Around the League: 2012-2013

[Devilzsidewalk]

OKC had to make a move knowing they weren't keeping Harden at the max. I wouldn't be surprised to see Martin going ape **** as a spot up shooter.

The obvious key to the deal is Houston getting Lazar Hayward. Thats the kind of move where alien civilizations observing us through their interdimensional telescopes are disgustedly saying to themselves "future star Lazar as a THROW-IN???" and immediately realizing we're not intellectually ready as a civilization to join their galactic federation.

[C.lupus]

holy crap! click on the 3rd page of this thread and see the two posts above me and i'm like wtf are they talking about, go to yahoo and bam! if fricken derrick williams had played well last year we could have been amongst it with harden. great deal for houston, beside the (imo) stupid lin signing and letting dragic go they are building something pretty nice down there.

Meh. I don't see it. You can't really discount the Lin signing since he is part of their future. Mediocre at PG. Decent at C with Asik and Aldrich. Potenital at PF. That's about it. I don't think a big 3 of Lin, Harden, and Asik is going to get it done in the west.

Harden will have the chance to prove he's as good as everyone on RealGM thinks he is now. I'm still not convinced on him, either, but I'll keep an open mind.

[C.lupus]

OKC got 2013 Tor 1st (top 3 prot), 2013 Dal 1st (top 20 protected), and 2013 Cha 2nd plus Jeremy Lamb along with Martin for Harden, Aldrich, Cook, Hayward.

3 Picks in an absolutely awful Draft? I would have thought maybe they had some interest in Motiejunas, Terrance Jones, or Royce White too. I would have taken any of the 3 over that Dallas pick.

And OKC was apparently only 4.5 mil off (or 1.1 mil a year) what Harden wanted. Sad. Now Houston is going to give him a 5 year max. We'll see how well he keeps up the efficiency without Westbrook and Durant to draw attention, playing with Lin and a bunch of hot garbage.

I guess they'll have to hope Lamb or that Tor pick turns into another big piece of the puzzle.

I don't think they'll get the Dallas pick this year. We'll have to wait and see what that turns out to be.

[Esohny]

holy crap! click on the 3rd page of this thread and see the two posts above me and i'm like wtf are they talking about, go to yahoo and bam! if fricken derrick williams had played well last year we could have been amongst it with harden. great deal for houston, beside the (imo) stupid lin signing and letting dragic go they are building something pretty nice down there.

Meh. I don't see it. You can't really discount the Lin signing since he is part of their future. Mediocre at PG. Decent at C with Asik and Aldrich. Potenital at PF. That's about it. I don't think a big 3 of Lin, Harden, and Asik is going to get it done in the west.

Harden will have the chance to prove he's as good as everyone on RealGM thinks he is now. I'm still not convinced on him, either, but I'll keep an open mind.

One of the talking heads mentioned that even after maxing Harden, Houston will have enough room for another max deal. Morey has to be banking on Lin and Asik actually being worth their contracts (Lin is not, Asik maybe) and then being able to sell a big time free agent (probably a big man) on being the missing piece for the team. I'm...doubtful.

[Jukeness]

He couldnt feed his family with what the Thunder offered him.

[Mattya]

If I didn't hate the Thunder ownership so much I might feel bad for them. Not being able to afford to keep your own guys when they were GM'd almost perfectly sucks. Especially when considering they are a small market team. I'm suprised they didn't try trading for a post player. If I were them I would look to move Lamb for and young big. Then resign Martin on a cheaper contract.

[younggunsmn]

I don't think they'll get the Dallas pick this year. We'll have to wait and see what that turns out to be.

LOL @ Lazar and the aliens.

Well it's top-20 protected through 2017 and unprotected in 2018. It could turn into a marko jaric trade situation.
With all that $ cuban can probably eke out a top 10 finish once in the next 5 years. But I definitely agree they probably won't get that pick this year. Dirk is beat up and the team has taken a big talent hit.

Kind of sad that Aldrich is nothing but a salary throw in. Guess we aren't the only ones throwing away lottery picks.

It's the ridiculous Perkins contract that killed OKC's salary situation in '13 and '14. Signing Harden was going to put them in luxury tax territory for the next 4 years starting in 2013. It was either trade Harden or fill out the roster with vet min guys and dump valuable role players like Sefolosha and Collison. I think they saw this coming. If they stay good they will be able to attract bench shooters for lower $ in FA like the Heat can.
I guess they didn't do too badly considering.
I would have demanded Motiejunas and/ or Terrence Jones be thrown in. But that's just me.

Houston is going to have to waive 3 guys out of: greg smith, john brockman, jajuan johnson, lazar hayward, gary forbes, and shaun livingston, just to meet the roster minimum. Probably bye-bye lazar. Or they trade some of their 18 PF's.

FYI we are going to have to go slighlty into luxury tax territory next summer to sign all 3 of AK47, Pek, and Budinger if they get market value (AK47 has opt-out). This is including not excercising our option on Cunningham (who looks like a bargain at this point), or including $ for our 1st round pick (30th overall of course). Which is why we desperatley need to dump barea or ridnour for an expiring.

