This makes the Thunder TERRIFYING...

Last season we saw AJ Mitchell become one of the most important players on the Thunder roster and his Emergence and his continued growth is paramount to Thunder's success into this championship window But could there be something in his way? Maybe an obstacle that could stunt his growth and do the Thunder have some interesting questions to ask themselves the answer to both of those questions is yes and I want to talk about that here in today's video because When you have somebody who showed as much prowess as AJ Mitchell showed in his sophomore campaign You want to get him even more involved in the team next season and the Thunder have got some very interesting Questions to ask themselves and so the main point of today's video is to go over what that one main question is Which is do the Thunder have a starting lineup conundrum on their hands and we're gonna break this down into three players who realistically would have a Spot as that fifth and final starter into the lineup and teams all around the league are still trying to figure out their starting fives But it's not because they have too many qualified players to be in the starting five It's because they're looking for the right pieces that they feel like are good enough to be deserving of those spots AJ Mitchell could be a starter for 95% of the teams in the league maybe even more and then the guys we're gonna talk about in This video as well. Spoiler alert Kacen Wallace and Lou Dort They are in the exact same scenario. These three guys would be starters for nearly every team in the NBA So which one should the Thunder decide to roll with on night number one? We're gonna talk about all of that here today on a Thunder digest I appreciate you guys for tuning in to today's video and as always This video is sponsored by prize picks You'll get your $50 instantly in bonus funds. It's literally free money So go click the link use code digest to play a $5 lineup and you'll get 50 bucks for free in your account So don't take advantage of that and also keep your eyes up for tomorrow when I believe I'm gonna be spinning that wheel Or the Jersey giveaway I've got about eight more videos to go through putting them onto the wheels so I can spin it twice We can give two free jerseys away to some of you loyal subscribers on the channel for helping us hit 10k last week super cool stuff appreciate you guys for your support now Let's continue on with today's video So you've got three very different players who have three very contrasting styles and backgrounds that are all Candidates to be in your starting lineup next year and starting it off with AJ Mitchell Kacen Wallace and Lou Dort three guys that are in contention for that or really are good enough to be it first really quickly on We still have no idea what its future is an okay See the team accepted his option right before the deadline for that near the end of last month And since then we've gotten literally nothing on what we do or take is the team as of now I kind of believe that thunder just gonna be over the second apron be content with paying some luxury tax and try to run it Back with everybody from last year's roster that they realistically could afford and Lou door he's obviously been a starter for this team since the bubble and He is really close with SGA He's a true 3 and D guy that had major drop-offs in both of those categories last season But he is still want a lot of basketball games in OKC and then from there you go on to a J Mitchell somebody that he should be a true point guard in this league and as some of you may or may not know SGA is natural position is as a shooting guard as a two in a lineup and he's expressed a Desire to play more off ball. He did so with Team Canada. He talked about that They talked about it with him on the Thunder last postseason and maybe even going forward and if the Thunder really want to have Shea Transition back to a true two in a lineup. AJ Mitchell is the obvious guy to slot in in his place I mean you look at his distribution of ball handling and 36% of the time that he touches basketball It's as a pick-and-roll ball handler and then you have another 9% of the time when he touches it It's as an isolation type of set So AJ Mitchell can control the ball can carry an offense and he's only going to get better and he needs to continue to get Better to not stunt his growth and his his growth from year one to year two was insane I mean he played in 21 more games. He played nearly a thousand more minutes He was a plus eight more net positive last season as opposed to the year before You see the Thunder were a plus 17 in the net when he was on the basketball court You see all of the pluses that he had offensively and defensively when he was out there and even then when you look at the the team's record when all their guys were available as the injury bug just absolutely decimated this team and Cason Wallace who we're gonna talk about next he was on the court for the most Thunder wins last year with 61 But AJ Mitchell had the highest individual player win percentage at an 877 He played in 57 games and he was 50 and 7 in games that he appeared in It's no coincidence that Thunder won a lot when AJ Mitchell played and they won a lot when Cason Wallace played They won a lot when they were healthy And I think that when this team is healthy and I believe this still to this day You can crucify for me in the comments if you want I think last year's Thunder team on paper was better than the championship Thunder's team's roster I think that if those two teams played each other fully healthy I think last year's Thunder team would beat him in a seven game series I still fully believe that but it didn't work out that way because of injuries AJ Mitchell being included in that he suffered that soleus strain and That is an absolute nuisance to try to come back from and even if the Thunder had gotten through game seven of that conference San Antonio, I don't think AJ Mitchell would have been available