Thunder Preseason Presser Season 48

[AngryBanana]

last season is what it was... we traded West for what assets we could get, which was the plan all along when signing him. We also planned on moving Boban, however after taking in all of our options at the trade deadline, we decided to keep him reap the season long points from his great season, and then move him in the offseason. We moved him in the offseason, get more on that in a min. Going into the draft, our master plan was to take all four of our picks and attempt to get a top 3 pick. Then we all know how the draft file turned out and then how the top picks worked out... No one was looking for multiple picks in the first few picks since they were not point stricken, so we held on to our original pick and the second pick, where we saw players of value (Aaron Nesmith and Grady Fife) and traded our remaining picks for points. When the RFA came around, we had retained the rights to Cheatham, so we could not make a play on any RFA's which I was fine with since none really struck my interest. The rockets sent a tender to Cheatham and I saw my opportunity to move Boban, after so many other trades fell through or were asked too late (SORRY!!!) I got the 10 points I was always looking to get for Boban and sent Zylan along with him to help facilitate. Then in UFA, I was also not overly impressed with too many prospects because I was so lost on what to do with my build. So I sent some decent offers and maxed the guys everyone else maxed. Swing and a miss... So I had the most cap of any team who was not on auto pilot or in tax jail going into round two, so I decided to spend a little bit just for the heck of it. I got some players that will probably not be here after the trade deadline. TC was kind to me as well, Zaire went B/P in what might be the quickest player to do so of the created draft file era, Oturu went B/B, and I had some other players have a decent jump as well. So all in all, I am still kinda stuck inbetween. Wade should be decent this year, but not the world beater that will lead a team to a championship, yet Bulter is stuck smack dab in the middle of his prime and taking up a large portion of my cap. I will some games and probably have a top 10 pick, but not top 5 pre lottery. Ill mess with my starting 5 this year as I have some versatile pieces. Wade will see some time at 1 and 2, maybe even the three if I feel like it for a sim. The more I look at him, the more I see a potential PG moving forward. I will also play with Oturu and Bulter and see if Oturu will be a decent player at the 5 or not for a few years from now. Starting 5 out the gate will be:

Bum Knee Zargas
Baby Blue Wade
How is he still green, but will still play well due to a decent TC Irvine
short center Oturu
Scot "Dumbest Name in PBSL" Bulter


Let me know what y'all got!

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What are your expectations for Zaire Wade this season, and where do you expect him to be by the end of his rookie contract?

[NickMalone77]

Do you see Kerry Powell playing a heavy amount of minutes this year after his impressive TC? I noticed his name absent from your presser and figured to give him some love since most of the talk was probably going to be centered around Zaire and/or Oturu.

[NOLa.]

You mentioned you want to play Wade at PG, is this an expectation you had when you drafted him? Would you rather trade or draft a potential franchise PG or have Wade play Pg in the future?

[Keepit100]

Now that Basil Garden has jumped ship to join Cleveland, OKC is officially entering a new era from the Pistol Pete heyday. Who do you see as the new glue guy among your prospect group?

[AngryBanana]

Do you see Kerry Powell playing a heavy amount of minutes this year after his impressive TC? I noticed his name absent from your presser and figured to give him some love since most of the talk was probably going to be centered around Zaire and/or Oturu.

Yeah, he was quite the pleasant surprise in TC. I intentionally left him out of the presser for the simple fact of keeping him under the radar a little bit. I was not expecting his development to go as well as it did, I do not think anyone saw it considering how much I signed him for in UFA. He will be in the rotation for PF I believe, where he will be the primary back up at PF. The concerns I have with him is his height and defensive liabilities. He is clearly going to be skilled on the offensive side of the ball, but that Post Defense leaves a lot to be desired. If he would have had a quickness in the 70's, I probably would even dabble him playing some 3. I could see him complementing Oturu very well, so I would also like to see him play along Oturu (who would be at Center) some and see if that is worth investing moving forward.

[AngryBanana]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What are your expectations for Zaire Wade this season, and where do you expect him to be by the end of his rookie contract?

So Wades stats last year were better than I expected, and I would argue most probably expected. It is a shame he did not win ROY, but our team was awful and congrats to the Magic big man for winning it. Looking at Wade's stats last year he produced in 36.9 mins per game:
11.6 Pts, 5.1 Rebs, 4.9 Ast, 2 Tos, and 1.3 Stl on a .432/.752/.283 shooting line. Wade did this on ok current attributes where nothing was in the 70s except his HND and STL, so I think it could be said he is out performing his currents. What impresses me about this is the fact that most of these numbers are better than what he was putting up in college, which tells me he is developing well, where he isnt folding playing against tougher competition.

Looking forward to this upcoming season, I look for most of these stats to increase. He will start to become one of the focal points of my offense, and will have more ball handling responsibilities. This might cause his shooting %s to go down, but I think it wont be too bad (except if that 3ps drops.) So my hope this season is to see continued improvement of averages, where hopefully his %'s do not take a nose dive. The hope is by the end of his rookie contract will be he is averaging about 18pts, 6 ast, and 6rbs a game playing either PG or SG, since he is probably too weak for the SF position full time.

