In the last post, I sorta implied - or maybe it sounded like I took for granted - that the Thunder would win, but I didn't mean it like that. What I was saying is that, imo, they would have been a better matchup for the Knicks. That is to say that if any team in the East has the perimeter defenders (not including KAT or Brunson) to counteract the Spurs, it's NYK.
And you know, I wasn't the only person sounding like OKC was going to win. Even mainstream outlets were doing the same, to the point that I even heard one YouTuber claim there was some type of rigging conspiracy in their favor. Well, he was obviously wrong. "The Dragon" won't be released this year.
JUSTICE IS SERVED
I've been saying for a year now that if Haliburton hadn't tripped over a banana peel in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals, it was very much looking, from the onset, like the Pacers were going to upset the Thunder and furthermore blow them TF out. In hindsight, OKC's braintrust should have taken that more seriously, i.e. made some type of significant upgrade.
Maybe they were thinking 'oh, Tyrese is hurt. We ain't got nothing to worry about this season'. You know, they believed their own press type shit. Indeed, the danger of everybody being on your d*ck is thinking you're better than you actually are.
That's taking nothing away from Jared McCain who, for spurts, looked like OKC's best player. The way the Thunder acquired him reinforced just how exceptional their braintrust is.
Also, shoutout to Jalen Williams. Now we see that yes, despite their depth or regular season dominance, his playability is integral to this team's overall success. But he's obviously not a true Pippen in terms of durability.
It's also safe to predict that now, all of that SGA MVP shit will stop, not saying that he isn't deserving though. Some people say that he's boring to watch, but I beg to differ. Having this relatively-slow PG who you like already know what he's going to do but still can't stop is must-watch, imo. He's the most-methodical high-scoring PG since John Stockton (though not necessarily comparing the two). But by the end of the day, he was effectively neutralized by Wemby. And you know, it ain't like Shai can go to the gym during the offseason and grow a foot taller or some shit.
This is only Wembanyama's third season, but I think it's safe to say he's the best defender I've ever seen. Lebron, in his prime, could guard the 1 through 5, though you wouldn't want to put him (defensively) against the bigger Cs. But big or small, Wemby can defend them all.
SHOUTOUT TO THE SPURS
The Spurs are the only team who have more or less been contenders for 30 years straight. They won at least one championship in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and now possibly 2020s. That's three different roster iterations (though two were led by Duncan). No other franchise, not even the Lakers, can make that claim.
Picking Wemby a couple of years back was a no-brainer. So what they should really be applauded for was drafting Castle who, the way I remember it, wasn't particularly popular coming into the league.
I remember when dude won ROY, and pundits were like 'so what. The class is garbage, so who else you gonna choose?'. I remember they were even talking like, once the Spurs acquired Fox (and later drafted Harper) that they should just trade dude away or some shit. Man, were they wrong. When he banged it on SGA - I think that was in Game 4 or 5 - that's when you knew that they MVP was indeed beatable.
Speaking of which, my favorite thing about this series was the physicality. Dudes played like real men, like now, you can see the difference between the NBA and WNBA(?). All types of bodies were flying, with Wemby's light ass getting thrown to the floor nightly. Yet, no punches were thrown, although I think there was like one altercation.
That's the scariest thing about Victor, imo. His height, coupled with his mobility, is intrinsically an unfair advantage in the game of basketball. It's more of a natural advantage than Steph having twice the shooting genes of Dell. You see all types of players now mimicking Curry to success. But there's no way they can copy Wemby.
But the truly scariest thing, I meant to say, is his competitiveness. Even with all of his talent and advantages, dude is out there playing dirty and shit, you know, throwing elbows and taking cheap shots, like he really wants to win. But as he becomes the most-popular player in the NBA, i.e. someone finally surpassing LBJ, the refs need to keep an eye on that type of shit. You don't want the face of the league earning the reputation of a bad boy, because then, everyone else will follow.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Despite all that shit I was talking earlier, I don't think OKC's roster need any changes at this point, not with the recent acquisition of McCain and the emergence of Caruso. In fact, as far as this postseason for instance, it almost seems like they now have more rotation players than they can accommodate, even with the absence of Williams.
Rather, the main priority should be the health of Jalen. But you know, as I always say with these young injuries, who knows if dude will ever fully recuperate? The good news is that he already won a championship, as well as made an All-Star Game. The bad news is that, oh shit, he hasn't even gotten past his rookie contract yet(!).
This iteration of the Thunder have to play it back at least one more season to see if they can get revenge. But that said, it takes both Holmgren and Hartenstein to attempt to neutralize Wemby. So if anything, they obviously need another big, one who can come off the bench and actually have an interior impact against the best in the league.
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