New frontcourt is significantly better

[Kizz Fastfists]

1- Lock up Kanter for 4 years. He is the one hitting RFA this year. If you have to trade him in two off-seasons to make the cap work then you deal with it then.

2- KD gets a max deal next off-season unless. It will be under the new cap and possibly a new CBA. At that point you'll also have a good idea about what you are going to need to do the following off-season.

3- Dion can be replaced. If you have a draft pick this year a player like Devin Booker could end up replacing him as the first wing off the bench. If the cap increases to a point where it makes sense and Dion finally takes a big step forward maybe you re-sign him for a reasonable price. Otherwise you use the MLE. There is also Abrines overseas who could come over and they will still have Morrow.

4- After next year then you worry about getting Russ and Ibaka their new extensions. I'm assuming both will get max. You worry about if you can afford to keep Kanter, Ibaka, Adams, KD and Russ at that point and move Kanter if you have to. It is very possible that the cap will have increased enough due to the new TV deal that OKC will be able to afford to keep everyone. If Ibaka signs another less than max deal it is very probable they can afford everyone. It is also possible that KD or Russ piss off the media and sign for less than max.

OKC has a ton of options going forward. None of the long-term decisions have to be made this off-season. Presti has said from the day he traded for him that he intends to re-sign Kanter. They will have two years before that has any chance of being an issue. With the current unknowns of the CBA, that the players can and probably will opt out of right as the new TV deal kicks in, you can't plan out 4+ years. Just like Presti waited until the current CBA to make decisions about the team and trading Harden I'm sure he'll wait for the next CBA to make major decisions instead of gambling one way or the other with that being a huge unknown at this point.

[bondom34]

Oh my goodness someone making sense. I need to remember this forever.

[Marcus50]

Kizz Fatfists that is a very sensible oversight of where OKC can go next year. Even with the expanded cap and tax levels it is very unlikely that OKC can keep - KD, Russ, Serge, Kanter, and Adams beyond two years. That would push them deep into the tax even if Serge is not on a max deal but they sign him for around 25% of the cap.

It will eventually come down to a choice between Kanter and Adams who have vastly different strengths. It will come down to which of the two fits OKC's needs the best. At the moment I don't think we will know that for at least another season playing with a fit KD, Serge and Russ. The beauty of the current position is Presti holds the cards. Adams has 2 more years on a cheap rookie contract and as Kizz Fatfists points out he can sign Kanter and see if they can find a defensive game in their somewhere. If they can you probably trade Adams, if not you move Kanter on.

Bondom34 as for Kanter and Adams playing together that has been poor so far but Brooks has little option. Playing Adams on the perimeter simply undermines his defensive impact too much. We could see that when Adams and Nick played together in the Kings game Adams was back to his more familiar role protecting the paint and OKC has a more effective defense. Perhaps over time Adams can learn to guard the 4 but he will not do that with great affect unless Kanter can become an effective help side defender. Adams had played the defensive 4 role against the Spurs on Christmas day and was very effective against Duncan but he had serge providing the help side cover. Only time will tell whether the OKC coaching staff can find the fragments of a defensive game in Kanter. Right now he is completely lost but a summer working on defense may get him more familiar with the system

[bondom34]

Kizz Fatfists that is a very sensible oversight of where OKC can go next year. Even with the expanded cap and tax levels it is very unlikely that OKC can keep - KD, Russ, Serge, Kanter, and Adams beyond two years. That would push them deep into the tax even if Serge is not on a max deal but they sign him for around 25% of the cap.

It will eventually come down to a choice between Kanter and Adams who have vastly different strengths. It will come down to which of the two fits OKC's needs the best. At the moment I don't think we will know that for at least another season playing with a fit KD, Serge and Russ. The beauty of the current position is Presti holds the cards. Adams has 2 more years on a cheap rookie contract and as Kizz Fatfists points out he can sign Kanter and see if they can find a defensive game in their somewhere. If they can you probably trade Adams, if not you move Kanter on.

Bondom34 as for Kanter and Adams playing together that has been poor so far but Brooks has little option. Playing Adams on the perimeter simply undermines his defensive impact too much. We could see that when Adams and Nick played together in the Kings game Adams was back to his more familiar role protecting the paint and OKC has a more effective defense. Perhaps over time Adams can learn to guard the 4 but he will not do that with great affect unless Kanter can become an effective help side defender. Adams had played the defensive 4 role against the Spurs on Christmas day and was very effective against Duncan but he had serge providing the help side cover. Only time will tell whether the OKC coaching staff can find the fragments of a defensive game in Kanter. Right now he is completely lost but a summer working on defense may get him more familiar with the system

I'm not sure there's going to be a decision between the two ultimately. There may be, but the thing about having 2 guys playing C for a decent amount of minutes is that each limits the other as well. Neither will show everything they have all the time and it limits their ceiling, which ultimately limits the amount a team is gonna pay. If Kanter (or Adams) is coming off the bench every game, I don't see some team offering up 15 mil in free agency. Given that, if the 2 combine for around 20-24 mil in salary under the new cap, it may be possible. I think given time they may be able to at least get Kanter a bit better defensively, and maybe he could defend PFs some if they have to play him w/ Adams. That said I don't want them to, I'd rather they play him nearly exclusively w/ Ibaka.

