[don042488Participant]

A lot of NBA fans have made a big deal out of the Thunder trading away James Harden, but me being the true Thunder & NBA fan I am, I’m more upset at the Thunder giving up BJ Mullens for a measly 2nd round pick…smh Have anyone seen the tear this kid has been on lately? He’s putting up doubles doubles like crazy…Once known as a poor rebounder since his college days at Ohio State, BJ Mullens has shed the soft label that he once owned and he’s turned into a very solid player…He’s a 7’0 footer who can run like a deer, he’s very athletic, he’s great at shooting the ball from 15 to 22 ft, he’s blocking shots on a regular now, and he’s playing with more heart, getting boards now…Mullens would’ve been way better in the starting lineup right now with Ibaka, than Perkins…Since Nenad Kristic & Jeff Green left, the Thunder hasn’t had a consistent big man who they can run the pick & pop with, that’ll hit from mid range & the 3 point line with ease…It’s funny how the Thunder gave up Mullens, but kept Cole Aldrich, then included Cole Aldrich in the Harden deal, and gave a shot to Hasheem Thabeet…smh BJ Mullens is better than Pericks, Cole Aldrich, and Thabeet, plus has more upside to get better, he’s not even a post player…Imagine if Mullens add a post game to his smooth perimeter shooting from mid-range & 3 point land, he’ll probably one day become an All-Star one day…There’s reports now, that the Thunder is discussing a deal with the Suns that will send Perkins, a 1st round pick, and Jeremy Lamb to Phoneix, for Marcin Gortat…smh Is Sam Presti nuts?!!!! Gortat isn’t an all-star and it shows he can’t produce without a pass first point guard, ala Steve Nash, and Presti is really going to give up all those assets for a guy who will complain and not play as hard, when Russell Westbrook goes nut, and doesn’t pass him the ball? smh Sam Presti is F’ing up, and the Thunder will suffer from it

[TyroberParticipant]

Mullens is shooting .394. You claim he is blocking shots, yet he is averaging less than one a game? He also hasn’t blocked a shot in his last 3 games which is horrible for a 7footer. He is getting playing time on the Bobcats because someone has to be getting the time. Yeah the guy is averaging 13PPG which is very decent, but he is shooting under 40% from the field. You have lost your mind.

[don042488Participant]

Tyson Chandler blocks 1 shot a game, but people think he’s one of the best defensive centers the league has…Stats lie sometimes…Mullens takes a lot of shots for the Bobcats that’s why his percentage is low…If u want to base off shooting percentage, Allen Iverson wouldn’t be a future NBA Hall Of Famer, his efficiency was horrible, but he still was a great player right? Mcgrady, Vince, and Steve Francis all didn’t have the best percentages, but they all were multiple All-Stars…U can’t judge off percentages

[TyroberParticipant]

You are the one that said he was blocking shots regularly. I simply brought up the statistics. The easy way to sum up Byron Mullens is that he is shooting .394 from the field on a team that is 13-40.

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

This is a terrible example of stats lie… Blocking shots and being one of the best defensive centers is not the exact same thing.

You tell me if this stat lies. In 2010-2011 Knicks ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency. After Chandler was obtained via a three-team sign-and-trade in the offseason, the Knicks surged to 5th in defensive efficiency.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7880443/new-york-knicks-tyson-chandler-wins-defensive-player-year

[tblazer_NZParticipant]

“Mcgrady, Vince, and Steve Francis all didn’t have the best percentages, but they all were multiple All-Stars…U can’t judge off percentages”

They got to the free throw line which counters the fact of fg%

Mullins is averaging 2.1 ft per game.

[Anton123Participant]

Mullens is a jump shooting big who is still soft. I think the Thunder could have probably used Mullens, but he wouldn’t provide the inside scoring they need and he would be very bad on defense.
Mullens can score, but he’s inefficient and soft, I’m not very sad at the Thunder letting him go to be honest.

