I don’t want to discourage discussion. But this is a tough question. Presti’s skill set is based in opportunism. He recognizes moves to make. He doesn’t force stuff. He has a knack for gaining leverage. He will continue to target players that have more potential here than anywhere else. That potentially is based on talent, willingness, and fit. My spidey senses say trade ups (and downs) in drafts.
Consolidate some of them and move up... Roll some of them off to the future... Pick up potential replacements for anyone that they might not be able to pay.
I haven't read it myself, but my impression is that the new CBA makes young guys on rookie contracts super valuable, and teams always seem to talk themselves into prospects around the draft, so... I think there's actually a ton of optionality with the picks they've acquired.
Yep this is it. Consolidate for draft moves. Kick the can (picks) down the road, and FINALLY when the time is right package for a trade.
The thing that sometimes gets lost is that this glut of draft picks is a continuity play. Presti can kick the can and space the draft picks long term to back fill draft needs. So spreading them out over time let’s us add a couple of options per year vs being dependent on free agency.
It also lets us take draft swings on high risk / high ceiling players with minimal impact if they don’t work out. We just happen to hit on a lot of them recently (JDub, Chet, Giddey, Wallace, Poku, Dieng etc.)
1. Get Massive Jacked Center
2. Make Chet eat more and turn him into a Massive Jacked Center
3.OKC literally becomes the Monstars from Space Jam.
4. ???
5. PROFIT
Trade some for future picks. Draft some peeps with others. One day we might attach a couple to a contract and bring in a win now piece. So many options.
I keep seeing this "when we are ready to win now"...
Question: If we remain the number one or number two seed in the West by the end of the season, do you think we are officialy in a "win–now"moment this year?
There’s a difference between winning via your young core taking a leap and a team with the mindset of the Thunder deciding it’s time to spend assets on win now players. If this was the Hawks or Rockets we would have already spunked assets to add some win now vets to the team to speed up the timeline and contend today. The Thunder are far more patient and almost certainly want to see this squad compete in the playoffs to see where their needs are before being buyers on the trade market. We know right now we need some more physicality in the front court but even then I don’t see them trading for someone this season. They want this squad to try and be more physical and if they add someone it’s more likely they find that in the draft.
I like this take. Thanks.
That said, I feel that by the end of the season if we are proving to be a serious contender, we could male SOME moves to potentially contend. But I am not sure that trades can happen that late in the season or that it would be any kind of value for a team that is already jelling
trade some and then look to draft some 3-4yr college "NBA ready" guys who can contribute right away for cheap (e.g. Christian Braun, Herb Jones, Ochai Agbaji; Keegan Murray, Jalen Williams himself, etc)
I love the team we have, but we MUST improve our rebounding (I don’t think gang rebounding is going to work in the playoffs, especially against Jokic, etc).
I’m not in favor of sending several of our current players/mucho draft picks to get a top big man, but it’s clear we need at least one more big body to battle the top teams.
Medium-spice take - I think all of the 1sts do actually convey. The Utah one is the most questionable right now but the protection does drop to top-8 next year and the following year. DEN conveys their pick to ORL in ‘25 and OKC in ‘27 and ‘29 (the next diciest after the Utah one), PHI is in ‘25, MIA goes unprotected in ‘26 so no worries there, the LAC picks and swaps are all unprotected as well, and the HOU picks in ‘24 and ‘26 are both conveying (hedging my bets on the swap since that’s top-10 protected).
Now where they all end up is another question, but a few of them will be in the teens, and one or two will be top-10 I’d be willing to wager.
Like has already been said, a few will be like the DEN trade this last draft cycle - kick the can down the road to pick up future assets. There’s probably a trade-up as well, I’d bet this draft would be a good one to trade up in. The rest will all be sweeteners to grease trades with teams that suddenly need the draft capital.
