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Why Isaiah Hartenstein is the PERFECT FIT for the Thunder! · Bring The Thunder Podcast

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  Oh. You're listening to the Bring
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  the Thunder Podcast, a podcast by fans, for fans.
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  Yes, you are welcome everybody, to another episode of the Bring
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  the Thunder podcast. Today we're going to do
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  something a little different. Instead of looking at any sort
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  of stats or breaking down a certain player, we're going to
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  be looking at a hypothetical here.
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  What if OKC lost Isaiah Hartenstein?
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  What would we do? What would we change?
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  Would trades happen? Would players step in?
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  We're just going to break it down, think about the idea of it
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  because I think we all can agree Hartenstein is such a major part
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  of with his team. Everything he does, it's so
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  obvious when we have him versus when we don't the the difference
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  in the way this team plays. So what if we lost him?
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  So without further ado, let's get into it.
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  Guys. If anyone wants to start off,
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  just kind of take it off this conversation immediately take
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  the floor. Yeah.
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  But I just wanted to say this isn't like a reaction to a news
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  that he's going to be traded or going to leave us just
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  hypothetical and more to highlight how important he is to
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  us, like Gabe said. But to start it off, like I
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  don't think you could replace him in the sense of you could
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  definitely find someone as physical or as big as him, but
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  you can't find anyone who was seamlessly fit into our offense
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  like him. So I think the logical move is
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  to move Chet to the five, bring Thomas Silver off the bench and
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  then find a four who's a bit bigger, a bit stronger, can
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  guard bigger centers and can do most of the rebounding because I
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  think that's the biggest hole that Heinstein would leave would
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  be the rebounding. So yeah, I think that's that's
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  my main idea for that is to bring in a four and play some
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  that nicely next to chat because honestly, I don't think he can
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  really replace or even try to replicate what Hamstein has
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  brought to this team. Yeah, absolutely.
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  There. There's no replacing it because
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  let's say you do try to replace it and you go out and you find a
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  guy who's as as tall, as strong as as as much of an anchor.
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  I don't think you're going to find anyone that even gets close
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  to his vision, his play making ability.
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  Like there's just aren't centers who are that size that are able
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  that are able to play the way they do and it you're not going
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  to be able to get guys like that.
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  I mean, obviously I'm not comparing these two in the
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  sense, but like Yokich is one of the bigs who can play make like
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  that. Like I'm not saying Hardenstein
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  is as good as Yokich is a play making.
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  But my point is like it's not a common thing.
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  It's not an archetype that you see of these 7 foot £250 centers
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  who can absolutely clean up the glass for the same time.
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  They're looking for the back door cut every single time they
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  get the ball. They're looking for the guy open
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  in the corner every single time. You're not going to find that.
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  So, yeah, you can go try to replace him with like your your
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  average big man center by the books rebound and scores in the
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  paint, but you're going to miss out on that play making ability
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  that Hardenstein brings. And that's something that I just
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  don't think you're able to lose. And because of that, Jack, I do
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  think just for this first like conversation, I do agree with
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  the idea of moving Chet to the five because Chet he does have
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  vision. He he sees.
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  I don't think it's as much as Hardenstein, but he understands
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  like I I have faith in him to be the five and be able to play
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  make out of the five. Whereas if we were just to,
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  let's say moves move someone and go trade for a guy, like I can't
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  even think all the time, maybe a guy, Daniel Gafford, like I like
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  Gafford, he's athletic. He's not going to play me.
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  He's not going to do the things that Hartenstein does.
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  And I think Chet can to an extent, fill that gap enough to
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  the point where I would feel comfortable about maybe trying
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  to go out and get a four or maybe giving someone a new shot.
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  Maybe Sorber plays really, really well and and suddenly
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  he's fighting for minutes, you know?
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  So on a team where minutes have been a problem, if you lose a
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  guy like Hartenstein, it hurts. But maybe that opens up someone
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  else's opportunity to go out and become a starter.
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  I I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm going to start with, I
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  don't really think we're going to lose him.
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  I'll start with that. We got a, he's got a club option
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  entering this offseason, 28 and a half million dollars now, like
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  does he say I want to be extended or I won't play?
