biggest regret...

[IMHO]

being a Cavs fan I'm obviously very jealous of how few mistakes your front office has made.

but obviously, nobody's perfect.

Popular opinion is obviously Jeff Green/Perkins trade... or not resigning James Harden, or picking Ibaka over James Harden.

Whatever.

I think more than ever now that it's the Tyson Chandler trade that was rescinded. Reason why, well in retrospect obviously you don't end up drafting at the same position & likely miss out on Harden in 09 draft. But without Harden you guys are just fine apparently, I don't think Tyson would've immediately impacted enough for you to make the playoffs in 2009, so who do you draft instead of Harden? Curry? DeMar? It is OKC, so who knows.

Obviously Tyson Chandler went on to be the missing piece to Mavs championship and then DPOY in NY, before going to Knicks superstar graveyard where all of their superstars end up.

But sometimes you just have to wonder

[bbms]

Well, lots of regrets, but none of them was big enough to prevent the Thunder from being a great franchise. Maybe restrain the Thunder from going over the top but that's about it. A good FO is the one that doesn't let your franchise being demolished or being average for much long. It's a really tough job.

First of all, I don't regret of Chandler. Dude was way too expensive, and wouldn't allow the Thunder to be bad enough for multiple high picks.

1st - Jeff Green drafted over Noah. Noah was a superstar in college while was a great compliment to Durant. He passed Noah for a guy who plays the same position your franchise player. An All-NBA Center wasted.

2nd - Jeff Green, after drafted, was played way too much. The guy was night in, night out playing 40 mpg, when he wasn't even playing like a starting material PF. He would be ok if bred into a glue guy coming off the bench, maybe sixth man, but we made him believe he was way better than he is, and he wanted to get paid. FO and Coaching Staff blew the possibility of having him around for long, and also blew our chances in the 2009/10 season. Jeff Green got abused by Gasol in the Lakers series, and was imo, the main reason why we couldn't compete seriously against them.

3rd - Curry was imo a better fit for the Thunder than Harden. Sure, Harden pick was great for the Thunder, but Curry's got the role player mentality that the Thunder needed for a sixth man, not to mention his great off the ball play. Thunder was scouting Curry, but they opted Harden. I also get what the Thunder saw in Harden: his physical traits, his potential backcourt partnership with WB. Harden was no mistake, and returned the pick with great basketball, but looking at how Curry always deferred to a worse player in Ellis, and the sexyness of his contract in GSW, I think we ended up with the most greedy. This wasn't even a mistake, just a tiny regret. Harden was almost a home run. Curry would be the home run. At least Harden awarded the Thunder with two potential starting players: Lamb, who's a better fit for the starting line up than Harden himself (not as talented, though), and Adams, that has sky high potential at C.

4th - Perkins wasn't really the answer. But I was high on him, and that trade made the Thunder a better team, for sure. Thunder could've done better with our assets? Sure. Would we see Harden blossom as a Thunder if we didn't do the trade? No. Would we have Harden in the Thunder if we targeted other players? No. The problem was his contract.

5th - Extending Brooks contract to a 4-year deal.

6th - I didn't like that the Thunder opted for Ibaka instead of Harden. I still do, but now I agree that the Thunder couldn't have all the money tied to perimeter players. But Ibaka wasn't and isn't the guy you want to lead your PF/C rotation. He has his importance on the offensive end, and his impact on defense, I just doubt he can put you over the top as your third best player. His 12.5/year contract demands him to be a gamechanger: he isn't. Thunder could've done better with the assets we had back in them. His contract plus Perkins, makes our frontcourt composed by 2 players worth 21 million dollars a year that doesn't match the impact of one Marc Gasol (that costs 15 million a year).

Thunder biggest mistakes were easily overpaying Ibaka and Perkins, imo. Trademark of this franchise.

[Balkman32]

Cole Aldrich over Larry Sanders.

[IMHO]

Great Jeff Green analysis but wasn't he drafted by the Celtics? or was the pick made by Seattle in similar fashion Dirk was drafted in?

[Bravenewworld]

being a Cavs fan I'm obviously very jealous of how few mistakes your front office has made.

but obviously, nobody's perfect.

Popular opinion is obviously Jeff Green/Perkins trade... or not resigning James Harden, or picking Ibaka over James Harden.

I have a very hard time suggesting the Perkins and Jeff Green trade was a mistake.
The Thunder knew to get to the finals and possibly in the finals they would have to go through Bynum, Gasol, Gasol 2.0 and then possibly DHoward. When they already had Harden, Westbrook, Ibaka, Durant and other second string scorers on the floor, they concluded that Perkins' defense was a better addition than Green's offensive production. And IMO this was the right choice. Perkins is one of the few centers in the NBA who can consistently deal with low post centers and has proven to be a very valuable commodity. At times i cant stand having him on the floor and think we will be better off with Collison. But he still plays that valuable and needed role.


