Are the Thunder breaking the NBA?

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – "Are the Thunder Breaking the NBA?"

Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Dave DuFour, S. (Sports Analyst), Andrew Schlecht

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Episode Overview

In this lively and insightful episode, Dave DuFour, S., and Andrew Schlecht dive into the NBA’s hottest storylines: the surging New Orleans Pelicans and, in the main event, whether the Oklahoma City Thunder are breaking—or have already broken—the NBA. The hosts dissect the Thunder’s dominance, discuss the impact of roster decisions, internal development, future draft picks, and their Western Conference rivals, all while weaving in sharp, humorous commentary.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pelicans’ Remarkable Turnaround

(03:45–09:41)

• Recent Success & Coaching Shift:
  The Pelicans clinch their fifth consecutive win, defying skeptics after a midseason coaching change to James Borrego.

  • “We wrote them off, they make a coaching change, and all of a sudden, things are a little bit different.” — Dave DuFour (04:02)
  • Derrick Queen is now the franchise cornerstone at center, a bold and rapid decision for the team’s direction.

• Role Changes Fueling Success:
  Jeremiah Fears starts at point guard, while high-powered scorers Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole thrive off the bench, maximizing offensive firepower and helping manage Zion’s minutes for durability.

  • “What bench player can you think of that drops 24 points on 14 shots for you?” — S. (05:28)
  • Borrego’s schemes get Zion “moving without the ball,” utilizing his downhill gravity for both scoring and playmaking (Dave DuFour, 05:44–06:26).

• Injuries and Depth:
  The bench, including Sadiq Bey’s revival, has been crucial. With Zion’s manageable minutes and Queen’s versatility, Pelicans boast unexpected depth.

• Play-In Hopes:
  With improved play, they're only five games back from the play-in.

  • “They do not have an incentive to lose... That would have been a great talent to add to this current fun Pelicans group. They don't have that option right now, but I think ultimately maybe they can make the play in.” — S. (08:02)

• Dejounte Murray’s Impending Return:
  His January/February return is described as “not bad to add an all star level point guard to your team right now.” — S. (09:25)

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2. Are the Thunder Breaking the NBA?

(14:18–34:47)

Thunder's Depth, Resilience, and Stars

• Win Over Grizzlies Despite Injuries:
  Thunder beat Memphis with a rotated, shorthanded lineup (“No Chet, no Hartenstein, no Caruso… and yet they still find ways to win games.” — Dave DuFour, 15:18)
• Rest and Load Management:
  Strategic rest is implemented for key players owing to densely packed schedule and minor injuries. (Andrew Schlecht, 15:59–16:56)

SGA’s Ascendancy & Team Record

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Historic Consistency:
  SGA logs his 100th straight game of at least 20 points, second only to Wilt Chamberlain (17:12).

  • “If he's wide open, I will say layup, that ball's going in. And even if he is guarded, if he can get to his spots, it's pretty much over.” — Andrew Schlecht (17:48)
  • 31 pts/10 reb/8 ast/4 stl/1 blk in the win; described as “jaw dropping stuff.”
  • “He threw the ball off the backboard to himself… to throw it to Brandon Carlson… And he did.” — (18:32–18:44)

• Winning Culture:
  Thunder’s regular season record: 84–16 in their last 100 games (19:09)

Development and Asset Stockpile

• Young Players' Progress:
  Jalen Williams (“Dub”), Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace continue to develop, the latter growing into a versatile defender with "all-defense" potential.

  • “Cason’s development has probably gone under the radar… but he’s gotten a lot better for them.”— Andrew Schlecht (20:10)

• Internal Competition and Flexibility:
  Remarkable guard depth likened to Spurs' build: “What if we just had all of them?” — Andrew Schlecht (25:27–26:48).

  • No need to trade off similar skillsets; versatility is a luxury.

• Title Window with Draft Capital:
  Thunder hold the Clippers’ pick (projected high lottery) for 2026, maintaining a championship core while preparing to potentially add another star talent on a rookie contract.

