Thunder Buddies

The Thunder roster crunch has been the topic of the summer in OKC. Earlier this week the Thunder cut ties with two former Houston Rocket first-round picks in TyTy Washington and Usman Garuba. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin break down the news, when it happened and why we feel like this may have happened. Then it's trivia time! Michael has around 15 or so fun Thunder trivia-style questions and we will see how sharp Joe’s random niche knowledge is coming off vacation!   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter! Also make sure to rate the show 5 stars on Apple, Spotfiy or wherever you get your podcasts!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

Yesterday was a big day on the NBA calendar! It was schedule release day! Now we know the exact time and date of every Oklahoma City Thunder game in 2023-2024. Today on the Thunder Buddies: Michael Martin is joined by Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder to discuss and break down the top 5 Thunder games we are looking forward to most this season.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter! Also make sure to rate the show 5 stars on Apple, Spotfiy or wherever you get your podcasts!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) Producer: Michael Martin

For this edition of the Thunder Buddies a special guest joined us: James Edwards III of the Athletic who is a senior NBA writer, Detroit Pistons reporter and podcaster. We get a different perspective on Thunder’s core from an outside source with his finger on the pulse of the NBA. A ton of fun in this one breaking down Shai’s status in the NBA, the Dort dilemma, Giddey’s ceiling, previewing Chet’s rookie season, JDub looking to take a second leap, Cade Cunnigham's return to the floor and finally the parallels between the Thunder and Pistons with their emphasis of people over players in team/organization building.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) Producer: Michael Martin

We needed questions and you all came through! So it's only appropriate we answered as many as we could! The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin answer and discuss your great questions about the Thunder, the NBA and more!   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

I hope I am not shocking or surprising anyone by asking this, but did you know the Thunder have a roster crunch and need to cut down some numbers? It seems with all the roster crunch talk it is always talking about the cases against these guys to stay on the roster. In this episode, we decided to flip this idea on its head! Michael Martin is joined by a special guest: Alex Speers of the Athletic’s NBA Saturday Morning Slam and Jam and Down to Dunk to help make the case for the Thunder underdogs.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Alex Speers (@Albabycakes) Producer: Michael Martin

This is NOT a player ranking. Inspired by Bill Simmons' trade value columns, the Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin tier every member of the Thunder roster, explain their reasoning for tiering, how trade value can be measured, contract value and more hypothetical fun!   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Berry Tramel (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

Don’t forget how the Thunder got here. There is tons of talk about the Thunder’s far away new arena plans and there is already murmuring about the city vote on the plans. The Thunder Buddies: Michael Martin and Berry Tramel breakdown more arena news, the history of NBA teams relocating and their reason for leaving. Then we dive into the comparisons that we should not make between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembenyama along with any other comps for Chet. Lastly we discuss the current big man renaissance that is developing across professional basketball and where the Thunder stand in this new movement.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Berry Tramel (@BerryTramel) Producer: Michael Martin

First Danillo Galinari, Mike Muscala, Eugene Omoruyi and now Jared Butler? It feels like there's a recent Thunder migration to the Washington Wizards. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin have all the Butler news, why this happened and more. Then we get into some Q&A fun with questions coming from the beautiful people who listen to this podcast and read Joe’s work at the Oklahoman!   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

Yesterday Mayor David Holt made a big announcement pushing forward momentum on a new downtown arena that would be the home for the Thunder. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown all the new arena news, why this is happening, why now, what does this mean for OKC, the Thunder’s involvement, big picture things and finally we discuss Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren joining the Team USA select and how this experience could help both guys going into next season.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

Right before this podcast was recorded news broke that Mark Daigneault has agreed to a contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown the news, why this happened, what it says about the Thunder’s confidence in Mark and more. Then a massive deep dive into expectations for Chet Holmgren’s rookie season with research over top 5 picks since 2013 who were 6’9 or above and other players like Chet who missed their rookie season due to injury and how the rest of their careers have gone.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

As Summer League is coming to a close, it is only appropriate that we talk about our biggest takeaways from the games. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown their biggest takeaways, lessons learned and more from Salt Lake City and Las Vegas Summer League for the Thunder. The NBA and Vegas had more news this week as the specifics of the NBA In-Season Tournament and its rules were finally formally announced. We put on our commissioners hats on for an exercise if Adam Silver asked us what changes we would make to the In-Season Tournament along with our initial reactions to the new addition to the NBA calendar.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

Summer League is in full swing! Cason Wallace shined in his first game for the Thunder. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown Cason’s debut, Joe’s time in Vegas this week, watching Victor Wembenyama in person, All the Chet chat in SLC/Sin City and finally Joe and Michael discuss how the Thunder currently having 20 rostered players is not an issue and actually could be a positive.  

