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re: SGA has to be thrilled. OKC about to run out this front court

Posted on 6/24/22 at 1:13 pm to
Posted by OU Guy
Member since Feb 2022
8615 posts
Posted on 6/24/22 at 1:13 pm to
I don’t follow nba any longer but a football account I follow posted this guys take.

——

I think after last night, there are three obvious takeaways for Thunder U2:

1. The "My Name is Legion" strategy

In short, Presti saw the heliocentric trend of Harden, Luka, Trae, etc and he is choosing to go in the complete opposite direction. Instead of a single star that is

Surrounded by off-ball catch-and-shoot threats, Sam is creating a constellation offense: there may be a main usage guy, but every "star" is important for the bigger picture. This means we won't be taking Ferguson types who can do one thing on offense well. It also means we won't

Be taking a Huestis/Roberson who can't at least fill a secondary creator roll. Every guy Sam chose from 2020 on is able to catch, make a quick decision, and then drive or pass. The idea is a beautiful-game Thunder who will have 8-10 guys capable of scoring 10+ while passing and

Defending as well. Less of a superstar offense or big-3 and more of a hydra offense: if you take out one guy, they can be easily replaced by others.

2. The We > Me Type

If you look at the scouting reports, OKC took low-maintenance players that fought for their draft rankings.

OKC may have taken swings like Poku or Dieng, but we aren't taking prestige picks or guys based on pedigree. We didn't take the PBJ or Houstan swings, and instead took late risers in Wiggins and Jalen. Despite the rumored interest, OKC didn't take Sharpe and did take the quiet

Dieng. OKC took high-feel passers at our wing spots in Jalen and Dieng while taking top-5 big passers in Chet and Jaylin. We're not going to take players who are bigger than the team, so it's much more likely that we take Dieng over AJG, Jalen over Tari, and Tre over Cam Thomas.

3. OKC as Home

It's also no surprise that OKC has taken guys who want to be Thunder players. The common theme has been international players, but even the domestic guys in JRE, Tre, Jaylin, Chet, and Jalen are hard workers from either smaller cities or went to smaller schools.

We took players who are great Thunder fits on and off the court, and Sam makes a point every time to say we take people and not players.

So what does it all mean?
@Albabycakes
pointed out that as a small market, OKC has to try a new strategy to have a realistic chance. Last

time, it was super-athletic and lengthy guys who could create havoc. The Cavs are going tall-ball with twin towers. It seems obvious OKC is trying to create a team style that's much better than the sum of its parts by prioritizing system guys rather than just "good" players.

Will it work? Honestly, no clue. It kinda worked for the Spurs, but they drafted hall of famers and had a top coach. I definitely think it's worth a shot, and I'm excited to see how the team looks this year after another system-based draft is in the books.

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