2017 OKC Thunder Trade Discussion

[Kizz Fastfists]

This past season both Kanter and Dipo missed significant stretches. I don't think it's crazy to think that they would have been the 4 seed had Enes not smashed his hand on a chair.

Kanter missed 10 games. OKC was 4-6 in those games. You believe OKC would have been 5-1 in those 6 loses? They would have won 5 games of @Cleveland, Golden State, @SA, @Washington, Chicago and Indiana if only Kanter was healthy? You can get me to go with they beat Indiana. I'll even call @Washington and Chiacago a coin flip so they pick up one of them. They still lose the other three and are the 5th seed.

OKC was lucky to have so few injuries compared to most teams this year. Every better team had more injuries to key players. If OKC would have had average injury luck this past season they could have missed the playoffs. If Adams had missed the 20 games Love did in addition to Kyrie missing as many games as Kanter and JR Smith missing significantly more than Dipo OKC doesn't make the playoffs. If Russ missed half the games kd did OKC might not make the playoffs. Avery Bradley, Horford and Crowder all missed time for Boston. LAC had CP3 and Blake each miss 20 games or they would have been the 3 seed.

[Dn4sty]

I think you have to keep building with the hope that a younger/different player emerges giving you the ability to trade Dipo.

I also don't think this team is super far away from competing against everyone minus GSW. Every game but game 1 was competitive against Houston.

This past season both Kanter and Dipo missed significant stretches. I don't think it's crazy to think that they would have been the 4 seed had Enes not smashed his hand on a chair.

I think a backup PG, another bench scorer (this could be the same person) and improvement from current roster makes this team much much better

We were the 2nd most healthy team in the league this season iirc.

I don't know exact stats for games missed, but the Dipo/Kanter injuries hurt this team for sure.

My point was that I don't think there is a huge difference between this current Thunder team being the 4 seed, even if they did nothing.

A couple smart additions could easily push this team to 3.

[getrichordie]

I think you have to keep building with the hope that a younger/different player emerges giving you the ability to trade Dipo.

I also don't think this team is super far away from competing against everyone minus GSW. Every game but game 1 was competitive against Houston.

This past season both Kanter and Dipo missed significant stretches. I don't think it's crazy to think that they would have been the 4 seed had Enes not smashed his hand on a chair.

I think a backup PG, another bench scorer (this could be the same person) and improvement from current roster makes this team much much better

I agree with your perspective on OKC's best trajectory. Given our circumstances, we shouldn't blow up what we are doing. There's absolutely nothing we can get in return that will put us over the proverbial "hump" and be a legit contender. We just don't have the assets.

We should just continue to develop our guys and make smart picks in the draft and smart trades. I think Presti is really good at doing that and I personally believe that if Westbrook stays, we will be looking at the 2 or 3 seed in a couple of years.

Everyone wants to fix everything now and that's not how NBA teams work.

I think that the absolute smartest thing Presti can do is to let Gibson walk, obtain another young PF that has defensive upside and hopefully stretch 4 ability. Like a Jordan Bell, D.J. Wilson, or if you are willing to gamble, Giles... Let Huestis, Sabonis and one of those guys battle it out in camp and hope one of them blossom.

I would try to work a trade-back in the draft that nets us both a solid back-up PG or combo-guard and a talented PF.

Also, if I'm Donovan, I would make improving Oladipo's ball-handling skills a priority and consider having Dipo handle a lot of the back-up PG duties. If we do this, we can take a hard look at some talented wings in the draft to replace Dipo's lost minutes at the 2. Maybe Kurucs, Kennard if they are there.


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[ThunderBolt]

Saying that Roberson is not an ideal fit at the starting SF is not trying to fix everything now. It's trying to make one move that might have a decent impact on our team.

[getrichordie]

Saying that Roberson is not an ideal fit at the starting SF is not trying to fix everything now. It's trying to make one move that might have a decent impact on our team.

I am not disagreeing with you and I didn't make that comment in regards to that opinion.


