RealGM

OKC trades
Harden
Perkins
Collison(removable)

TWolves trade
Pekovic
Williams
#18 pick

Watching the OKC-Lakers series it's pretty glaring that 90% of OKC's offense comes from(or a result of) their big 3 who all get it in more or less the exact same way whether penetration, or jumpers. They are seemingly in dire need of a low post scorer to diversify and improve their half court game. A trade of Nikola Pekovic, Derrick Williams & #18 for Harden, Perkins & Collison might make a lot of sense for them.

Would give OKC a great low post/easy/high efficiency buckets guy in Pek who would be outstanding in the playoffs where teams generally slow the pace down and force you to work out of the half court. Pek is also a very solid man defender who would replicate to a lesser degree what Perkins already brings on that end. Pek would be an outstanding pairing on both ends with Ibaka as Ibaka is 95% a spot up mid range jump shooter so the spacing should still be good for driving lanes for Durant & Westbrook. Defensively Pek is solid in man while lacking in help side defense which would be more or less opposite for Ibaka so the fit is good there too imo. Also gives them a good prospect in Williams who they can try and develop into harden's role as the 3rd go to guy/spark off the bench & helps significantly with their pay roll situation by swaping perkins for pek who will be eligible for an extension next year and williams will still be on a rookie scale deal for 3 more years. The #18 will allow them to select probably a more NBA ready guy who could plug a hole in a back up guard or use it in a further trade to address this.

For Minny we get a great young guard who willl get to spread his wings and become a legit #1a or #2 option who can easily operate as a second point guard/ball handler(something Adelman needs). Perkins would bring a much needed defensive toughness and locker room presense who demands defensive effort from teammates(not looking at you Kevin Love). Also brings an outstanding back up 4/5 in Nick Collison who is the ultimate effort, hustle, glue guy. We add a lot of money(looking ahead to harden's extension next year) but we would, in my mind, be instantly in the running for a deep playoff run.We could help our money situation quite easily by amnestying Darko and salary dumping JJ using the Memphis pick or something if neccesary to add more room for a free agent.

Westbrook/Fisher
Sefo/ #18?/ Cook
Durant/Williams/ FA? #18?
Ibaka/ WIlliams
Pekovic/ Nazr

Rubio/ Ridnour/ Lee
Harden/ Ridnour/Lee
Johnson/ FA?
Love/ Collison/
Perkins/ FA?


Taking out Nick Collison would not be a deal breaker for me. Thoughts?

Pekovic is good and he's probably going to get paid more than Perkins when he's being renewed.Would much prefer an SG rather than Williams to backup both Durant/Ibaka on our forward spot.
Decent value but looking for better fits.

Does it look like OKC need to make a trade?

OKC isn't going to trade key pieces of their teams for question marks like Williams and a middle 1st round draft pick. Pekovic doesn't provide any shot blocking, they need a good low post defender at C like Perkins instead of Pekovic since they have enough scoring already with Durant, Westbrook and Harden.

Devilanche wrote:Pekovic is good and he's probably going to get paid more than Perkins when he's being renewed.Would much prefer an SG rather than Williams to backup both Durant/Ibaka on our forward spot.
Decent value but looking for better fits.

yeah i guess you could still take williams, the pick and your own and get pretty good value in a further trade to balance the team the way you like. durant is easily good enough to play quite a few shooting guard minutes which would allow them too play on the court together but i get what you mean

Envelopes wrote:Does it look like OKC need to make a trade?

no definitely not right now. we'll see how they fare the rest of the way. i do genuinely think the team is some what flawed in that all 3 of those guys bring much of the same thing and could stand to be better. i think this trade could make them better but you're right, if they go on to the championship they obviously won't be inclinded to make major changes...if they lose and those flaws are glaring then this might be a trade they would consider and could potentially make them better.

jgustav1 wrote:OKC isn't going to trade key pieces of their teams for question marks like Williams and a middle 1st round draft pick. Pekovic doesn't provide any shot blocking, they need a good low post defender at C like Perkins instead of Pekovic since they have enough scoring already with Durant, Westbrook and Harden.

perkins isn't really a shot blocker, he's a very good man defender and pretty good help defender. you don't need a shot blocker at center when you have ibaka at pf imo. pek is a very solid, extremely physically strong man defender and should bring much of what perkins brings now on that end(albeit not quite as well). what pek lacks in help defense is made up by ibaka being a great one.

Grits n Gravy wrote:

Devilanche wrote:Pekovic is good and he's probably going to get paid more than Perkins when he's being renewed.Would much prefer an SG rather than Williams to backup both Durant/Ibaka on our forward spot.
Decent value but looking for better fits.

yeah i guess you could still take williams, the pick and your own and get pretty good value in a further trade to balance the team the way you like. durant is easily good enough to play quite a few shooting guard minutes which would allow them too play on the court together but i get what you mean

Only way Durant will be playing shooting guard is if the opponent SG is a star and he wants an attempt to shut him down.

You'll probably be hard pressed to find anyone willing to do it now though. We all are aware that getting an inside presence would make the team better but so many of us are in love with Harden and love the 1,2,3 perimeter play.

I'm waiting for the OKC offseason thread to see what anyone would suggest.

Love it for the Wolves.

OKC reluctantly says "no", though.

