[drice4life1753Participant]

Seriously the Thunder have amazing young talent that has already proved themselves, because they had to step up immediately… so the question is what do they need (obviously center)? Thabbet just doesnt seem like he should be that high of a pick

[R-Dot-13Participant]

jordan hill maybe ?

[drice4life1753Participant]

yes, i think jordan hill would be perfect for them, or rubio/jennings and switch westbrook to SG, and they will be a solid team

[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

if they get the #1 pick then obviously griffin or maybe rubio or jennings but with their situation i see them drafting either rubio or griffin [and don’t be surprised if they go teague or ty lawson or trade down for an additional pick(s)].

1). the reason i say griffin is because they don’t have a rebounder nor do they have an inside presence.plus,westbrook is better in the open court,durant is a monster anywhere,and green is so versatile that it doesn’t matter with him.so i’m thinking why not draft blake griffin & have an up-tempo kinda team or at the worst have a carlos boozer type player with lebron’s athleticism.

2). if they draft rubio it would work out great in the long term but bad in the short term.because you have rubio at the point,westbrook at the 2,durant & green at the forward spots & no big man.thats where a trade comes in between the thunder,clippers,and raptors.

thunder get: [c]deandre jordan,[c]mike taylor,[r]jason kapono
clippers get: [t]chucky atkins,[t]nic collison,[r]quincy douby,[r]patrick o’bryant
raptors get: [c]marcus camby

(although i don’t think the clippers have anything to gain with this trade it certainly helps out the thunder who finally get the inside force that they’ve needed & the raptors get marcus camby ’nuff said)

3).if they trade the pick i belive the timberwolves would be very interested

thunder get: kevin love,randy foye,mike miller,6th, 28th, and 18th picks
wolves get: nic collison,earl watson,shaun livingston,jeff green,1st pick

sow now that gives the thunder the 6th, 18th, 23rd, and 28th picks in the draft.

they can use that 6th pick to draft stephen curry (that takes care of pg and also gives you the luxury of being able to rest kevin durant & westbrook)

they can use the 18th pick to draft bj mullens (now they have a center with great upside)

they can trade the 23rd, 28th picks to the sixers for their 16th pick and use that to draft
terrence williams ( a poor man’s dwayne wade)

so now their rotation consists of:
g-stephen curry
g-russell westbrook
f-kevin durant
f-kevin love
c-bj mullens
6-terrence williams
7-randy foye
8-mike miller

and they still have kyle weaver, d.j. white, chucky atkins, selfolosha, kristic (although i believe they’ll trade
1 if not 2 or 3 of those players)

and there you have it: what i would do if i was president of basketball operations for the thunder

[bflaa2Participant]

Why would the Twolves do that deal…..they need a center and a point guard yes blake would help and a couple other guys in there would a little but nothing for long term….dumb deal

[until23Participant]

Even thought they need a center, I think OKC should be happy if they landed Harden at 4 like the mock draft says. Harden could play his style and take whats give to him cause most of the plays would be ran for KD anyway. He could play big minutes and he wouldn’t have a diva attitude.

[RooeyRacerParticipant]

They should take Harden, because even though I love Hill, he’s listed at 6’10 which we all know once they get their physicals they lose about 1-2 inches (ala Beasley). I still don’t think that Hill is big enough at 6’10 to do well against NBA Centers. They should draft him if they want him for a PF. Thabeet is too risky I believe. I would take Harden for the SG to be safe (if hes there) and find a C later.

