Pick 38 Ajay Mitchell in the win 24/4/10 and 3 steals on 10-17 FG
Huge game for the sophomore
24 points
4 rebounds
10 assists
3 steals
10-17 FG
2-4 3pt
2-3 FT
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401871328
Most of OKC’s bench would start on the lakers
And Ajay Mitchell wouldn’t just start, he would take over Reaves’ spot as the 2nd/3rd best player on the roster
Easily
Well Ajay can play defense. It’s not really a competition. Reaves is gonna have to learn to defend or whoever pays him big money is gonna get fleeced.
We’ll get fleeced sadly
Is it really getting fleeced if he’s not that valuable in the playoffs
He’s 27, that ship has sailed
Ajay Mitchell is already better than Jaylen Brown
I can’t tell if you’re complimenting their bench or insulting your starters.
Yes
Yet we spent the whole season acting like what Luka Doncic did wasn’t even impressive, this team shpuld not have been the 3-4 seed especially after missing all 3 guys for like 20 games at different points
Presti just plays this shit on Easy mode
how the fuck is he in 3 years under 9M lol.
What is Pristi brainwashing these players
Sees the potential and gets them to put pen to paper before they break out
what did Pelinka see from THT to give him more is my question
And let Caruso walk lmao
Well, ESPN told me he was better than Shai. Who wouldn’t take their contract advice from a 25 under 25 list?
It was a decent pay raise from his rookie deal is the main reason Ajay signed it. It was surprising when it happened because he had barely played. He looked pretty good before he signed that contract, but this rise is pretty crazy still.
2nd round picks are not guaranteed anything. So really Presti giving him that contract after he was injured quite a bit last season was something not a lot of other GMs would do. Then he plays like this and they’d be looking at much more trying to get him to sign anything this summer.
He signs them before they’re proven. He sells the promise that they’re going to win a lot of games and that they’ll develop them properly and let them shine.
And follows through on the promise. Huge reason why no one has anything bad to say about okc in the nba.
They do right by players, have great scouts, development teams, they treat everyone from players to low level workers well.
tbh having luxary of best team assemble also can make players stay under low contract and show out.
I am just salty how some team can get talent through draft and development while Lakers always rely on trade and stuff and FO cheap out on players.
But hopefully this change under new ownership
“We’ll develop you, you get to play under the best, and get some championships
“And then you can leave and sign with whatever team offers you the most money because you won multiple championships and don’t care anymore”
Want a chip? This is how you get a chip. Sign here.
He was injured majority of his 1st year.
Presti was such a laughingstock after the Harden trade for awhile too and now he’s running the league light years ahead of the CBA and got maybe a top pick tomorrow
Not to us. He was put in a bad spot with cheap owners who didn’t want to pay the luxury tax.
Good thing they got George Kaiser involved in the ownership group
Honestly the best thing a billionaire has ever done for me
I mean there was the billionaire that moved your team to OKC in the first place.
I work for him, great guy and he’s actually quite the penny pincher for his private company lol
Crazy part is he fumbled one future MVP only to still have 2 on the team.
Lebron woulda forced Presti to draft Bronny at #38 pick
but thats why Lebron would never go to OKC. they aint wasting picks on nepo babies
So he would have forced them, but they ain’t doing it.
He’s been on a revenge tour after trading Harden in 2012 and failing to win a ring with KD and Westbrook.
MyGM rookie mode
I mean why did it take him almost 20 years to win a title then? lol
not saying he’s not good, but second round draft picks are more luck than anything. he’s on a hot streak, the thunder have had awful years.
Cooked Austin Reaves in every possible way, and on a $3m contract.
He is a straight up better player than AR, especially true when yoh factor in how solid he is defensively.
He has the luxury on being on a team that has the biggest margin of victory possible. They are legit 12 deep and always ride the hot hand. Their best player can have an average to poor night and they still win by 20. The responsibility between these two is not even comparable.
Edit: Jaylin Williams their backup center can go for 20 with no worry in the world.
