Oklahoma City Thunder 2021-22 season

[catcherinthewry]

They gave us a free club level game last year to try to get us to renew. They want butts in the house.

Of course they want to sell out Paycom like they did for years, but it's obvious their higher priority is building a team that can compete for championships consistently.

[BoulderSooner]

They gave us a free club level game last year to try to get us to renew. They want butts in the house.

i got free lower levels one of the last games of the season ... and even now i can renew with my season ticket holder discount (i have not had season tickets for several years )

[king183]

Of course they want to sell out Paycom like they did for years, but it's obvious their higher priority is building a team that can compete for championships consistently.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this is so hard for people to understand. If the goal is to fill seats, then you must build a team that will fill the seats. A team that will fill seats is one that is competing for championships. To compete for championships in the current structure of the league, a small market like OKC has to build their team through the draft. To have a shot at building a championship competing team through the draft, you have to draft superstars. The chances of finding a superstar is exponentially higher if you're drafting in the top 7.

If they took a "shortcut," we'd be a long term mediocre or terrible team a la the Sacramento Kings. We'd never fill seats and ultimately our ownership would sell. Presti will be vindicated in a couple years and I'll expect his critics on this board and elsewhere will pull a Homer Simpson and disappear into the hedge.

[Bellaboo]

i got free lower levels one of the last games of the season ... and even now i can renew with my season ticket holder discount (i have not had season tickets for several years )

We had club level for 10 years but cover flushed us out. We have the mindset of going when we want to, just don't need to go every single game.

[Jake]

The Thunder were in the playoffs in 2020. It's not like the franchise has been in the wilderness for years and years.

[Laramie]

Report: Free agent Lu Dort agrees to 5-year deal with Thunder

The 23-year-old guard averaged a career-high 17.2 points and 4.2 rebounds with Oklahoma City last season.

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[dankrutka]

Ticket sales is actually a pretty good reason to be competitive

It’s actually not because of revenue sharing. OKC is sent money from tax teams if they are not in the tax. It means they’ll be fine and longterm success is more important.

[Bellaboo]

It’s actually not because of revenue sharing. OKC is sent money from tax teams if they are not in the tax. It means they’ll be fine and longterm success is more important.

My entire point is that the Thunder has a war chest of future first round picks. They can trade up to acquire lotto picks just like they did. They can compete and still gain quality picks either by trade or with the picks they already have. Players want to win, and I know the front office wants top picks. Yes they will receive revenue from the league, but they want fans in the stadium too. True they need to develop the new guys, but they have enough talent now to consistently win.

[shartel_ave]

My entire point is that the Thunder has a war chest of future first round picks. They can trade up to acquire lotto picks just like they did. They can compete and still gain quality picks either by trade or with the picks they already have. Players want to win, and I know the front office wants top picks. Yes they will receive revenue from the league, but they want fans in the stadium too. True they need to develop the new guys, but they have enough talent now to consistently win.

absolutely, all the way up until 2028 with top draft numbers

not sure if this has been posted on the thread

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/draft...re-draft-picks

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^
Really helpful chart. Haven’t had a chance to review them in that manner before. Also…that’s nuts.

[shartel_ave]

Clay Bennett’s daughter in law works for barstool sports and she has a YouTube channel as well as a YouTube channel with her mother and both are hilarious

https://youtube.com/c/ChicksAtBarstool

[dankrutka]

…but they have enough talent now to consistently win.

They don’t. Name one team in NBA history that played 4 rookies and 4 second year players and won consistently. The Thunder are a couple years away even if they tried to win.

[Bellaboo]

They don’t. Name one team in NBA history that played 4 rookies and 4 second year players and won consistently. The Thunder are a couple years away even if they tried to win.

Last year, if you remember, everyone got hurt (Wink) so they could lose games. SGA had a bad foot but every time you saw him on the bench in street clothes he was jumping around. Tanking at its best.

[Bellaboo]

They don’t. Name one team in NBA history that played 4 rookies and 4 second year players and won consistently. The Thunder are a couple years away even if they tried to win.

So what you're saying is SGA, Dort, Muskie, Poku, Favors, Bazley, Maledon and K Williams won't see the floor ?

[king183]

So what you're saying is SGA, Dort, Muskie, Poku, Favors, Bazley, Maledon and K Williams won't see the floor ?

Is that seriously how you read his post?

[dankrutka]

So what you're saying is SGA, Dort, Muskie, Poku, Favors, Bazley, Maledon and K Williams won't see the floor ?

Not what I said at all.

Anyway, I look forward to this season. The Thunder are going to let the team do what it can right out of gate so we won't have to wait long to find out. With the Spurs and (probably) Jazz moving into rebuild mode (maybe we should use that term since that's really what the team is doing for the first 80% of the season) then it may not take much to make the play-in next season. I just think the Thunder need another top prospect and this next class is supposed to be great.

[Bellaboo]

One thing for sure is the entertainment value should be really good.

[Laramie]

Salt Lake City Summer League




Tuesday, July 5, 2022
TV - ESPN: 8:00 p.m. CST - Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz Vivint Smart Home Arena

Summer 16-man roster:

Gabe Brown
Robert Baker
Ousmane Dieng
Abdul Gaddy
Josh Giddey
Chet Holmgren
Vit Krejci
Tre Mann
Eugene Omoruyi
Aleksej Pokusevski
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Jaden Shackelford
Lindy Waters III
Aaron Wiggins
Jalen Williams
Jaylin Williams

The Thunder will be coached by assistant coach Kam Woods with Oklahoma City Blue head coach Grant Gibbs and development coaches Eric Maynor and Zach Peterson as assistants.

[Laramie]

[Laramie]

Holmgren looks relaxed and confident. 18 pts, 3 blocks at half. Giddy's passing skills are awesome.

[dcsooner]

Holmgren looks relaxed and confident. 18 pts, 3 blocks at half. Giddey's passing skills are awesome.

Gotta say I agree. Chet could be special. The other draftees also showed very positive results. Really surprised

[Laramie]

Thunder 98 @ Jazz 77

Box score https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-uta-...0002/box-score

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[dankrutka]

Chet's first summer league game is the best summer league game I can ever remember by a Thunder player. He completely dominated. I know you're not supposed to overreact to summer league games, he just showed a lot. His offensive fluidity is incredibly impressive for his size. His shot looked smooth. His six blocks don't even tell the whole story about his dominance around the rim. The Jazz summer league team was awful so let's see how he plays against stiffer competition, but it definitely had me wondering if the Thunder can really tank with him playing (probably, but I at least have doubts now).



P.S. Jalen Williams (Santa Clara) looked great too! Really excited about him.

[Laramie]

Noticed that Tre Mann & Lindy Waters III did not play this game. We are going to have a very young group opening 2022 season. As for Chet Holmgren, he needs to slowly add about 10 ibs., this season and 10 lbs in 2023-24.

Does anyone know if Cheevers still have the contract for feeding these guys...

Sam Presti, we've got our man.

[dankrutka]

Tre Mann was out for Health & Safety Protocols. Since the Thunder have three games in three days I bet they're staggering which games some players play in.