RealGM

OKC GETS: Pekovic + Steimsma (exp) + Productive Expiring
OKC GIVES: Perkins (3 yr) + Lamb + PJ3 + TOR 1st

MIN GETS: Perkins (3 yr) + Lamb + PJ3 + TOR 1st
MIN GIVES: Pekovic + Ridnour + Steimsma (exp)

THIRD TEAMS GETS: Ridnour
THIRD TEAM GIVES: Productive Expiring

I ran the numbers for OKC, and this keeps them under the lux this year. Perkins is paid $9 mil next year - if Pekovic takes a contract for $11 and removes the salary obligation for the three prospects, they still have room to be under the lux next year. The upgrade from Perkins to Pekovic would be huge, and while the bench is weaker (filled with vets seeking a ring), a starting line-up of Westbrook-Sefalosha-Durant-Ibaka-Pekovic may make OKC the favorite to get that first ring. A lot of that value is for taking on Perkins.

For MIN, I'm not sure I'd want to give up Pek, especially to someone in the division, but this is a huge return if there are any questions about paying the guy. Lamb would fit great, the TOR pick is probably in the 9-14 range, and who knows what PJ3 can do? Perkins is painful at $9 mil/year for 2.5 years, but in his defense, he's probably not quite as bad a fit with Kevin Love as in OKC.

I think Ridnour is worth more than an expiring, andthere are a lot of PG's that are out with injury. It shouldn't be hard to find a pretty good expiring contract in trade that would help OKC's run this year.

I don't see us going in that direction. That trade tells Love that we're bringing in some younger guys that will need 2-4 years to fully develop. RA wouldn't be happy either.

I'm guessing we'll want to bring in a player that can make an immediate impact.

I think the Sixers (Wright), Jazz (Bell), or Celtics (Lee) would be good 3rd team candidates.

pek on the thunder would make them unstoppable.

This trade negates every effect of what Oklahoma successfully got from Houston and brings Minnesota nowhere.
Perk is awful, Oklahoma has no use for Steamer + with guy like Westbrook as a PG on team, Pek would see ball every 29th february(altho starting 5 would look scary every time its on court+ Ibaka's athletism would pair nice with brute Pek strength, but OKC doesn't play frontcourt based bball.), the only ones who benefit from this would be guys that are dumping the trash...

Yes, I agree that would make them unstoppable, which makes me wonder how they'd refuse a trade that probably gets them their first ring?

And sure, OKC doesn't use the inside game much, but don't you agree that they would do it more with Pek and Ibaka? Better yet, it gives them the option against top teams.

One of the problem this solves financially is that centers always cost money. Harden would have given them a third non-big on a max deal. The bigger problem it solves though is that it moves Perkins, and that's where most of the value comes from for OKC. It's very clear the Thunder won't go over the lux, so they need to have a better team at $70 mil than the other championship-level teams have at $85 -$100. This makes moving Pekins $9 mil deal IMPERATIVE, and this gets it done for three years.

Finally, MIN doesn't have to keep these players - they can use them to move to the front of the line to make some beautiful sign-and-trades. I adore Pek but he isn't the perfect fit next to Love, and I think this gets us more trade value than he's worth with an impending deal, simply because he goes to the team that benefits the most from him. I think Taylor could use these pieces for trade, and if we needed more room under the lux, he could open up his checkbook and waive Perkins, using the stretch provision to pay off his $18 mil over the next five years .. in $3.6 mil shots to our cap.

if the goal is to be a championship contender i dont feel comfortable in trading away a player that can fill one of okc's greatest weakness.

That's a lot to give up for the improvement of Perkins to Pekovic. I think OKC would sooner just amnesty Perkins and keep that boatload of assets.

Krapinsky wrote:That's a lot to give up for the improvement of Perkins to Pekovic. I think OKC would sooner just amnesty Perkins and keep that boatload of assets.

They can't do that, because it makes them worse at center, AND it costs them money they don't want to spend.

Keep in mind OKC has two problems here -- they need an upgrade at center, and Perkins contract hurts their $70 mil limit. They can amnesty Perkins, and trade the assets to get a good center, but that center is going to cost money too, they lose the assets, AND they have to pay $18 mil to Perkins for doing nothing.

Personally, I think it's a question of Gortat for two years at $7.3, $7.7, or Pek at $4.8 + $12? .. and I think Pek is an improvement that gives them a better chance at a ring.

OKC wants a defensive oriented center for winning the championship, someone who can defend better on the drives. Pek is a downgrade to Perkins defensively. He is valuable offensively, but even in that segment there's just no enough shots per game for him along with all the firepower they have to make him pay off to OKC. I don't see them doing this. I see them going for Sanders rather than Pek. OKC would be block city.

Personally, I don't think they need the defense with Ibaka back there, but I gave some thought to my post to Krapinsky, and there may be a flaw:

If OKC amnesties Perkins, they wouldn't need extra young assets to get as good a center as Pekovic, since they aren't getting the center AND paying someone to eat Perkins deal.

I'm not sure though that this works, for two reasons:

1. OKC may be willing to simply eat Perkins contract in amnesty. The $18 mil penalty (with no extra production) could be similar to what they would have paid in lux taxes (with no extra production).

2. Salary-matching becomes problematic. Good centers in the NBA today make $11 mil+, and that's a lot of young prospects. That makes problems for roster size and salary matching.