This can all be true and Ajay Mitchell can still be better at basketball than Austin Reaves
You’re right.
But also, Ajay Mitchell is a straight up better player than AR.
Yup. Other players Ajay Mitchell is straight up better than:
This might be the worst comment I’ve ever seen
Not sure if this is sarcasm, but he is fr better than every one of them except brown.
damn, Thunder fans just might be dumb as balls
Lakers fans would kill me but Reaves is not worth the max or anywhere near it. he struggles when game gets physical and refs swallow their whistles
No other way to get a 20 ppg scorer. It’s sucks but it would hurt more for him to walk
His 20 ppg comes with horrible defense and it puts more strain on Luka. I’d much and the spend the cap on a wing defender and get more athletic on the perimeter
To contend the lakers can only have 1 defensive liability and that’s Luka
Sign and trade + filler for Brown
You let him walk and trade everything you can for as many picks as you can, even if they’re 2nds. Rebuild FOR REAL around Luka.
This Lakers team roster is so far from it.
AJAY MITCHELL - BELGIUM WAFFLE UNIVERSITY
Top 3 in a 2024 re-draft and he isn’t #2.
This is where I don’t get the whole “Spurs are the good guys” narrative
OKC got their team this good with some insane roster building they tanked for like 2 seasons but many of their most important players weren’t obvious choices
Spurs were almost entirely gifted their team by the lottery
Like if you’re a hardliner that the NBA secretly loves Oklahoma and is rigging it for OKC why is it so far-fetched that they never planned to let Wemby rot in Washington or Charlotte
Its why I as a celtics fan respect them. They are celtics west. Built through smart trades and good drafting. Whenever either of us had high picks we made the correct choice. Sam p Presti and Brad stevens are some of the only Gms who are willing to trade away beloved players to rebuild.
This is also why I rooted for the Celtics this year in the east
OKC have actually had pretty poor lottery luck for a while, both with their own picks and how the picks they’ve traded for convey. There’s 1 top 5 pick (Chet) on the entire roster, 2 top 10 picks (Cason Wallace at 10). Most of the roster are 2nd round picks or undrafted players.
I understand the complaints about flopping and hacking but what I will never really get is the complaint about depth, being stacked, and not having parity.
Somehow good homegrown roster building is our fault now? Isn’t that the goal of every team? I think people are confusing it with when superstars used to conspire to play for the same team, like we have none of that. The current roster is all Sam Presti
I think part of the problem is people want to love your team: small market, homegrown, etc. and people want to see games with fewer free throws and less flopping. So watching OKC is like double frustrating. But don’t ask me. I haven’t watched more than 3-4 games on tv since the Kings lost the WCF. IMO the refball has been bad for decades, rendering the sport unwatchable in any serious capacity for me.
There are fewer FTs per game now than at any time in NBA history.
People don’t have to even like the team, but the absolute complaining even on games without the FT issue or days we don’t play, people be throwing out reasons like we make the league unfair/boring, calling us entitled fucks when we root for the Clippers pick (which fanbase wouldn’t in our position?) it’s not like we have picked high and squandered draft decisions like Houston
Sure call Lu Dort dirty and Shai a flopper or whatever, just saying that people be hating anything OKC does even on the things unrelated to those and on things any org should be doing right
It’s literally as simple as Shai being unwatchable.
Same with my dubs and the Cavs who got 4 #1 picks(bron Kyrie Wiggins bennett)
Number one
brunson with defence trajectory
Almost like he deserves more than $3M per year
Don’t blame him for taking guaranteed money at first to prove his worth. Injury or a bad season could take away millions. Bet on himself and will deserve every penny
For sure, lock up life changing money (\(9M) then if he proves himself he could easily get \)100M+ on his next deal.
He’s definitely getting the max from a bad team. He’s that good.
Yeah this playoffs is proving more and more that we have Ajay on a short window. But I’d be happy for him and the next team that signs him
Plus side it may be more likely to retain Cason long term idk
38th pick was making what 700k? Its a huge paradise regardless
I mean he probably could’ve made twice that in free agency and been a starter.
