The number one seed in the Western Conference is within the Thunder grasp. A win tonight, and the Thunder tie the Timberwolves for first in the West, while also owning the tie-breaker against Minnesota. Hot on the Thunder’s tail, though, is the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. This just shows you the competitiveness of the West. In the Eastern Conference, the first and sixth seeds are separated by 9.5 games. In the West, the first and sixth seeds are separated by only 5 games. If you have a bad week in the West, leap-frogging will occur.
This has made the Thunder’s rise even more impressive. Young teams tend to ride the highs and focus too much on the lows. But the Thunder seem to be the most even-keeled young team in recent memory. The ability to not only keep climbing, but also keep the teams behind them at bay has been very surprising. How this bides for them for the rest of the season remains to be seen. But early returns have been extremely positive.
This is the third of four meetings this season between these two teams. The Thunder have been dominant in their first two meetings, beating the Trailblazers by 43 and 62 points, respectively.
Betting Info
Line: OKC -13.5
O/U: 233.5
Injury Report
OKC
None
POR
Moses Brown (shoulder) – OUT
Shaedon Sharpe (lower abdominal strain/thigh) – OUT
Robert Williams III (knee) – OUT
Three Big Things
Number 1 Seed in Sight – A win tonight accomplishes several things for the Thunder. If the Thunder get the W, then they would be tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for first in the West. They would be the number one seed because they own the tie-breaker against Minnesota by virtue of their win on Saturday. But a win tonight also gives the team one more division victory, which could pay dividends for future tie-breakers. The top three teams in the West are all from the Northwest division. It also allows them to stay ahead of the fast-charging Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers.
Trap-Game Possibilities – When you beat a team by a combined 105 points in your two meetings against them, it would almost be human nature to look past them. Despite their putrid record, the Blazers have won two of their last three games. Even though the Thunder have shown a propensity to not fail in trap-game situations, the possibility is always there.
Second-Chance Points – The Trailblazers aren’t good at a lot of things. But one thing that they are good at is offensive rebounding and 2nd-chance points. These are all things that keep bad, young teams in games. Eliminate these things and you eliminate one of their main sources of offense.
The saying goes, “It’s a make or miss league”. When you are making the shots, things look beautiful. But when you are struggling to make the shots, what does your team rely upon? This is the question as the Thunder continue on in a season where the expectation is no longer just the play-in or the playoffs. The expectation is now high seed and playoff advancement. That question will become a lot louder because playoff teams will try their hardest to make the Thunder do the things that make them the most uncomfortable. Last night, the Lakers allowed players like Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jaylin Williams, and Cason Wallace to have open looks from deep. Combined, those four players shot 9/26 overall (34.6%) and 7/20 from deep (35%). The 3-point shooting was not terribly bad from that collective, but every shot that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Joe don’t take, is a win for the defense.
This is the second of three meetings this season between these two teams. On December 21st, the Thunder beat the Clippers 134-115 in Oklahoma City, on a night where the Clippers were coming into town riding a 9-game win streak.
Betting Info
Line: LAC -5.5
O/U: 237.5
Injury Report
OKC
None
LAC
Moussa Diabate (hand) – OUT
Ivica Zubac (calf) – OUT
Three Big Things
Make Shots – Simple as that. Last night’s game turns out very differently if the guys just shoot their averages. The other team’s defense gets a little more comfortable camping out around the lane when the shots aren’t falling. Softening that by making shots will make life a little bit easier for SGA and Jalen Williams.
Chet – Holmgren is still figuring out the Rubix cube that is a couple of centers around the league (namely Anthony Davis and Domantas Sabonis). But tonight, with Ivica Zubac out, Chet will be facing the two-headed monster of Daniel Theis and Mason Plumlee. I, hopefully, only say that in jest. He should be due for a big game tonight.
Fire extinguisher – The Thunder once again face the Clippers as they come into this contest as one of the hottest teams in the league. Los Angeles has won 8 of their last 10 and is quickly moving up the standings in the West. As a team that the Thunder want to keep at bay, it will be interesting to see how the Thunder bounce back from yesterday’s loss.