[npj015Participant]

i say dey need thabet becuz kd,westbrook n jeff green can all fill it up in da point total but hasheem bringz da defense

[drice4life1753Participant]

between those two pg’s if they had the option to get either i think they should take rubio, because he can distribute the ball better

[NYKnicksuperFanParticipant]

the trades look good on paper as far as talent goes but player salaries and expiring contracts and stuff like that might mess things up, and i think camby might be a free agent after this year but im not 100% sure, also i dont think OKC would pick steph curry maybe Derozan or take curry with the 16th pick T-will with 18 and with no. 6 go big with jordan hill, but yeah if your ideas happen i would love to be a thunder fan

[scg1]

DeAndre Jordan is gonna be a beast

[joecheck88Participant]

i think thabeet would be a good choice. i think he can do similar to what greg oden has done this year in his rookie year. i think oden can be way better, but thabeet is going to have similar stats as tyson chandler. the differance is thabeet will be a bigger defensive presence, while he wont catch the lobs chandler does. look for 7-8 ppg, 7-8 rpg, and 1.5-2 bpg in about 25-28 mpg in his rookie year. but harden should be the choice if he is on the board. just move green to the bench or play small and put him or kd at the 4. either way they need a lot of depth at every position, i am more interested in what they can add outside their 1st pick. they could be on the rise ala portland real soon. portland got a 22 year old mature b roy that turned things around. ks is only 20, this team could be scary after next season. but they need more players.

[jojososaParticipant]

They really need a defensive minded canter such as thabeet, this will improve their team greatly…….. jordan hill will provide more offense and if u think about it they already have a good nucleus of scores, so tha smart choice will be thabeet

[usfballerParticipant]

Agree that a defense-1st-Center would be a great pick up and Thabeet may actually be able to get out and run a little with them. But if he’s gone then they sould take one of the three potential lottery guards who can shoot the ball. With Westbrook and Durrant looking like they’re going to start drawing double teams on the regular they’re gonna need all the shooters they can get. Harden may be the best fit of the three, and I know 4 is pretty early for Steph Curry, but in a draft with no safe picks, even coming up with a Steve Kerr-type player (what I believe to be the worst case senario for Steph) would help OKC’s roster at this point. I am scared to think about what a Russell Westbrook and Willie Warren backcourt would be like in 4 years. If those two could co-exist in the backcourt without fighting each other for shots, they could form (potentially) the best backcourt in the league.

[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

the wolves get earl watson,livingston,jeff green & the 1st pick.so they have a pg & al jefferson has been playing center since he got there so blake griffin is now your power forward . . .

& no nyknicksfan marcus camby’s contract does not expire til the end of the 2009-2010 season.so that way the raptors can keep bosh (if he accepts their offer) and possibly lure lebron over to canada or at the worst be able to offer both john salmons and richard jefferson max year deals. . .

and the thunder would have foye who’s a restricted free-agent after 2010 & mike miller an unrestricted free agent . . .
the thunder would then get $11,844,135 off the books & use that to either sign shaq (i wouldn’t sign shaq),tyson chandler,lamarcus aldridge(who’s restricted after 2010),or andrea bargnani(who’s also restricted) . . .

me peronally i’d sign aldridge (and since i’m projecting the thunder to make the 2009-2010 postseason they’ll get a pick from anywhere between 15-25).

and they also get pheonix’s pick in 2010 which is projected to be 14th(although its unprotected).

so lets say they have the 14th & 20th picks in the draft

if i were them i’d use the 20th pick on kyle singler.
trade the 14th pick & westbrook to the knicks for their first & second round picks.
now the thunder have the 8th & 38th picks . . . with the 8th pick i’d select either xavier henry or willie warren & use that 38th pick on either austin daye or jodie meeks . . . but if they pick henry i see them taking meeks & vice versa

[delfamParticipant]

What is Kristic’s role on this team, as I don’t watch them much, but he seems capable enough to start. I would move Green to the 3, and hopefully win the lottery and get Griffin, if not, they can choose between Hill and Monroe.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Wow TONY. You have really though about this. Too bad your say has nothing to do with that crazy trade that doesn’t need to be made. Good post tho.

[Lodzio20Participant]

They need PF. Thunder have Nenad Krstic at C an he’s good starter!!

[GoJOSH HUESTISParticipant]

Well they didn’t need a PG, Thabeet would have been a horrible pick (i also thought thabeet would have been a good pick)  dodged a bullet

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