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  I mean, that's a possibility. Did we not even pick up the the
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  option? I'm not sure, but I do think
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  we'll retain Hartenstein. But yeah, what's been lingering
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  on my mind all season long, like in the back of it, because
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  there's so much more that we have been worrying about all
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  season long, is like, why are we drafting Sorber if we're going
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  to retain Hartenstein, right? Because maybe they didn't see
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  the rise of J will coming like it has this year.
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  But now you got guys of Hartenstein, Chet, J Will and
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  Sorber, and it's already hard enough to find J Will minutes in
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  that rotation. So it's like, I'm a bit not
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  confused about the draft. I I mean, Gabe, you really like
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  Sorber. I'm optimistic.
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  Obviously we'll have to wait and see and, and see his rookie year
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  next year. But I don't know, like, can you
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  guys answer the question of like, would they be drafting a
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  Thomas Sorber in the first round if they didn't expect to lose
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  him? I don't think it's the fact that
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  they expect to lose him or as much it, it's partially what you
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  just mentioned about J Will. I, I, I think they were
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  beginning to lose faith in J Will in terms of not what he can
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  do, but the fact that the minutes just weren't really
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  there for him. So I feel like that was part of
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  it. But the other part is even if
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  you watch us healthy right now, there are so many times where we
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  start with a double big and both Chet and Hartenstein go out at
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  the same time. And we have those together and
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  we have the yeah, I know. It's almost like it's almost
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  like we should be using. We're not getting into this.
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  My point is Sorber would fill that gap.
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  To me, he would be one of those guys who could do more than J
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  Will, and that's not against J Will.
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  I, I love J Will, I love what he's done.
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  But to me, Sorber, Sorber's more of a Swiss Army knife.
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  There's more that he can do. I think he's more athletic.
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  I think he's quicker. I think he can guard more
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  positions. J Will's not the fastest, not
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  the most agile in the world. He he's a bigger dude and and he
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  can kind of tell, but at the same time, I think Sorber is
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  much more agile. I think he brings more of a all
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  around presence that Jay will might be lacking.
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  To me, what I see is this is a sign that Jay will could lose
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  his spot given Sorber's play next year.
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  And that's unfortunate because I think Jay will, I mean
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  incredibly efficient from the three-point line.
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  He's had several games this year where he's looked really, really
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  good. I don't want him to lose
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  minutes, but I think Sorber is almost like a it's almost like
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  when an NFL team gets a new like a young QB.
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  This is like it's a position battle.
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  Like this to me is Sorber's going to come out next year and
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  have a full rookie year, hopefully praying he doesn't get
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  hurt. But to see those two kind of
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  fighting for minutes. I think one of them is going to
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  emerge and Jay will, you know, he's got the advantage right
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  now. He's had more years, but I think
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  Sorber's got the advantage and the fact that and advantage and
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  the fact that he's younger, I think he's more agile.
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  I think he can do more on both sides of the ball.
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  So Joe, I I get what you're saying.
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  I do. Is there that thought of what if
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  we lose Heartenstein? To me, it's, it's it's a mix of
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  not having as much faith in Jay Will and more so just wanting as
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  many players that they can fit into that.
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  Yeah, fitting as many, getting as many players that can fit
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  into that problem of OK, well, clearly Chet and Hart will not
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  be like filling in for each other.
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  Clearly Mark has decided that's not the case.
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  So it's like, get as many of those guys as you can, get Jay
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  Wills, get Sorbers, get those guys.
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  So the second those two are off the court, someone can come in
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  and hold that, hold it down until at least one of Hart or
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  Chet has enough energy. It's interesting to me too.
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  Sorry, Jack, because I was just going to say like another thing
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  with I, I'm fully like, I'm right now I'm 100% confident
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  that they bring Hartenstein back.
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  But I know we're kind of talking about if they didn't, but like
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  Sorber and J Will, Sorber's listed at 69.
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  J Will is listed at 69 as well. He says he's 610 by the way.
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  But they're not like like Hardenstein's A7 footer.
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  So they're also not like the typical big that Hartenstein is,
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  even though Hartenstein's like a combo of the typical big and a
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  playmaker. It's very odd.
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  Like it's we can't lose them. There's we can't lose them.
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  I'd be, I'd be interested to see how that all works out.
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  I really, I don't know. Jack.
