The Oklahoma City Thunder have understandably moved on from some players as they built a championship roster. One player beloved by the Thunder and their fans was Tre Mann, and it was a surprise to many that he was traded. His terrible start to the season only adds to the evidence that it was a move they had to make.
Mann was a first-round draft pick of the Thunder in the 2021 NBA Draft and was mostly as advertised upon entering the league. He was a confident scoring guard who shot well enough from outside and could get to the rim. He had the occasional game where he popped off 25 or 30 points and it made Thunder fans wonder if there was untapped potential.
That poptential started to peak out when he was traded midseason to the Charlotte Hornets. The Thunder got back Gordon Hayward, who proved to be in his final weeks in the NBA and had little to offer the Thunder. Mann, meanwhile, leveled up as a passer and rebounder in Charlotte. It looked early on like the Thunder had lost the deal.
That summer, however, Sam Presti used the cap space opened up by trading Mann on former New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, and he was the starting center on a title team last year. If Mann were still on the roster, they likely couldn't have opened up enough space to properly outbid the Knicks, and he might still be playing in New York.
Tre Mann has fallen apart
What's more, Mann has completely fallen apart in the year-plus since. Last season he was limited to just 13 games due to injury; while he shot 40 percent from 3-point range, he shot just 45.5 percent from inside the arc, and he was a matador on defense just waiving opponents through.
The hope from both the Charlotte Hornets and fans of Mann was that he could come into this season healthy and bounce back in a major way. Instead, he has essentially fallen flat on his face. He is down to only 20.5 minutes per game as the team has added other players in the backcourt, and he is doing precious little to earn his spot back.
Mann is shooting a frigid 22.2 percent from deep on 18 total attempts, and somehow only 26.7 percent from inside the arc. His two turnovers per game nearly catch up to his 3.3 assists, and his defense is certainly as bad as ever. His complete and utter lack of accuracy puts him in rare company; only rookie Ben Saraf has a lower field goal percentage in the entire league than Mann (minimum 75 minutes played). In fact, only about two players per season shoot this poorly from the field.
The Hornets have LaMelo Ball and Kon Kenueppal in the backcourt. They have Collin Sexton as the veteran backup. The space for Mann in the rotation and on the roster is quickly disappearing. If he is not able to start scoring efficiently, he will be out of the league.
The Thunder were right to move on from him when they did. Sam Presti, as usual, ran the perfect play.