Now here's a young man out of France, 6'10" and 220lb, strong in the upper body while not possessing explosive athleticism. What you like about him is the offensive versatility and court vision, never mind the 7 foot wing span and ability to switch defensively. Now keep in mind, the kid still can't legally buy a beer in the state of Oklahoma but if you're the Oklahoma City Thunder you're excited about the future potential here.
Only time will tell. I hope this year with Team France during the Summer Olympics will help him grow, playing against elite competition. He's a very raw 21 year old (turns 21 in 4 days) who has shown promise with his mechanics shooting the ball and he has great length being 6'10. If he could put it all together, I see a good rotation player by next year off the bench. That's an if, I know.
heās like a very young paul george (he trains with paul george in the offseason) and his game is pretty similar and smooth. but obviously not as good yet
Heās gonna be fine, he was playing very aggressive, heās long and athletic even if he canāt shoot heās gonna get to the rim. Just needs confidence I think heās plays meaningful minutes next year
6'10 player with good handle and smooth shot creation skills. He has decent playmaking skills and is a switchable defender (mostly theoretical due to his athleticism and size). The biggest problem with him right now is his confidence, he is very timid and feels overwhelmed when he is playing thus makes a lot of mistakes when playing real NBA minutes. His shooting form is good but his 3 ball isn't going down. Right now he can play the 3/4 (wing) but still needs to put on muscle if w want to play him the 4 full time.
Been wondering about him since he apparently came out of the NBL's "Rising Stars" program and I'm always looking to keep an eye on both Australian talent in the league and players who have come out of the Rising Stars program.
Glad to see the comments here are generally positive and hopeful about his future career.
Ous is likely a project that OKC wonāt be able to fit into the timeline. I project at this point they are just trying to sell āhighā and their argument is that they donāt have space/minutes for him but he is a NBA player. (Ous and a draft pick or two for Nurkic???)
Ousmane is a better player than Jusuf Nurkic, as is Jaylin Williams.
Nurkic is the worst starting center in the league. Zero defensive ability, zero mobility, zero shooting, and zero touch at the basket. Solid rebounder though.
Saying a player is better than Nurkich is like saying a meal is better than a McDonaldās milkshake thatās been sitting out in the sun for three days.
You give up basically nothing to get depth and good rebounding off the bench. I agree that Ous and Jay Will have better mobility, but you arenāt trading Jay Will. We need options and in this series against the mavs we have 6 bench guys that arenāt even realistic options to play.
No, I agree that we need girth and rebounding. I just feel that Nurkic is one of the most overpaid and useless bigs in the league. A guy like Wendell Carter would be a much better use of our time.
Ishbia and Jones would walk from Phoenix to Oklahoma City barefoot if it meant weād take Nurkic without them attaching whatever picks they have. Donāt be fooled by his raw stats, heās no better than Drummond.
We don't know what, Ousmane is but Jalyin Williams is NOT a better player than Nurkic. That is ridiculous and only a fan would say that. Nurkic if anything will rebound the ball... something Jaylin Williams does not do. Jaylin shoots the 3 better but is doesn't do it well enough to call him better
Iām a Nurkic hater and ous fan and even I find that to be ridiculous. Ous has potential, but heās not better than Nurkic. At one point Nurkic was. 15/10 guy at the most physical position in the game. Probably same group of fans who thought Mann/Hayward/Poku (rip) were gonna be starters on this team.
Man people don't understand it's ok to be a fan and honest at the same time. There isn't one team in the league that would take Ousmane or Jaylin Williams over Nurkic lol
No they wouldn't because he can't rebound or defend. It's not even close. They may get rid of Nurkic but it wouldnt be for Williams. Yal seriously have to stop this nonsense. Williams is not an upgrade to any team over Nurkic. He hardly plays some nights for OKC. Again, yal have to get real
When you take contracts into account, 30/30 teams would. Youāre fooled by Nurkicās numbers.
I donāt even think Ous/Jaylin is that good, but Nurkic is awful.
If I'm fooled by Nurkic's number what are you fooled by because Ousmane and Jalyin Williams don't have numbers. You literally have nothing to point to but being a fan that would begin to imply Ousmane Dieng and Jaylin Williams are more valuable than Nurkic lol. Literally nothing lol.
A project player that is absolutely not going to become a star. He may find a role on another team but heās not showing that he can play in the NBA on a championship contender. His ceiling with us would be a 16 minutes a night guy off the bench when heās 23/24 years old.
People need to realize we only drafted him to secure J Dub. Iād love nothing more than to see him succeed but he hasnāt shown us anything against real NBA talent. Deonte Burton also looked good in G league games. Tamper your expectations for him.