[don042488Participant]

How’s the man soft if he’s posting double doubles?….Mullens grabbed 18 boards a week ago…Just because he’s a perimeter big, doesn’t mean he’s soft…Jordan put some heart into Byron aka BJ…The Thunder wouldn’t need him in the low post because if you haven’t watched the NBA lately, teams rarely post up, he would be perfect complimenting Ibaka, on the high post…While Ibaka stays down low for pick & roll opportunities, alley-oops, and put backs

[sheltwon3Participant]

They drafted Mullens but Mullens needed time and minutes to develop. OKC could not give him that so it was smart to trade a young player for future help because they wanted to surround their core with vets. I think they have done well.

They are on pace to have the same win totals as last year with Harden. If they make this trade for Gortat, they may be a better team than the one that lost against Miami.

Mullens would never have had the opportunity to become the player he is in OKC and what they did was great for them. It would be different if they sucked after the moves they made.

Those draft picks could help them in a trade to get exactly who they want and they made sure to spend their money wisely except for the Perkins deal but hopefully that will soon be fixed.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I know percentages and statistics sometimes do not tell the entire story, but what you fail to mention is that BJ Mullens has a 16-83 record with the Bobcats over the last two years. Say what you will about the shooting percentages of McGrady, Francis and Carter, they never had a two year percentage as low as Mullens does right now. Plus, they were guards! This is a big man!

Mullens is tall and athletic, what he isn’t is tough. He is a mediocre rebounder and is not exactly blocking shots on the regular in accordance to the well below average Bobcats post defense. If he has shown he would be any better of an option as compared to Kendrick Perkins, have yet to see it. If he had a post game, that would be one thing. The problem is, that is a pretty big if.

I’ll agree that Perkins has not looked like the answer at center, just really do not think Mullens would be much better. The guy is super soft and I think you are as guilty of judging off of averages and percentages (ie. stats) as anyone in this case. Mullens has yet to prove he is a player that can contribute to a winning team. Also, while I will say this statistic is not the end all be all, his offensive rating is lower than Kendrick Perkins’. Along with his defense of course, being highly questionable. Perkins may not be an incredible rebounder, just odds are you get a few more second chance attempts with him under the basket as opposed to BJ or Byron roaming the perimeter.

[Sewok15Participant]

I had to laugh when he said Mullens will probably be an all-star someday…maybe in the D-league.

[Dgtool2Participant]

Yes Mullens grabbed 18 boards a week ago, however, the game before and after he grabbed a total of 3 rebounds both games. Mullens isn’t consistent with his rebounding. His 18 boards came against a limited Celtics front court in which Garnett only saw less than 30 minutes of action. Chris Wilcox and Jason Collins played a combined 30 minutes. I’m pretty sure any big with size and youth would grab 18 boards against these veterans.

[Dgtool2Participant]

Example of young bigs vs Celtics. Nikola Vucevic 14 rebs. Amir Johnson 12 rebs. Andrew Nicholson 10 rebs.

[JordoParticipant]

Since ive joined this site almost every post ive seen from you has been a bunch of bull…

[don042488Participant]

Everyone laugh now, but when Mullens become a very good player, you guys will look stupid…Dirk looked pathetic his first 2 years, but turned into a future Hall Of Famer…You can’t pass judgement on a player…It’s possible Mullens could become an All-Star, especially with no dominant big man being in the league today…DeMarcus Cousins who people peg has 1 of the better big men in the league, shoots only 41% from the field…Mullens has averaged 20.5 points the past 5 games and posted 8 double doubles this season…Which isn’t bad being that he missed a good chuck of the season due to injury

[Shaquille OatmealParticipant]

DeMarcus Cousins shoots 45% from the field! Check the stats before you make these emphatic statements that can easily be refuted. And this is coming from someone who at least mostly agrees with your assessment of Mullens. I actually do think Mullens has the potential to be a very good big man–maybe even an All-Star if he’s ever on a winning team. He’ll never be a great rebounder or defender, but don’t forget, Mehmet Okur was an All-Star once upon a time. But, with that being said, you’re not making a very convincing case here.

