[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

Does Sam Presti trade James Harden again. NO

He traded away the only facilitator on the thunder. If I have to pick between ibaka and harden its not even close. They don’t need to spend money on a big that only plays D. Defensive Bigs in the NBA are a dime a dozen. They should of had a starting line up that looked something like this and projected stats
Westbrook 15.5pts 7rebs 5ast
Harden 21pts 3rebs 9ast
Thabo 3-4steals 5rebs
Durant 25 pts 10rebs-he averaged 8 this year
Perkins 4pts 6/7rebs
That is a bit of a “video game lineup” but don’t tell me they would get killed on the boards because Westbrook is probably the best rebounding pg in the nba and Durant can easily get 10 rebs

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Do they go after MCW now? He can facilitate. He might be the guy they need.

They might need some more bigs too, but they do definitely need a facilitator. A guy who can play with Russell or Reggie too and allow those smaller guys to play off the ball.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Do they go after MCW now? He can facilitate. He might be the guy they need.

They might need some more bigs too, but they do definitely need a facilitator. A guy who can play with Russell or Reggie too and allow those smaller guys to play off the ball.

[J_01Participant]

In what world does Russell Westbrook become a 15 ppg scorer? lol

A Guy like Ibaka is a dime a dozen? That’s why teams always use high draft picks on Raw Athletic Bigs because their easy to come by right? I’m sorry but Ibaka is a very valuable component to their team. Yes Harden blew up and because a franchise talent but how about we wait and see how this trade turns out. People only recently saying the trade was horrible because Russ went down and they needed playmaking. OKC was still the #1 seed and in my opinion still gonna win the west had Russ not gotten hurt. Plus they also have a lottery pick this coming draft which could mean a player that could contribute at a cheap salary. Yes they could have kept Harden instead and trade harden but they would become really thin in the front court. KD at 4 could work in terms of rebounding but you telling us KD could defend 4s for an 82 game season (guarding guys like Randolph, Gasol, Griffin just to name a few West bigs) and still be able to produce offensively? I don’t think so which is why Lebron hasn’t become a ful time 4 for the heat either. To me it’s too early to decide if they made a mistake or not.

[J_01Participant]

In what world does Russell Westbrook become a 15 ppg scorer? lol

A Guy like Ibaka is a dime a dozen? That’s why teams always use high draft picks on Raw Athletic Bigs because their easy to come by right? I’m sorry but Ibaka is a very valuable component to their team. Yes Harden blew up and because a franchise talent but how about we wait and see how this trade turns out. People only recently saying the trade was horrible because Russ went down and they needed playmaking. OKC was still the #1 seed and in my opinion still gonna win the west had Russ not gotten hurt. Plus they also have a lottery pick this coming draft which could mean a player that could contribute at a cheap salary. Yes they could have kept Harden instead and trade harden but they would become really thin in the front court. KD at 4 could work in terms of rebounding but you telling us KD could defend 4s for an 82 game season (guarding guys like Randolph, Gasol, Griffin just to name a few West bigs) and still be able to produce offensively? I don’t think so which is why Lebron hasn’t become a ful time 4 for the heat either. To me it’s too early to decide if they made a mistake or not.

[crazyman39Participant]

You know they actually chose Kendrick Perkins over James Harden right? How sick does that make you in your stomach? I get an ulcer just thinking about it. Could you imagine prime Harden on OKC instead of perpetually unprime Perkins?

[crazyman39Participant]

You know they actually chose Kendrick Perkins over James Harden right? How sick does that make you in your stomach? I get an ulcer just thinking about it. Could you imagine prime Harden on OKC instead of perpetually unprime Perkins?

[GottaBeTheShoesParticipant]

They didn’t even understand how good Harden was, he was a sixth man for them, now he’s a superstar, I just don’t think 3 top 10 scorers on 1 team was a good idea anyways.

[GottaBeTheShoesParticipant]

They didn’t even understand how good Harden was, he was a sixth man for them, now he’s a superstar, I just don’t think 3 top 10 scorers on 1 team was a good idea anyways.

