Redick: The only other teams that have had back-to-back years of 10+ net rating are the 95-97 Bulls and the 15-17 Warriors. “The Thunder are one of the greatest teams in NBA history. That’s just the reality. They are. They’re that good.”
They legitimately go 13 deep. Most teams have at most 8 or 9 guys capable of playing meaningful minutes this time of year. They have 13. It’s absolutely insane.
SGA
Chet
JDub
Cason Wallace
Jaylin Williams
Ajay Mitchell
Caruso
Dort
Wiggins
Joe
Hartenstein
McCain
Kenrich Williams
The thunders 10th best player would get 30 minutes in our rotation right now haha
Isaiah Joe getting 30 minutes on the injured lakers? I feel like that’s a bit of a stretch. He’d be getting more than he does with us though, for sure.
Isaiah Joe is basically Luke Kennard that’s not afraid to shoot. A little better defensively too now that he’s made some improvements
We’ll trade you kennard for Joe to make the series interesting
How is a hawks fans making “we” transactions on behalf of OKC?
Updated; bandwagon fan
Respect.
we were playing bronny last series. Luke Kennard is like 30 mins+ a game. If we had Joe or Wiggins or McCain we’d be running them the ball as the number 1⁄2 option for times last series haha
I mean Bronny did great in his minutes that series, but he’s probably about the 15th best player to play for the lakers on the team. No offense on the kid but there’s a narrative around what he gets because of his dad but Bronny also didn’t play any meaningful minutes once the Rockets won a game for a reason.
He didn’t get any more minutes because Reaves came back.
Bronny is more like the 11 or 12th man on the roster and has genuinely earned those playoff minutes. Not to mention he helped us win one of those game.
Shouldn’t your 2nd round pick in their 2nd year be expected to be able to play in the playoffs? If not, they probably shouldn’t be on the roster.
Tell that to Patrick Williams
No I don’t think so? How many 2nd year late 2nd round picks have gotten rotation minutes in the playoffs this I think from bronnys class it is 3, Pele Larson (Pick 44 13 mpg, 4 games) Jamal Shead (pick 45 33 mpg 7 games) Quentin Post (Pick 52 12 mpg 12 games) bronny is in 4th for playoff mpg of everyone in the back half of the 2nd round.
The year before is even less toumani Camara (pick 52, 5 games 33 mpg), Jaylen Clark broke into the rotation due to injuries to all of minnesotas guards (12 mpg 2 games pick 54) and Trayxe Jackson Davis (bronny would be about 4th in this class to
And year before that like nobody has averaged 10 mpg for a series
So of 42 guys from 2022-2024 like 5 of them have managed to be rotation players on playoff teams, so no that definitely is not the expectation
2nd round picks generally don’t play in the playoffs that quickly . Hell first round picks usually don’t much either
Our 1st round pick from the same draft is significantly lower down on the roster, only getting garbage time minutes.
Wonder why
You should see how much we play our first round pick from that draft
I’d hope it’s more than Bronny
Isaiah Joe would 102.5% get 28~ mpg on the Lakers.
Yeah let’s get exact numbers! It’s actually 102 .4988474% he’d get 28.97526 minutes on the Lakers.
Idk about 30 but hartenstein/Joe would for sure be getting a lot of minutes
kennard averaged 36 this series. Easily replace laravias minutes too
IHart is probably our 4th best guy though, not our 10th. McCain/joe/wiggins/k-rich are probably our bottom 4 imo.
Yeah he’d be getting 36 lol
Dude that Lakers roster is buns
Ajay Mitchell would change most franchise’s broke ass life right now
Shit, hes changing my rich ass franchises life right now lol
Yo Ajay is my dude
Our dude, comrade
Someone is going to give Ajay Mitchell 40/yr and that someone is probably the Houston rockets, bucks, Miami, or Mavs.
We would actually kill for him.
Wish the Sixers had someone like McCain to come off the bench and get an easy 10-15 pts. He’s young too so he’d be nice to pair with Maxey and Edgecombe for the future.
Imagine having Jared McCain and Isaiah Joe as a microwave scoring duo coming off the bench.
Forgot we let Joe go too. He was a victim of Doc wanting to play washed vets instead of developing young talent.
yah, it’d be a shame if someone traded him for a throwaway frp
Could have beaten Boston in 6 with Jared
Sixers upscale stocks📈
It might still pan out, yall got the 2026 Rockets pick at #22 PLUS a bunch of second-round hail marys. Thats multiple potential Bronnys!
They got like 6 clones on their team. I don’t watch a lot of their games but I struggle to tell the role players apart because they all got similar builds and play the same way.