Bonus – Just want to say “hi” to Russell Westbrook.
22-9. Let that sink in for a moment. When you are in the thick of it, you usually don’t get to appreciate what you are watching. But 22-9. For a team that was said to be in a rebuild just last season. For a team that many thought would be in a rebuild for several seasons. This team was in the playoffs just three years ago. And they were in two play-in games just this past April. It literally took three draft cycles to get them back to where they are at. No major free agent signings. No number 1 picks. Just great scouting and development.
As we head into the new year, where do we go now. Do we let this thing ride out and see how far we can go with the team as currently constructed? Do we make a move to shore up any weaknesses we may have on the periphery? Or do we push all of our chips in (correction: some of our chips (we have so many we can afford to push in chips and still have plenty left)) to get a top-tier talent to put alongside our core? It is a question in which the answer will materialize here within the next month to month and a half. The Thunder have 20 games between now and the trade deadline. It’s going to be a wild ride from now to then.
This is the first meeting of the year between these two teams. Their next meeting is on April 3rd.
Betting Info
Line: BOS -4.5
O/U: 239.5
Injury Report
OKC
None
BOS
None
Three Big Things
Rebounding – I hate to beat the crap out of a dead horse, but these types of stats usually matter in this kind of game. Against the Brooklyn Nets, the Thunder allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Fortunately for them, the Nets did not make the Thunder pay for that. But against a team like Boston, who also happens to be one of the best rebounding teams in the league, that will definitely come back to bite you in the butt. The Thunder will need to gang rebound, especially in the shallow post, as Boston shoots a ton of 3’s (No. 1 in the league in both attempts and makes) and those tend to bounce closer to the free throw area instead of closer to the rim.
Pace – The Thunder look to push the pace a lot more than the Celtics. One thing that I’ve noticed over the past couple of games, especially since the Clippers on 21 December, is that the Thunder are looking to push as soon as they gain possession. They’ve flummoxed several top tier teams (Clippers, Nuggets, Knicks) in the past week just with this alone.
SGA – This is a tent-pole game. A game that if you perform well, you can point to it as an example of what kind of season you had. As SGA forges his path towards MVP contention, this is the kind of game that carries a lot of weight. Boston is No. 4 defensively in stopping points in the paint. It’s an unstoppable object vs. immovable force type situation.
It’s taken a while. But we can finally start to compare the effects of the trade that occurred in the wee hours of July 6th, 2019. The day most Thunder fans woke up to tons of text messages from their Thunder-obsessed friends and a Twitter timeline that was in shambles. For Thunder fans, we knew what awaited us. A complete and total rebuild. For the Clippers, it was redemption for all those years of being seen as the Lakers’ little brother. Fast forward four years later, and the seeds that were planted during that trade are now starting to bear fruit.
The Thunder find themselves in the 2nd spot in the West, with one of the brightest futures imaginable for a team. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed into a top-5 player in the league, Chet Holmgren has been an immediate-impact “rookie”, and Jalen Williams (acquired via a Clippers pick) has all the makings of a third star. Even though injuries have derailed the Clippers’ chances at a title the last three seasons, they are in prime position to make a run this season with the additions of James Harden and Russell Westbrook and the newfound health of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. As big of a trade as this was four years ago, it appears both teams are in position to succeed because of it…as of now. Remember, the Thunder still control the Clippers’ picks for the next four drafts and the Clippers will only get older from here.
This is the first of three meetings between the Thunder and Clippers. They also meet on January 16th, 2024 and February 22nd, 2024.
Betting Info
Line: OKC -4.5
O/U: 233.5
Injury Report
OKC
None
LAC
Paul George (illness) – Questionable
Kawhi Leonard (hip) – Questionable
Mason Plumlee (knee) – OUT
Three Big Things
SGA – There is definitely an “I’ll show you” feeling whenever SGA faces the Clippers. The star guard started his career with the Clips, playing his rookie season in Los Angeles. As we all know, he was shipped off to the Thunder with a bevy of picks for Paul George in the offseason. Since the trade, the Thunder are 5-7 against the Clippers, but have won four of their last 5. In those 12 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 24 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on 51/46/98 shooting splits. This also includes a ridiculous game winner in 2021.
