Six games in and the Thunder are exactly where they want to be…No. 15 in the Western Conference standings and in the bottom five of the NBA overall. Clearly–the Thunder are on the path to selecting a top five player in this summer’s 2021 draft.
Don’t forget the Thunder have Houston’s first round pick which is only protected 1-4 if I have all of this right in my overworked sports mind. Lots of data up there working…lots of data. Houston could very well implode and have a pick somewhere in the 9-12 range in the draft.
I still have Cade Cunningham 1 and Evan Mobley 2, but I’m thinking at this point the Thunder’s strength in this youth nucleous is at the guard position with SGA, Dort, Maledon, and the stud athlete Diallo.
Bazely is what I would describe as a hybrid forward who can play either the 3 or the 4 … so what if Sam Presti brought another hybrid forward on board to give the Thunder an unthinkable scoring tandem at the forward position.
Bazely…BTW is getting better every time he takes the floor and has that Tyler Herro smirk which I just love…so he’s not going anywhere. He’s at the nexus of the Thunder core moving forward. Would Bazely at some point embrace the Lamar Odom sixth man role if Sam Presti drafted Congonesian Johnathan Kuminga as the starting five hybrid forward? Or vice versa?
Team building is the fun part of tanking and going something like 12-60 in a shortened 72 game schedule.
I read some nonsense after the Thunder won their second game that they could be a periphery playoff team this season. Excuse the language, but somebody needs to drug test that motherf—er.
This for the Thunder is about coming out of this summer’s draft with two more solid young core players to go along with Dort, Bazely, SGA, Maledon, Diallo, and perhaps in the minds of Donald Trump white supremist zombies in the Oklahoma City market… the Serbian project named Poku Pogo.
I would think Presti will at the minimum want to keep two rotational spots open for vets like Mikey Muscala and somebody like a George Hill type. Maybe Presti can find a rim protector who can shoot the ball with the Houston pick.
I would suggest not watching all the games if you’re one of these NBA newbies like most of the Thunder fans are in this market who can’t grasp the importance of the Thunder successfully carrying out this tank this season.
To again quote fellow sports sage scribe Berry Tramel, “It would be fiduciary malpractice of the highest degree for Sam Presti not to tank this NBA basketball season.”
If you can’t handle the truth then you should limit your NBA exposure this season to the Daily Thunder’s weekly crossword puzzle and leave the heavy lifting to the the people who’ve been passionately following the league for the last fifty-five years or so.
If you are one of these feckless Edmond white millenial types who do the Daily Thunder crossword puzzle then I would suggest you stick to the puzzle and drink lots of mimosas this season. Leave this to the NBA pros.
-dr el prez- contributing okcthunderground.com writer
We don’t do crossword puzzles on my blog. I cover the world and beat Vegas like a red-headed stepchild more than Donald Trump looks into a camera and lies his ass off.
Enjoy the Jonathan Kuminga video.
The #1 Ranked Junior In America Is a PROBLEM!! Jonathan Kuminga OFFICIAL MIXTAPE!! – YouTube