Key Quotes on the Thunder’s Dominance

• “It’s not so much they’re breaking it as they’ve broken it, because they’re better than everyone and they own all of the draft picks.” — Dave DuFour (03:51)
• “Thunder have guys upon guys upon guys and now guys on deck.” — Dave DuFour (33:40)

Potential Draft Picks and Financial Strategy

• The Luxury of Best Available:
  The Thunder can afford to draft pure upside:
  • “It's insane that you can just pick best player available with the number one overall pick. No, no, I know, but it's the Oklahoma City Thunder and they have three losses this season.” — S. (30:55)
• Fit, Opportunity, and Cap Savings:
  Integrating a high lotto pick can help manage payroll and extend contention:
  • “If they did get a guy like Cameron Boozer in, then like you don't have to necessarily keep these guys around. That cost $30 million, right?” — Andrew Schlecht (32:49)

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3. The West’s Peaking Teams: Nuggets, Spurs, Rockets

(23:08–29:50)

Biggest Thunder Threats

• Denver Nuggets:
  Reigning champs, experience, and depth cited as sole real threat.
  • “When these games get tight, you turn to the best players in the world, and they have one of those guys.” — Andrew Schlecht (24:27)
• Houston’s Promise:
  Rockets’ “point differential” lauded as a key contender metric.
• San Antonio Spurs:
  Drawing comparisons to Thunder’s trajectory, but “too young” right now; Warriors’/Thunder’s 2012 Finals run used as a comparison.
  • “A lot of it's about Victor Wembanyama, like, that's where it all starts.” — Andrew Schlecht (25:27)
  • Spurs’ guard-depth reminiscent of Thunder’s own “too many guards” perception; both teams simply keep drafting and developing.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Thunder’s Asset Hoard:
  “They own all of the draft picks.” — Dave DuFour (03:51)

• SGA’s Streak:
  “100 straight games of 20 plus points for him. The only guy left is Wilt Chamberlain in 26 games, which by the way, I feel like he's going to get guys.” — S. (17:12)

• On Young Talent & Winning:
  “There's never been a basketball team that said we don’t have enough guys that know how to dribble and make decisions ever.” — Dave DuFour (27:07)

• Draft Flexibility:
  “What really, I don't know that people are talking about this as much is that this could help the Thunder’s financials so much.” — Andrew Schlecht (32:47)

• Thunder’s Breakthrough:
  “The Thunder are breaking the NBA. That’s the headline for tonight.” — Dave DuFour (33:51)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:45] – Pelicans turn it around: Queen/Fears installed as starters, Zion off the bench
• [08:02] – Play-in speculation for Pelicans
• [09:25] – Dejounte Murray’s return discussed
• [14:18] – Thunder injury report, surviving shorthanded
• [17:12] – SGA’s record 100-game 20+ points streak
• [19:09] – Thunder’s 84–16 record last 100 games
• [20:10] – Player development: Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace
• [23:08] – Thunder’s biggest threats (Nuggets, Rockets, Spurs)
• [25:27] – Spurs’ similarities to Thunder’s past build
• [29:50] – Clippers pick and its implications for Thunder
• [32:47] – Lottery pick as financial boon for Thunder

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Summary: Is the Thunder Actually Breaking the NBA?

The consensus is clear: the Thunder’s excellence on the court and asset management off it is unrivaled in the NBA right now. They marry elite talent, youth, developmental culture, and financial flexibility, with a potential top-three lottery pick to increase their already staggering depth. SGA’s MVP-level play, the internal leaps from supporting stars, and the ability to play "best player available" roulette in the draft all underscore how the Thunder are indeed “breaking the NBA”—and their reign atop the league might just be starting.

Transcript

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Here the NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another action packed doubleheader. The night starts with Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics going toe to toe with Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. Then James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers head north to face Jrue Holiday and the Portland Trail Blazers. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial and get started today. The Celtics and Pacers, the Clippers and Blaz. Not gonna lie, I'm really intrigued by the the Blazers this year. If you haven't had a chance to watch them, watching them on prime is a really, really good chance to. They've got some intriguing young players, young Han Sen. You can watch Shaden Sharp continue to hone his craft. And obviously Drew Holiday leads the pack. And then Jalen Brown's having a special season. You guys need to watch him against the Pacers. Coverage starts Friday. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details. If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person. That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant, so you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else. The best part is those great candidates are already on LinkedIn. In fact, employees hired through LinkedIn are 30% more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor. And that's a big deal when every hire counts. I've had to hire many times, and using LinkedIn jobs is kind of a cheat code. It helps you not only get somebody hired quickly, but it helps you find the right person. And there's nothing worse than being stuck with the wrong hire and then having to again find somebody else for the job. Hiring doesn't have to be complicated. With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the confusing steps and recruiting jargon. It filters through applicants based on criteria that you've set for your role and surfaces only the best matches so that you're not stuck with sorting through a mountain of resumes. When you have a business to run, you don't have hours to spend on hiring. And you don't want to just wait around hoping the right person stumbles upon your job. That's why LinkedIn Jobs AI assistant suggests 25 great fit candidates daily so you can invite them to apply and keep things moving. Hire right the first time, post your job for [e-mail] Athletic MBA then promote it to use LinkedIn jobs new AI assistant now, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's LinkedIn.com Athletic MBA to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.

