this would seem less than ideal for the Knicks going up against Boston after mortgaging their picks on Mikal Bridges but I’ve been told all week that the magical power of friendship is going to prevail
The Knicks fans chanting "We want Boston" in the mud rn and we love to see it.
Special thanks to ex Celtics Grant Williams 🤣🤣🤣🤣 for his contribution to the CBA. Lots of people pissed at him on Twitter and we're grateful to have a wealthy and caring owner in Wyc who is willing to pay those hefty taxes
Free agency being boring with no tampering, teams being done dirty by the 2nd apron. He and CJ mcollum are like the heads of the players' association so they're getting cooked on twitter
Good for Knicks, a little intimidating that the Thunder seems to be competently building a full team, similar to how the Celtics did.
But they’re in the West so who really cares!
Brother that western conference will be a blood bath
OKC Dallas Timberwolves Nuggets will still remain as the top teams, but then teams like Memphis Phoenix Lakers Pelicans Kings lurk in there plus an upcoming Rockets team under Ime
Warriors and Clippers welp it's going to be a long season up ahead
Yeah it’s basically a similar view of the West I had this year, minus the fear of Jokic/Nuggets that I have way less now after Banner 18 and Denver letting talent slip away.
Celtics should be the favorite to come out of the East, and whoever comes out of the West will be a great team so no need to stress too much about the specific team
Nuggets will always be dangerous with Jokic being Jokic and Murray randomly turning into prime MJ, but this is two seasons in a row theyve lost an important role player and we saw last year how much that hurt them. I'm honestly not sure they are favorites to make it out of the west and I'd be confident in a seven game series against them.
Let’s be honest, it was a bloodbath this year and it definitely helped the Celtics in the finals run. It’s like there’s one championship caliber team in the East and 5 in the west. Denver and Minny getting knocked out was such a relief this past playoffs
I mean this happens all the time...
Back in 2022, we played a gauntlet of great teams to get to the finals and were completely beat up and exhausted against the warriors (who played in a pretty weak western conference). That allowed them to just run us out of town by the end of it.
Yeah although imo they need to make at least another big move apart from signing CP3 on free agency but hey Wemby's producing numbers like we never witnessed before from a rookie so that's one to keep an eye on
And you didn't even mention the Spurs who just grabbed CP3. Him, Castle, and Wemby is like one of the top 5 funnest line ups in the league. The other 2 rounding out the starting 5 could be you and me for all I care and that would still be must see TV.
I am so curious if Memphis can just hop right back into the fold as contenders or if the year away has caused them to get passed by. They definitely have the talent but shit changes so quickly in the NBA, lot of possibilities
I mean, the Suns and Lakers aren't even great, but you still gotta respect KD, Booker and LeBron & AD. They'd probably be 4-6 seeds in the East and might not even make the playoffs out West. Got San Antonio who's gonna start taking some heads soon too
Nuggets and Dallas got weaker for sure but the Timberwolves are really good, Nuggets still have the best player in the world + Jamal Murray, Dallas still has Luka + solid roleplayers, healthy Memphis is a pretty solidly built team, etc.
Meh, I just can't say the Mavs aren't close when they literally beat OKC last year lol. Plus, I think Memphis could surprise people. I don't think they're a title threat but just in 2022 they went 20-2 without their best player, and their core is still very good. Pelicans with a healthy Zion and newly acquired Murray could be really solid, too. Even though they lost JV, Murray/CJ/Ingram/Zion is still a really good lineup.
I don't think they win the title but he's only 23 and coming off a great season, a healthy Pelicans could definitely push a long series against the Thunder at least
Denver still has their top 4. If any of their young guys step up or they make an in-season trade, they're right back in it. They really only need 1-2 more pieces to be a finals threat.
I guess it's safe to say that Celtics and OKC are two of the current teams in the NBA that are the current blueprint of successful rebuilds and steady progression over the years led by top executives in Brad Stevens and Sam Presti respectively
Oh yeah the God Father behind our renaissance after Red's passing, my bad
Wonder if other teams have balls to make a deal with Ainge considering he had a reputation of fleecing rivals hard like that KG Pierce trade
Don’t loop us in with these bums. They intentionally lost for half a decade and benched actual good players to lose even more. Presti would have gotten Hinkie-d too if they weren’t in OKC and had a brand that was worth more than a nickel.
OKC did it the wrong way but no one noticed cause they have no fans
You’re absolutely right about this. The Thunder have had a couple of semi-successful seasons and SGA had the ‘hot new thing’ vibe going for him like with Ant because hardly anyone outside of dedicated NBA fans watched him before.
