Is it time to start talking about Shai Gregeous-Alexander?

[daeve]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

Steph will probably be voted in anyway, and it’ll be a battle between Luka and Ja for #2. Will be extremely hard to leave him off the roster this year though

for sure, I just think there will be some % of voters who like voting for guys who have a shot at playing. Steph will still get his, but I'm sure there's now some votes to be had.

[ScooterT312]

Just pulled the trigger on eBay for a 20-21 Optic Black Disco 1/1 PSA 9 for 500 on a BO.

I already have the black gold 1/8, gold disco 8/10, and white sparkle. I could attack the rainbow now if I really wanted lol.

[ninjacookies]

Originally Posted by Metalbreath

This dude is over 30 points in almost every game.. surprised less chatter about him...

Ask yourself when's the last time OKC had a nationally televised game. There's your answer.

Real ones know. He's the truth.

He's got that Dame clutch gene. OKC just needs a good piece or two to start making some noise.

[drobfan8]

Call me when he's in the Playoffs.

dude can ball, no doubt, but seriously, no good on a team fighting for the play in, but most likely gonna tank.

A trade or a shut down is in his future.

[tyrith]

Originally Posted by ScooterT312

Just pulled the trigger on eBay for a 20-21 Optic Black Disco 1/1 PSA 9 for 500 on a BO.

I already have the black gold 1/8, gold disco 8/10, and white sparkle. I could attack the rainbow now if I really wanted lol.

That was a good buy, I had my eye on it also.

[bywayofvintage]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Call me when he's in the Playoffs.

dude can ball, no doubt, but seriously, no good on a team fighting for the play in, but most likely gonna tank.

A trade or a shut down is in his future.

He's been to the playoffs twice already.

[ScooterT312]

Originally Posted by tyrith

That was a good buy, I had my eye on it also.

Thanks.


I figured if I waited any longer than another 24 hours it was going to be bought for sure.

[ScooterT312]

Career high 44 tonight! With 10 Rebs and 6 assists on 17-29 from field.

This has been a helluva year for him so far.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by bywayofvintage

He's been to the playoffs twice already.

Ummmm yeah, sure, I was talking as the leader of the team.

If you're such a stud, you wouldn't get shut down every year and you'd lead yourself to a seed.

[blackandgold]

He logs lots of minutes Played 44 min last night He’s money not sure how sustainable he can last the rest of the year

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by blackandgold

He logs lots of minutes Played 44 min last night He’s money not sure how sustainable he can last the rest of the year

Surely his timeline doesn't fit the Thunders.

I'd say a trade is imminent. He'll be shut down again this season. Which is just bad for such a legit player.

[bywayofvintage]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Ummmm yeah, sure, I was talking as the leader of the team.

If you're such a stud, you wouldn't get shut down every year and you'd lead yourself to a seed.

This is a bad take and they're only two games out of the play-in while being the youngest team in the league.

We'll see what happens the rest of the year and we can revisit this post.

[brothertona]

If Chet stays healthy they’re a top 4 seed


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[Spacemanspif]

Such bad takes. But I guess moving the goalposts to something at least a year and a half out is better than people remembering that you declared he wasn’t going to be an all star, which is pretty much a given in the next two months.

[KhalDrogo]

It’s too bad he plays for a franchise that cares more about turning a profit than winning games.

[tyrith]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Surely his timeline doesn't fit the Thunders.

I'd say a trade is imminent. He'll be shut down again this season. Which is just bad for such a legit player.

There's zero, zip, nada chance that they trade him at this point. The org cares very much about winning...they just want to win a title, not 43 games a season, and the way to do that in the modern NBA is to get a bunch of shots at the top of the lottery while accumulating other draft equity. They're going to be coming off the bottom in a hurry here starting next season.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by bywayofvintage

This is a bad take and they're only two games out of the play-in while being the youngest team in the league.

We'll see what happens the rest of the year and we can revisit this post.

Lol. Literally most teams are still a chance at the play in. Which is a joke anyway. You can have a losing record and make it.

I hope he stays also. But they will tank later in the year. That's a given.

Originally Posted by tyrith

There's zero, zip, nada chance that they trade him at this point. The org cares very much about winning...they just want to win a title, not 43 games a season, and the way to do that in the modern NBA is to get a bunch of shots at the top of the lottery while accumulating other draft equity. They're going to be coming off the bottom in a hurry here starting next season.

OKC have never cared about winning other when they caught lighting in a bottle with KD, WB and Harden.

They won't go over the cap. As Khal says, they'll continue to turn a profit and be happy.

Shai sounds like he's happy though at least. At some stage though Giddey needs to run the show.

I doubt both will stay long term.

[tyrith]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

They won't go over the cap. As Khal says, they'll continue to turn a profit and be happy.

Shai sounds like he's happy though at least. At some stage though Giddey needs to run the show.

I doubt both will stay long term.

They are literally $20M over the cap this year...so no, I don't think is accurate.

[Moneychrome20]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Lol. Literally most teams are still a chance at the play in. Which is a joke anyway. You can have a losing record and make it.

I hope he stays also. But they will tank later in the year. That's a given.



OKC have never cared about winning other when they caught lighting in a bottle with KD, WB and Harden.

They won't go over the cap. As Khal says, they'll continue to turn a profit and be happy.