[Dave DeFore]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 23rd, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore here with Esperaheny. Coming up, the Pelicans are hot. They just won their fifth straight. We're going to talk about that. And Andrew Schlecht is here to talk about the th after their latest win and whether or not they're breaking the NBA. Good morning, everybody. What's up?

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

S. Good morning. Spoiler alert. Yes. They are breaking the NBA. Yes.

[Dave DeFore]

Okay. It's not so much they're breaking it as they've broken it because they're better than everyone and they own all of the draft picks. Spoiler for the end of the show.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Absolutely.

[Dave DeFore]

Hey, speaking of spoiler, how about these pelicans, man? Pl yeah, a little bit, right? Like, we. We wrote them off, they make a coaching change, and all of a sudden, things are a little bit different. Zion's been back out there. They pick up another win, their fifth straight. They. They beat the Mavericks, who have been playing better basketball, by the way, with Anthony Davis and Cooper Flag out there. Z. Like I said, Zion's been coming off the bench for this team here lately. S. What. What have you noticed about the Pels in this turnaround? Like, I mean, it's. It's more than just a vibe shift.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

It's a shift of personality on there. I think the. The number one change is one. Derrick Queen is the franchise.

[Andrew Schlecht]

We are.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

He is starting. He is our starting center for the rest of the year. And I think that was a decision James Brago made very, very quickly. This is his team. We're rolling with it. We've drafted this guy. We're entrusting this guy. And the same thing applies to Jeremiah Fears. We're who is just downhill gravity. He's our starting point guard. Let's go with that now you have these two guys off of the bench who, if you think of them as bench players, you're like, oh, wow, this is a really talented team. Now. Jordan Poole, Zion Williamson, two guys who can light it up offensively. I think those two as bench guys, especially Zion. You know, you think of Zion as a guy who 25 minutes a night gives him that range where he can stay healthy, hopefully play longer, hopefully play more games throughout a season.

[NBA on Prime Host]

And.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

And what bench player can you think of that drops 24 points on 14 shots for you? There's not that many.

[Dave DeFore]

Well, you know, if you think about this, one of the. One of the secrets to success for six man of the year candidate is scoring a lot of points.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Absolutely.

[NBA on Prime Host]

Right.

[Dave DeFore]

You're playing against a lot of second units. Right. Like, it's not like you're getting the other team's fastball. So even if this is just temporary, to get him healthy, to make sure that, you know what I mean, he's playing his best basketball, I don't think it's a bad idea. I. As long as, you know, like, when he has a great game like he did last night, you always have the option of him closing with Derek Queen. I mean, Queen's ability to pass and to shoot and stretch the floor opens up a lot. And the other thing is, I actually think James Borrego's done a really good job of getting Zion moving without the ball. Yeah. A couple times tonight where he kind of comes off the, you know, like a double. A double drag moving towards the basketball. Anything where he's going downhill is unstoppable.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah. Especially going left. Right, Right. If he's. If that like, double pin stuff that he has curling to the basket is off of his left hand, his downhill gravity is going to create shots for other guys. And that means open opportunities for Trey Murphy, who's a knockdown three point shooter for Sadiq Bay, who's having a really good season, by the way. Sadiq Bay, kind of like an afterthought, but he was hurt last year, comes into the Pelicans this year and looks like the Sadiq Bay that we kind of know. Good score. A guy who can kind of light it up himself. This team just has a lot of offensive talent. They were probably not as bad as their start was. It was just about finding the right pieces and pushing the right buttons. And to your point, I think that's a credit to the coaching. Absolutely.

[Dave DeFore]

Okay. And it begs the question, what does this team look like right now? If they'd made the Coaching change during the off season, which is always something. I mean, in my time doing this job, I've always pushed toward you make the coaching change early. You always want to be early. And even if you're not sure if you can replace them with someone better, I think for a team like this that was not really doing much last year, the time to have made the change would have been during the summer. James Borrego was already in house. They already had the inkling to do it.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah, they were already thinking of doing it in the first place.