But I see the writing on the wall with us dumping Williams for an expiring and a draft pick. And we REALLY NEED TO SIGN BUDINGER TO AN EXTENSION by 10-31.

[AQuintus]

Harden is greedy, why would you turn down a great offer from a team like OKC to walk away to an average team like Houston for a few mil more?

Yeah, how can anyone not just pass up a few million dollars? It's not like 8 million dollars is very much money. I know I wouldn't bother to pick it up if I found 8 million dollars lying on the street.

[[RCG]]

Don't like the trade for either team really.

Rockets have a strong back-court but their front-court is terrible. Yet they won't be bad enough to be a 1-4 lottery team.

Martin has to adjust to OKCs team, they'll lose some chemistry and lose the top 6th man in the league. Lamb was a nice pick-up and the biggest chip coming back. The picks are likely to be late-lotto onward.

[The J Rocka]

Don't like the trade for either team really.

Rockets have a strong back-court but their front-court is terrible. Yet they won't be bad enough to be a 1-4 lottery team.

Martin has to adjust to OKCs team, they'll lose some chemistry and lose the top 6th man in the league. Lamb was a nice pick-up and the biggest chip coming back. The picks are likely to be late-lotto onward.

Asik is a very nice big to have. They also have a handful of young PFs that can get the job done until they make a run at a superstar big in FA.

Thunder might not be a favorite in the West to win a 'chip but they have a young SG with potential to be a good player in this league. Martin is Martin, he's a large exp and can get you points if necessary. Thunder can focus on possibly packaging those picks with PJ3 maybe to get a nice scoring big to play alongside Ibaka. I don't think the Ibaka + Perk front-court is going to get the Thunder over the hump.

[southern wolf]

Harden is greedy, why would you turn down a great offer from a team like OKC to walk away to an average team like Houston for a few mil more?

Yeah, how can anyone not just pass up a few million dollars? It's not like 8 million dollars is very much money. I know I wouldn't bother to pick it up if I found 8 million dollars lying on the street.

Har Har. OKC's final offer was $54 million, compared to $60 mill from Houston. Either way he's going to be a very rich man. I would rather re-sign in OKC and contend for championship every single season, than contend for a first round playoff exit at best in Houston.

[cpfsf]

Harden is greedy, why would you turn down a great offer from a team like OKC to walk away to an average team like Houston for a few mil more?

Yeah, how can anyone not just pass up a few million dollars? It's not like 8 million dollars is very much money. I know I wouldn't bother to pick it up if I found 8 million dollars lying on the street.

Har Har. OKC's final offer was $54 million, compared to $60 mill from Houston. Either way he's going to be a very rich man. I would rather re-sign in OKC and contend for championship every single season, than contend for a first round playoff exit at best in Houston.

I'd be happier with the money. I just wish I was a talented basketball player so I could decide between 54 & 60

[southern wolf]

I'd be happier with the money. I just wish I was a talented basketball player so I could decide between 54 & 60 :

It would be a nice dilemma to have.

[Train]

Harden is greedy, why would you turn down a great offer from a team like OKC to walk away to an average team like Houston for a few mil more?

Yeah, how can anyone not just pass up a few million dollars? It's not like 8 million dollars is very much money. I know I wouldn't bother to pick it up if I found 8 million dollars lying on the street.

Har Har. OKC's final offer was $54 million, compared to $60 mill from Houston. Either way he's going to be a very rich man. I would rather re-sign in OKC and contend for championship every single season, than contend for a first round playoff exit at best in Houston.

So would i. A chance to contend whilst earning close to the highest offer possible is definitely the more attractive proposal. A championship ring is priceless.

[Mattya]

I'm not gonna lie turning down an extra 6 million dollars would be pretty hard for me. That is a lot of money.

[[RCG]]

I would think that $6 million dollars could be made up in the process of endorsements or being on a perennial contender. We'll see where Houston is when they are paying Lin, Asik, Harden all the max.

[Krapinsky]

Just because he takes less and signs with OKC doesn't mean they wouldn't have traded him eventually. Harden might have found himself $6-8M poorer and playing in Houston anyway.

[Mattya]

I would think that $6 million dollars could be made up in the process of endorsements or being on a perennial contender. We'll see where Houston is when they are paying Lin, Asik, Harden all the max.

Or he could be 6 million dollars richer and get more endorsements as a starter. Especially playing with Lin, he is going to make a lot of money from endorsements.

[Worm Guts]

I would think that $6 million dollars could be made up in the process of endorsements or being on a perennial contender. We'll see where Houston is when they are paying Lin, Asik, Harden all the max.

How many endorsement are you gonna get being the 3rd wheel in OKC?

[LordBaldric]

Just because he takes less and signs with OKC doesn't mean they wouldn't have traded him eventually. Harden might have found himself $6-8M poorer and playing in Houston anyway.

This.

Plus, maybe Harden was tired of playing in KD and Westbrook's shadows and having guys play down his talent as mere sixth man material.

I think Houston hit it out of the park with this trade, and am only pissed that Kahn couldn't pull off something similar.

Meanwhile, this is a major blunder for OKC. Now Clay Bennett can add money grubber to his resume alongside general douchebag.