Tag: Zach Lowe

‘He fills every need the Thunder had’: Zach Lowe gushes over Gordon Hayward addition

‘He fills every need the Thunder had’: Zach Lowe gushes over Gordon Hayward addition.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a splash at the NBA trade deadline by acquiring veteran wing Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets.

In exchange, OKC surrendered only Tre Mann, Davis Bertans, Vasilije Micic, two future second-round picks and cash considerations.

In 25 games with the Hornets, Hayward has averaged 14.5 points on 48.6% shooting, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He has shot 36.1% from 3 on 2.4 attempts. The 33-year-old is on an expiring $31.5 million salary, so there’s no long-term commitment.

This is a massive upgrade for OKC’s bench. Hayward can serve as a great backup wing who can close games. He can shoot and create his shot. He also brings a ton of playoff experience to the young Thunder.

Hayward has had durability issues for years, and that has been the case this season. He hasn’t played since Dec. 26 due to a calf injury but was recently upgraded to questionable.

It should help that OKC likely will reduce Hayward’s role and workload, which means the amount of stress he puts on his legs will decrease. After the move was made, ESPN’s Zach Lowe gushed about it on “NBA Today,” saying it was a smart move by a smart front office.

“I want to talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder! … The top of the West — minus the Monte Morris move to Minnesota — has been pretty quiet and the Thunder just got a player in Gordon Hayward that can close games for them.

Perk mentioned Josh Giddey being up and down, Lu Dort’s been up and down. Gordon Hayward can play the three, the four, he can shoot, he can work off the dribble. He fills every need the Thunder had.

Yes, his health is a big question — I’m told he should be ready to play very soon, if not immediately for Oklahoma City. The Thunder did it! They went out and made a win-now move. Their team has earned this respect from the Thunder front office, they’ve earned a chance to really go for it.

It’s not the sexiest move but it’s a big move by their standards and the top of the West has a contender that fortified itself.”

Lowe is at the forefront of NBA media personalities, so getting his stamp of approval made Thunder fans like the move even more. There’s no real downside to this trade as the worst-case scenario is Hayward flames out and OKC has over $30 million in cap space to play with in the offseason.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

ESPN’s Zach Lowe: OKC Thunder trade deadline intel ‘all over the place’

ESPN’s Zach Lowe: OKC Thunder trade deadline intel ‘all over the place’

The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the 2024 NBA trade deadline as buyers for the first time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll go all out for an addition.

The Thunder (35-15) are in first place in the Western Conference standings and have blossomed into contenders thanks to their MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the ascensions of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

OKC’s biggest weakness is on the boards. It ranks near the bottom in most rebounding statistics: They’re bottom five in both rebounding rate and rebound averages. This means the Thunder likely need to target a backup big to help fix that problem.

But according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on a recent “The Lowe Post” podcast episode, that might not be the case. He has heard different predictions around the league on what the Thunder could do:

“The intel — much as they would probably like it to be — is just all over the place on Oklahoma City. I’ve had people tell me, ‘Based on our conversations, we think they’re gonna be aggressive.’

And I’ve had other people tell me, ‘Based on our conversations, they’re probably going to stand pat and do the thing where they stand pat and just let it ride in the playoffs.’

They do want to see what this team looks like in the playoffs. It’s a young team. They do want to see how Josh Giddey reacts to playoff defense. … See how Shai’s foul drawing translates to the playoffs. … Just see how they react.”

With less than a couple of days until the trade deadline, one of the most plugged-in NBA media personalities is still unknown what the Thunder could do, which historically lines up with how quiet the organization is.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

The Lowe Post brainstorms trade that would bring Buddy Hield to the Thunder

A potential Buddy Hield deal would bring the former Sooner back to Oklahoma.

In the latest episode of “The Lowe Post,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks had an interesting trade proposal that would bring a former Sooner back to his old college state.

Marks suggested a trade that would land Buddy Hield to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also notes that this is just him thinking of potential landing spots for Hield and not reporting anything significant.

The Thunder would send Davis Bertans, Isaiah Joe and three second-round picks to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Hield.

“Put some shooters around Shai. And certainly, the Bertans contract is probably going to be the one…,” Marks said. “I’m looking at Bertans with a combination of Isaiah Joe and three (second-round picks).”