The Harden trade also seems to have worked in our favor. Harden would have never been more productive then 6th man/16pts on this team and as a result of moving him away we ended up with Lamb (who is producing around the same as Hardenin his second year), Jacksons development and Adams. Adam's could potentially be the Thunder's center answer. He seems to have a very good offensive and defensive abilities and improves practically every game. This guy could potentially be a 20-10 on a different team in a couple years.
Lamb, has shown he has all the makings of a pure shooter. A Ripp, Crawford, etc. type player. Jackson has shown he has a jump shot, but also has a very similar drive to the basket game as Harden. So when you combine everything we gained by trading Harden, ya it may have set us back a year or two, but overall we won. One of the only reasons you could put the Heat above the Thunder in a finals series was the fact that the Thunder's bench was questionable. Well, you put Westbrook back on this team and that is no longer an issue and we have addressed those problems by taking one player and turning him into three...... potentially four given we still have that Mavs pick and it looks like we will get it in this draft. A VERY deep draft where we will end up getting a... 15th or so pick. If we can get Ibaka with the 27th, im more than happy with what we will get in the teen's.

The idea of it being a mistake to sign Ibaka over Harden is also a bit silly. Its always easier to supplement guard production then it is defensive big man production. This was the correct choice and i think that shows with the fact that the Thunder, with Westbrook, is really one of the only teams that can take out the Heat (outside of the Pacers and Spurs).They could absolutely not do this without Ibaka's defensive presence.

[bbms]

Great Jeff Green analysis but wasn't he drafted by the Celtics? or was the pick made by Seattle in similar fashion Dirk was drafted in?

Celtics traded the pick for Ray Allen.

The Dallas pick is top20 protected until 2017, if I remember correctly.

[Balkman32]

I can't blame Sammy for Green. Durant is going to be a 4 some day and with all of these guys coming out early there is bust potential. Luckily Sammy has only drafter one bust in his career Cole.

The biggest regret would be not locking up Mr. Presti.

[ThunderUp1234]

Well, lots of regrets, but none of them was big enough to prevent the Thunder from being a great franchise. Maybe restrain the Thunder from going over the top but that's about it. A good FO is the one that doesn't let your franchise being demolished or being average for much long. It's a really tough job.

First of all, I don't regret of Chandler. Dude was way too expensive, and wouldn't allow the Thunder to be bad enough for multiple high picks.

1st - Jeff Green drafted over Noah. Noah was a superstar in college while was a great compliment to Durant. He passed Noah for a guy who plays the same position your franchise player. An All-NBA Center wasted.

2nd - Jeff Green, after drafted, was played way too much. The guy was night in, night out playing 40 mpg, when he wasn't even playing like a starting material PF. He would be ok if bred into a glue guy coming off the bench, maybe sixth man, but we made him believe he was way better than he is, and he wanted to get paid. FO and Coaching Staff blew the possibility of having him around for long, and also blew our chances in the 2009/10 season. Jeff Green got abused by Gasol in the Lakers series, and was imo, the main reason why we couldn't compete seriously against them.

3rd - Curry was imo a better fit for the Thunder than Harden. Sure, Harden pick was great for the Thunder, but Curry's got the role player mentality that the Thunder needed for a sixth man, not to mention his great off the ball play. Thunder was scouting Curry, but they opted Harden. I also get what the Thunder saw in Harden: his physical traits, his potential backcourt partnership with WB. Harden was no mistake, and returned the pick with great basketball, but looking at how Curry always deferred to a worse player in Ellis, and the sexyness of his contract in GSW, I think we ended up with the most greedy. This wasn't even a mistake, just a tiny regret. Harden was almost a home run. Curry would be the home run. At least Harden awarded the Thunder with two potential starting players: Lamb, who's a better fit for the starting line up than Harden himself (not as talented, though), and Adams, that has sky high potential at C.

4th - Perkins wasn't really the answer. But I was high on him, and that trade made the Thunder a better team, for sure. Thunder could've done better with our assets? Sure. Would we see Harden blossom as a Thunder if we didn't do the trade? No. Would we have Harden in the Thunder if we targeted other players? No. The problem was his contract.

5th - Extending Brooks contract to a 4-year deal.

6th - I didn't like that the Thunder opted for Ibaka instead of Harden. I still do, but now I agree that the Thunder couldn't have all the money tied to perimeter players. But Ibaka wasn't and isn't the guy you want to lead your PF/C rotation. He has his importance on the offensive end, and his impact on defense, I just doubt he can put you over the top as your third best player. His 12.5/year contract demands him to be a gamechanger: he isn't. Thunder could've done better with the assets we had back in them. His contract plus Perkins, makes our frontcourt composed by 2 players worth 21 million dollars a year that doesn't match the impact of one Marc Gasol (that costs 15 million a year).

Thunder biggest mistakes were easily overpaying Ibaka and Perkins, imo. Trademark of this franchise.

So much fail, where to begin.

I do agree on Green, having Noah inside with Ibaka would be sick.

And Russ plays where, at the 2?

Where he'd get destroyed all night.

Curry would be a luxury.

Agree with 4.

Disagree on Brooks, he is slowly but surely getting better, see tonight and playing the young guys more.