[Dave DeFore]

All they did was set themselves back this season, and now they've got a hole to dig out of. And I'm wondering to myself, look, man, if this is, let's say this team that we've seen Here the last 10, 15 games is more of what this team is, do they have a shot at maybe making the play in? I mean, this is. They don't have an incentive to lose.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

S. It would. They do not have an incentive to lose. And I think that's been the big discussion with the Pelicans all year is what's hanging over their head, which is they can't freely tank. You know, we will have a discussion with Andrew in a little bit about the potential top five or top six in this upcoming draft that would have been a great talent to add to this current fun Pelicans group. They don't have that option right now, but I think ultimately maybe they can make the play in.

[Dave DeFore]

They're only five games.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

They're only five games back. And there's still. There's still a lot of time.

[Dave DeFore]

I could.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You know what?

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

You're kind of selling me on it because the last playing spot Blazers are losing their game. Starting to look a little bit slower, even though they won three in a row and lost to the. To the Pistons tonight. But I don't know. I think they can make a run. Sure, why not?

[Dave DeFore]

Let me ask you a question. In a world where everyone's scared to make moves because of the Thunder and because of Wemby, do they buy Joe Dumars? He's shown he's a wild card.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

That is true.

[Dave DeFore]

Right?

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

That is.

[Dave DeFore]

And we. And he. Maybe he drafted, you know, American Jokic in Derrick Queen.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

You know what the craziest part is?

[Dave DeFore]

What if they're going out looking for guys instead of selling guys off? This is going to be their talent available.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

I'll tell you what, their midseason acquisition is going to be Dejounte Murray because it feels like we all forgot that Dejounte Murray tore last year.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, we did.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

And he's coming back pretty soon. I want to say. I think January or February. Not bad to add an all star level point guard to your team right now.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I don't know. Look, the Pels, they're more fun than they were. They're fun and that's all we can ask.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

A lot of that has to do with Queens.

[Dave DeFore]

Absolutely changed 65 during this winning streak. By the way, with Queen on the court, they've been sixth in offense, sixth in defense in their last five games. Small sample. Yeah, but it's fun. I again turn in the corner. Hopefully again, fewer bad teams is a good thing for us because it means on nights like last night, SNI have one less bad team to watch when they load the schedule up. Thank you Utah for getting crushed by the Nuggets. Guys, stick around after the break. We got Andrew Schleck to talk about The Thunder. Hey guys. 500 record in their last four games. Moving on up.

[NBA on Prime Host]

Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another action packed doubleheader. The night starts with Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics going toe to toe with Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. Then James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers head north to face Jrue Holiday and the Portland Trailblazers. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial and get started today. The Celtics and Pacers, the Clippers and Blazers. I'm not gonna lie, I'm really intrigued by the Blazers this year. If you haven't had a chance to watch them, watching them on prime is a really, really good chance to. They've got some intriguing young players. Young Han Sen. You can watch Shaden Sharp continue to hone his craft. And obviously Jrue Holliday leads the PA pack. And then Jaylen Brown's having a special season. You guys need to watch him against the Pacers. Coverage starts Friday. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood. Prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robinhood Prediction Markets changes the game. It's people moving the action so when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but I never had a dynamic way to apply the knowledge Now I can actually take part. Live in a market powered by people, you're no longer just a spectator. Play by play, you decide. Trade every play with Robinhood now available across the U.S. download the Robinhood app now to begin Future and cleared swaps Trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone.

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If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person. That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant, so you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else. The best part is those great candidates are already on LinkedIn. In fact, employees hired through LinkedIn are 30% more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor. And that's a big deal when every hire counts. I've had to hire many times and using LinkedIn jobs is kind of a cheat code. It helps you not only get somebody hired quickly, but it helps you find the right person. And there's nothing worse than being stuck with the wrong hire and then having to again find somebody else for the job. Hiring doesn't have to be complicated. With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the confusing steps and recruiting jargon. It filters through applicants based on criteria that you've set for your role and surfaces only the best matches so that you're not stuck with sorting through a mountain of resumes. When you have a business to run, you don't have hours to spend on hiring and you don't want to just wait around hoping the right person stumbles upon your job. That's why LinkedIn Jobs AI assistant suggests 25 great fit candidates daily so that you can invite them to apply and keep things moving. Hire right the first time. Post your job for [e-mail] AthleticMBA then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs new AI assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's LinkedIn.com AthleticNBA to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.