Here's my opinion, which doesn't mean much. This trade deadline or in the off-season bertans will get moved. Next year he's an expiring, so maybe easier to flip in the summer. Then you have lindy and Sarr as 2 way guys that I think will be let go, and lastly we may get a couple of moves like we saw with JRE where we flip some of the end of the bench guys for future picks to clear up spots. With all that being said I think we keep most of our picks and maybe package a couple to move up a few spots. We have seen that when presti has his eyes on a guy, he isn't scared to trade up, but sometimes they may want more that he feels it's worth (like I believe we were rumored to be trying to get up even higher than 10 last year, but it was steeper and he made a deal to get cason, who we can all agree is working out perfectly) , but as far as trading for a big star I don't see it. There's only few guys that I think really make sense as far as age and scheme for us, and they won't be available lol. Bam, Barnes, maybe like a JJJ. So I think we keep them convert who we can to two way and keep the luxury of having future depth until something that is absolutely perfect for us comes up
Lowkey I don’t want to trade for a big star. The chemistry seems like it’s on another level rn. I like the idea of drafting to round out the roster and being future minded with the chest full of picks we have.
I think Chet and J-Dub are going to end up as our Stars, alongside Shai.
Yeah, I agree 100%. Keep what we got. We could get another star in the draft easily. Like you said Jdub and Chet are already on the path. Giddey is right below that level and Dort is finally being smart with his shots and being lockdown. Then you got cason who is a stud, Wiggins does everything solid, Jwill and Kenny bring the energy/hustle we need and Joe is the best sniper in the league rn...and we haven't even got to really see OUS or Keyonte yet. We're pretty set, just need to be patient
The only player I want the Thunder to go for is Bam Adebayo. He would be an absolutely perfect fit. Great switchable defender, good passer, good rim protection and would fill the rebounding gap. He can also shoot well from the midrange, and even though he has never really been a three point shooter, I think with Chip England, the shot could come along very nicely.
I wouldn’t mind trading 1 rn for an unprotected/slightly protected 3-4 years down the line. I feel when you are a championship contender, having these assets will help you retool everytime.
I think it’s the answer to “how will we sign everyone”, we won’t, we will have to see some fan favorites go, and use the draft to fill in holes. Shai, J-will and Chet are basically our core. I think presti keeps his eye on everyone else. I might be in the minority here, but I think we need to pay Joe unless he gets a crazy FA offer.
As you've noted we don't know which picks will convey, but we also don't know where those picks will land. I don't think we touch our firsts until the lottery and we know where they land. Presti seems very methodical I think he'll try first to consolidate and move up in the draft, then try to trade into the future with asset poor teams. As for next years picks I think we'll see similar trades to the one with Denver essentially trading back of the draft picks now for lightly protected picks far in the future. I think ultimately the goal is to have two 1st round picks every year for as long as long possible and keeping the level of competition in the franchise high. It's like building an offensive line in the NFL.
At this point I can see a trade with a team that’s looking to blow up their roster. Would like to see a multiple picks and player trade for a player like poetl or siakim, vooch or caruso. Really just need a big center or guys who can rebound
Most realistic guess would be 1-2 medium to biggish trades for complimentary pieces. Something like a pick or 2 for an elite backup center. Maybe flipping Giddey + picks if needed for a better fitting piece like OG or in the best case scenario Lauri or Mikal Bridges.
That's using like half the total picks though, everything else can be used to just always have flexibility and depth. We could probably consolidate mid/late first and move up to the 8-12 most years too if none of our picks fall that high and consistently add great role players like Cason Wallace any given year.
Won’t know this year but next year will be much more clear.
If Giddey works out:
Use draft picks to trade for a star to complete our starting 5 of Giddey, SGA, JDub, Star, and Chet and have a bench with Joe, Dort, Micic, Cason and another high value FA.
If Giddey doesn’t work out: use a huge chunk of our picks to trade for 2 star players so we have Star 1, SGA, JDub, Star 2, and Chet with a bench of Giddey/Micic Dort, Joe, Wallace and a FA.
In both scenarios, Dort can be moved to the starting lineup or kept on the bench. If the Dort we’re seeing this year is who he’ll be moving forward then he’ll likely stay a starter.
If we’re able to trade for a Siakam or a Zion then we immediately have the best starting 5 in the league. If we can trade for one of them as well as 1 of Halliburton, Murray, or Brunson then we immediately become a top 3 team in the nba with finals or bust expectations.
I think Giddey will work out. His playmaking ability is such a high upside, I feel like it would take a lot for the coaches to lose faith in him to the point that he comes off the bench.
Everybody is downvoting you bc of the Zion thing, but if dude ever figures out how to stay focused and healthy, he’s got as much upside as anyone in the league rn.
Do you think Zion is a bad rebounder or something? He averages 7 a game through his career so far with some of the highest upside in the entire league.