Lowe said he wasn’t really a fan of the deal for the Thunder, noting that Joe is too good to give up in that deal.

The Pacers have recently begun trade discussions surrounding Hield after both sides failed to agree on a contract extension. The 30-year-old is entering the final year of his current deal and is set to make $19.2 million this season.

Bertans is set to make $17 million this season with an early termination option of $16 million for next season. Joe is on a bargain deal as the sharpshooter is set to make $4.2 million over the next two seasons if his contract is guaranteed and next season’s option is picked up.

This proposal has some juice to it for both sides. The Thunder will gain one of the best 3-point shooters ever in the middle of his prime while the Pacers get some nice draft assets along with two helpful rotation pieces.

While losing Joe would sting since the Thunder basically developed him last season, the upside with Hield providing spacing for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is attractive enough to consider the deal.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Zach Lowe brainstorms trade that would bring Buddy Hield to the Thunder

A potential Buddy Hield deal would bring the former Sooner back to Oklahoma.

In the latest episode of “The Lowe Post,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe had an interesting trade proposal that would bring a former Sooner back to his old college state.

Lowe suggested a trade that would land Buddy Hield to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also notes that this is just him thinking of potential landing spots for Hield and not reporting anything significant.

The Thunder would send Davis Bertans, Isaiah Joe and three second-round picks to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Hield.

“Put some shooters around Shai. And certainly, the Bertans contract is probably going to be the one…,” Lowe said. “I’m looking at Bertans with a combination of Isaiah Joe and three (second-round picks).”

The Pacers have recently begun trade discussions surrounding Hield after both sides failed to agree on a contract extension. The 30-year-old is entering the final year of his current deal and is set to make $19.2 million this season.

Bertans is set to make $17 million this season with an early termination option of $16 million for next season. Joe is on a bargain deal as the sharpshooter is set to make $4.2 million over the next two seasons if his contract is guaranteed and next season’s option is picked up.

This proposal has some juice to it for both sides. The Thunder will gain one of the best 3-point shooters ever in the middle of his prime while the Pacers get some nice draft assets along with two helpful rotation pieces.

While losing Joe would sting since the Thunder basically developed him last season, the upside with Hield providing spacing for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is attractive enough to consider the deal.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Zach Lowe, Ramona Shelburne argue the Thunder could theoretically trade for any superstar

“They have enough assets and they have a superstar already there in SGA that they can build a superteam tomorrow.”

It seems the Oklahoma City Thunder will be a popular name when discussing landing spots for disgruntled superstars for the foreseeable future.

Given former MVP winners such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid could eventually ask out of their current situations, the Thunder will be mentioned as a possible suitor due to their rich number of assets.

In the latest episode of “The Lowe Post,” both Zach Lowe and Ramona Shelburne agreed they think the Thunder could trade for any available superstar if they really wanted to. Both ESPN NBA experts believe OKC has deeper pockets than the rest of the league due to future draft picks and young players.

The pair discussed what a trade market would look like for Antetokounmpo, who’s openly talked about potentially moving on from the Milwaukee Bucks if they age out of their championship window.

Lowe said: “(OKC has) everything any team could possibly want. Including like, ‘Take your pick. You don’t want our picks because we’re going to get a superstar in this trade? You want some Clipper picks? You want some Rockets picks?… We got picks from everybody.'”

Shelburne said: “When I look at that, I keep coming back to the Thunder too for every single superstar who’s maybe on the move. If you’re a superstar and you say you want to win, and you’re looking at that roster with Shai … I want to play with that dude. All the other assets they have — they have enough assets and they have a superstar already there in SGA — that they can build a superteam tomorrow if they have the stomach for trading for whoever and hoping they want to stay.”

Lowe added: “They have three — at least three — legit, very enticing prospects that a team could talk themselves into being multi-time All-Stars. If you’re high on Josh Giddey, that’s what you think he’s going to be. If you’re high on Jalen Williams, that’s what you think he’s going to be. If you’re high on Chet Holmgren, that’s what you think he’s going to be.”

This is pretty high praise to hear from two of the more famous NBA media figures. On paper, the argument is sound. The Thunder are swimming with future draft picks from multiple teams and look like they have hit on most — if not all — of their lottery picks.