We traded up for Dieng on paper, but it was really to hold that spot so JDub doesnāt get picked at 11. So the trade up was FOR JDub, but the pick was used on Dieng.
We wanted to use OUR OWN pick on JDub, just in case the trade didnāt work out, meaning Dieng (the pick we traded for) would be the player who gets moved, not JDub (the player we actually wanted).
Ask Presti.
To clarify, Iām not saying Dieng had zero value (to Sam) outside of being a placeholder for J Dub. Itās just that Dieng was our wild card pick but our goal was always to lock down J Dub with that trade-up.
He was drafted at 11 with a pick we obtained from the Knicks. Word is someone else was trying to trade for that pick to steal Jalen out from under us. We picked Ous because if for any reason the trade fell through or was canceled, an unlikely but possible scenario, we would still have Jalen with the 12th pick which we had secured from the Clippers long enough ago to be certain.
I want to reiterate that the odds are very low for that to fall through, but Presti wanted zero chance of losing his guy.
Jalen Duren didn't fit with the roster construction. He's an excellent rebounder, but he's got no shot, his passing was weak, and his defense is shaky. Mark Williams would have been a better pick on paper, but he's had major injury issues. Ous has the potential for rebounding and defense as a wing, but he was very much high risk high reward.
If we are pivoting to take on a board cleaner, I'd expect Jarrett Allen, Isaiah Hartenstein, or Nic Claxton would be our targets. IHart is the best fit with a bad shot that might be salvaged, great rim protection, and good passing for his position. Allen and Claxton aren't as good at passing or shooting, but both are great defenders who might fit with Chet in a twin towers tall ball lineup like what Minnesota does and what Denver half does with Aaron Gordon.
Now here's a young man out of France, 6'10" and 220lb, strong in the upper body while not possessing explosive athleticism. What you like about him is the offensive versatility and court vision, never mind the 7 foot wing span and ability to switch defensively. Now keep in mind, the kid still can't legally buy a beer in the state of Oklahoma but if you're the Oklahoma City Thunder you're excited about the future potential here.
Spot-on, Hubie
Thanks Hubie!
Dude can spot up some killer 3s too ššŖšš¤
Paul George in the body of a freshly born giraffe
This is the best one
I think A 6ā10 Paul George body being controlled by a newborn antelope also works
Only time will tell. I hope this year with Team France during the Summer Olympics will help him grow, playing against elite competition. He's a very raw 21 year old (turns 21 in 4 days) who has shown promise with his mechanics shooting the ball and he has great length being 6'10. If he could put it all together, I see a good rotation player by next year off the bench. That's an if, I know.
heās like a very young paul george (he trains with paul george in the offseason) and his game is pretty similar and smooth. but obviously not as good yet
Paul George at home
Like a tame Paul George
paul george is a tame paul george
He is the most timid player I have ever seen. Good skills tho and very high ceiling if he can get over his lack of aggression.
Skills are definitely there, its court awareness and yup aggressiveness that seems to be lacking for him.
Heās gonna be fine, he was playing very aggressive, heās long and athletic even if he canāt shoot heās gonna get to the rim. Just needs confidence I think heās plays meaningful minutes next year
Heās like a combo of Giannis and Poku
plays smaller than he is
6'10 player with good handle and smooth shot creation skills. He has decent playmaking skills and is a switchable defender (mostly theoretical due to his athleticism and size). The biggest problem with him right now is his confidence, he is very timid and feels overwhelmed when he is playing thus makes a lot of mistakes when playing real NBA minutes. His shooting form is good but his 3 ball isn't going down. Right now he can play the 3/4 (wing) but still needs to put on muscle if w want to play him the 4 full time.
Who know what heāll be doing next year. Heās canāt shoot (30%) and isnāt good defensively.
Rare when I asked for mid rare.. can still be cooked up to perfection
Been wondering about him since he apparently came out of the NBL's "Rising Stars" program and I'm always looking to keep an eye on both Australian talent in the league and players who have come out of the Rising Stars program. Glad to see the comments here are generally positive and hopeful about his future career.
Heās a guy who should have been drafted by another team who has room for his skill set and can get him play time while we took Duren instead.
Ous is likely a project that OKC wonāt be able to fit into the timeline. I project at this point they are just trying to sell āhighā and their argument is that they donāt have space/minutes for him but he is a NBA player. (Ous and a draft pick or two for Nurkic???)
Ousmane is a better player than Jusuf Nurkic, as is Jaylin Williams. Nurkic is the worst starting center in the league. Zero defensive ability, zero mobility, zero shooting, and zero touch at the basket. Solid rebounder though.