[220Participant]

Byron Mullens is turning into a serviceable center, but he’s not a great player.

His last 5 games were against Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, Boston, and the Lakers. Of the 5 teams only one of them are a certainty to be in the postseason that’s Indiana. Boston looks like they are holding firm toward the bottom of the playoff race and Philadelphia and the Lakers are on the outside looking in. Against Indiana and Philadelphia he only notched 3 rebounds in each game.

Mullens has put up some good numbers from time to time, but I can think of two other big men in their youth Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic who have done that…look how things turned out for them. Mullens could turn into a solid center capable of starting for most teams in the league, but he’s not there right now.

The other thing to remember is he plays for the Bobcats who are the worst team in the league right now which means his numbers are inflated. Mullens gets more opportunities to put up higher statistics on a nightly basis because his team isn’t very good. If Mullens was putting up these numbers consistently or for a good team then I might be willing to say he’s a solid center, but he’s not right now.

[don042488Participant]

I never said he’s great or will be great, all I’m saying is don’t count the man out, Mullens has potential…Well let’s face it,if Russell Westbrook was on a bad team, would we saying he’s a good player? No!, because he takes bad shots and shoot bricks a lot of times, plus reckless with the ball

[don042488Participant]

45% from a so called premiere center is still mediocre…Cousins should be shooting in the 50 percentile, as a low post back to the basket center

[GronounoursParticipant]

It’s terrible to try to discuss a topic with someone who refuses to back up his claims and answers objections that aren’t the one that have been raised.

When someone debunks something you’ve said, accept it or provide a valid counter-argument, but stop saying things like “well 0.394 isn’t so much less than Iverson, and anyway Cousins shots 0.45, which is mediocre for a so called premiere center”. What sense does that make? You’re like my mother, it’s just impossible to have a rational conversation with you.

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

For the record, I’m not counting him out. If he keeps working I think Mullens could possibly reach all star level. There’s a reason he was ranked so highly as a high schooler and drafted in the first round. But saying Dirk Nowitzki sucked for his first 2 years is not much of an argument, so did Nikoloz Tskitishvili… who continued to suck until he left the NBA forever.

[HobbyOGParticipant]

He plays for the Bobcats, a lot of garbage time to develop and he doesn’t have the expectations on him. I see Jeremy Lamb might go to PHX, I think he will put up numbers there.

[ASAP HenryParticipant]

Yea he’s been playing pretty well this season, even though he’s 7’0” and shooting 39% from the field. That’s pretty horrible. He’s getting a lot of opportunities because he plays for the worst team in the League. His rebounding has improved I give u that, but my god he needs to stop shooting so many jumpers. 39% from the field!!!!!!! Terrible

[JonOatsParticipant]

OKC waived Nate Robinson also. Tell me they couldn’t have found minutes for him somewhere. I think he was making less than 2 mil a year at the time also. I brought up Mullens and Robinson to friends last season after Maynor got hurt and Cole Aldridge continued to be a bust. Presti gets a lot of things right, but those two donations to other teams could come back to bite the Thunder.

[jaysmith1987Participant]

Are u really making an argument for a center who shoots under 40 percent from the field that’s beyond horrible. Take in perspective Dion Waiters he shoots just as poor but at least he’s a guard playing away from basket. Mullens has to develop a post game Its easy to put up points on bobcats were they allow him to make mistakes and shoot when he pleases do you really think he’d be playing for the thunder now. I highly doubt it. Ibaka scores defends and Perkins is a good defender what does Mullens offer that ibaka isn’t already way better at.

