Oklahoma City Thunder 2023-24 Season

[G.Walker]

iHart is just another Steven Adams type player, he not worth close to $30M a year. Presti missed the mark on this one. We could of got him way cheaper.

[Laramie]

The Mavs will really be hard to beat with them adding another great shooter in Klay Thompson, wow.

Thompson Age 34, IMO is on the down slide of his career. He's not the Klay who spoiled OKC's dreams of an NBA championship.

2021-22 - 20.4 points
2022-23 - 21.9 points
2023-24 - 17.9 points

Just don't think he will be the Klay Thompson who propelled the GSW through the height of their championship runs. No doubt he will add to the Mavs' crafty roster.

[dankrutka]

iHart is just another Steven Adams type player, he not worth close to $30M a year. Presti missed the mark on this one. We could of got him way cheaper.

If you think iHart is the same as Steven Adams then I can see why you’d come to that conclusion. He’s not. Hartenstein is an elite passer, much better than Adams. He’s also more mobile than Adams. Advanced stats love him. And the contract absolutely does not matter. The Thunder had to spend that money or lose it. And that salary could facilitate a big trade in the future. It’s good to have a salary in that range on the books. It’s a good move as it’ll make OKC more versatile. As I’ve said before, I think Hartenstein may not even start all the time. But that’s okay too.

The Mavs getting Klay Thompson is fine, but he’s not the same player he used to be. His athleticism has tailed off considerably post injuries and with aging. He could be good, but he also may not work out well. We’ll see…

[G.Walker]

Thompson IMO is on the down slide of his career. He's not the Klay who spoiled OKC's dreams of an NBA championship.

2021-22 - 20.4 points
2022-23 - 21.9 points
2023-24 - 17.9 points

Just don't think he will be the Klay Thompson who propelled the GSW through the height of their championship runs.

And thats the beauty of it. They don't need him to be that player. If he just plays at the same level he played last season, thats all they need. Averaging 18 points a game and 39% from three is nothing to shake you head at.

[Dob Hooligan]

^^^^^
I don't think Hartenstein salary in OKC is that far out of market. He was one of the big prizes league wide. OKC needed to spend the money and I understand the deal is somewhat front loaded. That should make his cap burden significantly lessen at the same time the salary cap increases. I read it will increase at the CBA max allowable 10% annually starting year after next.

I think if Klay Thompson were still a great player that the Thunder should be afraid of the Warriors would have kept him. The Warriors are still an organization willing and able to spend at the highest level. Knee reconstruction and Achillies tendon tears end the great careers.

[Laramie]

^ ^ ^
Hartenstein salary $9,245,121 IMO is a bargain; he's not eating up all the team's profits.

Oklahoma City Thunder uncompleted 2024-25 roster base from 23-24: https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster...a-city-thunder

[dankrutka]

^ ^ ^
Hartenstein salary $9,245,121 IMO is a bargain; he's not eating up all the team's profits.

Oklahoma City Thunder uncompleted 2024-25 roster base from 23-24: https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster...a-city-thunder

Harteinstein's salary next year is going to be about $30 million. It's definitely an overpay, but in the context of the Thunder's situation, it's fine.

[Laramie]

Hope we can have the new $900 million NBA arena ready (One year earlier) for the 2028-29 season.



The above Youtube video has it open in the 2029-30 Season.

[PhiAlpha]

iHart is just another Steven Adams type player, he not worth close to $30M a year. Presti missed the mark on this one. We could of got him way cheaper.

Just tell us you don’t understand or watch basketball again. I’m glad Presti is the GM and not you.

He is not like Steven Adams. And no we couldn’t have gotten him any cheaper. Any less money and he would’ve just resigned with the Knicks.

And Klay Thompson is both injury prone and a defensive liability. Dallas did not upgrade their roster this off season.

[Laramie]

July 2, 2024

9:58 a.m. ET: Free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed to sign a three-year, $87M deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The 26-year-old Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game last season with the New York Knicks.

Hartenstein will be a much better version than Kendrick Perkins, who had good defense but could only get you 4 points per game.

9:16 a.m. ET: The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to long-term extensions with key reserves Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, sources confirmed to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. Joe will sign a four-year, $48 million deal, while Wiggins will sign for five years, $47 million. The Thunder declined small team options on Joe ($2.1M) and Wiggins ($2M) with the intention of signing them both to longer-term contracts

Add Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins on the contracts completed list.

[G.Walker]

You can't convince me that paying a player $30M a year, to come off the bench and score 7pts and grab 6 boards is a good for business.