[darkman97Participant]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the trade more based on salary salary? No way they were going to be able to afford all three in the small market of okc. Someone had to be moved and he was odd man out.

[darkman97Participant]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the trade more based on salary salary? No way they were going to be able to afford all three in the small market of okc. Someone had to be moved and he was odd man out.

[jjbutler73Participant]

Because Houston needed it. His numbers wouldn’t be close to that in OKC. OKC would not have won 60 without Ibaka.

[jjbutler73Participant]

Because Houston needed it. His numbers wouldn’t be close to that in OKC. OKC would not have won 60 without Ibaka.

[TomShoeParticipant]

It was either trade Harden or suffer the wrath of the luxury tax.

Let’s face it. Both Ibaka and Harden were on track to get large paydays after this season. Had the Thunder decided to go ahead and bite the bullet to pay Harden, they would have been hogtied from making any further moves this offseason, or the next few. Trading Harden was the right thing to do. I wish they could have gotten more out of it, but them’s the brakes.

I think the one trade they might want back is the Perkins/Green trade. -0.9 PER in the playoffs? Sheesh.

[TomShoeParticipant]

It was either trade Harden or suffer the wrath of the luxury tax.

Let’s face it. Both Ibaka and Harden were on track to get large paydays after this season. Had the Thunder decided to go ahead and bite the bullet to pay Harden, they would have been hogtied from making any further moves this offseason, or the next few. Trading Harden was the right thing to do. I wish they could have gotten more out of it, but them’s the brakes.

I think the one trade they might want back is the Perkins/Green trade. -0.9 PER in the playoffs? Sheesh.

[DolanCareParticipant]

The trade also looks bad because they got back some pretty mediocre pieces. Martin is no where close to Harden’s level, and Jeremy Lamb is far from being a polished guard. We’ll see what they get from their new draft pick, but still probably not enough to make up for losing Harden.

[DolanCareParticipant]

The trade also looks bad because they got back some pretty mediocre pieces. Martin is no where close to Harden’s level, and Jeremy Lamb is far from being a polished guard. We’ll see what they get from their new draft pick, but still probably not enough to make up for losing Harden.

[JoeWolf1]

I think they’re hoping Steven Adams falls into their lap. Perkins is on his way out and they could use a giant to learn a year or two under Perkins and Collison and give him the reins. People criticize the failures of Aldrich and Mullens in OKC as a reason to discredit OKC developing bigs, but Aldrich was all of 6’10” and Mullens loves to shoot 3’s. They found minutes for another raw athletic specemin, in Serge, and I think they can find minutes for Adams. I think he’d be a great fit in OKC.

[JoeWolf1]

I think they’re hoping Steven Adams falls into their lap. Perkins is on his way out and they could use a giant to learn a year or two under Perkins and Collison and give him the reins. People criticize the failures of Aldrich and Mullens in OKC as a reason to discredit OKC developing bigs, but Aldrich was all of 6’10” and Mullens loves to shoot 3’s. They found minutes for another raw athletic specemin, in Serge, and I think they can find minutes for Adams. I think he’d be a great fit in OKC.

[Da1potParticipant]

I’m tired of seeing this topic over and over again. They traded Harden because there is no way the could afford to keep him. Harden was demanding the max contract (and he will get it in Houston). If there is no money involved, then of course this is regarded as a bad trade. Small-market teams like OKC can’t afford to pay too much of the luxury tax year in and year out. It is a SMART trade because the choice is either get something in return, or watch Harden walk during free agency and get nothing at all. They picked Ibaka because otherwise they don’t have any god big men whatsoever.

[Da1potParticipant]

I’m tired of seeing this topic over and over again. They traded Harden because there is no way the could afford to keep him. Harden was demanding the max contract (and he will get it in Houston). If there is no money involved, then of course this is regarded as a bad trade. Small-market teams like OKC can’t afford to pay too much of the luxury tax year in and year out. It is a SMART trade because the choice is either get something in return, or watch Harden walk during free agency and get nothing at all. They picked Ibaka because otherwise they don’t have any god big men whatsoever.

[Author]

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