[Dave DeFore]

The Thunder pick up a win over the scrappy shorthanded grizzlies to move to.500 in the last four games. Here joining us to talk about it, Andrew select, host of the Slammin Jam. Andrew what what's it like to see.

[NBA on Prime Host]

The Thunder win a game?

[Dave DeFore]

It's it's been a minute.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I for I forgot what it was like out watching this team tonight. I felt a little bit like it was 20, 22 again watching Kenridge Williams out there at center and them just not having anybody out there. We had Brandon Carlson in the Mike Moscala role. You know, it was, it was a bit nostalgic for Thunder.

[Dave DeFore]

He was, to be honest though, he than Mike Mascala.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

We should put some respect on Mike McAla.

[Dave DeFore]

Come on man, listen, he's getting his jersey retired. But Brandon Carlson was pretty good last night. It just seems like another one of these guys that the Thunder search up.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Mike Mala rapping, by the way, just want to throw that out there. It's good stuff, quality stuff.

[Dave DeFore]

Again, I, I, I made the joke that the Grizzlies were shorthanded, but the Thunder also shorthanded. Bunch of guys out. No Chet, no, no Hartenstein, no Caruso. Again they started Brandon Carlson and yet they still find ways to win games. Obviously this is a long season. They weren't going to win 80 games. But how much, how much do you expect them to be managing these guys starting now? I mean it does seem like tonight was the first night that they were looking ahead and saying, hey, we're going to rest these guys up. We got a Chris, we got a back to back. We've got a Christmas Day game. And maybe this was a chance to sneak a night off.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, they're coming off another back to back that they had last week where they had this home road back to back and some of it is like the travel from Vegas and back and then you have this home road back to back. I just think that, you know, I heart wasn't right in that last game anyways. And so I think like getting him some extra rest I think is important. Getting Chet rest before they play the Spurs I think was important. But yeah, I think that they'll do that some. But I think it's, it'll be circumstances like this where you essentially have like these back to backs that are piled on top of each other needlessly. By the way, where the league, the league moved that Clippers game before they knew they were going to be in the final.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah.

[NBA on Prime Host]

And if they were going to be.

[Andrew Schlecht]

In the final, it made sense because you, you wouldn't, you would. They would have had a back to back off of the cup final. But they didn't make it and so they moved it anyways which really didn't help the Thunder at all. They would have had four days off anyways.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

So the NBA is against the Thunder is what you're for.

[Andrew Schlecht]

All those that are crying all the time about the League and how they help the Thunder out with fouls and stuff. You know what they're, they're trying, they're trying their best to keep them down.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Speaking of the guy they always talk about with the fouls, SGA very casually scored 31 points tonight. 100 straight games of 20 plus points for him. The only guy left is Wilt Chamberlain in 26 games, which by the way, I feel like he's going to get guys. I feel like he's going to get.

[Andrew Schlecht]

To 26, get 100. What's 26?

[Dave DeFore]

Right.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Exactly.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Your thoughts on his growth this season because it feels like somehow he's even better than what he was last year where he, you know, obviously MVP champion, etc.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, he's, he's a lot better. I mean he's shooting the ball better from almost every spot on the floor. His mid range is like a layup right now. Like anytime that he's, anytime he's open, like he's, if he's wide open, I will say layup, that ball's going in. And even if he is guarded, if he can get to his spots, it's pretty much over. And he had 31 points on 20 shots tonight. He had 10 boards, eight assists. He did have five turnovers, which was a little bit unusual for him. That's, that's pretty high for him. Four steals in a block. He was tremendous and he was doing stuff tonight that was just like, I mean, jaw dropping stuff. He threw.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

He was laughing on the way to the bench.

[Dave DeFore]

You see that he threw the ball.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Off, off the backboard to himself. Not for a, a lay in or a dunk, but to throw it to Brandon Carlson. He knew in the corner.

[Dave DeFore]

Carlson out there.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's right.

[Dave DeFore]

Who was going to stick that shot.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And he did.

[Capital One Announcer]

He made it.

