh the point guard then it went into Josh isn’t even the third guy you want with the ball so like you look at Josh’s situation and at times like the on the court stuff can get a little messy and like judge a little harshly of he did have to deal with a lot at 21 years old like a lot changing from under him whereas topich will now enter with that Talent as a vastly different environment of like a more stable environment for his development so those two things make me interested if I had to guess what will happen next year I I think that you see the Thunder kind of run with him as their as their initiator of the second unit and initiator of that offense especially now that we’ve seen the move since them and this is why I cautioned a lot of people on draft night not to just rush out and and judge this this pick yet because like now if you believe like I do the Thunder will will start you know Shay Caruso D dub chat now that secondary unit features hich and hartstein picking rolls oh things are humming now like like things are things are a lot different now than it looked on draft night so uh I would imagine that he’ll be in the rotation you know his rookie season which won’t be this coming year it be the year after and you’ll hope that he can you know handle those playmaking duties almost as an insurance of like yeah we we think that kase can take that step of as an on ball player I still believe that but all your eggs are not in the single a basket anymore so that that’s kind of what I think about to as a player and like what it will look like next year uh but coming up we’ll get into more of your questions but first want to say you right now about got friends over at eBay Motors check out Ebay motors because passion drive and patience that’s the formula for winning championships it’s also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors it guarantees you everything you need uh right now to maintain your vehicle and uh up to Peak performances superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed or power or style eBay Motors has you covered over 122 Million Parts to choose from your number one rid or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for with eBay Motors guaranteed fit it’s guaranteed to fit your part and your ride the first time every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’ll be burning rubber not cash with all this in mind check out Ebay motors to keep your C are riding like the MVP and bring home a huge win so keep your ride or die alive at eBay Motors go there right now to eBay motors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay Motors guaranteed fit only available to us customers we’re back on the lockdown Thunder 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 t in Thunder basketball let’s dive into more of your mailbag questions so let’s dive into this one from uh Dylan I meant to sa this one for one of the end ones but this is one of the end ones so Dylan uh says uh if if you’re doing a karaoke night and needed to choose a partner to sing with and your options are Sam pry Jay will Kevin Durant and Andrew schlut what a KN who are you choosing and why um with much respect to Kevin Durant he’s off the list frankly because I’ve I’ve got little faith in his uh karaoke skills Jay will I think would be a fantastic Vibe uh but again little faith in his you know willingness to actually perform versus laugh went up on stage so he’s also gone the next two Sam pry and Andrew schlack you know Sam wonderful drummer he has published you know music but so does Andrew schle Andrew Schleck used to lead up a scre o band folks CS out the bag sorry I mean I that was a that was behind a payall at one time uh on the OKC dream team which you can go check out but yeah I mean Andrew schluck like this guy is a genuine musician not g say that s prey isn’t but me and Andrew like in the bows of paycom Center we’ve jammed a little bit we actually jammed again behind a pay wall uh patreon folks not the other one uh about well blue balls OKC blue ball blue ball and that was I did not realize the title of that track before I made that previous joke I should have really thought that one thr but I’m gonna go with Andrew schlock again all do respect to S prey but my my uh Style on stage I don’t need a drummer right I mean I mean maybe during Christmas time you get a little bit of that eggnog and you start playing Little Drummer Boy maybe but like I don’t really foresee a situation where I need a drummer um and Andrew I just can’t throw my back at Andrew we’ve already made music together uh I feel a connection uh in terms of musically and personally he’s a great guy so Andrew for sure from Azie OKC fan I’m a little worried about the thunder offensively removing giddy takes away a lot of playmaking do you share those same concerns uh I don’t not because of Josh kiddy but because of the role he was in the whole problem with Josh he like the reason that we all believe that this is a mutually beneficial move of Josh getting to spread his wings and like perform in Chicago and the Thunder getting out Caruso is because the Thunder could not tap into that playmaking enough like they could not get him on ball enough they could not put him in that role enough to be a Bonafide playmaker now I’m I’m just supremely curious to see who takes on the role of of the Seline out of bounds plays and and the Baseline plays and and like who triggers those but uh past that element of of his playmaking he didn’t get to do a whole ton of it in the sense of like it’s easily replicatable by Alex Caruso like he he had some highlight plays they’re few and far between because not because of him but because of the thunder so in the role that he was tked to play with OKC can you recreate that playmaking boost in the aggregate I think that you can I I think that like that was part of the the issue with his fit in OKC of like even with him on the team you felt like the team needed another table setter because he just was not put in that role enough and so I I I think that again not to bch bech Josh giddy it’s just a matter of like you we can’t sit here and say the whole season like like he’s not a playmaker not on ball enough he’s not he’s not put in the right role then say Well they’re going to be uh supremely missing his playm I don’t think that’ll be the case at the end of the day I I would say like his his rebounding motor although it’s inconsistent and although it was inconsistent effort on the glass like when he was on as a rebounder um that really helped that starting lineup is there anyone who can re recreate that in the starting five if it is crus so for giddy you have more questions there than you do about recreating his playmaking with that group the last question from Isaiah are you going to play college football 25 if so what school are you going to rebuild yes as a matter of fact I am and that’s why before 3 P.M Monday we’ll have recorded five shows already because uh yes these are all great great guests and these PS will be fantastic I also want to get ahead of a little bit to rebuild uh college football 25 I’m gonna be in a lot of dynasties my personal like offline Dynasty will be with Kansas uh who the time from the last game David Bey this to this team they got a heck of a lot better where like they don’t really need me all that much just kind of need that extra little sprinkle to get over the hump uh really just need jayen D to stay healthy they’ll be over the hump uh but still I’ll use Kansas I’m also gonna have a dynasty with Tennessee I have to uh in terms of like a deep cut if they put those new FIU uniforms in the game the Miami Vice ones I’ll be checking out some FIU Panthers uh I I do have a records Dynasty online with some of my friends so uh that’s kind of a deep cut to kind of figure out how to get them over the edge but my personal like my own personal D state will be Kansas uh but I am really interested to see kind of how uh this game takes shape and so we’re gonna have a lot of fun guests to allow me some time to play it uh which is a little embarrassing to admit but hey we’ve we’ve put it out there the guests are great we’ve already recorded some pods uh Keenan Allen on on Wednesday is going to be awesome brenon RAR tomorrow will be fantastic as always Michael Martin Richard stam to end the week it’s going to be a fun week of shows I really appreciate all of you you can follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod again check out lockdown Sooners out there in Dallas for SEC media days with the lockdown podcast Network we have every single one of your teams every single day go check them out today and until next time be good and be good to one another

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Summer League hit Vegas, what have we seen from Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell. Will the OKC Thunder miss the playmaking from Josh Giddey? How does Nikola Topic slide into the rotation when healthy in 2025-26? Will the Thunder have done enough to win a title?

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