He got injured for half the season and didn’t have enough minutes to showcase yet
Or had another Injury not develop and never see big money. Dont blame him one bit
most valuable contract
He will cant keep him forever
Insanely polished player. What a gem on that contract
The kid is an absolute star and we have him on the deal of the century
for now lol, but he’s gonna walk, most of your players will when it’s pay day. Yay salary cap.
The Thunder have a chance at a top 5 pick tomorrow.
7 percent at top 4
Presti found a Shai clone who is Belgian
I see more Brunson in him
He does play like Mavs Brunson on offense but he’s like 4 inches taller and can actually guard
his defense is honestly my favorite trait of his, he’s feisty af on that end
They shoot with the same hand!
His game is a lot more similar to Brunson’s tbh
Shai Gilgeous Van Damme
They said draft class is ass and Presti found gem in 2nd round.
Why would the refs do this
3 FTs too many
This dude finna extend their dynasty wtf
OKC drafting him would be grounds for a Witch Trial if it were colonial times
You could give Rob 10 2nd rnd picks every season and he wouldn’t get a player as good as him lmao
I always say he is like a taller Brunson, we are 100% giving him another contract as well
He’s got a team option after next year. They’ll do what they did Dort and pay him a year early to avoid making him a UFA.
I’m not sure they’ll be able to. Dude needs his own team, and isn’t going to care about rings as the 3rd/4th/5th option
When we move off Dort in the summer, room opens up.
That money immediately goes towards Caso, who will command more money than Dort is making. Moving off Kenny’s and Wiggs’s salaries will help, but with Chet’s and Dub’s extensions kicking in next season, paying Ajay means iHart needs to either take a major discount or walk, otherwise OKC is flirting with the second apron.
Whose not getting a contract?
Probably Dort and possibly iHart after next year
His contract is an absolute bargain, easily the best value in the league
That’s my Belgian Bomber <3
Same pick as Ayo 👀
they traded up for him. it’s not incidental
OKC in 4….
This is a boring series actually… This is the series where after the first half you can turn off your TV or streaming site as in the second half it will be a blowout by OKC
What if they just traded SGA and build around Mitchell.
Could legit 3-peat if u trade shai and pay all their defenders + have more cap to wiggle around with. Thats how fucking good and deep this team is, the number 1 guy could get traded and they’d still be favorites
That’s not true, they need SGA
Let’s not get carried away, offense has a lot to do with timing and SGA is the best metronome in the league.
I hope you guys understand we are getting 4 all stars next year and rookie of the year
Ajay is +119 through these 7 playoff games, watching him these 2 seasons, it is so clear that it’s no fluke that the team plays better basketball with him on the floor, even when the shot doesn’t fall some nights, he creates so much rim pressure, and does all the 1%ers that coaches dream of.. special special player for a 2nd year, 38th pick
I can’t wait for him to get his own team
Presti is something. Scary to think they have another top 15 pick this year
This guy is the new version of Jamal Murray for us Laker fans. Presti is got this man locked down on a cheap contract for the future too
Who let OkC GET THIS GUY AHHH
Hell of a game from Ajay
It can’t go on like this, can it?
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/fUXaU0izXl
Nice scouting
Nice of you to say! Guy is a baller and happy to have him
Good thing the Raptors picked Scottie’s best friend who they won’t even keep this offseason.
At least CMB pick was great.
My goat
I love him :)
Ajay “The Belgian Brunson” Mitchell
That’s what $3M salary get you
0 turnovers too
Insane fr fr.
I knew he could score I won’t be surprised if he drops 30+ in a playoff game but damn 10 ast/0 to/3stls is impressive
Belgium Waffle University 🧇
The fact the only thing upvoted is the no call shooting foul on lebron is peak reddit
He will be a star on another team, OKC will keep him but every other team will throw all the money at him when. His contract is up
They’re not letting him get to free agency. Daigneault loves him, I’d be shocked if they did anything but turn down their team option after next season to sign him to a new long-term contract.