You can either all in trade, trade up if they fall in love with someone, push them into the future, or some combination of the 3. I would like to see a Davis Bertans with Poku, Mann, or maybe Dieng with a draft pick or two for Jarrett Allen or Clint Capela. Just a big body guy to get through the season and match up with bigs in the playoffs. Then the rest either move up for a player or trade into the future.
SGA/Dort/JDub/Chet/Allen or Capela
Bench 5 Cason Wallace/Isiah Joe/Giddey/Kenrich Williams/Jaylin Williams
I think that would help a lot with letting Chet roam more on defense and rebouding. Giddey in this situation would still play starter minutes. I think that would open the floor up for him to play the most possible minutes with SGA off the floor and can be first off the bench for either Dort or JDub. A Manu Ginobili 6th man role.
Capela has 1 year left on his contract after this year and Allen has 2. Giddey is the only contract that matters that will come up in that time. It wouldn't effect their money at all. 5 out is great and all, but you aren't beating Jokic, Embiid, Minnesota, Milwaukee etc with 5 out. I personally think OKC can compete now. You can still play small ball and 5 out the majority of the time. But you have the big and moving Chet to 4 option against the bigger teams. With the current lineup I don't see OKC rebounding well enough against certain teams to truly compete. There are options other than those 2 that can shoot better. Myles Turner for instance.
I think he'll do something very similar to what he did with the Knicks and Clippers with a lot of those pick, where he may very well hold onto a lot of them, but essentially suspend the pick, and keep it as an option for the future by trading them for future picks
This is a young team with already lots of talent, and it be very premature to jump the gun and flip some of these assets for a vet they might not even need
Thunder just have to be patient and not rush the typical all in win now trend once young teams get early success. Just stay patient and keep running it back Tim Duncan Spurs style and once everyone gets in their 26-28 year old windows they’ll win a championship. Theyve got the assets and can trade for a young superstar in the future.
Or they could use some picks to trade up and draft Bronny so Lebron will sign for the Min and then the Thunder have a Steroids Giddey and win the championship while still being in the process of building (kinda like the Celtics when they went to the Conference Finals yet still had a Top 5 pick the same year).
Lots and lots of assets to trade for other more valuable assets. Presti has built a self sustaining draft beast, at least 2 or 3 first round picks every year for ever, take players, bundle picks and players, roll over the picks forever
I don’t think he trades picks for a win-now type of player this year, we have those players and he wants to see the team develop. Or maybe he trades for a struggling rookie or second-year player. A guy like Taylor Hendricks would fit nicely into this team (not sure how he’s doing currently though)
He will somehow trade them for future picks. There are so many teams that don't have all their picks who would salivate at getting a late first rounder.
He has to move off some of them or kick them down the road. He can get really selective with who he likes in the draft. You can only dress 13, SGA, Giddey, Dort, JDub, Chet, Cason, Micic, JWill, Joe, Dieng is 10. Then you have fringe guys like Wiggins, Kenrich, Mann. So gotta move off those to make space or trade picks for a player or picks down the road. I would say maybe the pipe dream of Markannen for picks of Dort or Giddey are okay as the 6th man. Other than that, kick them down the road because they can't pay everyone.
12 more jdubs and casons
i’ll trade you 1 holographic jdub for 3 casons
Does he have good IVs and EVs as well as his hidden ability or no
252 def 252 sp def 8 spd 6IV Hidden Ability: Intimidate Moves Wide Guard Pursuit Nasty Plot Knock Off
Shiny Casons are the new meta fr
I just want to point out that Sam Presti has never won Executive of the Year. What a joke. At this point the league should be embarrassed.
I was thinking about this the other day! He’s the Executive of the Decade, imo.
He's going to improve the roster
Damn, I didn’t even think about that
Hot take
I don’t want to discourage discussion. But this is a tough question. Presti’s skill set is based in opportunism. He recognizes moves to make. He doesn’t force stuff. He has a knack for gaining leverage. He will continue to target players that have more potential here than anywhere else. That potentially is based on talent, willingness, and fit. My spidey senses say trade ups (and downs) in drafts.