[BullsFTW]

What would it take to get Steven Adams?

I really like his ability to protect the rim, and he's the type of player you can pair up with Mirotic.

[bondom34]

What would it take to get Steven Adams?

I really like his ability to protect the rim, and he's the type of player you can pair up with Mirotic.

Butler.

[BullsFTW]

What would it take to get Steven Adams?

I really like his ability to protect the rim, and he's the type of player you can pair up with Mirotic.

Butler.

[bondom34]

What would it take to get Steven Adams?

I really like his ability to protect the rim, and he's the type of player you can pair up with Mirotic.

Butler.

Sorry, nothing else on the Bulls interests me. Didn't say it was fair. : D

[Marcus50]

It was good to see Brooks play Adams in the paint and Kanter on the perimeter against Portland. It worked a lot better defensively with Lopez only getting 2 shots away and was a non factor rebounding. It gave Meyers Leonard a lot more opportunity at the perimeter but that is a risk worth taking.

Have to be pleased LMA wasn't playing. Brooks would have put Adams on LMA and he is simply not equipped to defend a power forward of that quality. Aldridge owned Serge early in the year so it would be hard to expect Adams to contain him

[Marcus50]

Kizz Fatfists that is a very sensible oversight of where OKC can go next year. Even with the expanded cap and tax levels it is very unlikely that OKC can keep - KD, Russ, Serge, Kanter, and Adams beyond two years. That would push them deep into the tax even if Serge is not on a max deal but they sign him for around 25% of the cap.

It will eventually come down to a choice between Kanter and Adams who have vastly different strengths. It will come down to which of the two fits OKC's needs the best. At the moment I don't think we will know that for at least another season playing with a fit KD, Serge and Russ. The beauty of the current position is Presti holds the cards. Adams has 2 more years on a cheap rookie contract and as Kizz Fatfists points out he can sign Kanter and see if they can find a defensive game in their somewhere. If they can you probably trade Adams, if not you move Kanter on.

Bondom34 as for Kanter and Adams playing together that has been poor so far but Brooks has little option. Playing Adams on the perimeter simply undermines his defensive impact too much. We could see that when Adams and Nick played together in the Kings game Adams was back to his more familiar role protecting the paint and OKC has a more effective defense. Perhaps over time Adams can learn to guard the 4 but he will not do that with great affect unless Kanter can become an effective help side defender. Adams had played the defensive 4 role against the Spurs on Christmas day and was very effective against Duncan but he had serge providing the help side cover. Only time will tell whether the OKC coaching staff can find the fragments of a defensive game in Kanter. Right now he is completely lost but a summer working on defense may get him more familiar with the system

I'm not sure there's going to be a decision between the two ultimately. There may be, but the thing about having 2 guys playing C for a decent amount of minutes is that each limits the other as well. Neither will show everything they have all the time and it limits their ceiling, which ultimately limits the amount a team is gonna pay. If Kanter (or Adams) is coming off the bench every game, I don't see some team offering up 15 mil in free agency. Given that, if the 2 combine for around 20-24 mil in salary under the new cap, it may be possible. I think given time they may be able to at least get Kanter a bit better defensively, and maybe he could defend PFs some if they have to play him w/ Adams. That said I don't want them to, I'd rather they play him nearly exclusively w/ Ibaka.

I think you have provided the answer. Having the two will limit the opportunities for both. They do not play well together so while brooks is likely to play it occasionally it will be limited. Allowing for small ball you probably will average 42-45 minutes of Center usage. In that you have to work Kanter, continue Adams development and develop McGary. I am not overly optimistic that this will work particularly well.

Then you have the salary cap issue signing Kanter. Assuming Kanter is resigned on a biog number we will be deep in the tax next year and from the end of next year you have KD, Russ and Serge to deal with. the rising tax level will help but not enough so Presti will have his work cut out putting the right pieces together

[QPR]

1- Lock up Kanter for 4 years. He is the one hitting RFA this year. If you have to trade him in two off-seasons to make the cap work then you deal with it then.

2- KD gets a max deal next off-season unless. It will be under the new cap and possibly a new CBA. At that point you'll also have a good idea about what you are going to need to do the following off-season.

3- Dion can be replaced. If you have a draft pick this year a player like Devin Booker could end up replacing him as the first wing off the bench. If the cap increases to a point where it makes sense and Dion finally takes a big step forward maybe you re-sign him for a reasonable price. Otherwise you use the MLE. There is also Abrines overseas who could come over and they will still have Morrow.