If the Thunder wanted to pry open a title window, they theoretically could. The one downside, which both Lowe and Shelburne also discussed, is how open a former MVP in their prime would be to willingly spend several years in OKC.

Under the Giannis hypothetical, he’d only be in OKC for one season if a trade happens next summer. He owns a player option for the 2025-26 season at $51.9 million.

It’d be a risky move for the Thunder. They could lose several cheap years of service from upcoming talent Holgrem/Williams/Giddey for a possible 30-year-old rental.

It’s a delicate situation the Thunder will need to perfect when/if they decide to go for it and make a massive win-now move. Acquiring a player the caliber of Antetokounmpo with no long-term commitment from him is a boom-or-bust move.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Report: Nuggets tried to trade up for Jalen Williams in 2022 NBA draft

Jalen Williams was almost drafted by the Denver Nuggets.

The Denver Nuggets won their first championship in franchise history by beating the Miami Heat in five games, and based a recent article, Jalen Williams could’ve won a ring during his rookie season.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe revealed the Nuggets tried to trade up to the Washington Wizards’ pick at No. 10 in the 2022 NBA draft to select Williams.

“In the 2022 draft, Booth — now the top decision-maker and holding the No. 22 pick — thought about trading up with Washington for No. 10 with an eye on Jalen Williams. (No such deal emerged.)”

Of course, that didn’t play out. The Thunder selected Williams with the No. 12 pick on the second of back-to-back lottery selections by OKC. The Thunder drafted Ousmane Dieng at No. 11 after trading for that selection.

Williams would’ve provided the Nuggets with a legit starting forward option during their title run. Instead, he enjoyed a superb rookie campaign for the Thunder where he finished No. 2 in Rookie of the Year voting.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Tim MacMahon offer more info on James Harden, Rockets

ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Tim MacMahon have some more info on Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden’s interest to return to the Houston Rockets.

The focus for the Philadelphia 76ers is bouncing back from a loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday when they continue their four-game road trip on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

However, the focus outside of the team remains on the 2023 free-agency period for James Harden. The report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped on Christmas Day that Harden is seriously considering a return to the Houston Rockets in the offseason. Harden addressed the report after the contest in New York, but it wasn’t a convincing denial.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Tim MacMahon hopped on “The Lowe Post” podcast to discuss Harden’s interest in the Rockets, a place where he spent more than eight seasons and had a ton of success (h/t Rockets Wire):

Lowe: There are league chatters about Doc Rivers’ future with Sixers

ESPN’s Zach Lowe reports that there has been some league chatter about Doc Rivers’ future with the Philadelphia 76ers.

When a team makes the offseason moves the Philadelphia 76ers made in the 2022, they come with increased pressure and scrutiny. The Sixers are all-in on the 2022-23 season as they brought in guys who will help the supporting cast around Joel Embiid and James Harden.

Four games into the season, the Sixers are 1-3 and familiar issues have popped up. They are still bad on the glass and their transition defense is poor as they are also trying to work things out on the offensive end of the floor with PJ Tucker as the power forward.

Therefore, there is a ton of pressure on coach Doc Rivers to produce results in the 2022-23 season. The Sixers have given terrific regular-season results, but they have not yet advanced past the second round, and this slow start has triggered rumors in the coaching circles in the league.

Per ESPN’s Zach Lowe on “The Lowe Post” podcast, there are chatters around the league concerning Rivers’ future in Philadelphia:

Doc Rivers, Bill Simmons has been saying for weeks on his podcast Doc could be the first coach fired. Certainly people are chattering about that in the league ecosystem, but I don’t know how much that chatter is actually reality and this is Daryl Morey’s team. This is this is the Rockets reunion tour. This is ‘I waited on my long lost love James Harden. I waited and waited and got him back’ this is it. Like this is the team and they’ve just got to be better than this. To me, offense is fine. We’ll see that’s that’s where I give them time, right it takes time to get that snap. Start trying in transition defense because what’s on the floor right now is embarrassing.

The Sixers will turn this around. There is too much talent on the roster not to have success and there are still 78 games to go in the season. Rivers and this team will right the ship and they will have a lot of success.

However, if they don’t win and go deep in the playoffs, then that is where the potential for a move at the coaching spot will come to the forefront.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=69967]

[lawrence-related id=70008,70001,69998]

ESPN: OKC Thunder a bottom-four team in terms of watchability this season

The Thunder will be out of the national spotlight once again for the third consecutive season.

