What's new
By:
Filters

The Non-Jazz NBA Thread in the Jazz Section

sip said:
The 2026 pick was unprotected so this is definitely a risk for the thunder. I like the risk though because I think the clippers will still be a borderline playoff team in 2026. They have a pretty good chance to be terrible in 2027 though because I think they will be locked into bad contracts for Leonard, George and Harden.
Click to expand...

No, the 2026 pick was protected.
 
Elizah Huge said:
No, the 2026 pick was protected.
Click to expand...

Looking in to it more and it looks like the pick that OKC owned was unprotected. (https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/draf...sive-guide-to-the-thunders-future-draft-picks)

The pick that LAC sent to Philidelphia was protected according to WOJ. So basically the Clippers got their unprotected pick back and then sent it to Philly protected now.

Based on that I really don't understand this for OKC. They basically gave up their 2027 pick for the chance that the Clippers 2027 pick is much better than their 2026 pick. I get that OKC has more picks than what they can use, so consolidating them in to better quality picks make sense,
 
SoberasHotRod said:
Looking in to it more and it looks like the pick that OKC owned was unprotected. (https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/draf...sive-guide-to-the-thunders-future-draft-picks)

The pick that LAC sent to Philidelphia was protected according to WOJ. So basically the Clippers got their unprotected pick back and then sent it to Philly protected now.

Based on that I really don't understand this for OKC. They basically gave up their 2027 pick for the chance that the Clippers 2027 pick is much better than their 2026 pick. I get that OKC has more picks than what they can use, so consolidating them in to better quality picks make sense,
Click to expand...
Yeah I had the idea of us sending in the Lakers pick for a couple super swaps but this feels kinda light for OKC. Wonder if there is more to it. Shrug.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Yeah I had the idea of us sending in the Lakers pick for a couple super swaps but this feels kinda light for OKC. Wonder if there is more to it. Shrug.
Click to expand...
Maybe they know Harden coming there will help them end up being terrible?
 
I like this from the Clippers. Probably won’t work. They’ll get injured or….winning a title is just hard in the first place. But they have to give it everything they’ve got when they still have PG and Kawhi.
 
OK, so reading on OKC twitter, not sure if this is accurate, but would make much more sense.

The protected pick isn't protected for LAC, but for OKC. So if the pick falls within the protected range, it doesn't go to the Clippers, but to OKC.

Now I get it. Wow, smart move by OKC.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
OK, so reading on OKC twitter, not sure if this is accurate, but would make much more sense.

The protected pick isn't protected for LAC, but for OKC. So if the pick falls within the protected range, it doesn't go to the Clippers, but to OKC.

Now I get it. Wow, smart move by OKC.
Click to expand...
Smart move? Its a straight gamble.

Downside is they lose a clean FRP and gain nothing in the swap.
Upside is they get to use that 2026 pick themselves (which they had anyways) and gain a free swap (which is only useful if they finish above Clippers).

Risk is bigger than the reward, but they are probably banking on being better than the Clippers in 2026-27 so that sort of provides some insurance of getting back value.
 
HermanG said:
Smart move? Its a straight gamble.

Downside is they lose a clean FRP and gain nothing in the swap.
Upside is they get to use that 2026 pick themselves (which they had anyways) and gain a free swap (which is only useful if they finish above Clippers).

Risk is bigger than the reward, but they are probably banking on being better than the Clippers in 2026-27 so that sort of provides some insurance of getting back value.
Click to expand...
Its a way of consolidation to improve the upside of one pick... Its a dice roll but one with house money (kind of) since they have so many picks. It hurts the trade value of the pick they could have moved but they don't seem to want to accelerate the process at all. Its kind of a sweetheart deal for the Clips since they manufactured some value... but they swapped that value for Harden... so they lose.
 
HermanG said:
Smart move? Its a straight gamble.

Downside is they lose a clean FRP and gain nothing in the swap.
Upside is they get to use that 2026 pick themselves (which they had anyways) and gain a free swap (which is only useful if they finish above Clippers).

Risk is bigger than the reward, but they are probably banking on being better than the Clippers in 2026-27 so that sort of provides some insurance of getting back value.
Click to expand...

