Thunder mailbag: SGA vs. Giddey, roster cuts and the mysterious Micic

It’s time for a Thunder mailbag.

The NBA is fast asleep (cue Kevin Durant/Donovan Mitchell 17-team blockbuster) but there’s still plenty to talk about now that Summer League is in the rearview mirror.

Forget about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren. Let’s focus on something important, like the roster-spot race between Theo Maledon and Vit Krejci.

Oh, and speaking of SGA and Giddey, which one of OKC’s young guards is more valuable.

And is Vasilije Micic a real human?

Shoutout to everyone who submitted a question this week. For future Thunder mailbags, email me or message me on Twitter.

Let’s get to it.

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@Heros_RD_311: What's Theo Maledon's future?

With the Thunder? It’s tenuous. The Thunder is three standard contracts over the 15-man limit, and Maledon is among a group of cut candidates that also includes Ty Jerome, Vit Krejci and Derrick Favors.

Maledon led the Thunder in minutes as a rookie, but his playing time was slashed by almost 10 minutes per game last season. Maledon, who just turned 21, needs to make big strides this summer to stick around.

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@thunder_draft: Pick one to make the roster and explain your reasoning: Vit Krejci or Theo Maledon?

Krejci. He has the higher ceiling as a 6-foot-8 guard who can both create and find his spots as an off-ball shooter. He’s the prototypical new-age Thunder player, but right now he’s more of an idea than anything.

Krejci suffered a torn ACL in his left knee before he was drafted in 2020, and in April he had an arthroscopic procedure on the same left knee. Krejci played in Summer League, which is a positive sign, but his injury history is worrisome.

Needless to say, the Krejci vs. Maledon debate — if that’s what it comes down to — isn’t going to be a franchise-altering decision.

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@RyanD_IE: Future of Bazley, Favors buyout?

Darius Bazley is extension eligible entering the last year of his rookie contract. His future is tough to project. He made significant strides defensively last season but his offensive development has stalled. He's a subpar shooter and a ball stopper. The Thunder’s offense is predicated on making quick decisions, and Bazley doesn’t often do that.

As for Favors, I’ve been penciling him in as a roster cut. I’m not as confident about that now, the longer he remains on the roster. He was with the team at Summer League, and the Thunder likes having him around. Favors can help fill in for Chet Holmgren against bigger-bodied centers.

If I had to bet, I’d still have Favors as a cut. But it’s no longer a safe bet.

@thunder_draft: What percentage chance is there that Bazley is traded before the season starts?

I’ll say 15%. His $4.3 million deal wouldn’t be hard to move, and whichever team wants to trade for him would likely want to extend him. I don’t think teams are tying up the phone lines for Bazley, but he’s 6-foot-8 and can switch on defense. That’s enough to stay employed in the NBA.

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@Billisnumber1: Does the current roster construction "work", with two lead guards, one of whom let's say is not a shooter, a short defensive specialist, and a rookie unicorn?

I assume we’re talking about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren. Those four will likely start and log a lot of minutes together.

Does that grouping work offensively? I don’t know. We haven’t seen it yet. But I think Holmgren is going to create much-needed space for Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey, and Dort has proven to be a capable shooter from the corners.

There should be flashes of promise this season, but don’t expect a readymade offense.

The Thunder has ranked 30th in offense in both of the past two seasons. OKC was 17th the year before that, and that was with Chris Paul leading the attack.

I’d be fairly stunned if the Thunder wasn’t a bottom-10 offense next season, but that doesn’t mean the roster construction doesn’t work. The roster wasn’t constructed to “work” next season.

On the defensive end, Holmgren and Dort could form a stout duo. The Thunder can hide Giddey on slower forwards and Gilgeous-Alexander has the tools to become a much better defender. Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Jalen Williams and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl can all slot in as capable defenders.

The Thunder could have a top-half defense next season, which is saying something given the youth of the roster. OKC was 17th last season, and that includes the throwaway games at the end of the year.

@smiznith: What’s your starting five prediction and the two lineups you wanna see during the game that would be fun to watch?

Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, Dort and Holmgren are virtual locks to start. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is my guess for the fifth starter.

Robinson-Earl just knows how to play on both ends of the floor. He started 36 of his 49 games as a rookie, which signals that Mark Daigneault trusts him. JRE looked good in Summer League, and I think he’s ready to take a step in Year 2.

Now for the fun lineups.

Fun lineup No. 1: Giddey, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Aleksej Pokusevski, Holmgren

The two lead guards with promising rookie Jalen Williams on the wing and the Thin Towers down low. Everyone is 6-foot-6 or taller, all of them can pass and any lineup with Poku is instant entertainment.

Fun lineup No. 2: Lindy Waters III, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams

A Waters, a Wiggins and three Williamses. The five Ws even fit (kind of) positionally. I’ll set the season-long minutes over/under for this crew at 0.5 and wishfully take the over.

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@camecoT_F: Micic. A mighty chance to get some assets for him?

Not mighty. Miniscule. Vasilije Micic has the best agent in sports. Misko Raznatovic is his name.

Micic, a EuroLeague star, insists every year he wants to play in the NBA, but he always ends up resigning with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes. Flirting with the NBA is quite a leverage play to get a better contract in Europe.

The Thunder holds Micic’s NBA rights, but the 28-year-0ld Serbian guard has yet to truly test the NBA waters. If the Thunder was offered anything of worth for Micic, even one middling second-round pick, I think OKC should happily trade his rights.

With Micic, I’m in the believe-it-when-I-see-it camp.

@FrankFo82254419: Who is more valuable by the end of the coming season: SGA or Giddey?

SGA. For as terrific as Giddey was as a rookie, the gap is pretty wide. That’s no slight to Giddey, who’s more than four years younger than Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s just easy to underestimate how good SGA is. He’s one of the savviest scorers in the NBA who’s done a lot with little around him the last two seasons. He’s arguably a top-25 player in the league.

@IZigger77: Is this the year the best players on the Thunder play the most minutes?

To be fair, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder in total minutes last season, but I understand the point. He’s been shut down in each of the last two seasons — along with other key players — in the Thunder’s pursuit of more lottery ball combinations.

A plantar fascia tear, serious enough to keep him from competing for Team Canada, sidelined SGA for the second half of the 2021-22 season. However, he could have played through the ankle injury that caused him to miss the final 10 games last season.

That’s the system, though. Would you rather have had SGA, Giddey and Dort play more down the stretch? That’s fine, but then you can’t also reasonably expect to draft Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 pick. More losses lead to better lottery odds.

If Holmgren becomes a star, no one is going to cry about Gilgeous-Alexander not suiting up against the Pistons in April.

I am interested to see how the Thunder handles SGA if the team is in a similar spot next spring. What if Gilgeous-Alexander is contending for an All-NBA nod? At that point, asking him to sit is unfair.

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@FCxlnan15: When’s the last day we can cut players from the roster before the season starts?

Teams can carry up to 20 players, including two-way players, in the offseason. During the season, teams can have 15 players signed to standard contracts and two players on two-way contracts for a total of 17 players.

Rosters don’t have to be finalized until the day before the regular season begins, so the Thunder has through training camp to figure this out.

@PepsiUnited: While I don't think it's the right time to make a move, let's go to the next off-season for a minute. Who's your ideal candidate, the so-called disgruntled star, to trade for a year from now?

OK, let’s get crazy.

What if Zion Williamson can’t stay on the floor in New Orleans and Brandon Ingram gets sour about the whole situation? Ingram is under contract for two more seasons after next.

The soon-to-be 25-year-old forward would fit nicely in OKC, and the Thunder theoretically has the picks and young players to pull it off, even without including Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey or Holmgren.

Would one or both of Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams plus salary filler and (insert number) draft picks get it done?

@ChrisBruffett: I just want to know what I need to do to get a rebranding of the team. I would really like to like our colors/logos/merch.

The Thunder’s original look is stale. What better time than now for a redesign?

Reposition, replenish, rebuild … rebrand. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder mailbag: SGA vs. Giddey, roster cuts and mysterious Micic