You mean the way they defend and beat the shit out of other players?
With this in mind, are they the deepest team of all time? Only other team I can think of are the 2014 spurs.
The warriors were incredibly deep beginning of the dynasty
Strength In Numbers
And they’re going to get even more talent lol
Shit we have talent currently developing in topic, McCain, and sorber
Presti’s fault for getting max value out of second rounders and undrafted/waived players, we look stacked on talent when it’s just good drafting/trades and player development
So on the few times we actually get high picks, it feels like we don’t deserve it
Hartenstein should be much higher up in this list.
McCain couldnt even get minutes on the sixers where he was productive. They’re 13 deep because of how much the coaching and top players elevate their team. Just like how Luka Doncic made PJ Washington and Derrick Lively able to play high minutes in the finals effectively when theyre barely starters anywhere else.
Acting like the team is 13 deep cause theyre more loaded with talent at the back of the bench than other teams is cope. The team is just better. Swap that bench with a team that struggles with bench like clippers and thunder would still feel 13 deep
I agree that the culture is a huge part of it.
McCain not getting minutes is not a talent problem, it’s a coaching problem.
ESID, the rest of the Thunder’s excellent roster can elevate and cover for any weaknesses in playing a McCain. Whereas the 76ers, at least this season, maybe could not offer that same balance.
Plus, that coach just played a pretty big role in getting his team past a higher seeded opponent, so hes not some bum by any means.
If Tatum plays, the Celtics win by 20. Let’s not kid ourselves here.
Jared McCain is a bad defender and couldnt fit into any sixers rotations. He looks great on thunder because hes just playing after the other team has given up and checked out on defense and the one thing he excels in is garbage time 3s.
Wiggins has been iffy since he got hurt.
McCain in the playoffs feels matchup dependent.
Mark just doesn’t play Kenny in the postseason.
Joe is TBD. If he can keep his shot going and/or continue what he’s shown on defense then he’s a player. But still, the 9-10 there is unreal. Especially when you look at dudes like J-Will who matched Jokic minute for minute at the end of the regular season and actually held up extremely well.
kenrich and isaiah joe are polar bear-ish here and idk how effective some of these guys would be in other teams
isiah joe is an elite 3pt shooter (other than in last year’s playoffs where he was like 28%) who plays good enough defense and kenrich is a solid, versatile wing who brings much-needed size/strength to a guard heavy rotation. as much as i love him, wiggins has been the polar bear this season, though i still believe in him considering he’s been hurt for pretty much the whole season
Any team would love to have Kenny Hustle, you have no idea.
i think kenny is great dw
Big Soak erasure
Not just that they go 13 deep but that their best players give them a ton of flexibility. They can run a traditional 2guards, 2 forwards and a center line-up. They can a double big line-up with Chet and iHart (WHILE still having 4 guys who can shoot because of Chet). They can run a 5 out line-up. And almost all their line-ups are going to have the worse defender be average at worst. They have 2 guys at basically every position who could start on another team.
They may legitimately be the most flexible, well-rounded, deep team in NBA history.
How long can this keep this team together if they win again?
This won’t last forever and thats exactly why they are maximizing the time they have left, once those contracts expire and everyones looking for a payday their franchise atleast will get to go back down to earth
You can take away SGA and JDub and that roster is still competitive to go to conference finals.
Wolves are also quite deep (13) Ant Donte Jaden Dubious Gobert Naz Ayo Bones Slomo TJ Shannon Mike Jaylen Clark Joan Beringer All dudes who can handle rotation minutes.
You can’t play McCain in the playoffs unless it’s garbo time, he would get cooked.
He has made some really noticeable strides defensively with his activity and positioning. He’ll never be elite due to physical limitations, but he has visibly been soaking in learning under our other guards
Shut up
Kinda surprised there is a group of Philly fans that hate McCain. Thought he was pretty beloved on that team lol
It’s cope
He is a below average defender and undersized but far from unplayable
Awwwwww, you missin your little Tic Tok star? Fuck outta here, dude can jack up 3’s but he’s a plug in every other facet of the game.
okay this guys just a hater lol
Please tell me where I’m wrong and how Jared McCain is useful in the playoffs. Sold high baby.
I can think of some “bad” defenders who’ve contributed to a title run, like Jordan Poole
Poole is the much better athlete, is taller and has a long wingspan for his size. Not a horrid comparison, but Poole has the NBA athleticism and build, while McCain just doesn’t.