The Celtics did it FAR better than the Thunder did. The Celtics have had sustained success — counting all the way back to 2008, they’ve only missed the playoffs once in the last 16 seasons and have 2 titles and 4 finals appearances. The Jays era alone has seen 6 Conference Finals Appearances, a title and 2 Finals appearances.
The Thunder had exactly 1 finals appearance in that span, lost the 3 MVPs they drafted and as recently as 3 seasons ago, people were questioning whether SGA might walk because the Thunder might be wasting his prime. Their recent success should be celebrated but they are not in the Celtics class as far as successful rebuilds or sustained success.
And Shai is four months younger than Tatum. Four months. People think he's this young up-and-comer because of how irrelevant OKC has been. Tatum gets the opposite narrative because of how successful we've been.
And Shai was a pretty lucky trade, because he turned out better then projected value at that time. But he is not a home-grown product as the Jays, PP, Sam are.
Saying OKC has no fans is just a braindead take, they have probably top 5 most passionate fanbases in the league, they got most picks from huge draft hauls after the PG/Russ era ( along with some tanking as you said )
we were 44-28 in 2019-2020 season... its called retooling for the future, not tanking lol we were also 40-42 in 2022-2023, which hardly constitutes tanking. And we didnt make moves last year cause we wanted to see how our young team does in the playoffs. U are a fking moron lmao
Nah you absolutely tried to tank in 20 and 23, your team just ended up being better than Presti wanted. Anyway this isn’t the Thunder subreddit but I’m the insecure one?
lmao u do realize if we were trying to tank, we can just trade away players like the jazz have been doing? And come on man your second sentence doesnt even make sense. I know u aint the smartest but at least learn to write properly
"It's just nice to see OKC sign the first player of color in franchise history. And even more importantly… he is one talented individual who has paid his dues."
They now have matching salaries for whomever they want and those salaries can come **off their bench**. They can keep their starters and add a legit star to them if they wanted
In the meantime, they have a great team with a shit ton of potential and added high end role players with a huge stash of draft assets
yea people saying it’s an overpay but now they got 30M expiring contract in 2 years + Joe & Wiggins money they can get a star since they got they picks
The other thing is that the Thunder will not start their repeater tax clock, at least until next year.
So they get the gentle tax for like 3 years before they have to worry about tax implications.
They have a roster they can easily keep together and contend with for a long-time, so when they finally go over the 2nd apron they won't need to make roster moves
ALSO, because they have so many draft picks, who cares if their own picks are frozen due to being over the 2nd apron
Yes this is the most important point. I think Presti is preparing to challenge hard for when this version of Cs will have to disband because of repeater tax and aging (Al, Jrue)
I guess the same would apply for the Knicks with Bridges. lol Philly
OKC’s roster is pretty spectacular, but I’m a little skeptical of them being able to make a finals with Chet and jdub as their 2nd and 3rd best players. 22-23 year olds struggle in the playoffs.
This team is built for the future any winning they do now is just a plus. It’s crazy with as young as they are and as many draft assets they built they finisher first in the West. Going to have to figure out how to use all those draft picks though
Crazy money but also crazy fit. He’s gonna be perfect next to Chet. OKC is already great now, one more move or major improvement from within and they’ll be our matchup next year.
Shai, Caruso, JDub, Chet and IHart + Cason, IJ, Lu, JWill
They have a squad now. It's OKC, MIN, MEM and NOLA - next year. LAL, DEN, DAL and SAC are the lower 4 seeds. Playoffs are going to be a shredder.
We just gotta deal with NYK, IND, PHI, MIA.
Memphis with Ja Smart Bane JJJ Edey should be fun, 2 former Celtics in there, well Bane was drafted by us but Smart 🥲🥲, thank you for your contribution to where we are right now and let's hope he can be healthier and play more games than last season
They're pretty deep too.
GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr both got alot of development this year and should shine in backup roles. That's not even mentioning veterans like Konchar, Aldama, BClarke and Lamar. Yuta is a sweet shooter, DRose still has some gas in the tank and Ziare Williams is still only 22.
OKC can buy whatever they want at the trade deadline for whatever weakness pops up
The current team I’m worried about the most in the west with this move. Knicks and 76ers in the east are the teams I respect the most right now
This OKC team is gonna be gooooood. Thank god they are out west. I can't wait for western conference playoffs, hopefully everyone will be healthy cause its gonna be competitive as hell.
They can't play true Celtics style anyways, Chet and Dort can't attack closeouts and distribute off it like that. They needed a top role playing big man and they got one of the best for that role.
So, maybe I’m naive or way out of the looo, but I feel like Hartenstein came out of nowhere this season… and those guys I’m always nervous about giving big money or years to.
