As in overpay?

People hated dort cuz of his inefficiency and now that he’s efficient they love him.

People mostly are hating on giddey cuz he’s been inefficient and plays bad defense but there aren’t many guys in the nba that can pass like him. As a 6’8 pg there aren’t many guys that can put up 16.6ppg/ 8rpg / 6apg in the league. He may never be an efficient shooter but he’ll do a lot better over the whole season than he’s done in the first 10 games this year.

He is probably best suited to be the 6th man distributor and playmaker off the bench though because as long as he’s been in the league he’s always been better when he’s not playing with shai or if shai misses the whole game.

Given that, a 3rd year slump is not necessarily the worst thing for okc given they’ll be able to extend him for closer to $20 mil vs a full $35 mil max if he has a down year.

While I’d like to see a trade with okc this season, I would only give up giddey for a true star.

I’d like deni but signed an extension so he can’t be traded

I like him a lot. He can flat out score but I’m not sure what role he could play in the NBA. He’s only listed at 6’4 so in no way is he a big. Basically dort and Cason are the only guys on the team his size and he can’t move like they do. If this was the thunder a few years ago, he could get poku or lindy type of minutes and possibly turn into a Aaron Wiggins type of player but idk if he’ll get many minutes this year with a clear push to win and shortening of the rotation

I definitely agree with you which is the basis of this post. Lauri KAT and Zion are included on this post as best case scenarios but unlikely. Jerami Grant, Kuzma, Gafford and even Poeltl are exactly what this team needs and are all under contract for quite awhile, young enough to fit shai’s timeline and would not cost a ton to trade for. If a trade isn’t made then OKC is relying on the Clippers or Rockets being terrible this year for an opportunity to add to the team next offseason. The Rockets look really good to start this year and I would expect the Clippers to eventually be a playoff team and figure things out with 4 1st team all nba guys.
Something like Bertans, Mann and Poku or Dieng and 1 1st could be enough to trade for any of these 4. Possibly add 2 or 3 2nds in negotiating but 2 1sts and salary filler just got Jrue Holiday and Jrue and 1 1st got Dame, John Collins literally got traded for nothing, CP3 traded for 1 1st top 20 protected and 1 2nd, Joe Harris traded 2 2nds to get rid of, Beal traded for CP3 and only 2nds, Marcus Smart traded for an opt in Porzingis and 1 1st. Last trade deadline, every major trade was for 3 to 5 2nds and no 1sts. No major trade this past year has involved a lot of draft capital and Grant, Kuzma, Gafford and Poeltl are not nearly on many of those guys’ level so they attaining them wouldn’t mean breaking the bank yet they fit exactly what this team needs and will be guaranteed to contribute for 3 or 4 years instead of just hoping for another rookie mid draft next year. But given that, OKC will still be getting those same rookies next offseason with a deal like this.

The majority of these guys would not require busting up the core but are able to add a starting 4 or 5 to this team. Would you rather have a proven player that averages 20ppg or more or trade guaranteed 1st round picks for future swaps cuz we have too many?