Streaking – Since December 1st, the Clippers are one of the top teams in the NBA per most metrics. They’ve won every game since the month turned and are 2nd in the NBA in Offensive Rating and Net Rating during that time. The chemistry between Harden, Leonard, and George is starting to coalesce and Leonard is starting to play like the Leonard of San Antonio and Toronto lore. In addition, since Russell Westbrook removed himself from the starting lineup, the Clippers have gone 13-3 and the bench has been more impactful.
Russ – Russell Westbrook is in the sun-setting phase of his career. He is 16 years in and considering how he plays, his body has performed admirably. But the signs are starting to show and energizer bunny that once was, only makes an appearance once every couple of games. That’s not to say he still isn’t a good player, but he isn’t the player that we remember. As he makes another visit to OKC, let us appreciate everything Westbrook has done for OKC hoops. He stuck with us in the toughest of times and helped bridge the gap between the last Thunder “dynasty” and this current iteration. So, here’s to Russell. Give him his flowers while he still has an NBA contract and is contributing to a good team.
Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti (left) and Vice President of Basketball Operations Will Dawkins (right) meet with the media after the 2022 NBA Draft. (Credit: Alex Roig)
The Oklahoma City Thunder did something in this past draft that they haven’t done since they started this rebuild in 2019. Instead of acquiring more future first round picks, they consolidated a couple of picks from their asset chest in order to move up to take the prospect they wanted. In this case, the prospect was Ousmane Dieng. And the cost was three future first round picks. All three of the picks the Thunder gave up were heavily protected (lottery or more) for the 2023 NBA Draft, and those protections stretched out for the next 2-5 years. In essence, the Thunder traded the three worst first round assets they had for a player they really wanted.
In all, the Thunder have 13 possible first round picks over the next five drafts (2023-2027). Some of those picks will have value as draft picks and some of them will have value as trade bait. But every first round pick the Thunder have will have some sort of valuation, which is big to Thunder GM Sam Presti. When the Thunder traded the 16th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to the Houston Rockets for two future firsts, many questioned if Presti was getting a little too asset-collection happy. After that draft, Presti was asked about trading what turned out to be Alperen Sengun for two future firsts. “It was just, it was a valuation of the asset and I think over time, we’ll be able to figure out different ways to utilize those. There’s really nothing more to it than that. It was just way above the line for the general value of that pick, and we’re going to probably make that decision most of the time.”
In this article, I wanted to look at the value of the 13 first round picks the Thunder have over the next five drafts. With that said, this is going to be perceived valuation based on the normal cycle teams go through in the NBA. I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t foresee things like injuries and future signings. These valuations are based on the current premise of the teams involved and the general evolution of what happens to teams in these positions. Without further ado, here are the values of the Thunder’s 13 future first round picks from least valuable to most valuable.
No. 13 – OKC’s 2027 first round pick
No. 12 – OKC’s 2026 first round pick
I put these two picks together because I think they hold the least amount of value to teams looking to deal with the Thunder. The Thunder will continue to add young talent to this team over the next few drafts. Also, as OKC gets better, they will likely add valuable veterans to the team via trade or (I can’t believe I’m saying this) free agency. As the collective talent on the team goes up, so will the wins. And as the wins increase, the draft position will also weaken. The Thunder will likely start to be good in 2024. But they will likely start to be great around 2026 or 2027. Hence, their draft picks will not be of much value to other teams.
No. 11 – Houston’s 2026 first round pick (Top-4 protected in ’26. Converts into a ’26 2nd rounder if it isn’t conveyed)
While Golden State, Boston, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles battle for league supremacy, OKC, Houston, Detroit, and Orlando are currently battling for draft position. Houston and OKC started their rebuilds around the same time. As Houston also continues to stack talent via the draft, their trajectory is likely to be very similar to OKC’s. For that reason, their 2026 pick is likely to be later in the first round than early in the first round.