It depends on the protections in my mind. If the pick is lottery protected in 2026, that's still a pretty good chance they get the 2026 pick.

For a team like OKC who has more picks than they can select players, it's a smart idea to try and improve the quality of the picks and likely worth the risk. Best case scenario is they get a great 2026 pick and 2027 pick. Worst case scenario is pretty bad though, so yeah, it's definitely a risk.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
It depends on the protections in my mind. If the pick is lottery protected in 2026, that's still a pretty good chance they get the 2026 pick.

For a team like OKC who has more picks than they can select players, it's a smart idea to try and improve the quality of the picks and likely worth the risk. Best case scenario is they get a great 2026 pick and 2027 pick. Worst case scenario is pretty bad though, so yeah, it's definitely a risk.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing its like a top 10 protection... otherwise I am not sure its super tradeable for the Sixers (which was the purpose). Your point still stands. I don't love it but if they are holding on to their picks instead of trading them it makes sense. Unprotected picks have so much more value in a trade.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
It depends on the protections in my mind. If the pick is lottery protected in 2026, that's still a pretty good chance they get the 2026 pick.

For a team like OKC who has more picks than they can select players, it's a smart idea to try and improve the quality of the picks and likely worth the risk. Best case scenario is they get a great 2026 pick and 2027 pick. Worst case scenario is pretty bad though, so yeah, it's definitely a risk.
Click to expand...
Yeah I get there is upside, and I'm not hating on the gamble becaouse of the reasons you and @Handlogten's Heros outlined. I think they are in a funny situation where they constantly bleed value because they have to cut guys who could gain value if given the opportunity. They definitely should not look to draft multiple guys per year in the foreseeable future.

But whether it was a smart move or straight up charity work remains to be determined. However it is a gamble for sure.
 
HermanG said:
Yeah I get there is upside, and I'm not hating on the gamble becaouse of the reasons you and @Handlogten's Heros outlined. I think they are in a funny situation where they constantly bleed value because they have to cut guys who could gain value if given the opportunity. They definitely should not look to draft multiple guys per year in the foreseeable future.

But whether it was a smart move or straight up charity work remains to be determined. However it is a gamble for sure.
Click to expand...
Here is the detail:

Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports reports (via Twitter) that the 2026 first-round selection the Thunder are trading will include “least favorable” language, meaning it won’t necessarily be the Clippers’ pick that heads to Philadelphia. The Thunder also control their own first-rounder and Houston’s selection (top-four protected) in ’26, so the 76ers would receive the least favorable of those three picks.

So the worst of three picks... Thunder, Clips or Houston for the swap. I like it for OKC, but its still a gamble. LA betting pretty big on 3 dudes that are a long in the tooth. OKC doubling down against that bet.
 
HermanG said:
If they change NBA rules to include a 2nd ball they will be deadly.
Click to expand...
That would actually be insane. I would totally watch that. We played that way when I was a kid and just goofing around in the church cultural hall and in practice in high school. It gets chaotic, but it's a lot of fun.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Here is the detail:

Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports reports (via Twitter) that the 2026 first-round selection the Thunder are trading will include “least favorable” language, meaning it won’t necessarily be the Clippers’ pick that heads to Philadelphia. The Thunder also control their own first-rounder and Houston’s selection (top-four protected) in ’26, so the 76ers would receive the least favorable of those three picks.

So the worst of three picks... Thunder, Clips or Houston for the swap. I like it for OKC, but its still a gamble. LA betting pretty big on 3 dudes that are a long in the tooth. OKC doubling down against that bet.
Click to expand...
Betting on themselves as well.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
Betting on themselves as well.
Click to expand...
Yeah and I think they will use some of their picks to acquire key rotation pieces but maybe not looking for a star trade. If you are holding many of those picks you want high quality so you build the pipeline behind your current stars. Panning for gold.
 
LogGrad98 said:
That would actually be insane. I would totally watch that. We played that way when I was a kid and just goofing around in the church cultural hall and in practice in high school. It gets chaotic, but it's a lot of fun.
Click to expand...
I too have done that and its a blast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top