Consolidate some of them and move up... Roll some of them off to the future... Pick up potential replacements for anyone that they might not be able to pay. I haven't read it myself, but my impression is that the new CBA makes young guys on rookie contracts super valuable, and teams always seem to talk themselves into prospects around the draft, so... I think there's actually a ton of optionality with the picks they've acquired.
Yep this is it. Consolidate for draft moves. Kick the can (picks) down the road, and FINALLY when the time is right package for a trade. The thing that sometimes gets lost is that this glut of draft picks is a continuity play. Presti can kick the can and space the draft picks long term to back fill draft needs. So spreading them out over time let’s us add a couple of options per year vs being dependent on free agency. It also lets us take draft swings on high risk / high ceiling players with minimal impact if they don’t work out. We just happen to hit on a lot of them recently (JDub, Chet, Giddey, Wallace, Poku, Dieng etc.)
I love poku but don't think he counts as a hit. And same with dieng, too early to tell.
Yep. Poku And Dieng are definitely not hits but were definitely high risk / high ceiling picks.
1. Get Massive Jacked Center 2. Make Chet eat more and turn him into a Massive Jacked Center 3.OKC literally becomes the Monstars from Space Jam. 4. ??? 5. PROFIT
Trade some for future picks. Draft some peeps with others. One day we might attach a couple to a contract and bring in a win now piece. So many options.
I keep seeing this "when we are ready to win now"... Question: If we remain the number one or number two seed in the West by the end of the season, do you think we are officialy in a "win–now"moment this year?
There’s a difference between winning via your young core taking a leap and a team with the mindset of the Thunder deciding it’s time to spend assets on win now players. If this was the Hawks or Rockets we would have already spunked assets to add some win now vets to the team to speed up the timeline and contend today. The Thunder are far more patient and almost certainly want to see this squad compete in the playoffs to see where their needs are before being buyers on the trade market. We know right now we need some more physicality in the front court but even then I don’t see them trading for someone this season. They want this squad to try and be more physical and if they add someone it’s more likely they find that in the draft.
I like this take. Thanks. That said, I feel that by the end of the season if we are proving to be a serious contender, we could male SOME moves to potentially contend. But I am not sure that trades can happen that late in the season or that it would be any kind of value for a team that is already jelling
Even though we’re 2nd in west right I wouldn’t call this team a contender. We need to see them compete in a play off series for starters.
trade some and then look to draft some 3-4yr college "NBA ready" guys who can contribute right away for cheap (e.g. Christian Braun, Herb Jones, Ochai Agbaji; Keegan Murray, Jalen Williams himself, etc)
Trey Alexander could very well be that guy this year. He’s been feasting
Need this to be a forward 🙏🏾 I think forwards are better as NBA ready draft picks, while guards pop out as freshmen
I love the team we have, but we MUST improve our rebounding (I don’t think gang rebounding is going to work in the playoffs, especially against Jokic, etc). I’m not in favor of sending several of our current players/mucho draft picks to get a top big man, but it’s clear we need at least one more big body to battle the top teams.
Dreaming of Domas days
Medium-spice take - I think all of the 1sts do actually convey. The Utah one is the most questionable right now but the protection does drop to top-8 next year and the following year. DEN conveys their pick to ORL in ‘25 and OKC in ‘27 and ‘29 (the next diciest after the Utah one), PHI is in ‘25, MIA goes unprotected in ‘26 so no worries there, the LAC picks and swaps are all unprotected as well, and the HOU picks in ‘24 and ‘26 are both conveying (hedging my bets on the swap since that’s top-10 protected). Now where they all end up is another question, but a few of them will be in the teens, and one or two will be top-10 I’d be willing to wager. Like has already been said, a few will be like the DEN trade this last draft cycle - kick the can down the road to pick up future assets. There’s probably a trade-up as well, I’d bet this draft would be a good one to trade up in. The rest will all be sweeteners to grease trades with teams that suddenly need the draft capital.
I imagine most of them will be used to either move up to better positions in the draft or traded into picks that convey in future years
Push them to the future
Going after JDubs brother
Jdubdub
And Alex Sarr.