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  Yeah. Going back to the previous
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  conversation about like why we got sober, I think a big part of
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  it was last year we were pretty injured, especially at the big
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  position. And I mean there was times, you
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  know, when J Dub was playing the five Caruso for like a pretty
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  big stretch. So I think it's, yeah, like you
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  said, a bit of insurance there. Although, yeah, like you
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  mentioned, Silver's not exactly a big, I think yeah, 69610,
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  which I think makes him more versatile.
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  Like like Gabe said, a bit of a Swiss Army knife, but he feels
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  like more of a a centre than Jay Will.
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  Jay Will's weird, but somehow it works.
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  I don't know, but I think yeah, I I would have said pretty
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  confidently earlier this season that they were going to move on
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  from J Will when he was shooting the worst field represent in the
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  league. And I mean, he had a rough 1st
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  3/4 of the season. And then out of nowhere he's
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  picked it up, which is really encouraging.
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  But yeah, I think just having depth in the front, in the front
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  court is big because we have so many guards and so many, so many
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  players who play one through 4 pretty much for the same.
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  So outside of Einstein, we don't really have a a backup centre or
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  anyone and we don't really install but but it's as close as
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  we're going to get with someone like Sam Presti.
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  The way OKC is built is so odd because you just mentioned they
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  have so many like wings but all the wings are like undersized
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  wings but they just play big. It's crazy.
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  By the way, with J Will, I was watching one of my favorite
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  Youtubers, streamers, whatever it's it's playful.
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  He plays WLB, the show. J Will played with him and they
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  were just talking, you know, I was watching and J Will
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  mentioned it and we knew it. We talked about it all.
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  It was undisclosed, but J Will said that he had an injury for
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  quite a while in the beginning of the season.
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  He was able to work on it, you know, by All Star Break.
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  He felt good and we see what happened.
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  I knew him. We we knew I should say he was
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  in. We talked about it so much
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  because he's been sub 4040% three-point shooter his whole
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  career and then all of a sudden he couldn't hit anything.
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  But having him back is clearly an advantage for this OKC team.
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  I. Think something was Sorber is Oh
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  you, you got it Jack, you got it.
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  I think something with Sorber as well as we remember Presti
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  talking recently about this idea of drafting people over players.
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  And I think Sorber fits that really, really well.
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  He's looked to immediately fit in with the team.
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  And if you watched him play in college, there was so much
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  effort on every single play for a guy his size, like he was not
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  moving the way that a guy who's 69610 should be moving.
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  I mean, there's a lot of athleticism, a lot of a lot of
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  promise on, on the protecting the glass and protecting the
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  Ram, really good blocker, just a really efficient guy all around.
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  Like I just like what I was seeing from him in terms of a
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  player like that. So it's, I think it's just
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  promising to see Presti pick a guy like this.
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  And it's one of those things where you might be scratching
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  your head and like wondering what was the thought process.
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  But it's also one of those things where you just have to
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  remember that the GM is Sam Presti and he's like 4000 steps
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  ahead of everyone else. So he drafted him for a reason.
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  And, and I trust it. I, I think just from what we've
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  seen of Sorber from behind the scenes and what not, he looks
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  like he's a great guy. He seems to really enjoy the
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  team. So I trust Presti, I trust the
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  fit and I'm just excited to see him play.
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  I think he's going to be very, very good.
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  Yes, totally agree. And kind of leads me into this
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  just to wrap up here, like if Hamstein were to leave, I think
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  we all agreed chat to the five and then try to find a big or
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  try to find a power forward to slot in and then move Jade up to
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  the three. And you got some pretty decent
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  size there. What?
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  The action or what course of action are you guys taking
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  because would sober and chat work together as a double bit
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  kind of thing? Chat can play on the outside.
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  Me personally, I look at someone like a Co OPI in college, a
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  bigger power forward who's pretty dominant inside.
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  I think that that flows really well with chat who can play
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  outside and isn't as physical. I think getting a power forward
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  is big, physical and dominant on the glass.
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  Could really pair well with chat.
