The second round of the NBA playoffs is in full swing, and now the Thunder is 2-3 behind the Mavericks, although they are likely to be eliminated by the Mavericks, but as a youth army, the Thunder's performance is already very good, they achieved the first record in the West in the regular season, and swept the Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs.
The Thunder can play the current performance, their three are indispensable, Alexander played the level of the league's first-line stars in the playoffs, even if he is facing the opponent's pinching target, he can also calmly, so far in the playoffs, Alexander has averaged 29.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, shooting 48.7% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range, which is very efficient.
Alexander also has shortcomings, that is, his three-point ratio is still far behind Doncic, Irving and other stars, so the opponent will not choose to pinch him on the three-point line, although he enjoys the treatment of the pinch but only rushed into the three-point line to be pinched, so it does not play a big role in tearing apart the opponent's defensive formation, but Alexander is only 25 years old, he still has higher room for growth, and it is already very good to reach the current height.
Holmgren as a rookie, he is not stage frightened, and the more critical the more dare to play, but also makes people look forward to his future, maybe a few years later, the league will be the era of him and Wembanyama, Chet has averaged 15 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.8 blocks per game in the playoffs so far, the average block per game is the first in the league, shooting 48%, three-point shooting rate of 28%, if you improve the confrontation in the future, his ability will be even better.
Jay Wei is also a rookie in the playoffs, his play is also very good, as a first-round No. 12 pick, he can reach the current height is not expected by many fans, so far in the playoffs, Jay Wei can average 18.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game, shooting rate of 46%, three-point shooting rate of 35%, the performance is also very good, he has the opportunity to become one of the best players in the league in the future.
Seeing this, everyone may say, isn't Thunder four less? Giddey was indeed a core during the regular season, but after the playoffs came, especially in the face of the Mavericks in this series, he was almost abandoned, so he was not considered a core, and so far in the playoffs, he has averaged 9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19 minutes per game, shooting 46% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.
The reason why he didn't have a chance was that the defense was too poor, Giddey himself was born in the No. 1 position, but because the team did not have a qualified No. 3 player, he went to play the No. 3 position, because he suffered from his confrontation ability and was also frantically targeted by the opponent, to be honest, this is no wonder Giddey. And Giddey has developed good shooting ability after sacrificing the ball this season, which also makes up for his lack of offensive end, and he may now be able to play a qualified No. 2 position.
As things stand, the Thunder are planning to send Giddey away in the offseason, after all, he faces an early contract extension, and the team will have to make room for Jay and Holmgren to make big contracts in the future. To be honest, the most important thing that the Thunder should send away may not be Giddey, but Jayway, because compared to Giddey, the conflict between Jayway and Alexander's functions may be the biggest problem that hinders the Thunder from going far in the future.
Friends who often watch Thunder games should be able to find that as long as Alexander attacks with the ball, Jay Wei has no influence, Jayway scores most of the time after Alexander goes off the court, his style of play is the same as Alexander, he relies on the team's space, and then breaks through to kill or mid-distance kill, the two not only play the same style, but also have similar positioning, Jay Wei is also a player who integrates offense and defense.
The two of them are a bit like the positioning of Wei Shao and Harden at the beginning, why did the Thunder break up the three Shao back then? Could it be that they can't discover Sanshao's talent? You must know that in 12 years Harden, Durant and Wei Shao, the oldest of the three was only 23 years old, younger than the current Thunder three young, and they reached the Finals, but in the offseason, the team dismantled the lineup of the three less, and at that time Presti was really only for 6 million?
It's not, but because of the conflict between Harden and Wei Shao's style of play, Harden needs the ball, and Wei Shao also needs the ball, so Harden can only play the bench and can't play the biggest role, so Presti sent him away in exchange for Martin with excellent off-ball ability, but Martin is too thin to defend well, and in the end it also delayed Dewey's championship, Harden did play MVP after leaving the Thunder, but he definitely couldn't play MVP after he was in the Thunder.
Maybe in the future, the disintegration of the three young will be staged again, because it is indeed too difficult for the core of the two playing styles to compete for the championship. Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current Thunder? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.