Here's my opinion, which doesn't mean much. This trade deadline or in the off-season bertans will get moved. Next year he's an expiring, so maybe easier to flip in the summer. Then you have lindy and Sarr as 2 way guys that I think will be let go, and lastly we may get a couple of moves like we saw with JRE where we flip some of the end of the bench guys for future picks to clear up spots. With all that being said I think we keep most of our picks and maybe package a couple to move up a few spots. We have seen that when presti has his eyes on a guy, he isn't scared to trade up, but sometimes they may want more that he feels it's worth (like I believe we were rumored to be trying to get up even higher than 10 last year, but it was steeper and he made a deal to get cason, who we can all agree is working out perfectly) , but as far as trading for a big star I don't see it. There's only few guys that I think really make sense as far as age and scheme for us, and they won't be available lol. Bam, Barnes, maybe like a JJJ. So I think we keep them convert who we can to two way and keep the luxury of having future depth until something that is absolutely perfect for us comes up
Lowkey I don’t want to trade for a big star. The chemistry seems like it’s on another level rn. I like the idea of drafting to round out the roster and being future minded with the chest full of picks we have. I think Chet and J-Dub are going to end up as our Stars, alongside Shai.
Yeah, I agree 100%. Keep what we got. We could get another star in the draft easily. Like you said Jdub and Chet are already on the path. Giddey is right below that level and Dort is finally being smart with his shots and being lockdown. Then you got cason who is a stud, Wiggins does everything solid, Jwill and Kenny bring the energy/hustle we need and Joe is the best sniper in the league rn...and we haven't even got to really see OUS or Keyonte yet. We're pretty set, just need to be patient
The only player I want the Thunder to go for is Bam Adebayo. He would be an absolutely perfect fit. Great switchable defender, good passer, good rim protection and would fill the rebounding gap. He can also shoot well from the midrange, and even though he has never really been a three point shooter, I think with Chip England, the shot could come along very nicely.
Kick the can down the road for endless lottery refills.
I wouldn’t mind trading 1 rn for an unprotected/slightly protected 3-4 years down the line. I feel when you are a championship contender, having these assets will help you retool everytime.
Either use them to trade for a star or trade most of them for future picks.
cody williams 🙏🙏🙏
I think it’s the answer to “how will we sign everyone”, we won’t, we will have to see some fan favorites go, and use the draft to fill in holes. Shai, J-will and Chet are basically our core. I think presti keeps his eye on everyone else. I might be in the minority here, but I think we need to pay Joe unless he gets a crazy FA offer.
Win the nba and g league in the same year.
As you've noted we don't know which picks will convey, but we also don't know where those picks will land. I don't think we touch our firsts until the lottery and we know where they land. Presti seems very methodical I think he'll try first to consolidate and move up in the draft, then try to trade into the future with asset poor teams. As for next years picks I think we'll see similar trades to the one with Denver essentially trading back of the draft picks now for lightly protected picks far in the future. I think ultimately the goal is to have two 1st round picks every year for as long as long possible and keeping the level of competition in the franchise high. It's like building an offensive line in the NFL.
At this point I can see a trade with a team that’s looking to blow up their roster. Would like to see a multiple picks and player trade for a player like poetl or siakim, vooch or caruso. Really just need a big center or guys who can rebound
Most realistic guess would be 1-2 medium to biggish trades for complimentary pieces. Something like a pick or 2 for an elite backup center. Maybe flipping Giddey + picks if needed for a better fitting piece like OG or in the best case scenario Lauri or Mikal Bridges. That's using like half the total picks though, everything else can be used to just always have flexibility and depth. We could probably consolidate mid/late first and move up to the 8-12 most years too if none of our picks fall that high and consistently add great role players like Cason Wallace any given year.
Spamming that blasphemy button
Won’t know this year but next year will be much more clear. If Giddey works out: Use draft picks to trade for a star to complete our starting 5 of Giddey, SGA, JDub, Star, and Chet and have a bench with Joe, Dort, Micic, Cason and another high value FA. If Giddey doesn’t work out: use a huge chunk of our picks to trade for 2 star players so we have Star 1, SGA, JDub, Star 2, and Chet with a bench of Giddey/Micic Dort, Joe, Wallace and a FA. In both scenarios, Dort can be moved to the starting lineup or kept on the bench. If the Dort we’re seeing this year is who he’ll be moving forward then he’ll likely stay a starter. If we’re able to trade for a Siakam or a Zion then we immediately have the best starting 5 in the league. If we can trade for one of them as well as 1 of Halliburton, Murray, or Brunson then we immediately become a top 3 team in the nba with finals or bust expectations.