4- After next year then you worry about getting Russ and Ibaka their new extensions. I'm assuming both will get max. You worry about if you can afford to keep Kanter, Ibaka, Adams, KD and Russ at that point and move Kanter if you have to. It is very possible that the cap will have increased enough due to the new TV deal that OKC will be able to afford to keep everyone. If Ibaka signs another less than max deal it is very probable they can afford everyone. It is also possible that KD or Russ piss off the media and sign for less than max.

OKC has a ton of options going forward. None of the long-term decisions have to be made this off-season. Presti has said from the day he traded for him that he intends to re-sign Kanter. They will have two years before that has any chance of being an issue. With the current unknowns of the CBA, that the players can and probably will opt out of right as the new TV deal kicks in, you can't plan out 4+ years. Just like Presti waited until the current CBA to make decisions about the team and trading Harden I'm sure he'll wait for the next CBA to make major decisions instead of gambling one way or the other with that being a huge unknown at this point.

5- All of the above happens and people still bring up "cheaping" on Harden, led by the Bill Simmons blind followers.

[hardenASG13]

Within the organization he was handed minutes despite how painfully bad he was. Also some people, particularly in the media, still praise him as a great defender and screen setter. He was neither, but who cares thank god he's gone. Good luck with that Cleveland. Okc is now absolutely loaded everywhere.

He was both.

Lebron did not call him , and recruit him to the Cav's, because Lebron needed a good friend in the locker room.

I'm so tired of " fans " like you, who as KD says, don't know chit.

And you think you know more basketball, than Brooks, Presti, the players on the team, and Lebron. Do you not have the ability to think logically ? That if all these people supported Perk, that maybe there was something to it ?

Or how bout SportVU tracking data, that says Perk is one of the best rim defenders in the league ? Better than Adams .

You Perk haters, worked so hard to hate the man, that every error he made , became magnified, even though other players made the same mistakes. Big men with bad hands, are common. Big men with high TO rates are common. Adams commits 1.6 TO pg, and Perk commits 1.5, but all you see is Perk.

Its incredible, even after you saw teams anxious to recruit Perk when he was available, and it was not just ordinary clubs, it was contending teams who wanted him on their roster.

When ya gonna realize, that's there more to the game, than you know ? I know that's a shock to you, but there is very much that possibility, because there's too much evidence to support that idea.

I know I could get suspended or get this thread locked for bumping this, but your dumb quote above is exactly why I created the the thread. combined with the fact you repeatedly said I or anyone bashing perk "didnt know chit" I thought of you and laughed. Hows your boy doing in Cleveland? Doesnt play at all? maybe they should play him 25 min a night vs gsw like brooks did vs. The similar 2012 heat! Im sure people will be calling him off the hook this summer. As I said he will be lucky to get a contract offer. isnt an nba caliber center after the acl tear. Stop trying to get and 1d on real gm and learn about bball before attacking people who arent blind homers to their teams guys haha. If I was gonna put a quote in my profile itd hafta come from your perk love here, and how everyone wanted him so bad (he was a free addition! !) High comedy

[bondom34]

I know I could get suspended or get this thread locked for bumping this, but your dumb quote above is exactly why I created the the thread. combined with the fact you repeatedly said I or anyone bashing perk "didnt know chit" I thought of you and laughed. Hows your boy doing in Cleveland? Doesnt play at all? maybe they should play him 25 min a night vs gsw like brooks did vs. The similar 2012 heat! Im sure people will be calling him off the hook this summer. As I said he will be lucky to get a contract offer. isnt an nba caliber center after the acl tear. Stop trying to get and 1d on real gm and learn about bball before attacking people who arent blind homers to their teams guys haha. If I was gonna put a quote in my profile itd hafta come from your perk love here, and how everyone wanted him so bad (he was a free addition! !) High comedy

You won't get suspended, but you're close to a warning. You're attacking a poster, not the post, and its not going to be allowed.
1. Don't be that guy.
2. You're still not realizing that Perk did a ton for this team in the locker room and on the court. There's a reason the defense fell off a cliff and the team sucked, Perk's presence on D would have been nice. Yeah, Kanter's better, but Perk was a great vet presence.
3. Yes, I expect him to get a deal next year.
4. "Blind homer" he is not, he's been against moves by the team too, he's been and always has been well thought out. You're dismissing any statistical evidence that you believe is irrelevant and just trying to incite. Perk wasn't on the team for offense, and he isn't in CLE either. He wasn't good, but you're just trying to sound smart and honestly making yourself look poorly in doing so, its low class and showing that your knowledge of the team is lacking in some areas.
5. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

[Bravenewworld]

Holy ****.
I don't think ive ever seen Bondom threaten near warning and post in red...... This Harden fella must have really pissed him off.