for the NBA Finals Maybe in any capacity at all Especially when you consider that man came on record last week and said that he's close to being back to 100% 57 days later. I mean the dude is still not 100% ready now And it's good that he gets to continue to rest up until October But he was he was absolutely not gonna be in a position to play at any point for the rest of that postseason in his The other part of this whole AJ Mitchell equation is the fact that he is on a very team-friendly deal he has the best contract in basketball the Thunder paying in three million dollars a year to be a Incredibly impactful guard both offensively and defensively and the part that I kind of proposed in the open of this video Would it be a stunting of growth to Thunder didn't happen in the lineup? Well, we've seen some examples of this type of case study throughout the NBA and one of them being right in our own backyard When you have James Harden who was looking for more money and a larger role with the team back in the early 2010s He ends up going to the Rockets because the Thunder Weren't in a situation where they wanted to give him the extra four million dollars that he was looking for He goes becomes an MVP and another guy that wasn't too far away from here Just a few hundred miles to the south It's Jalen Brunson a guy that we've seen a lot of comparisons to with AJ Mitchell and those comparisons make sense When you consider the stats and when you consider just the eye test of those two guys a couple of southpaws that have a very similar Composition of how they score the basketball and look at their stats side by side You can read this chart. I feel like I put it together pretty easy to understand You compare AJ Mitchell year two to Jalen Brunson year two They were both the same exact age 23 years old and they played the exact same number of games You see the AJ Mitchell was better in nearly every single category Year two AJ Mitchell still is better than Jalen Brunson year three in nearly every single category Jalen took a major leap in year four when he became a full-time starter with the Mavs But he still looked for more money and an even larger role He ends up going to the Knicks and that's when he took his major major leap But AJ Mitchell was better in year two than Jalen Brunson was in year two AJ Mitchell was better in year two than Jalen Brunson was in year three and when you watch them side by side I mean tell me you haven't seen AJ Mitchell do stuff similar to this Throughout the course of last season their ability to get into the paint and can really handle themselves with composure Finish through contact They are able to contort and twist their body to find the openings and they hit the bottom of the net So frickin often AJ Mitchell show that exact same stuff in that series against the Lakers with that teardrop right there And not to mention his shooting form as well They have nearly the exact same release point nearly the exact same shot form Even though AJ missed that shot there that I just showed you Those two guys have so frickin much in common and the way that AJ Mitchell Could have a similar Jalen Brunson type of leap. He's not gonna become the NBA Finals MVP and the SB winner for NBA player of the year anytime soon But Jalen Brunson, he needed a larger role in a team and AJ Mitchell I think you would say the same thing and I would argue that AJ Mitchell is as ready for it now as Brunson was going into his year number four but then you also have a Situation where case and Wallace is eligible for an extension as of right now his rookie contract extension He's expressed a desire for a spot in the starting lineup and an increased role The Thunder still have yet to reach an agreement with him on this and he openly said on the record that his priority is Continuing to get better and grow his game and talking about his desire to be in the starting five And I get why he wants to be in the starting lineup He had his best offensive season of his career on top of it He led the NBA in steals and I went and looked this up did a little bit of research Cason Wallace was just the second player of this decade of this century I should say 21st century last 26 years Cason Wallace is just the second player in the NBA to lead the league in steals coming off the bench TJ McConnell did it back in 2020 2021 But Cason Wallace is the only other dude to do it in the 2000s all the way through now to 2026 so obviously what the dudes got is special and we know that he Could be an even better player with an even larger role and so it creates The dynamic where you don't know fully what to expect from all three of these guys and their future I want you guys to let me know what your thoughts are on this down below This is how those three lineups would all look I think that if Cason were to be in the starting five, he would just replace door at the two I think AJ came in the starting five He could take over the point and Shay could be a lot more off ball Which could be interesting as well if that has been his desire to play more on football But again Shay has also expressed his desire to keep blue door around So I don't really know how this is all gonna shake out and that's kind of where I want to get your guys's opinion On this right now this portion of the video. Let me know down in the comments Do you want to see Lou in the starting lineup? You didn't see AJ or do you want to see Cason Wallace? Which one of those three would you most prefer to see mark Dagon? I'll try out there for game number one all three of them You could say or argue are deserving but only one of them is gonna get a spot into that starting five Let me know what you guys think down below Appreciate you guys for watching today's video again today sponsored by prize pics Go click that link for your free 50 bucks and bonus funds put in the code that you see right there on the screen code Digest and stay on the lookout for our giveaway details coming here tomorrow. So until then we'll see you all later on under