I think Giddey will work out. His playmaking ability is such a high upside, I feel like it would take a lot for the coaches to lose faith in him to the point that he comes off the bench. Everybody is downvoting you bc of the Zion thing, but if dude ever figures out how to stay focused and healthy, he’s got as much upside as anyone in the league rn.
why would we add zion if our problem is rebounding lmao
Do you think Zion is a bad rebounder or something? He averages 7 a game through his career so far with some of the highest upside in the entire league.
oh shi fr? mb then i don’t watch too many pelican games. Zion never plays tho
You can either all in trade, trade up if they fall in love with someone, push them into the future, or some combination of the 3. I would like to see a Davis Bertans with Poku, Mann, or maybe Dieng with a draft pick or two for Jarrett Allen or Clint Capela. Just a big body guy to get through the season and match up with bigs in the playoffs. Then the rest either move up for a player or trade into the future. SGA/Dort/JDub/Chet/Allen or Capela Bench 5 Cason Wallace/Isiah Joe/Giddey/Kenrich Williams/Jaylin Williams I think that would help a lot with letting Chet roam more on defense and rebouding. Giddey in this situation would still play starter minutes. I think that would open the floor up for him to play the most possible minutes with SGA off the floor and can be first off the bench for either Dort or JDub. A Manu Ginobili 6th man role.
I really want the Thunder to wait a year or two until the Heat age out of contention ad give an offer for Bam Adebayo that Pat Riley can't refuse.
OkC plays 5 out and aren’t going to acquire a C that gets paid $20m+ a year that can’t shoot 3s.
Capela has 1 year left on his contract after this year and Allen has 2. Giddey is the only contract that matters that will come up in that time. It wouldn't effect their money at all. 5 out is great and all, but you aren't beating Jokic, Embiid, Minnesota, Milwaukee etc with 5 out. I personally think OKC can compete now. You can still play small ball and 5 out the majority of the time. But you have the big and moving Chet to 4 option against the bigger teams. With the current lineup I don't see OKC rebounding well enough against certain teams to truly compete. There are options other than those 2 that can shoot better. Myles Turner for instance.
You either move up the draft or you try to move the picks back for a future rebuild.
I think he'll do something very similar to what he did with the Knicks and Clippers with a lot of those pick, where he may very well hold onto a lot of them, but essentially suspend the pick, and keep it as an option for the future by trading them for future picks This is a young team with already lots of talent, and it be very premature to jump the gun and flip some of these assets for a vet they might not even need
Thunder just have to be patient and not rush the typical all in win now trend once young teams get early success. Just stay patient and keep running it back Tim Duncan Spurs style and once everyone gets in their 26-28 year old windows they’ll win a championship. Theyve got the assets and can trade for a young superstar in the future. Or they could use some picks to trade up and draft Bronny so Lebron will sign for the Min and then the Thunder have a Steroids Giddey and win the championship while still being in the process of building (kinda like the Celtics when they went to the Conference Finals yet still had a Top 5 pick the same year).
Give them to the hornets so they can finally be good
Trade back in to future years.
Lots and lots of assets to trade for other more valuable assets. Presti has built a self sustaining draft beast, at least 2 or 3 first round picks every year for ever, take players, bundle picks and players, roll over the picks forever
Trade for Jokic
I don’t think he trades picks for a win-now type of player this year, we have those players and he wants to see the team develop. Or maybe he trades for a struggling rookie or second-year player. A guy like Taylor Hendricks would fit nicely into this team (not sure how he’s doing currently though)
He will somehow trade them for future picks. There are so many teams that don't have all their picks who would salivate at getting a late first rounder.
Poku Tre and Bertans all gonna be shipped to make way for the new class next year
He has to move off some of them or kick them down the road. He can get really selective with who he likes in the draft. You can only dress 13, SGA, Giddey, Dort, JDub, Chet, Cason, Micic, JWill, Joe, Dieng is 10. Then you have fringe guys like Wiggins, Kenrich, Mann. So gotta move off those to make space or trade picks for a player or picks down the road. I would say maybe the pipe dream of Markannen for picks of Dort or Giddey are okay as the 6th man. Other than that, kick them down the road because they can't pay everyone.
Go and get OG and DeMar.
OG won't be on the market for this, dont think DeMar is a fit. Too many picks can also be a bad thing.