Can McCain improve? For sure, but he’s got a long ways to go to make up for his build/athletics and lack of any NBA skills other some vision/play making and a 3 point shot that hasn’t been falling well since his injury.
you were told, you’re just ignoring it so you can keep hating like a baby
I’ll eat my words if he ever becomes a rotational piece on a playoff team.
You’re right man, I’m sure you’ll draft something great with that rockets pick. Hell, he might even be in the driving for ROTY!
Hopefully the pick will be playable when it matters most.
This is the type of shit a serial killer would say to lure you into their van
This is the type of shit a coach that knows hes about to get swept would say
Oh for sure. Doesn’t do anybody on the team or in the org any favors to be delusional i guess. They all know its a David v Goliath matchup except this time David is also in a wheelchair.
David also has a lot of delulu fans behind him telling him he can do it while he is already breathing through a tube.
It also helps set the tone. The Lakers are essentially playing with house money. No need to be nervous, you’re gonna lose anyways!
Which probably weirdly helps the players.
JJ Redick has candy in there. I’m gonna check it out.
Hell, that would have worked for me. This comment might have just saved my life.
How could JJ forget that the 1971 and 72 Bucks also had back to back 10+ net rating seasons /s
Looked it up, 71 bucks had Kareem and Big O, they had 66 wins and then won the chip.
Yep, and the following year they won 63 games, had a 10+ net rating again, but lost the Western Conference finals to a juggernaut Lakers team (the one with the still-record 33 game winning streak)
Not boring if you like
30PPG Midrange MVP’s
Elite Defense + proper team construction
Young talent
Good team chemistry + vibes
Small market teams
You forgot flopping by everyone on the team
lol now it’s everyone on the team? Don’t forget they’re allowed to grab and maim on defense, 50th in education, worst fan base, etc.
Daig is holding a flopping practice as we speak
Live a more fulfilled life
I don’t want to hear any OKC flopping slander when players like Sengun are looking like a baby giraffe has been hit by a rail gun everytime someone even thinks about touching him
bro this sub’s favorite player is jokic and they don’t say shit about his egregious flopping or doing the move where he just jumps on someones back and gets a call
Yes they do lmao
What a whinny baby.
Part of me think this is obviously true and part of me still thinks they could easily lose in the WCF or the Finals. Pacers, great team but not exactly the 16 Cavs, somehow took them to 7 last year
That team was super young last year and that Pacers team was really good *and* matched up well with OKC.
But also they were one Haliburton buzzer beater away from winning in 5 (assuming games 2-5 go the same). Sometimes those are the breaks.
Both statements are true, that’s what makes the playoffs great no such thing as a lock
One of their biggest assets is their depth, which becomes less meaningful in the playoffs. So they are not as great in the playoffs as their regular season would imply. Still great enough to have won though.
If LeBron solos OKC can everyone shut up about MJ.
if a billion dollars falls into my bank account tomorrow ill be rich
IF MY GRANDMOTHER HAD WHEELS SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BIKE
if they haven’t shut about MJ yet they never will, we both know this
Why would people not talk about the goat?
I think yes
They won’t.
I’m the biggest Bronwagoner around but I think we are likely to be swept. Even if AR and Luka comes back, I think 4-2 is as far as we can go?
OKC is too good and too deep.
Ah yes, winning in the second round, not the championship, is what is gonna turn the tide
NBA discourse is shot, what the fuck are we doing lmao
He already soloed the Mega Warriors in the 2016 Finals to lock up the GOAT debate, soloing multiple series at 41 should remove any doubt
Yes he “soloed” them like Kyrie Irving wasnt there destroying Steph Curry
Thunder are winning this one in 5 games
Right, he soloed the 2016 warriors
Not like Kyrie was going crazy at the same time and hit the biggest shot in NBA history
Get his dick out your mouth bro, have some respect for yourself lmfaoo
But why are they so boring compared to those other two teams?
MJ and Curry were just massive names that played in a way fans gravitated to. Shai is great, but I don’t think people appreciate the things he’s great at as being as aesthetically enjoyable.
his playstyle is a “not explosive” Kobe-Jordanesque that doesn’t dunk or get to the rim with the intention to smack that shit in, it’s more finesse, reminds me of George Gervin situation. so I’d say he’ll always have fans for the finesse and footwork and midrange oriented fans than demons at the rims that were more candid on the floor, he’s special in his own way, he’ll inspire kids by his own, i don’t think the number matters, appreciate players who mastered their craft at their time
I understand the critics too, can’t please everyone, I prefer the other style
Very well said, and I appreciate it coming from a Spurs fan. It might be that he’s an “acquired taste” for a non-OKC fan, but his play is simply magical for those of us that have the privilege of watching every game. There’s multiple “how the hell did he do that?” moments in every game.