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[Kizz Fastfists]

We should just continue to develop our guys and make smart picks in the draft and smart trades. I think Presti is really good at doing that and I personally believe that if Westbrook stays, we will be looking at the 2 or 3 seed in a couple of years.

What draft picks? This is the last year OKC has a first round pick that you can reasonably expect to show any development before Russ' decline starts. What player(s) do you think they can add with no cap space and no assets to get to the 2 or 3 seed?

Jerami Grant, Huestis, Singler, Kanter and Semaj are all garbage. Oladipo is never going to be a backup PG no matter how hard you want it to happen. Orlando tried for years to make him a PG or at least combo guard and finally gave up. This team has a downward trajectory. Russ is peaked. Oladipo is who he is. Adams is who he is. Abrines and Sabonis should improve into quality role players. Two of Taj, Roberson and Kanter are gone and to be replaced by vet minimum players or rookies. There are no high upside players to develop and there will be none sitting there at pick #21.

I guess Russ could decide to play for the league minimum on his next contract so OKC could bring up a 2nd star, but I wouldn't bet on it. He'll take his max that he has earned and OKC will not have any room to cap room to work with until his decline.

[Dn4sty]

We should just continue to develop our guys and make smart picks in the draft and smart trades. I think Presti is really good at doing that and I personally believe that if Westbrook stays, we will be looking at the 2 or 3 seed in a couple of years.

What draft picks? This is the last year OKC has a first round pick that you can reasonably expect to show any development before Russ' decline starts. What player(s) do you think they can add with no cap space and no assets to get to the 2 or 3 seed?

Jerami Grant, Huestis, Singler, Kanter and Semaj are all garbage. Oladipo is never going to be a backup PG no matter how hard you want it to happen. Orlando tried for years to make him a PG or at least combo guard and finally gave up. This team has a downward trajectory. Russ is peaked. Oladipo is who he is. Adams is who he is. Abrines and Sabonis should improve into quality role players. Two of Taj, Roberson and Kanter are gone and to be replaced by vet minimum players or rookies. There are no high upside players to develop and there will be none sitting there at pick #21.

I guess Russ could decide to play for the league minimum on his next contract so OKC could bring up a 2nd star, but I wouldn't bet on it. He'll take his max that he has earned and OKC will not have any room to cap room to work with until his decline.

That's a super pessimistic take. Some others will have a super optimistic take. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.

While obviously not as likely, impact players can be drafted later in the first round. Presti has won the majority of his trades.

I don't think Adams, Dipo, Grant are who they are. Growth still is yet to take place for each player.

Even as the 5th seed, OKC would have had a much better matchup in the 1st round.

[getrichordie]

We should just continue to develop our guys and make smart picks in the draft and smart trades. I think Presti is really good at doing that and I personally believe that if Westbrook stays, we will be looking at the 2 or 3 seed in a couple of years.

What draft picks? This is the last year OKC has a first round pick that you can reasonably expect to show any development before Russ' decline starts. What player(s) do you think they can add with no cap space and no assets to get to the 2 or 3 seed?

Jerami Grant, Huestis, Singler, Kanter and Semaj are all garbage. Oladipo is never going to be a backup PG no matter how hard you want it to happen. Orlando tried for years to make him a PG or at least combo guard and finally gave up. This team has a downward trajectory. Russ is peaked. Oladipo is who he is. Adams is who he is. Abrines and Sabonis should improve into quality role players. Two of Taj, Roberson and Kanter are gone and to be replaced by vet minimum players or rookies. There are no high upside players to develop and there will be none sitting there at pick #21.

I guess Russ could decide to play for the league minimum on his next contract so OKC could bring up a 2nd star, but I wouldn't bet on it. He'll take his max that he has earned and OKC will not have any room to cap room to work with until his decline.

When I said picks (plural) I was just referring to the possibility that we could trade down and wind up with a couple of picks instead of one.