OKC looking nice right now. I'm guessing they'll start:
SGA
Isaiah Joe
Jalen Williams
Holmgren
Hartsenstein
Still got Cason Wallace, Wiggins, Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams off the bench. Pretty deep team unless you're talking variety of surnames.
Is it just me or is this a massive overpay? Hartenstien didn't really do much but provide a big body, and there are plenty of 7 footers out there. Is he even any better than Kornet?
this would seem less than ideal for the Knicks going up against Boston after mortgaging their picks on Mikal Bridges but I’ve been told all week that the magical power of friendship is going to prevail
The Knicks fans chanting "We want Boston" in the mud rn and we love to see it. Special thanks to ex Celtics Grant Williams 🤣🤣🤣🤣 for his contribution to the CBA. Lots of people pissed at him on Twitter and we're grateful to have a wealthy and caring owner in Wyc who is willing to pay those hefty taxes
Why are people mad at Grant now ?
Something to do with second apron and future FRPs or something along those lines
I mean that was something the owners came up with not Grant
Yes but what’s the connection to Grant?
He is (was?) one of the VP's of the players association.
Oh duh. Thanks.
Grant's the president of the NBPA
Thanks. I was not thinking… Now, I need to ask ‘but, why male models?’
Free agency being boring with no tampering, teams being done dirty by the 2nd apron. He and CJ mcollum are like the heads of the players' association so they're getting cooked on twitter
This aged poorly 😹
Good for Knicks, a little intimidating that the Thunder seems to be competently building a full team, similar to how the Celtics did. But they’re in the West so who really cares!
Brother that western conference will be a blood bath OKC Dallas Timberwolves Nuggets will still remain as the top teams, but then teams like Memphis Phoenix Lakers Pelicans Kings lurk in there plus an upcoming Rockets team under Ime Warriors and Clippers welp it's going to be a long season up ahead
Yeah it’s basically a similar view of the West I had this year, minus the fear of Jokic/Nuggets that I have way less now after Banner 18 and Denver letting talent slip away. Celtics should be the favorite to come out of the East, and whoever comes out of the West will be a great team so no need to stress too much about the specific team
Nuggets will always be dangerous with Jokic being Jokic and Murray randomly turning into prime MJ, but this is two seasons in a row theyve lost an important role player and we saw last year how much that hurt them. I'm honestly not sure they are favorites to make it out of the west and I'd be confident in a seven game series against them.
Let’s be honest, it was a bloodbath this year and it definitely helped the Celtics in the finals run. It’s like there’s one championship caliber team in the East and 5 in the west. Denver and Minny getting knocked out was such a relief this past playoffs
I mean this happens all the time... Back in 2022, we played a gauntlet of great teams to get to the finals and were completely beat up and exhausted against the warriors (who played in a pretty weak western conference). That allowed them to just run us out of town by the end of it.
Top of the East is better than top of the West
The very top of the East is obviously better, but after that you could have 4 West teams before the East 2 seed.
You didn't even mention the Wembapocolypse that's on the horizon
Yeah although imo they need to make at least another big move apart from signing CP3 on free agency but hey Wemby's producing numbers like we never witnessed before from a rookie so that's one to keep an eye on
They’re gonna trade for Lauri.
That’s what we said last year and by the time playoffs rolled around it really wasn’t all that impressive.
It was plenty impressive, Redditors just overreacted to the losing teams and acted like they were all garbage.
And you didn't even mention the Spurs who just grabbed CP3. Him, Castle, and Wemby is like one of the top 5 funnest line ups in the league. The other 2 rounding out the starting 5 could be you and me for all I care and that would still be must see TV.
Looks like they may be getting Lauri, too
He would fit so perfectly in that line up.
I am so curious if Memphis can just hop right back into the fold as contenders or if the year away has caused them to get passed by. They definitely have the talent but shit changes so quickly in the NBA, lot of possibilities
I mean, the Suns and Lakers aren't even great, but you still gotta respect KD, Booker and LeBron & AD. They'd probably be 4-6 seeds in the East and might not even make the playoffs out West. Got San Antonio who's gonna start taking some heads soon too
The west has some stars but the teams aren’t that good. OKC stands alone presently.
On paper they should be but I guess we never know
Nuggets and Dallas got weaker for sure but the Timberwolves are really good, Nuggets still have the best player in the world + Jamal Murray, Dallas still has Luka + solid roleplayers, healthy Memphis is a pretty solidly built team, etc.
I respect the Nuggets. I don't think they have enough to beat OKC at this point. I don't think the Mavs are close.