[CynthiaParticipant]

Fact of the matter is Mullens is getting minutes and thus producing because he’s on a terrible team. There’s a lot of guys deep on the bench on every single team in the league that IF GIVEN THE MINUTES can produce as good as some starters. However they don’t get those chances due to position logjams, seniority, or being in the coaches doghouse.

These guys are all NBA players for a reason, NONE of them suck. It’s just a matter of whether they get minutes or not, and if they do something with those minutes. Mullens is just a simple case of being on a bad team, getting good minutes and producing. He’s by no means a beast as you seem to think, but he’s a solid player.

It always baffles me when a deep bench player finally gets some burn and does good and people freak out like he’s the next big thing. Do you think he magically got better over night? No, he was always that good and just finally got a chance to show it.

[NYFLAVA2K9Participant]

I agree the Harden move was a tough pill to swallow, but it was going to be necessary at some point. Simple math is you cant have 4 guys averaging 15 mil a year with a 60-70 mil salary cap… and 11 other roster spots to fill. I personally would have waited until after the year to try to eeck a ring out with the same core from the previous year, but I can understand Presti’s position. You have to the consider factors an imminent roster shake up can have on a team’s psyche, and avoid all possible distractions (ie; Lakers, Los Angeles) . In my opinion, the Thunder got a very good haul considering the fact they were dealing from a position of weakness. Other teams knew the Thunder had to move Harden once he balked at they’re contract offer, and to receive a proven veteran scorer and young assets is about all you can ask for. Also, there was never really a way to advertise Harden as a star 25 per scorer while playing in the same line-up as KD and Westbrook. Even if you get a bona-fide star in return for Harden, he’s still going to command a salary in the same range so it makes moving Harden pointless. As a GM make a good solid trade while you can… Who knows if a potentially unhappy Harden’s efficiency drops and perceived flaws are exposed if he stays with the Thunder another year? Again, I personally would’ve waited out the year, but you can’t blame Presti for not wanting to throw the same exact line up out there against the Miami Heat in a potential finals rematch? Yes the Thunders core is a year better… But the same goes for Miami.
I’m not even going to touch on the BJ Mullens point too much, as I think others have summed up pretty well the fact that shooting sub .400 is never good, especially when you’re a front court player… I think Cynthia said it best… “These guys are all NBA players for a reason, NONE of them suck. It’s just a matter of whether they get minutes or not, and if they do something with those minutes. Mullens is just a simple case of being on a bad team, getting good minutes and producing.”…. You ever wonder how every year Nate Robinson has a stretch where he puts up 20ppg, but can’t ever seem to lock down a starters gig with the exception of his Knick’s days when they were terrible? His bad outweighs the good, and a team WILL NOT win with Nate Robinson scoring 20% of it’s point’s because chances are it will take 40% of a teams possessions away…

[NYFLAVA2K9Participant]

Whoa… could’ve swore there was punctuation when I wrote this post, not the hodgepodge of words I am now staring at!!!…Damn you “simple text editor”!!! Lol ;P

[JonOatsParticipant]

I’m not his biggest fan either, but guy is third leader scorer for a play off team and basically putting up the same numbers with the same minutes as Eric Bledsoe, who the whole world is going apeshit over. You can’t say that Eric Bledsoe is worth trading for Paul Milsap and Nate can be waived and get nothing in return. It’s all about value and Presti didn’t getting value for those two (Mulllens and Robinson).

[HitsterParticipant]

Sam Presti has rarely if ever made a bad move and I don’t see him making a rash move pre-deadline. I’d guess he’d want to know where the Toronto via Rockets draft pick falls and access things from there.

[Ghost01Participant]

I was thinking this thread was gonna go along the lines of “I know we are playing good without Harden, but I’m worried because in the playoffs he’s way more valuable than Kevin Martin”. The whole Byron Mullins thing totally threw me off… he is a bad 3 point shooter who takes about 6 threes a game and “anchors” a historically bad defense.

[JonOatsParticipant]

giving away for a trade exception. Zero value.

[Author]

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