Grits n Gravy wrote:

jgustav1 wrote:OKC isn't going to trade key pieces of their teams for question marks like Williams and a middle 1st round draft pick. Pekovic doesn't provide any shot blocking, they need a good low post defender at C like Perkins instead of Pekovic since they have enough scoring already with Durant, Westbrook and Harden.

perkins isn't really a shot blocker, he's a very good man defender and pretty good help defender. you don't need a shot blocker at center when you have ibaka at pf imo. pek is a very solid, extremely physically strong man defender and should bring much of what perkins brings now on that end(albeit not quite as well). what pek lacks in help defense is made up by ibaka being a great one.

Perkins has averaged 2 bpg in less than 30 mpg when he was with the Celtics, where he had to provide more help defense playing with a PF like Al Jefferson. His shot blocking numbers have gone down somewhat in OKC, perhaps due to the help defense provided by Ibaka but he still has the ability to block and alter shots. He also has better mobility to guard PF/C that are away from the low post area than Pekovic. I think it is a good idea for Minnesota to look to move Pekovic for a better shot blocker/man defender like Perkins given Love has been extended at PF, but this isn't a trade OKC would consider. They have multiple players like Durant and Westbrook that can post up their smaller defenders or drive and score in the paint, so low post scoring isn't a great area of need for that team.

Envelopes wrote:Does it look like OKC need to make a trade?

/thread

Harden is going nowhere and neither is Perk who is a perfect fit on a reasonable contract.

I actually like this quite a bit for both teams. Adding a lowpost presence like Pek to the perimeter duo of Durant and Westbrook would be nasty. With the addition of Williams they still keep some firepower off the bench even though Williams can't do what Harden does. To help replace some of that firepower and playmaking from the backcourt they could go after Waiters or Doron Lamb with the 18th pick or try to combine the 18th and 28th pick to move up and snag Terrance Ross.

For the wolves you have to love the trio of Love, Harden and Rubio. Perk gives them a solid defensive center and it clears minutes for Beasley at the 3 spot if they bring him back.

That doesn't make OKC any better. Additionally while Harden maybe worth Williams&pick, you don't trade value for potential. Pek and Perk are a wash,though i know minny fans love him

Blkbrd671 wrote:That doesn't make OKC any better. Additionally while Harden maybe worth Williams&pick, you don't trade value for potential. Pek and Perk are a wash,though i know minny fans love him

Player A : 14 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 56.4% fg, 74% ft

Player B : 5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 48.9% fg, 65% ft

both players get equal mpg

So who would you choose?

Turnover_21 wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:That doesn't make OKC any better. Additionally while Harden maybe worth Williams&pick, you don't trade value for potential. Pek and Perk are a wash,though i know minny fans love him

Player A : 14 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 56.4% fg, 74% ft

Player B : 5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 48.9% fg, 65% ft

both players get equal mpg

So who would you choose?

Guarding bynum, Gasol, timmy, Blake Griffin..... Perk

Blkbrd671 wrote:

Turnover_21 wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:That doesn't make OKC any better. Additionally while Harden maybe worth Williams&pick, you don't trade value for potential. Pek and Perk are a wash,though i know minny fans love him

Player A : 14 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 56.4% fg, 74% ft

Player B : 5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 48.9% fg, 65% ft

both players get equal mpg

So who would you choose?

Guarding bynum, Gasol, timmy, Blake Griffin..... Perk

You severely overrating Perkins and criminally underrating Pekovic here. He's a good physical man on man defender who's impossible to overpower, he moves his feet and boxes out well. The only elements of defense where Perkin has him beaten is help defense and defense on quicker perimeter PF/Cs. Plus Pekovic makes his opponent sweat on the other end of the floor while Perkins is a scrub who allows his opponent to take a breather on defense.

you severly underrate Perkins playoff experience as well as the the ability to cover quick perimenter pf's/c's and SF on switches. not to mention overrating Pek, who's having a great year, but still has yet to prove consistency in the NBA. In a league where defense wins championships and playoff experience/ final experience is priceless , i'd rather have perk.

This is just straight up comparison, as far as the OP, Peks low post game doesn't make up for Harden's scoring and intangibles(energy etc) and Dwill and a pick(both unproven) make OKC worst. Don't see why OKC would ever say yes to this, and they could get better for both

Blkbrd671 wrote:you severly underrate Perkins playoff experience as well as the the ability to cover quick perimenter pf's/c's and SF on switches. not to mention overrating Pek, who's having a great year, but still has yet to prove consistency in the NBA. In a league where defense wins championships and playoff experience/ final experience is priceless , i'd rather have perk.

This is just straight up comparison, as far as the OP, Peks low post game doesn't make up for Harden's scoring and intangibles(energy etc) and Dwill and a pick(both unproven) make OKC worst. Don't see why OKC would ever say yes to this, and they could get better for both

I don't care about this trade, such trades rarely happen in NBA. My problem is with Pek vs Perk is a wash statement. One guy has some serious positive value and the other one has neutral value on a good day. On offense they are day and night while the deference on defense is not that big for Perkins to make up value.

So completely ignore all my other valid points and just point to the fact that the difference in their value is on the offensive end, while completely underrating the defensive end impact or the experience factor.

You also need to realize that Pek has increasingly way more value to minny than to the rest of the league. He had 1 great season in the nba on a bad team. Minny should sell high on him however

Pekovic recorded PER of 22.3 while keeping opposing center to PER of 13.8

Perkins numbers are 9 and 17 respectively

Your up & coming ''superstar'' Monroe is 22 and 19

Perkins is a scrub and Pekovic is emerging as a top center in the league.

At least for 1 year


Pek does this again next year and improves, i'll back you. But minny fans put too much value in 1 year. As of right now, OKC doesn't even consider Perk for Pek. and just a guess, but Minny would also say no