If thunders get the #1 pick I’m done watching for a few years lmao
There was a nice tidbit mentioned earlier in the game where OKC was scouting someone else in UCSB and accidentally found Ajay. The report to Presti was that they found a guy no one sniffed on yet.
God he’s so good
Ah cool. The OKC just casually found this guy on the 2nd round paid him 3 mil.
Ofc they are, what is this plot armor bs
are we going to keep on hearing about freethrows?
Series not over yet but damn is he locked in
Always been a fan since his college days. Bois too smooth and methodical with it.
We are looking at a masterclass in team management. OKC is going to be a PROBLEM for a long time!
Better than almost all of the 2024 draft class
I dunno why but i feel like i need to thank Darly Morey again
Best contract in the league and will only get better the next 2 years
GOAT
And don’t forget the zero turnovers
Dude this okc teams feels like 2014-2016 warriors but with even better bench(albeit not as good offensively)
And great defense. Guy is a stud. OKC needs to trade him they can’t afford to keep him.
I said this during the offseason: Ajay Mitchell needs to fire his agent.
Dude could have gotten like 50 million this offseason and instead he’s got two more years at 3 million per.
Clears SGA
Oh no! My Buttery Lobster clears my Juicy Steak!
Nah cause I don’t think he could do any of this without SGA gravity freeing him up on offense. The Lakers are devoted to keeping Shai contained and that’s what’s allowing others to step up.
His hottest stretch was without SGA on the court
Yeah, but how much of that was him getting more touches before that happens tho? Momentum and confidence are very big in basketball especially at the level NBA players play at.
WRONG the team with him off the court is better by every metric
No I just think they look like that against the Lakers bench lol. And of course when the defense has been triple teaming you all series it’s hard to get a rhythm on offense. Don’t be that person that overreacts to one game/series and suddenly forgets the hundreds of games that SGA has balled out in. I like AJ but if he were really better than Shai why isn’t he the one winning the MVPs?
they looked good AGAINST LAKERS STARTERS though without SGA last game
Lakers up by like 6 or 7..shai goes to bench Okc goes on a 32-14 to lead/basically win without Shai (against lakers starters)
Just bevause Shai is a top 3 player in nba doesnt make him the star with LEAST duty / easiest time.
I think it’s more so that the Lakers game plan is clearly to overly focus on stopping Shai from going off. So when he goes to the bench, the Lakers no longer have an effective defensive scheme. But it’s also possible that this is just a particular bad matchup for Shai. Either way they’re getting the win and I’m sure that’s all SGA cares about. You guys are possibly overreacting to one particular series and there’s a good chance that you’ll looks silly in the next few days/weeks. But it is what it is I guess.
I think if you sell out to stop ANY player (including SGA) they will look worse, have more turnovers, and score less or be less efficient if you try score through it.
Usually this DOESN’T happen to SGA since OKC are so good, they only double him right AT 3pt line or load up help just before he drives (hes one of the MOST DOUBLED in league like this)… but rarely teams just hound him to give up the ball
When you decide to double SGA at halfcourt like some other stars (luka, cade, kd, Ant sometimes )… you see what happens….he becomes like every other top star. Higher turnovrrs….and if he remains efficient its because he takes way less shots and only scores 20…..which WOULD NOT be enough for cade, luka, kd to win a game with their current teams
Beacuse sga takes all the usage??
Come on bruh… You can’t be serious lmao. All I’mma say is that for all the commotion you’re causing over AJ, Shai still only had like two less points than him… In an unusually quiet game by his standards… So the gap can’t be that big when Shai basically contributed as much to the win as he did. They’re both great players either way tho in my book.
Lol just straight making shit up trolling.
I respect the audacity at least.
I didnt make anything up, you lucky I cant post screenshots
Lakers bench is straight ass and ours are all starter worthy not a fair stat in this case
Yeah you have a superteam thats not news thanks for clearing that up
Warriors fan talking about superteams to a home grown team 🤣