We are in full Summer League swing with the Salt Lake City games wrapped up and now OKC will make their way to Las Vegas for more games. The Thunder Buddies: Berry Tramel and Michael Martin on today’s podcast deep dive into some recent history of European hoops as a way to gage how good Micic could be in OKC, How Tre has become the Mann in SLC and if its sustainable for the regular season, Early returns on Chet is his first games back from injury and finally what is the best use or role to play Ousmane Dieng in?   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Berry Tramel (@BerryTramel) Producer: Michael Martin

The Thunder did the unexpected this week and signed Vasilje Micic! The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown the Micic signing, why now, how he fits with OKC, the Thunder adding assets alongside Victor Oladipo and Patty Mills, the Thunder adding Jack White, who he is, a short scouting report, our top 3 things for Thunder fans to watch during the Salt Lake City Summer League and finally it is the 7 year anniversary of the NBA cap spike that lead to Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors. Rather than dwell on the negatives, Joe and Michael had some fun and drafted the top 3 worst contracts from 2016 that lead to some historic overpays and front offices pulling out their hair.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin have talked about Cason on a variety of podcasts and different episodes and segments. We thought it would be fun to do a super cut of all the Cason Wallace conversations we have had on the Thunder Buddies. The clips are all in chronological order going back to May with Derek Parker and Rafael Barlowe with their scouting expertise and opinions on Cason. We also included any Cason convos between Joe and Michael including our initial reactions to the pick on draft night!   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

The draft is over and we finished up the Thunder rookie introductory press conference on Saturday, but the season never stops! The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin discuss their biggest takeaways from meeting the rookies for the first time, catching up with Mark Daigneault and Sam Presti. Then we have a fun exercise talking about likely outcomes for Cason Wallace. Under John Calipari all types of elite talent like Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray to the low end of Archie Goodwin and James Young. Our mission for this exercise? Rank all of these former Wildcat guards in tiers and see where we feel like Cason could end up in relation to these other NBA players.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

It finally happened! After months of discussion, research and more the 2023 NBA Draft delivered all the classic moments you would expect. The Thunder had an eventful night themselves trading up to 10 to take Kentucky guard Cason Wallace. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown Cason’s game, his fit in OKC, what all went down on the trade-up, Bertans contract, Keyontae Johnson at 50, his incredible story and more fun tidbits from the draft!

The draft is two days away! We are inching closer to knowing who the Thunder will add to their roster in the 2023 NBA Draft this Thursday. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin kick off the pod by discussing the recent Vasilije Micic news, why he is in OKC, what it means, and more. Next up Joe and Michael break down their top 5 Thunder draft prospects, their fit in OKC, trade-up targets, bold predictions and more draft fun! Also don’t forget to enter our free SGA jersey giveaway on Twitter!    For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin

As the draft gets closer we get more and more of a consensus of the top 5, top 10 and more for prospects. Although that is nice, sometimes tiers are the better way to distinguish the range players are in! The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin tier 20 top 2023 draft prospects in some fun tiers and break down the games of the future NBA players as they tier them along with their reasons behind it. Also don’t forget to enter our free SGA jersey giveaway on Twitter!    For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter!   Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin  

Are you all ready for the NBA Draft? Even during the finals Sam Presti is still working and made a trade with the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin breakdown the trade, why both teams did it and who on the roster benefits from the deal. After Michael gives us a deep dive on recent lottery draft trades along with info about what it usually takes to trade up into the lottery or higher along with how many of the teams who traded up are glad they did. Is it always worth it to trade up because you can?   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and more make sure to follow @ThunderBudPod on Twitter! Host: Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) Analyst: Joe Mussatto (@Joe_Mussatto) Producer: Michael Martin