People don’t like the Thunder playstyle, because everything feel “unfair” while playing them.
SGA is a god tier player with an insane midrange and clutch factor, but he has a light whislte while OKC defence as team sometimes is hack the shit of other players, refs won’t call all the fouls, plus Lu Dort has the dirty player.
Shai is also winning a fuckton in a NBA with Jokic/Luka/Wemby stans so he is in a weird spot. He has Lakers and Mavs fans, Spurs and Denver against him and other hater/soft hate fanbase like the Pacers, Suns and so and so.
you know the answer but I think you just beat around it. fans like midrange assasins with pretty jumpers so it is not that. but yk the answer and I won’t say it for you.
I mean, as much as I hated them at the time the Warriors were playing extremely attractive basketball
mj is black lebron is black people also like giannis and ant this is so much less about race then you think
Edit: yes there are racist arguments that people make against shai but shai not being face of the league is not because of his skin tone
I think he means Shai and the flopping charges, but I honestly meant the midrange/footwork/spacing of it all. Not sure what “midrange assassins” fans love that also wouldn’t pull off the occasional highlight dunk, like MJ or Kobe would.
he doesnt look at his reply, as much as i hate shai (as in terms of how a lebron fan “hates” curry) i think hes really fun to watch
…odd response when they were clearly referencing his flopping.
honestly i dont even know his reply is like so cryptic, if its about his flopping idrc every star does it
(posted this in a similar thread a few weeks ago)
IMO it’s because OKC is all-time statistically mainly from their historic defense, while not being #1 in offense either season (3rd last season, 7th this season). While the Bulls and Warriors had strong defenses, their superstars powered their team to league-leading offenses, which is more aesthetically pleasing.
So if you’re watching your team play OKC, compared to Steph/KD/Klay raining 3s or MJ and Pippen dunking on you, it’s a lot less jaw-dropping to watch their guards swarm your guys and Chet/I-Hart do fundamentally sound rim protection. As we’ve seen from fan reactions to OKC games, justified or not you end up feeling like your team is being fouled a lot lol
As mentioned OKC is 7th in the league in offense this season, and their major advantage on that end, statistically, is that they lead the league in not turning it over. Which again isn’t that aesthetically pleasing.
It’s kind of like watching a baseball team dominate through getting walks and not making errors. Sure it might be statistically dominant but it’s not as fun as watching guys hit bombs and steal bases. I don’t blame OKC or anything since banners fly forever, but that’s why fans of other teams aren’t too enthralled by these teams, 10+ NetRtg and all.
Ok this is well explained thank you.
Well put
All that matters is winning. Might be boring for other fans, but for the fans in okc? They are all loving this.
We aren’t talking only about the fans of the team in question.
All 40000 of them baybee
600,000 at the parade alone and one of the top fanbases on reddit but go off king. we out here.
At minimum 4,123,288 fans since I’m pretty sure every person in the state is a Thunder fan. It even brings OU and OkSt fans together.
Because it’s Oklahoma. Guarantee if it were the Seattle SuperSonics media, both legacy and social, would be all over them.
They had Kevin Durant and he was more popular than Shai, it’s very simple people don’t like the way he plays
Lol I know you’re mostly just projecting your own opinion, but the actual answer is just time (and OKC’s dominance is defense which isn’t fun like offense)
Durant as a top pick and a Nike deal out of college gave him a boost, but he wasn’t everywhere until a little later. For example, after his third playoff run he finished 8th in jersey sales. SGA was 8th in jersey sales earlier this season as well (and higher than someone like Joker)
I’m sure the memes are strong and some people aren’t fond of his game, but SGA’s popularity is skyrocketing right now and you can see that with his engagement and even little things like the popularity of his shoes
I think it’s finally coming, and well-deserved.
But why male models?
I assume it has to do with their playstyle. People like flashy stuff.
Bc twitter didn’t exist
15-17
Atp not being blowout by the 3rd QT might be the goal.
Thankfully for the NBA. They are the real winners of it all
I have only been watching the nba for past 2 seasons.
If the lakers beat OKC would it be the biggest upset in nba history?
It would be crazy but not the craziest
We believe warriors vs MVP dirk Mavericks in the 07 playoffs is the most lopsided upset. Dirks league perception would be completely different if he did not solo 2011 title afterwards
While the lakers are short handed without Luka thunder are missing their second best scorer in Jalen Williams for the next week or so
So yes lakers upset if they pull it off but not most clean
Not coincidentally, those are the only teams to have back-to-back seasons with 18 or fewer losses in those particular seasons, as well (the Warriors did it in the ‘14-15 season as well).