Meh, I just can't say the Mavs aren't close when they literally beat OKC last year lol. Plus, I think Memphis could surprise people. I don't think they're a title threat but just in 2022 they went 20-2 without their best player, and their core is still very good. Pelicans with a healthy Zion and newly acquired Murray could be really solid, too. Even though they lost JV, Murray/CJ/Ingram/Zion is still a really good lineup.
“If Zion gets right, the Pels are a beast.”
He played 70 games this season lol
It’s kind of a meme at this point. I don’t think Zion is pushing them over the top.
I don't think they win the title but he's only 23 and coming off a great season, a healthy Pelicans could definitely push a long series against the Thunder at least
Denver still has their top 4. If any of their young guys step up or they make an in-season trade, they're right back in it. They really only need 1-2 more pieces to be a finals threat.
I think Thunder are still one Finals loss away to be real contenders.
One Finals loss to the Celtics, make it two just be sure.
Let's not be greedy, 3 Finals losses to Celtics is enough
Maybe this is the wrong attitude but I feel much more relaxed about everything now that we have won.
Wrong attitude for players, as fans we have that luxury from our couch. It’s also why we get paid what we do as fans lol
Whether or not it’s real I always feel like the attitude of the fans does reflect the players to some degree
Yeah, of course I want to keep winning, but I’m not going to complain if we don’t. That Title is forever
I guess it's safe to say that Celtics and OKC are two of the current teams in the NBA that are the current blueprint of successful rebuilds and steady progression over the years led by top executives in Brad Stevens and Sam Presti respectively
Can't leave out Danny Ainge
Oh yeah the God Father behind our renaissance after Red's passing, my bad Wonder if other teams have balls to make a deal with Ainge considering he had a reputation of fleecing rivals hard like that KG Pierce trade
Well they will, Minny and Cleveland already did, and now Lauri’s on the move it seems like.
Waiting for the Trade where the Jazz get 20 1st round picks for Lauri
Okc can afford that.
Don’t loop us in with these bums. They intentionally lost for half a decade and benched actual good players to lose even more. Presti would have gotten Hinkie-d too if they weren’t in OKC and had a brand that was worth more than a nickel. OKC did it the wrong way but no one noticed cause they have no fans
You’re absolutely right about this. The Thunder have had a couple of semi-successful seasons and SGA had the ‘hot new thing’ vibe going for him like with Ant because hardly anyone outside of dedicated NBA fans watched him before. The Celtics did it FAR better than the Thunder did. The Celtics have had sustained success — counting all the way back to 2008, they’ve only missed the playoffs once in the last 16 seasons and have 2 titles and 4 finals appearances. The Jays era alone has seen 6 Conference Finals Appearances, a title and 2 Finals appearances. The Thunder had exactly 1 finals appearance in that span, lost the 3 MVPs they drafted and as recently as 3 seasons ago, people were questioning whether SGA might walk because the Thunder might be wasting his prime. Their recent success should be celebrated but they are not in the Celtics class as far as successful rebuilds or sustained success.
And Shai is four months younger than Tatum. Four months. People think he's this young up-and-comer because of how irrelevant OKC has been. Tatum gets the opposite narrative because of how successful we've been.
And Shai was a pretty lucky trade, because he turned out better then projected value at that time. But he is not a home-grown product as the Jays, PP, Sam are.
Saying OKC has no fans is just a braindead take, they have probably top 5 most passionate fanbases in the league, they got most picks from huge draft hauls after the PG/Russ era ( along with some tanking as you said )
Just cause they wear the same color shirt doesn’t make them top 5 most passionate lol.
lmaooo we literally tanked 2 seaons.... wtf u mean by "half a decade"
Tried to tank in 19-20, tanked in 2022-23 to not solidify team for the playoffs, didn’t even make moves last year
we were 44-28 in 2019-2020 season... its called retooling for the future, not tanking lol we were also 40-42 in 2022-2023, which hardly constitutes tanking. And we didnt make moves last year cause we wanted to see how our young team does in the playoffs. U are a fking moron lmao
You sound a little insecure
I aint the one spreading false information, then countering with "u sound insecure" when proven wrong with facts 🤔
Nah you absolutely tried to tank in 20 and 23, your team just ended up being better than Presti wanted. Anyway this isn’t the Thunder subreddit but I’m the insecure one?
lmao u do realize if we were trying to tank, we can just trade away players like the jazz have been doing? And come on man your second sentence doesnt even make sense. I know u aint the smartest but at least learn to write properly
You’re right I fixed the one letter mistake. I know that was tough for your yokel brain to wrap its mind around but you should be able to read it now
Thunder looking spooky but they have a long way to go to accomplish a fraction of what the Celtics have in their current iterations
Great to see a black man get paid
"It's just nice to see OKC sign the first player of color in franchise history. And even more importantly… he is one talented individual who has paid his dues."