Shai sounds like he's happy though at least. At some stage though Giddey needs to run the show.

I doubt both will stay long term.

Lmao giddey needing to run the show

He is a struggle ben Simmons when healthy at this point

[tyrith]

Originally Posted by Moneychrome20

Lmao giddey needing to run the show

He is a struggle ben Simmons when healthy at this point

You mean they shouldn't trade someone with a good chance to make an all-NBA team this year to run their offense through a guard with 52% true shooting this year?

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by Moneychrome20

Lmao giddey needing to run the show

He is a struggle ben Simmons when healthy at this point

Lol.

I prefer Giddey over Simmons all day. Even though Simmons has the runs on the board in the past.

Giddey and Shai don't really fit. Great position for the Thunder to be in. Giddey can be traded down the line then.

But if they miss the Playoffs this year and next, surely Shai will look for a winning team.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by tyrith

They are literally $20M over the cap this year...so no, I don't think is accurate.

I’m guessing you don’t realize the only reason they’re over the cap is because of Kemba’s dead money. This is an ownership group that elected not to. Have fans in attendance for the entirety of the 2020-21 season. No local mandates, a purely elective decision so they could minimize expenses and receive more through revenue sharing at a cost of no work. The same group that didn’t even meet the salary cap floor last year, and had to pay the difference out to the roster at the end of the season.

I’ll believe the Thunder want to win when they package up a handful of picks, Dort, and whoever else necessary to salary match on a big veteran trade. Presti gets lauded for accumulating all these picks over the years. But what has it turned into so far? I agree that the Giddey/Shai pairing is weird. Chet is a huge question mark. Beyond that, they don’t have much. A lot of guys who can put up some number on the stat sheet because somebody has to play the minutes, but aren’t going to be contributing pieces on a contender.

When you look at their future first round picks, the only ones that look like lottery locks are the Houston picks. And all of those have protections on them that might render them less desirable than you think. I admire the Thunder because Daigneault gets his guys to play with effort and intensity every single night. They win a lot of games because of that. And now Shai has given the Thunder the Luka problem. He’s so good that unless you sit him, you’re incapable of tanking. So it’s hard to foresee any of their own picks turning into high lottery talent.

Weird situation. Best for Shai would be to get traded. But I don’t see that happening any time soon.

[tyrith]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

I’m guessing you don’t realize the only reason they’re over the cap is because of Kemba’s dead money. This is an ownership group that elected not to. Have fans in attendance for the entirety of the 2020-21 season. No local mandates, a purely elective decision so they could minimize expenses and receive more through revenue sharing at a cost of no work. The same group that didn’t even meet the salary cap floor last year, and had to pay the difference out to the roster at the end of the season.

They still have to pay Kemba's dead money, and the other nearly $20M of dead salary they took on in deals to accumulate draft assets. It's pretty clear that they left their salary space open last year in search of more trades to take on money for picks, and the market dried up in that space. Don't assume what I do or don't know.

OKC paid $61M of luxury tax in 2018-19 (notably several years after Durant was gone) and spent over $100M in tax payments total throughout the Westbrook era. They've spent twice as much money on the tax as the Miami Heat have - did the Heat become cheapskates all of a sudden in everyone's eyes? Their accumulated tax payments to date are dramatically more than both Milwaukee and Boston, although both of those teams are going to be making huge tax payments this year. It's dramatically more money spent on the luxury tax than Philly, Toronto, Phoenix, Chicago, and Houston, which are all obviously much bigger markets.

So tell me - why is OKC the cheap ass owners here? Being willing to tank their asses off to accumulated high draft picks is generally the opposite of being cheap. The money grubbing owners are the ones in Charlotte, Washington, Sacramento, and potentially now Indiana, that refuse to ever be bad because they're afraid of the hit to their ticket and sponsorship revenue.

[nayheezy]

How many players are above Shai right now to build a team around for the future? Given age and potential etc

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by tyrith

They still have to pay Kemba's dead money, and the other nearly $20M of dead salary they took on in deals to accumulate draft assets. It's pretty clear that they left their salary space open last year in search of more trades to take on money for picks, and the market dried up in that space. Don't assume what I do or don't know.

OKC paid $61M of luxury tax in 2018-19 (notably several years after Durant was gone) and spent over $100M in tax payments total throughout the Westbrook era. They've spent twice as much money on the tax as the Miami Heat have - did the Heat become cheapskates all of a sudden in everyone's eyes? Their accumulated tax payments to date are dramatically more than both Milwaukee and Boston, although both of those teams are going to be making huge tax payments this year. It's dramatically more money spent on the luxury tax than Philly, Toronto, Phoenix, Chicago, and Houston, which are all obviously much bigger markets.

So tell me - why is OKC the cheap ass owners here? Being willing to tank their asses off to accumulated high draft picks is generally the opposite of being cheap. The money grubbing owners are the ones in Charlotte, Washington, Sacramento, and potentially now Indiana, that refuse to ever be bad because they're afraid of the hit to their ticket and sponsorship revenue.

Sorry man. I assumed nobody would boast about dead money putting a team over the cap.

The Thunder ownership paying big money is a thing of the past. Right now they have two goals: minimize expenses and secure a new arena deal. And if that new arena isn’t secured, move the franchise elsewhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if they sell the team after that happens, especially given what Sarver got for the Suns.