They didnt, they offered Harden 1.5-2 million less per year than he signed for. Harden wanted to be a max guy and the man elsewhere, he would never be that with the Thunder.

Perkins contract is bad but that had nothing to do with Harden.

Even if they kept Harden, they'd basically have him and Ibaka, Russ, KD, with no depth/role players worth a damn.

[ThunderUp1234]

being a Cavs fan I'm obviously very jealous of how few mistakes your front office has made.

but obviously, nobody's perfect.

Popular opinion is obviously Jeff Green/Perkins trade... or not resigning James Harden, or picking Ibaka over James Harden.

Whatever.

I think more than ever now that it's the Tyson Chandler trade that was rescinded. Reason why, well in retrospect obviously you don't end up drafting at the same position & likely miss out on Harden in 09 draft. But without Harden you guys are just fine apparently, I don't think Tyson would've immediately impacted enough for you to make the playoffs in 2009, so who do you draft instead of Harden? Curry? DeMar? It is OKC, so who knows.

Obviously Tyson Chandler went on to be the missing piece to Mavs championship and then DPOY in NY, before going to Knicks superstar graveyard where all of their superstars end up.

But sometimes you just have to wonder

I dont think they could of kept Chandler with the contract he got from NY anyway.

Dont think the Harden trade is near as bad as people say, some act like they traded away Michael Jordan. Harden is too similar to Russ and KD, there would be zero floor spacing.

[bbms]

So much fail, where to begin.

I do agree on Green, having Noah inside with Ibaka would be sick.

And Russ plays where, at the 2?

Where he'd get destroyed all night.

Curry would be a luxury.

Agree with 4.

Disagree on Brooks, he is slowly but surely getting better, see tonight and playing the young guys more.

They didnt, they offered Harden 1.5-2 million less per year than he signed for. Harden wanted to be a max guy and the man elsewhere, he would never be that with the Thunder.

Perkins contract is bad but that had nothing to do with Harden.

Even if they kept Harden, they'd basically have him and Ibaka, Russ, KD, with no depth/role players worth a damn.

I think what's failing is your interpretation...

Curry wouldn't start. Starters would be WB and Sefo, Curry coming off the bench. It would be a simple Curry instead of Harden scenario. Curry is more of a natural fit for WB and Durant, because he's a better off the ball player.

Easy to say Brooks is evolving after a win. What he's doing now, is what anyone with a brain and no foolish loyalty would do 2 years ago. But don't fool yourself, he'll never be Adelman, who we had a legit shot on 2011.

Harden has guaranteed 70 million dollars in his contract, but will earn over 77 mil on his bird rights contract. Thunder offered him 54/4 years. Way more money. He went for money, not for selfishness.

I didn't say that. I said that his contract was bad, just that. Ibaka's overpaid too. Ibaka's been paid more than Joakim Noah. Overpaying bigs is one of the few bad aspects of Presti's management. WIth the extra money he could add one more wing shooter, for example.

[ThunderUp1234]

So much fail, where to begin.

I do agree on Green, having Noah inside with Ibaka would be sick.

And Russ plays where, at the 2?

Where he'd get destroyed all night.

Curry would be a luxury.

Agree with 4.

Disagree on Brooks, he is slowly but surely getting better, see tonight and playing the young guys more.

They didnt, they offered Harden 1.5-2 million less per year than he signed for. Harden wanted to be a max guy and the man elsewhere, he would never be that with the Thunder.

Perkins contract is bad but that had nothing to do with Harden.

Even if they kept Harden, they'd basically have him and Ibaka, Russ, KD, with no depth/role players worth a damn.

I think what's failing is your interpretation...

Curry wouldn't start. Starters would be WB and Sefo, Curry coming off the bench. It would be a simple Curry instead of Harden scenario. Curry is more of a natural fit for WB and Durant, because he's a better off the ball player.

Easy to say Brooks is evolving after a win. What he's doing now, is what anyone with a brain and no foolish loyalty would do 2 years ago. But don't fool yourself, he'll never be Adelman, who we had a legit shot on 2011.

Harden has guaranteed 70 million dollars in his contract, but will earn over 77 mil on his bird rights contract. Thunder offered him 54/4 years. Way more money. He went for money, not for selfishness.

I didn't say that. I said that his contract was bad, just that. Ibaka's overpaid too. Ibaka's been paid more than Joakim Noah. Overpaying bigs is one of the few bad aspects of Presti's management. WIth the extra money he could add one more wing shooter, for example.

And what would happen when Curry's deal runs out and he would want a starting gig somewhere?

Harden 2.0 all over again.

Ibaka isnt overpaid, he would of got that and then some on the open market. Also, you'll laugh, Ibaka is a better FIT for KD and Russ than Harden is.

[bbms]

And what would happen when Curry's deal runs out and he would want a starting gig somewhere?

Harden 2.0 all over again.

Ibaka isnt overpaid, he would of got that and then some on the open market. Also, you'll laugh, Ibaka is a better FIT for KD and Russ than Harden is.

I don't think so. Curry is a quiet guy. Proof is the bargain he accepted in GSW.

I won't laugh, it's a reasonable statement. Arguable, though.