With the 2022-23 regular season a week away, ESPN’s Zach Lowe published his 11th annual League Pass rankings. The purpose of the exercise is to mathematically figure out how aesthetically pleasing and watchable all 30 teams in the league will be this season.

The League Pass rankings are not a traditional power ranking but are ordered from 1 to 30 depending on the total scores they get from the five categories they are graded on with a 1 to 10 scale:

“ZEITGEIST: When you talk about this team at parties, do people slink away?

HIGHLIGHT POTENTIAL: Do you linger on games in case a superstar does something amazing?

STYLE: Where are they on the continuum from “Golden State Warriors beautiful game” to “Julius Randle just took four jab steps and launched an 18-footer”?

LEAGUE PASS MINUTIA: All the little things that mean too much to damaged die-hards: announcers, court designs, uniforms.

UNINTENTIONAL COMEDY: Google the Washington Wizards of the early 2010s.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder come in at 27th overall, with a total score of 21.5.

“They’d be at least three spots higher with Chet Holmgren healthy. Without him, the roster is a morass after the strange-but-cool Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Josh Giddey/Luguentz Dort trio. I mean this in a good way: It is really hard to find a perimeter trio with almost zero overlapping skill among them.

Giddey is the tall genius passer who dares long-range, no-look lasers with zero margin for error. Dort is the brick wall who lofts ceiling-scraping 3s and bulldozes inside. Gilgeous-Alexander is the ungraspable phantom, everywhere and nowhere at once as he slithers into the lane — different limbs seemingly operating at different speeds, and moving in different directions.

Good luck distributing minutes beyond that. If you’re chasing wins, you’d play Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala. Then there are at least seven young guys who merit time, including three of the first 34 picks in the last draft.

Aleksej Pokusevski has shown hints that he’s a basketball player, not just a gangly novelty. He has vision, and a knack for blocking shots. (Does he think you get more points if jumpers go in at higher velocities?) Tre Mann is crafty. If a Darius Bazley corner 3 hits the side of the backboard, does it make a noise? (Don’t sleep on the Thunder hiring Chip Engelland — longtime assistant coach and shooting guru for the Spurs.)

A juicy subplot: Midtier playoff teams cannot afford losses to the Wembanyama Brigade. Those can be the difference between No. 6 and the play-in. The Thunder signaled doom for the Los Angeles Lakers last season with two massive early comeback wins.

The broadcast is less propaganda-y than it once was. Progress!”

When the Thunder lost Chet Holmgren for the entire season, the franchise lost a lot of its flare for why people outside of Oklahoma should care about the team. As Lowe mentions, a healthy Holmgren means they’d probably be in the top 25 of this list.

The only teams with a lower score than the Thunder are the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz.

[mm-video type=video id=01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw/01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw-a1db259bcff52c05bacc39fa339d0c05.jpg]

[listicle id=461068]

ESPN: Zach Lowe categorizes Thunder in ‘Happy To Lose’ tier of teams

The Thunder are projected to endure another losing season.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe published the 13th edition of his annual NBA tier groupings, his alternative to power rankings.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are grouped in the Happy To Lose tier, along with the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers.

With the Thunder likely enduring another losing season, this grouping makes sense. The Thunder are one of the youngest teams in the league and that lack of experience and polished talent is usually a formula for a lot of losing lessons.

The loss of Chet Holmgren will only magnify that. Losing the No. 2 pick of the draft for an entire season is never a good indicator for wins.

“Man, was I excited to watch the Thunder before Holmgren’s injury. The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Josh Giddey/Luguentz Dort trio provides an interesting mix of skills, though it’s a little short on shooting. Tre Mann is a canny combo guard, and Kenrich Williams is the connector who nudges everyone in the right directions — Nick Collison 2.0. It’s cute NBA nerd knowledge that the Williams-Mike Muscala frontcourt walloped opponents last season in what amounts to meaningless sample size, but should a rebuilding team really want those two playing heavy minutes?”

[pickup_prop id=”28499″]

The Thunder will begin their season on Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

[mm-video type=video id=01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw/01gdhbdyzv2767zc4rcw-a1db259bcff52c05bacc39fa339d0c05.jpg]

[listicle id=460951]