Thunder thoughts after the Dort move:
The series of moves to dodge the second apron in 26-27 is now complete (Dort, Wiggins and Joe trades). With SGA's raise and Cason's likely extension, it will be almost impossible to avoid the second apron in 27-28 and possibly a few years after that. It didn't make sense to start the clock this year.
Aside from the second apron, I still think it made sense for OKC and Dort to go their separate ways. Dort signed with Rich Paul, is 27 years old and wants a payday that the Thunder can't give him. He was passed by Cason and Ajay in the pecking order this year. One of those two will be starting alongside SGA/Dub next year and the other will be first off the bench. Add in Caruso, McCain, Topic and Stirtz and there's not enough minutes to go around.
There's some matchups where we'll miss Lu (i.e. Lakers/Luka) but over all I think he's replaceable. He was virtually unplayable against the Spurs. I also think one lesson for OKC the last couple years is that they need creators alongside the double bigs. And they need the double bigs because they're kinda small otherwise. SGA/Dub plus Lu plus double bigs is way too clunky and puts way too much pressure on SGA/Dub. The Spurs feasted on that lineup in the WCF.
The Thunder played 21 non-playoff games in 25-26 without Ajay and Dub and went roughly .500 in those games. They need ways to create offense outside of SGA and, outside of those two, the Thunder can get very stagnant very quickly. Hence they were F'd when they both went down. They need to allocate more minutes to guys who can create. Lu just doesn't fit that profile. I think the Thunder will experiment more this year with Topic, McCain and Stirtz, as well as giving Cason more liberty to generate offense alongside SGA/Dub. SGA will be off the ball (on the wing) alot more. They can't find themselves with their pants down again like they did in games 4-7 of the WCF.
Agree with previous posts on Mara and why I thought it would have been idiot-maxxing to trade up for him. I didn't mind taking him at 12 given how the board shook out, but he's a project. He's probably not playable in the playoffs this year. I think he has some promise. Great feel for the game. Great passer. Can't teach his reach. But he's slow, not properly conditioned and doesn't have great instincts on defense. I think he will be phased in very slowly this year. Luckily Hart re-signed on such a team-friendly deal. I think the Thunder will have no choice but to bring him back in 27-28. Hopefully Sorber or Mara can make Hart expendable after that.
The series of moves to dodge the second apron in 26-27 is now complete (Dort, Wiggins and Joe trades). With SGA's raise and Cason's likely extension, it will be almost impossible to avoid the second apron in 27-28 and possibly a few years after that. It didn't make sense to start the clock this year.
Aside from the second apron, I still think it made sense for OKC and Dort to go their separate ways. Dort signed with Rich Paul, is 27 years old and wants a payday that the Thunder can't give him. He was passed by Cason and Ajay in the pecking order this year. One of those two will be starting alongside SGA/Dub next year and the other will be first off the bench. Add in Caruso, McCain, Topic and Stirtz and there's not enough minutes to go around.
There's some matchups where we'll miss Lu (i.e. Lakers/Luka) but over all I think he's replaceable. He was virtually unplayable against the Spurs. I also think one lesson for OKC the last couple years is that they need creators alongside the double bigs. And they need the double bigs because they're kinda small otherwise. SGA/Dub plus Lu plus double bigs is way too clunky and puts way too much pressure on SGA/Dub. The Spurs feasted on that lineup in the WCF.
The Thunder played 21 non-playoff games in 25-26 without Ajay and Dub and went roughly .500 in those games. They need ways to create offense outside of SGA and, outside of those two, the Thunder can get very stagnant very quickly. Hence they were F'd when they both went down. They need to allocate more minutes to guys who can create. Lu just doesn't fit that profile. I think the Thunder will experiment more this year with Topic, McCain and Stirtz, as well as giving Cason more liberty to generate offense alongside SGA/Dub. SGA will be off the ball (on the wing) alot more. They can't find themselves with their pants down again like they did in games 4-7 of the WCF.
Agree with previous posts on Mara and why I thought it would have been idiot-maxxing to trade up for him. I didn't mind taking him at 12 given how the board shook out, but he's a project. He's probably not playable in the playoffs this year. I think he has some promise. Great feel for the game. Great passer. Can't teach his reach. But he's slow, not properly conditioned and doesn't have great instincts on defense. I think he will be phased in very slowly this year. Luckily Hart re-signed on such a team-friendly deal. I think the Thunder will have no choice but to bring him back in 27-28. Hopefully Sorber or Mara can make Hart expendable after that.