[Andrew Schlecht]

He made the shot. He's. And he, if you haven't seen just the clip of him laughing that you mentioned, I mean that's a, that's a good clip for what his season's been like. I mean he is, he is a much better player on both ends. He's a better passer. I think defensively he's been locked in and the Thunder just win games whenever he is a participant. That's just kind of how it goes.

[Dave DeFore]

I'm glad you said that. Speaking of the a hundred straight games, they are 84 and 16 in their last 100 regular season games. It's absurd. That's a hell of a stat. I got that from the broadcast and I mean it really does Feel like that's about, right. I mean, you think of the handful of times that they lost this season so far, right? The three games they could easily have. Have won any of those games, including, you know, blowing the 20 point lead, blowing the lead to the Spurs. I just. This team is going to be, I think, what we've seen out of them the last few seasons, right? Number one seed the year before, number one seed win the title, running away with it this year look like the title favorites got this lottery pick sitting in their pocket. Next year, top three, probably. What does the next hundred games look like for the Thunder? I mean, you know, is this just running away with the regular season? Two more years?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, it's probably more of the same. I mean, and I think that we're also. Not only do they have like this lottery pick coming, but there's more cohesion with the group in general that's happening. And then you have guys like J Dub and Chet and Case and Wallace that are all very young players still that are emerging more and more. Cason's development has probably gone under the radar for a lot of people because he's what, he's like the seventh guy on the pecking order, but he's gotten. He's gotten a lot better for them. Dub is. He had a really good game tonight. This is like one of a handful of like, good games that he's had since he's been back. I mean, he dunked it really hard in this one. He was 10 of 20 from the field, 24 points, six boards, two assists in this one. He. He looked more like himself. He was getting to that midi jumper that he's, you know, been able to get to since he's gotten to the league. And that looks really good. And it. He didn't look like his wrist was bothering him as badly tonight. And so, like, just looking for games like that for him moving forward as a, you know, if you're going to sit anybody, I would have probably said maybe they would have sat him just because that risk has been bothering him. But he seemed great tonight and so, like, that's a really good sign. His development is another huge thing too. Like, he's going to continue to get better. And so the internal development within the Thunder, all the assets that they have, the Clippers doing what they're doing this year, all of that is kind of helping the Thunder, you know, continue to push this thing along.

[Dave DeFore]

You know, with ksan, I do want to point out, I think we just think about him so much as a defender you know, defender first and he's not a primary option on offense. But we don't think about him as a versatile defender. I mean, he's a point of attack guy for sure. But there were times in this game where he, you know, Jaren Jackson got him in the post and just the fact that he fought him off and just continues to compete even when he's got, got the mismatch. I mean, that's one of the things about, about Kayson that stands out to me. I mean, he's a dog and he's always trying to dunk on guys. That's the other.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

He went to the Alex Caruso school of basketball.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Like the last year, whatever it's been, he has learned directly from the master of guarding smaller or guarding bigger guys or guarding smaller guys. Regardless of what it is, I think he's an all defense member at this point. Truthfully, just the way that he's guarding, it's. It's kind of hard to pick one guy from the stunter team. You could probably pick multiple. Chet obviously is, is part of that. Andrew, I have to ask you a question. So the west is pretty interesting this year. A lot of intriguing teams. We've talked on this podcast about how they lost to the Spurs. They haven't played the Nuggets yet. Very intrigued by when they played the Nuggets. They've played the Rockets. Who are you afraid of if you're the Oklahoma City Thunder?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I really think it's just the Nuggets at this point. I think the spurs are, they're very good. I just think that they're probably too young. Like the guys that need to lead them to playoff victories are probably too young at this point and haven't had to go through it yet. Yeah, the, the Lakers defense is just not there. I know the Timberwolves beat the Thunder the other night. The Thunder handled them pretty easily this past year and I do think like their depth is worse and the Thunder are just better this year. Houston is an interesting team. I still wonder what they look like on the offensive end in crunch time when you have like so many guys that you don't have to guard a three point line. So I think like in the list kind of ends there.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Okay. So your eyebrows are raised just a little bit for Houston though.

[Andrew Schlecht]

They're good. That's a really good team. Yeah, like, I mean like you look at their point differential. That's something that I really like to look at when it comes to like, are these guys title contenders? And it's really, it's the Thunder, it's the Nuggets, and then it's the Rockets. Like, those are the teams that I think are the best teams in the west. And then the spurs are just right on the outside of that. But I really think it's the Nuggets, because when these games get tight, you turn to the best players in the world, and they have one of those.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Guys, and they're deeper now, too, and they have options. I mean, they've. They've been trekking along even without Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon. We just talked about that the other day.

