If you’re an O State fan and a Thunder fan this was not a good week. Just a complete dud for Thunder fans who went through a season of tanking thinking at the least they might walk away with a Jalen Suggs or Davion Mitchell or maybe even a Cory Kispert with the second first round pick.
Instead, another pimply kid who should be a freshman playing college basketball with a body and game completely not ready for the NBA. For crying out loud, OU offered Giddy a scholarship.
This must be the Presti model.
But he won’t be challenged by OKC’s uber soft media. He won’t take a tough question. But I think what he and Clay Bennett will observe from their tiicket buying fans is a growing faction of indifference, apathy, and absence at Thunder games this season unless there are a couple of trades on the horizon which will make the Thunder watchable this coming NBA season.
I genuninely wonder at this point what conversations are taking place between Shai and his agent after last night’s performance in the draft.
The Thunder needed a big man. Instead, they add another project and another hybrid guard they don’t need.
There’s no way even NBA fan like me will pay face value to see this level of basketball. This is why there’s a G League. This is why MLB and the NHL have minor league systems. Fans don’t want to pay for a night of NBA basketball and instead watch a tanking G League level of basketball.
I’m calm and indifferent for the time being waiting to see if Sam Presti insults the intelligence of his fans in Oklahoma City with another year of bad basketball which goes beyond not just being irrelevant, but more to the point being an insult to the people who pay their money to see a viable product on the court.
This is a market where I wouldn’t just assume the disposable sports entertainment dollar is going to pay for G League ball at NBA prices into eternity.
People will spend those dollars elsewhere.