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer
They are easily the best team we’ve seen in a decade for sure at least.
This ain’t even about having a losing mentality I’m just talking purely logically speaking, if I’m going to lose, I’d rather lose to the best team that’s been assembled in a decade.
Certainly better than blowing a 3-1 to the 7th seed east team whose star player’s knees had 1 HP left😂
I think 2024 celtics were better, not by much though.
While i think shai>tatum but brown>>>jdub or chet
Is JDub playing in this round yall?
It means about 15% less because scores are higher now.
I actually look forward to the bench getting in their games, never seen a team like this.
“And they did it without committing a single foul, for 2 seasons.”
-JJ, probably
I like the way he bends over before it even starts. It reminds me of my honeymoon; my wife’s boyfriend had a good time that night.
why do these two teams not play until tuesday, tomorrow? it makes no sense except for the NBA giving lebron as much rest as possible.
This isn’t really comparable, I don’t get why net rating conversations never adjust for league scoring. The league averaged 100 and 97 ppg those bulls years, and 102 and 105 ppg those warriors years. The last two years the league has averaged 114 and 116 per game. The bulls had a net rating of 12.7 across those two years, which in those league averages is about +12.9% league scoring, which is ludicrous. The thunder the last couple years have been at 10.4%.
Net rating is per 100 possessions so it does sorta adjust for that. Net ratings not the number of points minus points allowed, it’s if all teams played 100 possessions, then how many points scored vs allowed. So a team that plays fast and a team that plays slow will still be compared fairly. And it doesn’t account for different efficiency in eras but remember it’s compared to the rest of the league, so the rest of the league did get higher scoring and whatever else, and the Thunder still are head and shoulders above them. It just remains to be seen how it’ll translate in the playoffs, but they have their 2nd best guy out, so it’ll take him being healthy to have a dominant run.
So at least pace is accounted for. And still, reg season wise they’re dominant dominant.
I hate dort
They’re damn good, but foul like crazy and don’t get whistled as much as they should.
Reminds me of the Patriots dynasty that was also insanely good but still took advantage of every rule or dynamic that was possible
And yet i ll bet on Spurs beating Okc anyday
For sure inflated by how favourably they are reffed
[deleted]
2015-16 Warriors🙃
let’s not get ahead of ourselves
We may not have one prime lebron but we do have a post prime lebron and a pre prime lebron and that averages out to one prime lebron.
The numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster for you in round two.
don’t need prime lebron when you have LEBRON PRIME
Man I love Scott Steiner math
I didn’t say we’re not the favorites but it’s the playoffs and anyone can beat anyone
leave the hype for the finals
truth nuke we are three peating after
You’re making it easier to root for the Lakers.
We would ban all bandwagons if we could
Sure and they said OKC is going to beat the season win record.
they still won the most games in NBA
injuries are a bitch 64 wins and a ring look and sound better though
64 < 73 and we are at the 2nd round, chill.
can’t forget being the ONLY team to ever choke a 3-1 lead in the finals I’d gladly settle for 64 wins any day
Ha ha, the league’s rigging it for lebron isn’t reasonably termed choking.
The pacers had worse injuries than the thunder
Grizzlies*
You have a loooooong way to go before your talking shit on that warriors era. Thats Cavs team probably sweeps OKC
“probably” just like I’ll “probably” one day stumble on a million dollars hypotheticals are a waste of my time
You wish, OKC gonna have 64 win season and lose at the conf finals to Wemby.
Then you’ll come back to this comment where I laugh at your face, haha.
sure bro whatever fantasy gets you off at night I support it 👍
My guy, why would you ever bring up the 73 win season lmao
Warriors fan… it’s a dying dynasty they have nothing better to talk about
Thunder fans talking like their team is already a dynasty 😂
you don’t have to be a fan of a dynasty to know your time is up. have fun watching the podz era
Been a fan long before curry. Unlike thunder bandwagons who only know of Sga
ok? what does that have to do with what i said. i get it though i would avoid talking about the future of my team was the warriors 😭
Bruh you don’t even have a flair. Why you even barking
warriors fans are like that one japanese soldier who kept fighting 30 years after the war ended
they also said the 2016 warriors were going b2b
2016 finals were rigged by the league
Over those seasons for the Bulls Jordan, Pippen, Rodman played in 89% of their games and for the Warriors, Steph, Klay and Draymond played in 97% of games. Chet, JDub and Shai played in just 70%.
Winning 4 games in a week and half to 2 week span against one team is a lot easier than trying to win 74⁄82 games against 29 teams over the span of over multiple months.