3. Speaking of salary-matching, in a deal like this they get the center, and whatever added production from Steimsma + "good expiring from Ridnour" to help them push over MIA and others this year.

4. If they were going to amnesty Perkins, wouldn't they have done it last year, to get three years of benefit instead of two, and do it while they still had Harden?

I hear what you're saying K, but I just don't think amnesty is a real option for them.

PZiv wrote:This trade negates every effect of what Oklahoma successfully got from Houston and brings Minnesota nowhere.
Perk is awful, Oklahoma has no use for Steamer + with guy like Westbrook as a PG on team, Pek would see ball every 29th february(altho starting 5 would look scary every time its on court+ Ibaka's athletism would pair nice with brute Pek strength, but OKC doesn't play frontcourt based bball.), the only ones who benefit from this would be guys that are dumping the trash...

Did you watch the NBA finals last year? Miami was able to keep their best 5 guys on the court by playing Bosh at center and James at PF, and OKC could do nothing to dictate to Miami that they needed to put a real center in the game.

Krapinsky wrote:That's a lot to give up for the improvement of Perkins to Pekovic. I think OKC would sooner just amnesty Perkins and keep that boatload of assets.

That's a lot to give indeed but it's also the difference between being a solid contender and the favourite, and that is EFFIN HUGE. The Tor pick is looking less atractive everyday, a late lottery pick in a rather weak draft.
The problem is that they won't be able to re-sign both Pek and Martin without going deep into the tax, and they also lose Martin's replacement, tough call.

sisibilio wrote:

Krapinsky wrote:That's a lot to give up for the improvement of Perkins to Pekovic. I think OKC would sooner just amnesty Perkins and keep that boatload of assets.

That's a lot to give indeed but it's also the difference between being a solid contender and the favourite, and that is EFFIN HUGE. The Tor pick is looking less atractive everyday, a late lottery pick in a rather weak draft.
The problem is that they won't be able to re-sign both Pek and Martin without going deep into the tax, and they also lose Martin's replacement, tough call.

I personally don't think the difference b/t Perkins to Pekovic is going to make the difference in a series against Miami. Pek would be such a low usage player for them offensively and not much of an upgrade defensively, if at all.

I think Pek would be pretty good for a team like OKC. He's great at using positioning to get easy looks and against a team like OKC opposing centers have to constantly help off their man. I think Pek would really take advantage of that.

If OKC had Pek vs. Miami...who the heck does MIami have that could stop Pek down low? Skinny self proclaim HOF Chris Bosh? The only reason OKC doesn't do this trade is if Pek wants the max. Would I do it as a Wolves fan? Not sure. I don't think Lamb is as promising as people think. He is young, that's true, but to think he can't contribute even the slightest right now makes me wonder if he is all that he's hyped to be.

Wolf_Cry wrote:If OKC had Pek vs. Miami...who the heck does MIami have that could stop Pek down low? Skinny self proclaim HOF Chris Bosh? The only reason OKC doesn't do this trade is if Pek wants the max. Would I do it as a Wolves fan? Not sure. I don't think Lamb is as promising as people think. He is young, that's true, but to think he can't contribute even the slightest right now makes me wonder if he is all that he's hyped to be.

You act like Pek is Shaquille O'neal. He averages 15 points per game on a 18 win team that doesn't have it's starting PF.

Krapinsky wrote:

Wolf_Cry wrote:If OKC had Pek vs. Miami...who the heck does MIami have that could stop Pek down low? Skinny self proclaim HOF Chris Bosh? The only reason OKC doesn't do this trade is if Pek wants the max. Would I do it as a Wolves fan? Not sure. I don't think Lamb is as promising as people think. He is young, that's true, but to think he can't contribute even the slightest right now makes me wonder if he is all that he's hyped to be.

You act like Pek is Shaquille O'neal. He averages 15 points per game on a 18 win team that doesn't have it's starting PF.

Yeah, but he's also played without Love and Rubio most of the season. Defenses have concentrated on stopping him. Don't forget Rubio isn't 100% yet either. I think he would give Miami serious fits because they have no interior defense.

This is a horrible trade. Basically Lamb+pick for Pek. I'd have to find something hard enough to bang my head against until I couldn't remember what basketball is anymore.

The J Rocka wrote:I don't see us going in that direction. That trade tells Love that we're bringing in some younger guys that will need 2-4 years to fully develop. RA wouldn't be happy either.

I'm guessing we'll want to bring in a player that can make an immediate impact.

I think the Sixers (Wright), Jazz (Bell), or Celtics (Lee) would be good 3rd team candidates.

I agree. The Wolves have to be in win now mode (or at least win next year when healthy mode). This strikes me as a rebuild trade. You do this and you can say goodbye to Love and probably Adelman. And how long do you think Ricky will be happy losing 60% of his games?

I'm not saying Pek is God's gift to centers or that they will even keep him. But I think any trade will bring back a player that can step into a starter's role on a winning team.

Interesting to hear the rumor about OKC and Gortat right now, so I thought this thread was timely.

I would also point out one other thing, that I don't think gets enough notice in this trade:

I think we win this deal on trade value, but it does not necessarily mean we have to rebuild. With extra trade value, you can trade for better win-now talent than Pek could bring on his own.