I agree that we need to make a move. I'm just saying that we need to make smart moves. Don't sell the farm for a guy who isn't going to put us over the top (Hayward, Brook Lopez, Carmelo, etc.) and leave us without role players.

Now if we can get one of those guys without giving up the farm and giving us a terrible rotation, then I'm fine with that, but I don't think that's possible.

I'm a firm believer that Oladipo can improve and will improve. I'm also a firm believer that Adams will improve. And I think they will improve enough so that we can get 50+ wins next season and that's not a bad thing. What else more could you want given our circumstance?

And then you have guys like Abrines and Grant who I think will most definitely get better. I don't believe they will just stagnate. I don't get why everyone thinks Grant will stagnate.

I also think our rotations and 3pt shooting will improve as a team. That's something Presti talked about in his exit interview.

It's very pessimistic to think that our team can't improve the way it is built. They have not hit their peak and I don't think anyone has the answer to how to bring in a player that can increase this team's peak.

Again, I will re-iterate that we need to obviously make some moves and work some trades that bring us better wing play but we shouldn't force the issue and give up our flexibility only to lose in the 1st or 2nd round.


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[Kizz Fastfists]

And I think they will improve enough so that we can get 50+ wins next season and that's not a bad thing. What else more could you want given our circumstance?

Tear it down and rebuild. It is more likely OKC will miss the playoffs than win 50 games. With just average health this season OKC would have been the 7th seed. If OKC gets the injuries equal to the Cavs, Clippers, Celtics, Grizzles, Utah or Denver they miss the playoffs this year.

Your dreaming of everyone playing 82 games and players that are beyond the point in their career curves where drastic improvement can be reasonably expected to make huge jumps to dream of 50 wins. Based on natural career improvement and what has been shown by the players on the roster to this point OKC is not anywhere near a 50 win team. They are even further removed from being a 50 win team when they lose Taj or Roberson this off-season. OKC had the same point differential this season as Denver. If Denver could do nothing this off-season but let Gallinari walk and draft a player at #21 would you be talking about them a potential 50 win team?

[Osirus89]

Can we not trade our first rounder for a marginal talent.
That is all that I ask. Sending kanter and the first rounder we pick for cap relief is a REALLY bad trade.
Wilson Chandler or a similar level player for the first rounder...cool.
If we could somehow get Melo, that might be even better.
The dream would be a guy like Gallo.

However, pulling back a backup pg when you could get one of those for the MLE is not a good use of our draft asset.
The draft pick is probably our fourth best asset we possess.
Robert Covington is an ok player, but part of his value is that he gets paid almost nothing. That changes after next year. When he makes around as much as dipo, his value goes way down.

I'm all for improving the team, but if we move our first rounder, it needs to be for a pretty reputable guy. I think we under estimate what moving kanter will take. He is a very flawed player, but he is not so awful you have to add a first rounder just to move him. That's reserved for contracts like Chandler parsons, Joakim Noah, and mozgov. Those guys have a bunch of years left and they suck HARD.

[Balkman32]

What could we get for Kanter? I would be shocked if Greg Monroe dosent opt out and I feel like they are very comparable. I think he is a good comparison if we don't deal Kanter through the draft.

[Andre Roberstan]

What could we get for Kanter? I would be shocked if Greg Monroe dosent opt out and I feel like they are very comparable. I think he is a good comparison if we don't deal Kanter through the draft.

I'd rather have Monroe than Kanter, actually. He's a bit better defender, and though he doesn't have Kanter's range or scoring touch he's a deft passer, which I think is more important for the bench.

But I think the Bucks agree with me, which is why IMO he stays there.

I really like the work John Hammond has put in over the last couple of years in Milwaukee.

[Balkman32]

What could we get for Kanter? I would be shocked if Greg Monroe dosent opt out and I feel like they are very comparable. I think he is a good comparison if we don't deal Kanter through the draft.

I'd rather have Monroe than Kanter, actually. He's a bit better defender, and though he doesn't have Kanter's range or scoring touch he's a deft passer, which I think is more important for the bench.