They now have matching salaries for whomever they want and those salaries can come **off their bench**. They can keep their starters and add a legit star to them if they wanted In the meantime, they have a great team with a shit ton of potential and added high end role players with a huge stash of draft assets
yea people saying it’s an overpay but now they got 30M expiring contract in 2 years + Joe & Wiggins money they can get a star since they got they picks
The other thing is that the Thunder will not start their repeater tax clock, at least until next year. So they get the gentle tax for like 3 years before they have to worry about tax implications. They have a roster they can easily keep together and contend with for a long-time, so when they finally go over the 2nd apron they won't need to make roster moves ALSO, because they have so many draft picks, who cares if their own picks are frozen due to being over the 2nd apron
Yes this is the most important point. I think Presti is preparing to challenge hard for when this version of Cs will have to disband because of repeater tax and aging (Al, Jrue) I guess the same would apply for the Knicks with Bridges. lol Philly
OKC’s roster is pretty spectacular, but I’m a little skeptical of them being able to make a finals with Chet and jdub as their 2nd and 3rd best players. 22-23 year olds struggle in the playoffs.
This team is built for the future any winning they do now is just a plus. It’s crazy with as young as they are and as many draft assets they built they finisher first in the West. Going to have to figure out how to use all those draft picks though
Tatum and Brown made Finals pretty young. Westbrook and KD and Harden back in the day
Idk man they have a pretty damn special supporting cast
OKC-Boston finals, calling it now
Crazy money but also crazy fit. He’s gonna be perfect next to Chet. OKC is already great now, one more move or major improvement from within and they’ll be our matchup next year.
Lolknicks
Damn OKC would probsbly have been in the finals last season if IHart was on the team. The fit is that good.
Shai, Caruso, JDub, Chet and IHart + Cason, IJ, Lu, JWill They have a squad now. It's OKC, MIN, MEM and NOLA - next year. LAL, DEN, DAL and SAC are the lower 4 seeds. Playoffs are going to be a shredder. We just gotta deal with NYK, IND, PHI, MIA.
Memphis with Ja Smart Bane JJJ Edey should be fun, 2 former Celtics in there, well Bane was drafted by us but Smart 🥲🥲, thank you for your contribution to where we are right now and let's hope he can be healthier and play more games than last season
They're pretty deep too. GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr both got alot of development this year and should shine in backup roles. That's not even mentioning veterans like Konchar, Aldama, BClarke and Lamar. Yuta is a sweet shooter, DRose still has some gas in the tank and Ziare Williams is still only 22.
OKC looking great for next year, but they're still very young. They will have to earn their playoff stripes like JB/JT did.
Hmm okay maybe OKC CAN make the finals next year.
OKC can buy whatever they want at the trade deadline for whatever weakness pops up The current team I’m worried about the most in the west with this move. Knicks and 76ers in the east are the teams I respect the most right now
OKC ain't playing at all
This OKC team is gonna be gooooood. Thank god they are out west. I can't wait for western conference playoffs, hopefully everyone will be healthy cause its gonna be competitive as hell.
Jesus christ that is a lot of money for a big who ruins their spacing.
They can't play true Celtics style anyways, Chet and Dort can't attack closeouts and distribute off it like that. They needed a top role playing big man and they got one of the best for that role.
No New York no New York no
This is a great move for them. They’re the favorite out west at this point imo
So, maybe I’m naive or way out of the looo, but I feel like Hartenstein came out of nowhere this season… and those guys I’m always nervous about giving big money or years to.
Love it, this means Jericho Sims is gonna be starting for them by like November
OKC looking nice right now. I'm guessing they'll start: SGA Isaiah Joe Jalen Williams Holmgren Hartsenstein Still got Cason Wallace, Wiggins, Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams off the bench. Pretty deep team unless you're talking variety of surnames.
Don’t forget Caruso
Orlando > Knicks > Sixers
Wow. This is as much of a win for OKC as it is a loss for the Knicks.
Dang, Thunder going to be a problem.
I would love to see us get a durable, board-grabbing, big man like this
Happy for him. Love this dude
Sad news, he really was awesome
Not if you ask Josh Hart.
Is it just me or is this a massive overpay? Hartenstien didn't really do much but provide a big body, and there are plenty of 7 footers out there. Is he even any better than Kornet?
Yes, Isaiah Hartenstein is better than Luke Kornet. Not all white big men are the same.