[Rover]

You can't convince me that paying a player $30M a year, to come off the bench and score 7pts and grab 6 boards is a good for business.

We shall see. Most of the experts think it’s a very good move. Vegas now has OKC as 2nd favorite to win the title. Tell us how bad of a business deal it is if we win the west and finish as champs, or have a multiple year run in the finals. Running a basketball team isn’t done from an excell sheet.

[BoulderSooner]

You can't convince me that paying a player $30M a year, to come off the bench and score 7pts and grab 6 boards is a good for business.

the money is not relevant ...

[BoulderSooner]

Harteinstein's salary next year is going to be about $30 million. It's definitely an overpay, but in the context of the Thunder's situation, it's fine.

exactly correct ..

[Just_Curious]

The league is at a point where slightly above average talent commands around $25+mm/year. A few guys making $30mm next year: Devin Vassell, Jordan Poole, Chris Paul, Immanuel Quickley, Jerami Grant. I-Hart fills a big need for OKC and the money was probably the least important variable in the equation. OKC is only a couple years out from paying multiple guys $60mm/year. I don't think this signing was too much of a reach.

[BoulderSooner]

The league is at a point where slightly above average talent commands around $25+mm/year. A few guys making $30mm next year: Devin Vassell, Jordan Poole, Chris Paul, Immanuel Quickley, Jerami Grant. I-Hart fills a big need for OKC and the money was probably the least important variable in the equation. OKC is only a couple years out from paying multiple guys $60mm/year. I don't think this signing was too much of a reach.

when SGA signs his extension next summer it will be 4 years and almost 300 million dollars

in that 4th year he will make over 80 in a single season

[G.Walker]

its always about the money...

[PhiAlpha]

You can't convince me that paying a player $30M a year, to come off the bench and score 7pts and grab 6 boards is a good for business.

Fortunately you're not the one that anyone had to convince. A few pages back, weren't you one of the people dying to bring back Steven Adams or chastising Presti for bringing in Hayward instead of other bigs that fit far worse than iHart will?

There's no guarantee that he'll be coming off the bench and even if he does, he's likely to be playing as many minutes as some of the starters or close to it.

If the money had to be spent and the guy is an elite level role player who fills the need (everyone else's words, not mine), who cares if he starts? If he'd been on the team last season, we might've made the finals. Like probably everyone else, if the exact prototype of player we need (big stretch 4-5 that can rebound and shoot threes) was available in free agency, I would've preferred that move over this one but there was no one like that available this summer.

We got the second best player type for filling a massive need (who was one of the most coveted bigs in free agency this year) without having to trade a valuable player or even a single draft pick and it's on a flexible, team friendly contract. The only people complaining about this are people who don't know what they're talking about or just want to complain.

[PhiAlpha]

its always about the money...

Yeah, it was money they had to spend and were able to do so on a player that fits and a contract that fits their long term plan.There were not any other players that fit what they were looking for in free agency this year better than iHart. Any other player they want would have to be acquired by trade which would involve salary matching anyway... What's the issue?

[PhiAlpha]

The league is at a point where slightly above average talent commands around $25+mm/year. A few guys making $30mm next year: Devin Vassell, Jordan Poole, Chris Paul, Immanuel Quickley, Jerami Grant. I-Hart fills a big need for OKC and the money was probably the least important variable in the equation. OKC is only a couple years out from paying multiple guys $60mm/year. I don't think this signing was too much of a reach.

And iHart supposedly signed a front loaded deal so not only will his salary decrease while the team's salary goes up but there is also an option on the third year with only the first two guaranteed making it easily tradable if things don't work out. This is a great deal for the Thunder.

[Laramie]

Quite clever, are you referring to Hartenstein as iHart? Love it.

We'll see how iHart plays with Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander.

[Laramie]

WELCOMING THE 2024 DRAFT CLASS

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in...gvdlvSwxgSkztB

[Laramie]

[dankrutka]

its always about the money...

You’re right. And if OKC ever wants to trade for a disgruntled star, guess whose salary would help them match salary in a trade? There’s a ton or reasons why overpaying here makes a lot of sense.

[Laramie]

Monday, July 8

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Philadelphia 76ers - 7 p.m.

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz - 9 p.m

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Tuesday, July 9

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Philadelphia 76ers - 7 p.m.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz - 9 p.m.

Wednesday, July 10

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma City Thunder - 7 p.m.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Utah Jazz - 9 p.m.