Thunder Buddies

Today on the Thunder Buddies: Michael Martin, Derek Parker, Rylan Stiles and Clemente Almanza have assembled like voltron to give out their best, “would you rather” Thunder questions going into the 2023-2024 season. A fun one for sure where the four get into some fun questions and discuss some expectations for next season.   For more Thunder Buddies Podcast updates, Thunder news, highlights and mo...

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-st...

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...

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...

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)...

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...

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 T...

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...

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 Oklaho...

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 th...

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...

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 rule...

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 po...

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 r...

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 an...

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...

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 Calipa...

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 Johnso...

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 tar...

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 reaso...

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 t...

We are less than 2 weeks away from the 2023 NBA Draft! Bilal Coulibaly has been the talk of the draft recently and rocketed up draft boards. Michael Martin is joined by Tyler Rucker of No Ceilings to break down Bilal’s game, fit with the Thunder, scouting report and more along with a deep dive into Rayan Rupert! This was a really fun and in-depth conversation that gives a glimpse into the process...

The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin are back and ready to talk more basketball! Today on the Thunder Buddies, Joe and Michael discuss good and bad lessons the Thunder can learn from the 8 teams who made the playoffs out of the East. What mistakes can the Thunder avoid making that hurt these teams? What can the Thunder copy or emulate that helped these teams succeed?    For more Th...

The Thunder Buddies: Joe Mussatto and Michael Martin are back and ready to talk more OKC hoops! Today on the Thunder Buddies, Joe and Michael discuss the good and bad lessons the Thunder can learn from the 8 teams who made the playoffs out of the West. What mistakes can the Thunder avoid making that hurt these teams? What can the Thunder copy or emulate that helped these teams succeed?    For more...

The 2023 NBA Draft is only 23 days away! Today on the Thunder Buddies Michael Martin is joined by the Director of scouting for the NBA Big Board, Founder of the NBA Draft Junkies and host of the Locked on NBA Draft podcast: Rafael Barlowe! Michael and Rafael break down 6 different high-level draft prospects in the Thunder’s range at 12 and a couple of guys worth trading up for. For more Thunder Bu...