Thank you Mike Muscala & Darius Bazley, I believe you will get what the Thunder didn’t have in the new team!
The mid-season trades for the 2022-23 NBA season ended a few hours ago, and the Oklahoma City Thunder were not surprisingly relatively quiet compared to Kevin Durant, D’Angelo Russell and other large-scale transactions that have attracted attention. No big changes, but 2 GM Sam Presti-esque trades:
Oklahoma City Thunder-Boston Celtics trade:The Thunder sent away Mike Muscala (expiring contract) in exchange for Justin Jackson (expiring contract) and two future second-round picks.
Oklahoma City Thunder-Phoenix Suns trade:The Thunder sent away Darius Bazley (expiring contract) in exchange for Dario Saric (expiring contract) and a future second-round pick in the draft.
Overall, the Thunder thank you for Muscala and Bazley in exchange for Saric, Jackson, and three future second-round picks.
It is rumored that Jackson, who once played in the Thunder, may not be bought out of the contract when he reports to the Thunder (to vacate a 15-man roster position), and whether Saric will stay on the team is still unclear. news. A few thoughts beyond this:
*For the Thunder, these are two transactions that do not affect short-term combat power, focus on long-term layout, and send happiness to leaving players and trading opponents. And three future second-round picks are a reasonable return for the Thunder who have selected Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jaylin Williams, and Aaron Wiggins in the second round in the past two years.
*Thanks to Musky, who was dubbed “Thunder James” by Thunder fans. At that time, when the team disintegrated after signing, he had to reconsider whether to withdraw his contract and chose to play for the Thunder. He said in tears at the season-end press conference that he likes OKC. Knowing that he would have less and less room to play, he still cut the price and renewed his contract for one year last summer. During the chaotic early days of the Thunder’s rebuild, Musky was not only quite competent as an extended No. 5 turret on the court, but also a role model for his young teammates off the court with his professional demeanor.
Being sent to Boston is undoubtedly a good experience for him. I wish Musky, who has a good popularity among fans, to contribute to a better team and experience the feeling of competing in the playoffs!
– At least he can play the poor man’s version of Danilo Gallinari! PS has Musky, Gallo, and Al Horford, the Celtics team is full of Thunder captains XD
* Once played the “young hope” and “retirement boy” that Thunder fans expected, Bazley did not grow up to the appearance everyone expected, so he is obviously not suitable for the current system. Being traded is no surprise. The Suns, who were able to join Stud’s assets to sprint for a short-term record, and Chris Paul, who guided him a lot in his rookie season, obviously the Thunder management has also thought about where Bazley will go.
Although Bazley plays an important and key role on the team’s defensive end, his flaws that are difficult to break through on the offensive end make him fall out of the fixed rotation in the increasingly manned Thunder team. He’ll have another (–maybe last?) chance to prove himself in a wing-needed Suns team, and hopefully he’ll take advantage of it.
In any case, since the 4th season, there has been no credit but hard work. I wish Balzey can fight for the next NBA contract!
*The two elders were sent away, which means that the Thunder management has seen the performance in line with their expectations in rookie J-Will, and also said that JRE, who has been absent for a long time due to injury, should not be far away from returning to the team.
*Will Saric, who has performed well recently after returning from a serious injury, get a chance to compete with Aleksej Pokusevski for a rotation position? Or is he just a passer-by in roster format?
Soon we will find out.