The NBA draft Held next Thursday, the rumored factory is already full flow. Over the past few weeks, Oklahoma City has been associated with quite a few players in the draft, making it difficult to determine which rumors to consider and which to discard.
I’ve seen Thunder related to the shoots of Shaedon Sharpe, Jaden Ivey, Benedict Maturin, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr., Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Jalen Duren. Oklahoma City has three options for this draft, and you may not even be able to use all of these assets.
All rumors are rated from 1 to 10, with a “1” being the farthest and most incredible rumors. The “10” is logical, and it’s rumored that they have some weight.
Rumor # 1: Oklahoma City plans to put Jaden Ivey in second place.
Jaden Ivey had an impressive season at Purdue and was promoted to the top tier of the draft. It’s okay to put ivy at the level of Javali and Paolo. I think his game will only improve in leagues where spacing has improved significantly.
Ivy was good at going downhill and couldn’t always maximize his abilities in college games. The painted area of college basketball is small, which greatly enhances the value of traditional centers. The narrow lane means that the non-shooting center can place itself closer to the rim and shoot the upper part of the defense more easily.
Coach Matt Painter has chosen to play the center rotation of Zach Edey and Trevion Williams to take advantage of this part of the college basketball meta. Both players are non-shooters, reducing the internal space available to Ivey.
In professional games, ivy operates in wider lanes and becomes a center with some shooting range. He has more space to attack and should be able to realize his potential at the NBA level.
Ivy is known as a player that Thunder is interested in, but I don’t think Sam Presti will use the second pick for players who don’t necessarily meet Thunder’s needs. Oklahoma City requires a young player with an almost unlimited ceiling in a central location. Chet Holmgren applies that explanation to tees.
It is likely that Sam Presti will try to trade in fourth place so that it can buy ivy. Sacramento is now in winning mode and seems willing to handle picks if it gets a player who can improve its short-term outlook. Thunder can offer it with Kenrick Williams or Rudolt and a pick for the first round of the future.
Rating: 7/10
Rumor # 2: Shaedon Sharpe is deliberately bombing training to reach 12 in Oklahoma City.
Shaedon Sharpe is a mysterious man in this current class. He wasn’t playing college basketball in Kentucky. We finally saw him in a competitive environment playing at Dream City Christians in Arizona.
He is a difficult player to appreciate the fact that his movies are rare. It’s hard to draw conclusions about his potential without seeing Shadeon play against a high level of competition.
At the beginning of the week, Andrew Schlecht’s To dunk She said she heard that her performance was poor during her training after visiting Thunder. Sharp said in a media interview on Saturday that Thunder liked what they saw.
Shaedon Sharpe about training at OKC: “They were my first training. The feedback I got was pretty good.”
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) June 17, 2022
With these two pieces of information, many want Sharp to go to Oklahoma City and are pleased to worsen their draft inventory to reach this goal. That sounds like a ridiculous claim, but I think there’s a real element to this rumor.
Shadeon shares many relationships with Thunder. The first of these is his adviser. Sharp is advised by Dwayne Washington. Washington is the AAU coach of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and has worked with Shai as his brand manager.
There is a good relationship between the two guards, and it is possible that the days of Gildias Alexander in Oklahoma City influenced Sharp’s perception of lightning.
It’s also worth noting that Thunder had a lot Kentucky Wildcats A total of 9 players will pass through the door. Sharpe has a wealth of experience available, and that experience comes from the top and bottom of the roster.
Much of the background information touches on where Sharp lands, but I found his training list very interesting.
Shaedon Sharpe said he worked at OKC, Orlando, Detroit, Charlotte and San Antonio. He said future training is planned for Indiana and Portland.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) June 17, 2022
There are only 6 teams on the list and there is no doubt that there are other issues that need to be addressed for all 6 teams. Orlando is nailed to Jabari Smith Jr. Both Detroit and Portland are trading up and trying to win people like Ivy and Banchero. Both Charlotte and San Antonio are too low to have a chance to land Sharp.
I think these rumors are enough for them to believe. Sharpe is one of Presti’s favorite high-risk, high-paying prospects. Sam has nothing to worry about high school students. He sees Darius Buzzley and raw talent. Look at me. Shadeon is worth excellent at 12.
Rating: 8/10
Rumor # 3: Thunder is considering trading SGA in Washington.
I laughed when I heard this. There is no way for Sam Presti to deal with one of the most promising young guards. Shy contract has 5 years left. To take Sam to the table, it must be a “Godfather” offer.
The wizard has nothing Thunder really wants. No. 10, Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are not enough returns.
Rating: 1/10