[AngryBanana]

You mentioned you want to play Wade at PG, is this an expectation you had when you drafted him? Would you rather trade or draft a potential franchise PG or have Wade play Pg in the future?

The PG position is the million dollar question. It is such a desolate waste land right now. To where if you do not have a stud PG on your roster, you probably dont have one at all. Look at the mega deal just struck between the Heat and Magic for instance. The Heat probably had 10 competitive offers for Tex, who is listed as a SG on the forum but clearly could turn into a top 5 PG, and got outstanding compensation in return. So taking that into account, I am toying with the idea of playing him at PG, in the event I never come across having a guy who is a bonafide PG. I could see him playing a role similar to De'Aaron Fox, where he is not a traditional PG, but his ability is such that allows him to get by at the position where both himself and the team can succeed (as long as he is healthy.) I have guys on my roster as toy projects (Gary Fife) but I do not know if any are the long term answer and do not know if I will every have the chance at drafting one, given my roster and the current climate of PGs in the league.

[AngryBanana]

Now that Basil Garden has jumped ship to join Cleveland, OKC is officially entering a new era from the Pistol Pete heyday. Who do you see as the new glue guy among your prospect group?

Good ole Basil, I actually meant to retain him again on another $7-$10 million contract this season, but he got lost in the shuffle of last min bids on day one and two. The funny thing about Basil is that he was never really intended to stay on the team for as long as he did. I drafted him late in the lotto thinking he would be a bench piece I could eventually move for something else of need. He lasted through his rookie contract and was a guy who always put in solid work when needed, so I just kept throwing team friendly deals at him, looking to move him for something at the deadline. So given all that, I honestly do not know who will be the next "Basil Garden" since most of the guys who would be considered for that title are still very young. If I had to guess, I think I might like Fife enough to bring him back continuously, but that depends on his development. He is not nearly as well rounded as Garden, who played the 1-3 spots and was good at most things but great at nothing. Under the idea of master of none, I could see Nesmith filing that role and being a solid bench contributor.

[greepleairport]

Do you feel any buyer's remorse with Bulter? I recall you signing him thinking I would match, and I didn't. Do you still think he's a star or THE star on the Thunder, or do you think Oturu and / or Wade have developed enough to take the leading role on your team?

[AngryBanana]

Do you feel any buyer's remorse with Bulter? I recall you signing him thinking I would match, and I didn't. Do you still think he's a star or THE star on the Thunder, or do you think Oturu and / or Wade have developed enough to take the leading role on your team?

Let me answer the second part first. I think he is a top 5 center in this league. He plays a very balanced game, where he is probably a top 5 Center. The only problem is that he doesn't score 20pts a game, so he is not viewed as such by the computer. So he is not a bonafide star in that he will be a top player on a championship team. However, he is a player that can make a difference and be a 1B of sorts for a team. So no I do not have buyers remorse. However, now that my team is not in a winning now mode, he just does not make sense on my team.

[JNR]

GWR: You acquired Urquhart last year for Jerry West. How have you liked him so far? Do you see him as part of the core to grow with Wade?

[AngryBanana]

GWR: You acquired Urquhart last year for Jerry West. How have you liked him so far? Do you see him as part of the core to grow with Wade?

I do like Urqhart. I think he has performed well enough to be a rotation guy, but a good TC and potentially some training could go a long way for him, and make him a solid starting piece. While I was initially more excited about Zylan in the trade, I think Urqhart might be the better long term asset.


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[78#]

Armando Gilkey was very unhappy in Houston this past season. How has he been so far in OKC? How much of a role will he play? What is the plan to build around Zaire Wade long-term?

[AngryBanana]

Armando Gilkey was very unhappy in Houston this past season. How has he been so far in OKC? How much of a role will he play? What is the plan to build around Zaire Wade long-term?

Gilkey played quality backup mins at the 3 in pre-season. He did decent with his time on the court averaging about 7 pts and making over .8 for his FTs, which is big. He is inefficient on both sides of the court though, so that might hurt his long term availability, where I look other places as a result.

The long term plan for Wade is not as long term as I was once thinking. I was honestly surprised that he turned B/P already, so that combined with his playing well last season and this pre-season gives me some optimism he could play on a contender soon. So I guess my plans are a little in limbo right now. I’ll take this season as it goes, and then progress from there.


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[logpmess]

After numerous trade attempts last year to move Boban, it seems like you got rid of him just before his skills started dropping. How do you anticipate being able to make up production from a top 3 scorer in the league last year?

[AngryBanana]

After numerous trade attempts last year to move Boban, it seems like you got rid of him just before his skills started dropping. How do you anticipate being able to make up production from a top 3 scorer in the league last year?

We at the Thunder organization felt fortunate to have Boban here last year. He was a top three scorer in the leauge, our orgs history books, and our fans hearts. It was sad to see him go, but it was necessary for both him and us. Moving into this year, we do not expect to have another top 3 or even top 10 scorer. We are expecting the team as a whole to pick up the void. Be it Oturu, who fills in the starters spot at PF, or one of our other players. I’m hoping the development across the board of our team is able to counteract the loss of Boban, and even make us better by not relying on one player.


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