[Dave DeFore]

Just the way they're, like, finding guys. Yeah, it's pretty. Pretty impressive. Talk to me about the Spurs a little bit. Obviously, they get the big win in the NBA Cup. We got two games coming up against them. Wemby is going to be out for Game 1 on the 23rd, but he'll be there for that Christmas Day game. It's a lot of spurs and Thunder, and to be Frank, it's probably the future of. At least the Western Conference is a lot of spurs and Thunder. It feels like we're getting, like, the sneak preview of the Western Conference finals the next maybe five years after this one. A lot of people comparing the spurs to the Thunder, you know, saying that this. They remind them of that team from two or three years ago. What do you think about the Spurs? Like, what's your assessment as a guy who's seen what happened, you know, just recently in okc?

[Andrew Schlecht]

A lot of it's about Victor with Minyama, like, that's where it all starts. Like, this. This guy is unbelievable. Something that we've never seen before as a defender. Offensively, he just commands your attention and, like, everything begins there. But really, it's. I mean, Castle's development has been ridiculous. I think the fact that they had the ability to draft Dylan Harper is tremendous for them. And then, you know, having Fox and Vassell and Harrison Barnes and Champagne to a degree as well, like, all these guys and Keldon Johnson off the bench has been amazing. Like, they just have a lot of guys, like, similar to the Thunder, where you can play this, like, deep rotation of guys that you trust that can kind of play at all three levels and that can really attack the hoop. And the Thunder. It was funny when the Thunder were doing their draft process, they just start drafting these guys and you start to think, like, oh, they have too many guards. Like, you get. You kept saying it every year, they have too many guards. What do they do? They keep drafting guards. When you Thought they had too many guards. Will they trade for Alex Caruso? Like, well, they already have two guys like him, so obviously they're going to trade Dort or they're going to trade case of loss. Nope. What if we just had all of them? And I feel like. I feel like the spurs are kind of doing something similar where. And a lot.

[NBA on Prime Host]

And we.

[Andrew Schlecht]

We did this on this show. It's like, well, it's probably trying to trade Dear and Fox. Like, what if we just had all of them?

[Dave DeFore]

Well, those three guys can play together.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah, that's.

[Dave DeFore]

That is huge. If they couldn't play together. It's a. It's a conversation that you have just because of the financial implications of that. That would be years down the line. There's never been a basketball team that said we don't have enough guys that know how to dribble and make decisions ever.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

Even the spurs, who famously tell people sometimes they're only allowed two dribbles. This is. There. I don't know. Look, there's a two seed right now, Andrew, and you just sang their praises. You're not worried about them leveling up this season? And like, maybe, you know something pops.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'm not saying it's impossible. I just think that the guys that are leading this team haven't done it yet. It's. I mean, find me an example in NBA history that that's happened before. Yeah. You know, I just think it's really hard. The playoffs are just different. I mean, the Thunder, even that year that they lost to the Mavericks in round two, felt like the Thunder should have that. Yeah, it felt like the Thunder should have won that series against the Mavericks. You go back and you look at the rosters, you look at everything. And so, yeah, everything lined up. A lot of people pick the Thunder, including myself. And the Thunder could not get over the hump. And it was not because of a lack of talent. It wasn't because they didn't have the right guys in place. It was just like, simply, they did not have the experience necessary to win those games. And I don't think Wimy will be the problem in those games. But we haven't really. I mean, Darren Fox hasn't played very many playoff series. How many has he played? 1.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

A single playoff series? Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You know, like, Steph Castle has not been in those tight spots yet. Dylan Harper is a rookie. You know, it just. It just takes time, and there's patience there. And we listened to de' Aaron Fox talk at. In Vegas about this. You know, he he said like, yeah, we need to go and play in the playoffs first.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Together before we're actually a contender. You know, like those guys understand how this works. And so I do think it. We probably need to pump the brakes a little bit on like what they can be this year. But I don't know.

[Dave DeFore]

All those got a shot at actually being the 2 seed again. Like they've got the depth, they've got the talent. And again, this is why they do remind me a little bit of the. That Thunder team from a couple years ago.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah. Look, they will take their bumps in the playoffs.