No. 10 – Los Angeles Clippers’ 2024 first round pick (Unprotected)
If you think it’s crazy that an unprotected pick is only No. 10 on this list, I don’t blame you. Hell, I initially had this as the least valuable pick in the Thunder’s asset chest. But the pick being unprotected kind of forced me to move it down a couple spots. The reason I hesitate on giving this pick too much value is because the Clippers (sans injuries) are likely to be awesome over the next season or two. Like, “best record in the NBA” awesome. Like, “pick in the late 20’s or worse” awesome. Even with Kawhi Leonard out for the season and Paul George out for most of the season, the Clippers still found themselves in the midst of the play-in tournament. With those two back in tow and a point guard tandem of Reggie Jackson and Paul Wall, the Clippers could be real good when this pick is ready to convey.
No. 9 – Miami’s 2025 first round pick (Lottery protected for ’25. If not conveyed in ’25, it will be unprotected for ’26)
I really debated on where to put this pick due to the unprotected nature of it in it’s 2nd year. But Miami has three things going for it: two of their stars are young (Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro), they are a well run organization from top to bottom, and Miami is a prime free agent destination. Based on those three things, I don’t think the Heat will bottom out any time soon.
No. 8 – Philadelphia’s 2025 first round pick (Top-6 protected in ’25. Top-4 protected in ’26 & ’27. If not conveyed by ’27, it converts into a ’27 second rounder)
No. 7 – Utah’s 2024 first round pick (Top-10 protected in ’24 & ’25. Top-8 protected in ’26. If it doesn’t convey by ’26, OKC will receive $890K in cash)
I put these two picks together because these two teams a very close to being in turmoil over the next couple of seasons. For as great as Joel Embiid has been in his career, he’s never made it to a conference finals. Add to the mix, James Harden, who isn’t really known as a bastion of team chemistry, and the Sixers are a disappointing season or two away from being in complete flux. In addition, Embiid’s possible shelf life as a large human being who has had foot issues in the past could rear it’s ugly head in the near future.
The Utah Jazz seem to be the basketball version of the guy who peaked in high school. When the Jazz made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs in Donovan Mitchell’s rookie season, everyone thought that was just the beginning. Fast forward four seasons later and the Jazz still haven’t made it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs, their salary sheet is bloated, and their starting center shut down the world for two years (and now resides in Minnesota). Quin Snyder stepped down this offseason and Mitchell said aloud that he doesn’t know where he goes from here. The hope for Thunder fans is that the Jazz go the Portland route and try to use the picks they obtained in the Gobert deal to build around Mitchell for the next couple of seasons.
No. 6 – OKC’s 2025 first round pick
As mentioned in the explanation for OKC’s 2026 and 2027 picks, the Thunder could be well into their upward trajectory in 2025. They are likely to not be as good in 2025 as they are in ’26 and ’27, but they will likely be “playoff” good. This will be Josh Giddey and Tre Mann’s fourth season and Chet Holgrem, Jalen Williams, and Dieng’s third season. If the jump in their games were to happen, it would likely coincide with the 2024-25 season. But why would this pick be so valuable? The Thunder have the option to swap their pick with either the Clippers (unprotected) or the Rockets (Top-10 protected). If the Clippers hit an injury bug or if the Rockets aren’t progressing in their rebuild as quickly as the Thunder, the Thunder could end up with a better pick than their record suggests.
No. 5 – Denver’s 2027 first round pick (Top-5 protected for ’27 – ’29. Converts to a ’29 2nd rounder if it hasn’t conveyed by then)
Great teams usually have a shelf life of 3-5 years. Denver will be heading into Year 3 of their current situation. Injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. completely derailed last season, but Nikola Jokic still found ways to dominate on his way to his 2nd consecutive MVP award. But with their financial flexibility capped out and injury concerns for two of their three stars moving forward, this pick may be conveying around the time this team’s shelf life may be coming to end (if not already there by then).