But I think the Bucks agree with me, which is why IMO he stays there.

I really like the work John Hammond has put in over the last couple of years in Milwaukee.

You think he opts out and re-signs back w/ them?

[Andre Roberstan]

What could we get for Kanter? I would be shocked if Greg Monroe dosent opt out and I feel like they are very comparable. I think he is a good comparison if we don't deal Kanter through the draft.

I'd rather have Monroe than Kanter, actually. He's a bit better defender, and though he doesn't have Kanter's range or scoring touch he's a deft passer, which I think is more important for the bench.

But I think the Bucks agree with me, which is why IMO he stays there.

I really like the work John Hammond has put in over the last couple of years in Milwaukee.

You think he opts out and re-signs back w/ them?

I think he opts in. Doubt he gets paid $17mil on the open market.

[Dn4sty]

I'd rather have Monroe than Kanter, actually. He's a bit better defender, and though he doesn't have Kanter's range or scoring touch he's a deft passer, which I think is more important for the bench.

But I think the Bucks agree with me, which is why IMO he stays there.

I really like the work John Hammond has put in over the last couple of years in Milwaukee.

You think he opts out and re-signs back w/ them?

I think he opts in. Doubt he gets paid $17mil on the open market.

I think he opts out. He won't get 17 million per year, but 4/48. Gives him greater security and money over the long haul.

[Balkman32]

I'd rather have Monroe than Kanter, actually. He's a bit better defender, and though he doesn't have Kanter's range or scoring touch he's a deft passer, which I think is more important for the bench.

But I think the Bucks agree with me, which is why IMO he stays there.

I really like the work John Hammond has put in over the last couple of years in Milwaukee.

You think he opts out and re-signs back w/ them?

I think he opts in. Doubt he gets paid $17mil on the open market.

But, its also about how much more guaranteed money can he get. W/ the Bucks he's not going t get those starter minutes. I bet he could get $20+ on the open market. He is going to be 27 next year. This could be his last big contract. If you can go out and get 4 years 70 million like MANY did last year why not guarantee your self more money and maybe a better opportunity.

[Andre Roberstan]

You think he opts out and re-signs back w/ them?

I think he opts in. Doubt he gets paid $17mil on the open market.

But, its also about how much more guaranteed money can he get. W/ the Bucks he's not going t get those starter minutes. I bet he could get $20+ on the open market. He is going to be 27 next year. This could be his last big contract. If you can go out and get 4 years 70 million like MANY did last year why not guarantee your self more money and maybe a better opportunity.

If Monroe gets over $20mil+ next year I'm building a bunker, cause the apocalypse is here.

[Balkman32]

I think he opts in. Doubt he gets paid $17mil on the open market.

But, its also about how much more guaranteed money can he get. W/ the Bucks he's not going t get those starter minutes. I bet he could get $20+ on the open market. He is going to be 27 next year. This could be his last big contract. If you can go out and get 4 years 70 million like MANY did last year why not guarantee your self more money and maybe a better opportunity.

If Monroe gets over $20mil+ next year I'm building a bunker, cause the apocalypse is here.

Timofey Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million contract didn't make you start on the bunker?

[Andre Roberstan]

But, its also about how much more guaranteed money can he get. W/ the Bucks he's not going t get those starter minutes. I bet he could get $20+ on the open market. He is going to be 27 next year. This could be his last big contract. If you can go out and get 4 years 70 million like MANY did last year why not guarantee your self more money and maybe a better opportunity.

If Monroe gets over $20mil+ next year I'm building a bunker, cause the apocalypse is here.

Timofey Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million contract didn't make you start on the bunker?

The Lakers doing something dumb didn't shock me the way the last few years have gone.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I only see two options for Monroe to get a stupid contract. Phoenix and Sacramento. I can't think of anyone else with cap room that has a perceived need at center and the stupidity to give him $20M+/yr. I would consider Dallas, but they are going to give Noel a max contract.