[Dave DeFore]

Sure.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

If you even think about. I mean the youngest team that I can remember that really made a deep run was the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder.

[Dave DeFore]

Right.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

They made it to the NBA Finals and even they had to take their bumps. Right. They had to lose in the playoffs in 2011. They had to figure out how to win. I just, I think most teams have to go through that now through. Honestly, we don't know if the spurs will make a deep run this year. What I do know is that the Oklahoma City Thunder own the LA Clippers pick.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yep.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

And as you know, if it's a Zubotz is going to miss several weeks. So they are without a starting center.

[Dave DeFore]

Brooke Lopez wasn't even playing and he's going to be their starter.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah, absolutely. That is going to be bad news for the Clippers, but it is excellent news for the Thunder who own that pick. Have you been like one eye on Tank a thon to just see who you would draft and have you been.

[Dave DeFore]

Watching the draft process?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Both. Both eyes, brother.

[NBA on Prime Host]

Both eyes.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Okay. Do you. Do you have a favorite if they somehow land the number one pick? Because it seems like it's pretty.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I mean it'd be great.

[Dave DeFore]

Just we are gonna get bombarded s.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Any of these guys.

[Dave DeFore]

Listen.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I mean Camp Boozer would be really interesting with this squad. Yeah, he's uber productive. He. He would allow the Thunder to play a style that they really don't have available to them right now.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Where you can I just say it's insane that you can just pick best player available with the number one overall pick. No, no, I know, but it's the Oklahoma City Thunder and they have three losses this season.

[Dave DeFore]

That's.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I will say this. It is going to take a pretty unusual top three, top four pick if that's what they end up getting. And who knows, like maybe the Clippers win some games. Maybe this is like the 6, 7, 8 pick. I don't know. But if they do wind up in the top three. The conversations that are going to exist with these players and this isn't fantasy basketball. These are like real people that the expectation for these top three players is not only are they going to play, but they're out to earn their second contract. That's right. Like you sign your first contract whenever you're a top three pick. You're not thinking about that money. What you're thinking about is the money that you're going to get on your second deal. Like what do I need to do to get the money on that second?

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

That rookie Max. Absolutely.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And like how are the. Do the Thunder provide that opportunity? And I do think there's going to be like this push and pull that exists there because you're going to need the right kind of personality, the right kind of kid to come in here that wants to learn, that wants to win, that wants to win at a high level, that can hop on the fastest moving train in the NBA right now. It's. It's not just like simply like, hey, let's just plug this number two pick or number one pick or whatever. It ends up being into this amazing team and now you just have like this even better product here. It's not necessarily that. I think that it takes a pretty special individual to be able to join a team like that. And maybe they're just that good. But what really, I don't know that people are talking about this as much is that this could help the Thunders financials so much.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Oh yeah, absolutely.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Potentially, like if they did get a guy like Cameron Boozer in, then like you don't have to necessarily keep these guys around. That cost $30 million, right?

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And it can float you into your next era without having to be in the second apron or even take a look at the second apron at all. Yeah. And so it really is going to like propel this team if they do get to that level. I mean, heck, even if they pick a guy at. At 6 and maybe he is that good too. You know.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Jaden Quaintance.

[Dave DeFore]

I was gonna say this player draft. Right.

[Andrew Schlecht]

So acquaintance is unbelievable that he just.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Screams Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.

[Andrew Schlecht]

He is. He is. He would be. I mean, people should be terrified.

[Dave DeFore]

Just to be clear here, Nicola topic is also really good too.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Right?

[Dave DeFore]

Like, yeah, yeah.

[NBA on Prime Host]

They.

[Dave DeFore]

Okay, so the Thunder have guys upon guys upon guys and now guys on deck.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yep.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

AJ Mitchell also, as we've talked about a bunch on this podcast. Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

Anyway, doesn't feel fair. All right. The Thunder of breaking the NBA, that's that's the headline for tonight. Thank you. Thank you guys for listening. Thanks to Andrew Schleck for staying up late. Thanks Espera Henney, as always. I'm Dave Dufour. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for listening.

[NBA on Prime Host]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

What's in your wallet?

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

This thing weighs a ton. Drew Ski, lift with your legs, man.

[NBA on Prime Host]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

He's talking to you, Bridges. I'm not.

[S. (Sports Analyst)]

Of course he did.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Right, Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list. And elf.

[Dave DeFore]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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[Dave DeFore]

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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[S. (Sports Analyst)]

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