No. 4 – OKC’s 2024 first round pick
No. 3 – Houston’s 2024 first round pick (Top-4 protected. If it isn’t conveyed, the Thunder would get Houston’s 2nd rounder in ’24 & ’25)
I lumped these two picks together because so much of their value is going to depend on what happens in the 2023 NBA Draft. If either of these teams lucks into Victor Wembanyama, their outlook changes immensely.
No. 2 – Los Angeles Clippers’ 2026 first round pick (Unprotected)
There’s a possibility the Clippers could still be good after the ’25-’26 season. But there’s also a high possibility that four more seasons of wear and tear will have had their effect on Leonard and George, along with the Clippers’ bloated cap sheet and lack of assets, to lead them into a slow decline that culminates in a great pick in this draft.
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
Line: LAC -3.0 | O/U: 214
It almost seemed like moral victories were the worst type of losses last season. To have a team that was expected to make a ton of noise as constructed, only to be an inconsistent mess only solidified the point that moral victories were useless last season. None of the losses felt like victories, while a handful of the wins felt like losses. It was a frustrating season all around. Continue reading →
With the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles ending, I think it’s quite apropos to look at the Western Conference standings as we head into the unofficial second half of the season and see a giant traffic jam. Eight teams are within 4.5 games of each other, with the bottom two teams in that mix likely ending up as lottery teams instead of playoff teams.
This has always been the major difference between the Western Conference and Eastern Conference over the past decade. The East is top heavy (usually just one or two teams – many of those teams usually involving some guy named LeBron James), while the West has a lot more depth, team-wise. It hasn’t been rare over the past decade for the eighth seed in the East to be at or below .500, while the West eighth seed has to win at least 45 games to get in. While that disparity seems to be improving, there is still a visible gap between the two conferences. Continue reading →
On Episode 19 of the NTTB podcast, we are joined by Tee (M3Tee) and Ryan (Triple R) of the OSC Podcast Network where we discuss the following topics:
Four game losing streak
Recap of the Clippers game
How the Big 3 played over the last 5 games
Worrying trends
Is Westbrook okay, healthwise?
Refereeing the Thunder
Eastern Conference
Eric Bledsoe trade
Liagenlo Ball controversy
Ric Flair 30 for 30
Intro/Outro music provided by OSC Productions
Thank you for listening. We will be doing a podcast once a week. If you have any Thunder or NBA related questions, make sure you hit us up on Twitter (@alexroig_NTTB or @Montero_A13).
We are on ITunes under the NTTB Podcast. Make sure you leave us a 5-star review if you can. As always, Thunder Up!
Is it just me or, after a furious start, is this off-season starting to snail-crawl now? Is it October yet? Here are your Rumblings….
It’s official: Michael Winger is now the GM of the Los Angeles Clippers: “The Clippers offered Winger the job late last week, and the sides have agreed on terms for a multiyear contract. Winger, an assistant general manager/team counsel for the Thunder, will report to Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ new president of basketball operations.”
The Thunder are better positioned now to replace lost front office personnel: “General manager Sam Presti has been here before. Winger will be the third executive under Presti to leave for a general manager job, joining Rich Cho, who went to Portland in 2010 and Rob Hennigan, who went to Orlando in 2012. Both those GMs were fired, but Cho now is general manager in Charlotte.” Continue reading →
Hopefully everybody still has their eye-sight. Here are the Rumblings…
The Ringer looks at the Clippers’ hiring of Michael Winger: “If Winger, just 37 years old, accepts the job in L.A., he’ll report to Lawrence Frank, the former veep under Rivers who was promoted to Doc’s old position. Just like with West and Golden State, there’s much front-office strategy to be learned from Winger, who served as an assistant under Sam Presti for seven seasons, and the Thunder, an organization that has become something of an executive factory in recent years, spawning Charlotte’s Rich Cho and former Magic GM Rob Hennigan. We’ll call the following the tenets of the OKC front office that could be applied in L.A.—Clippers fans can call it more evidence for hope.” Continue reading →
On Episode 19 of the NTTB podcast, we are joined by Tee (
Is it just me or, after a furious start, is this off-season starting to snail-crawl now? Is it October yet? Here are your Rumblings….
Hopefully everybody still has their eye-sight. Here are the Rumblings…