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  I mean, these are the things I'm saying when we're having the
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  Giannis trade talks as well. I'm not saying go get Giannis,
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  but go get someone like that. So either through the draft or
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  maybe try out Thomas Silver for me, I think those are my
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  options. I think it's all up to if we win
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  this year again. And I've been saying it and you
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  guys have hated. Well, I don't want to say hate
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  it, but you guys have been pessimistic every year, every
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  this whole year. I've been saying, you know, if
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  we if we do lose the finals, I think they might have to go out
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  and make that big splash. I won't bring up the name, but
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  if we do win, it's interesting and I'm happy you brought it up.
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  Like where would they pivot to? It's a really good question.
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  I originally like in my head is like, I don't mind J Will as a
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  starter if we're getting Sorber, like have Sorber start off
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  coming off the bench. I think J will and chat work
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  pretty well together now. I still think, like, I don't
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  know, like I'd like to have two rim protectors on the floor,
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  which maybe it's just like because we've been spoiled with
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  Heart and Chad the last two seasons, but you got to go out
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  and see who's in free agency and name that Gay brought up.
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  And I don't want to steal it, but he's kind of been in trade
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  talks for the last couple years is Daniel Gafford.
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  And I wouldn't mind it. Like, no, he's not the playmaker
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  that Hartenstein is, but he's a big dude.
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  He can play this. The five allow Chet to continue
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  at the four. And I don't I don't think
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  that'll be a terrible idea for OKC.
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  Yeah, you mentioned it, that that was someone I was going to
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  mention as well as it just, I just think an athletic 4 like
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  that, who can rim protect, who can finish at the hoop, there's
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  not really anything that can go wrong with a player like that.
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  Another guy who I actually think is going to be a free agent here
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  soon is Mitchell Robinson. And I'm really high on Mitchell
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  Robinson just for what he's able to do.
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  I think he's one of those guys who off the stats, he's like one
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  of the more valuable centers if if you're not if you're not so
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  caught up on him having to score his points.
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  And it in a way, he kind of does what Hardenstein does where he
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  only needs 4 to 6 points a game to to be effective.
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  It doesn't matter if he's scoring.
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  He's got one of the highest offensive rebound percentages in
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  the NBA. He's an incredible rebounder and
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  I think he's one of the best at tapping rebounds out.
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  Like every time a shot is missed, he's somehow getting his
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  hand on it in one way or another.
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  So that's another guy who would be really interesting to see.
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  He'd be bigger. So it'd be tough because he's
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  more of a traditional 5:00 than a four.
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  But players like that that are just going to give it all and
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  they don't need to be scorers. That's that's kind of the last
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  thing I feel like this team needs right now is another star.
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  Like I don't want to add another star.
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  Which is why Joe mentioned maybe we've been a little more against
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  his his campaign for going out and getting someone specific.
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  But it all changes if we lose, I'm telling you.
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  I think, I think that's fair, but I don't want to go out and
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  get like a Pascal Siakam or some BIG4 who can go out and score a
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  bunch that that's not what I'm looking for here.
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  It's like looking at the upcoming guys and free agency.
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  I don't even know if it's the best for power forwards.
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  So it's it's interesting they listen.
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  Like the more we talk about it, the more concerned I get.
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  But I really do think that they retain Hardenstein.
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  And even if they don't, you got to trust him.
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  Sam Presti at this point, right? Like, shouldn't be worried about
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  it. I know that's kind of like just
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  brushing it off, but I'm not trying to freak myself out
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  before the playoffs start here. Let's just worry about these
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  playoffs. Definitely.
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  All right. I think that's kind of just the
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  last note we can add there is with Sorber with with if that
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  happened, if Hardenstein happened to leave at the end of
• 15:41
  the day, we have Sam Presti and and he he just frankly he knows.
• 15:44
  So I think we can end it there. Trade up in the draft for what's
• 15:51
  his name, Boozer all. Right.
• 15:55
  That's a forum in the NBA anyway.
• 15:58
  Yeah, I think that'll do it for episode 44 of the Bring the
• 16:03
  Thunder podcast. Thank you guys so much for
• 16:05
  tuning in. Thank you all of you who have
• 16:07
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  Couldn't thank all of our members enough.
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  Thank you. Shout out to all of our members.
• 16:35
  We'll see guys, what they'll see this Friday.
• 16:40
  So we'll see. You when you.
• 16:41
  We'll see you when you see you. Yeah, we'll see you when we see
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  you all. Right.
• 16:46
  See you later, then they're up. Maybe lunch?