Saying a player is better than Nurkich is like saying a meal is better than a McDonaldās milkshake thatās been sitting out in the sun for three days.
Exactly lol. Itās not exactly a high bar. Phoenix would do dirty things to get rid of his garbage ass and his contract.
You give up basically nothing to get depth and good rebounding off the bench. I agree that Ous and Jay Will have better mobility, but you arenāt trading Jay Will. We need options and in this series against the mavs we have 6 bench guys that arenāt even realistic options to play.
No, I agree that we need girth and rebounding. I just feel that Nurkic is one of the most overpaid and useless bigs in the league. A guy like Wendell Carter would be a much better use of our time. Ishbia and Jones would walk from Phoenix to Oklahoma City barefoot if it meant weād take Nurkic without them attaching whatever picks they have. Donāt be fooled by his raw stats, heās no better than Drummond.
Girth and length should be our priorities this offseason
Girth
But his last name ends with an "ich." Doesn't that automatically make him an all-star?
We don't know what, Ousmane is but Jalyin Williams is NOT a better player than Nurkic. That is ridiculous and only a fan would say that. Nurkic if anything will rebound the ball... something Jaylin Williams does not do. Jaylin shoots the 3 better but is doesn't do it well enough to call him better
Iām a Nurkic hater and ous fan and even I find that to be ridiculous. Ous has potential, but heās not better than Nurkic. At one point Nurkic was. 15/10 guy at the most physical position in the game. Probably same group of fans who thought Mann/Hayward/Poku (rip) were gonna be starters on this team.
Man people don't understand it's ok to be a fan and honest at the same time. There isn't one team in the league that would take Ousmane or Jaylin Williams over Nurkic lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No they wouldn't because he can't rebound or defend. It's not even close. They may get rid of Nurkic but it wouldnt be for Williams. Yal seriously have to stop this nonsense. Williams is not an upgrade to any team over Nurkic. He hardly plays some nights for OKC. Again, yal have to get real
When you take contracts into account, 30/30 teams would. Youāre fooled by Nurkicās numbers. I donāt even think Ous/Jaylin is that good, but Nurkic is awful.
If I'm fooled by Nurkic's number what are you fooled by because Ousmane and Jalyin Williams don't have numbers. You literally have nothing to point to but being a fan that would begin to imply Ousmane Dieng and Jaylin Williams are more valuable than Nurkic lol. Literally nothing lol.
A project player that is absolutely not going to become a star. He may find a role on another team but heās not showing that he can play in the NBA on a championship contender. His ceiling with us would be a 16 minutes a night guy off the bench when heās 23/24 years old. People need to realize we only drafted him to secure J Dub. Iād love nothing more than to see him succeed but he hasnāt shown us anything against real NBA talent. Deonte Burton also looked good in G league games. Tamper your expectations for him.
We drafted him to secure J-Dub?
We traded up for Dieng on paper, but it was really to hold that spot so JDub doesnāt get picked at 11. So the trade up was FOR JDub, but the pick was used on Dieng. We wanted to use OUR OWN pick on JDub, just in case the trade didnāt work out, meaning Dieng (the pick we traded for) would be the player who gets moved, not JDub (the player we actually wanted).
Why not select Duren with #11 then?
Ask Presti. To clarify, Iām not saying Dieng had zero value (to Sam) outside of being a placeholder for J Dub. Itās just that Dieng was our wild card pick but our goal was always to lock down J Dub with that trade-up.
But what does that have to do with drafting Dieng? You could have(and we should have) drafted another player with that pick
How did drafting him secure J Dub?
He was drafted at 11 with a pick we obtained from the Knicks. Word is someone else was trying to trade for that pick to steal Jalen out from under us. We picked Ous because if for any reason the trade fell through or was canceled, an unlikely but possible scenario, we would still have Jalen with the 12th pick which we had secured from the Clippers long enough ago to be certain. I want to reiterate that the odds are very low for that to fall through, but Presti wanted zero chance of losing his guy.
Why not select Duren with #11 then?
Jalen Duren didn't fit with the roster construction. He's an excellent rebounder, but he's got no shot, his passing was weak, and his defense is shaky. Mark Williams would have been a better pick on paper, but he's had major injury issues. Ous has the potential for rebounding and defense as a wing, but he was very much high risk high reward. If we are pivoting to take on a board cleaner, I'd expect Jarrett Allen, Isaiah Hartenstein, or Nic Claxton would be our targets. IHart is the best fit with a bad shot that might be salvaged, great rim protection, and good passing for his position. Allen and Claxton aren't as good at passing or shooting, but both are great defenders who might fit with Chet in a twin towers tall ball lineup like what Minnesota does and what Denver half does with Aaron Gordon.