RealGM

On the Bulls board, there is a thread asking ourselves (I'm a Bulls fan) if the Thunder will still make a hard run at Ben Gordon this summer. The consensus opinion on our board prior to this season was that OKC was the most likely team to throw a fat free agency contract at Gordon. The question being asked now is, with the acquisition of Thabo and other factors (such as Westbrook's rapid improvement and the steps taken by Durant and Green), will OKC no longer be interested in Gordon?

I'm curious as to what Thunder fans think. First question: Do you think Presti is going to go after Gordon given how the season has unfolded?

Second question: Do you want him to?

Personal note: I love the core of your team. I've always been a Durant/Green/Collison fan, thought Westbrook was the right pick despite it being criticized at the time, and Thabo was my favorite Bulls player prior to the trade. Your team is going places. And soon.

DuckIII wrote:First question: Do you think Presti is going to go after Gordon given how the season has unfolded?

I think it depends on the cost of him. I think Presti having that defensive mindset Gordon would not necessarily fit given the defensive liabilities already present. However if Presti was able to get him for a bench guy price I think you have to jump on it.

DuckIII wrote:Second question: Do you want him to?

I just do not think that he is the type of player this team needs. I really like him but I would rather have a defensive guy at that position like Salmons. I just think he is going to cost too much and would kill a large chunk of our cap space. Before the dead line I wanted Presti to trade for him so we could see how he would mesh with this team before committing a long term big money contract to him.

It really all depends on who we draft in my opinion.

I agree. If we come out of the draft with one of the several combo guard types that are floating around in the 5-10 range, then we'll stay away from Gordon. If not, then we'll probably give him at least a good look and maybe make a starter-level contract bid... Probably not a bid at the close to max money he's looking for though!

Don't want him and I hope we don't get him. Not worth the money.

I would rather sign Andre Miller! Scoring isn't an issue for OKC. Here are the 3 areas that OKC need to address for next season:
1. Interior Defense: solution = Draft Thabeet
2. Game manager: solution = Sign Andre Miller
3. Team Defense: solution = Sign Avery Johnson

I say it really depends on two things,

1, his ego. obviously we have enough firepower in the starting lineup with Durant Green and Westbrook. Can he handle coming off bench in this young team? that would help the team a lot in my opinion. he is going to be our ginobili of spurs except he is rigt handed.

2, his contract. I hope we are not spending too much on him. It is going to be a buyer's market this summer and we are one of the few teams (like 3 or 4 total?) that have cap space to actually give him a decent contract. so I am hoping neither Presti works his magic and get him at a reasonable contract, or not sign him at all and stick with thabo/weaver combo at 2.

I know it is harsh to make him come off bench and pay him probably less than what he deserves, but thunder just dont NEED to sign him or any SG in that regard. what we need to find is a backup pg and defensive Center. so it would be nice to have him on the team, but it is not going to break anyone's heart if that doesn't happen.

Thinking about it a little more... with OKC not being a top 5 population city, we're going to need somewhere around the salary cap long term. Considering that I like the prospects of Green/Durant/Westbrook along with a few others, we've got to make the salaries work out. A few years down the road Durant will be a max guy and Westbrook and Green will be pulling down the equivalent of 8-10 mil in today's market, maybe more depending upon the next couple of seasons. I would rather pass on Ben (and most other FAs) in order to keep those guys together for the long-term.

I think it would be a tremendous about face in our development strategy for many of the reasons listed above. No, I can't see it.

I dont think he has enough Defense for the THunder to want him.

i don't understand this strong aversion to ben gordon. okc has hardly any outside shooting and ben gordon is 41% career on a ton of attempts. i know there are concerns defensively, but westbrook is already a capable defender if they're set on him at PG. i think gordon would be a good fit and is the kind of player okc needs to be a more efficient scoring team.

slick_watts wrote:i don't understand this strong aversion to ben gordon. okc has hardly any outside shooting and ben gordon is 41% career on a ton of attempts. i know there are concerns defensively, but westbrook is already a capable defender if they're set on him at PG. i think gordon would be a good fit and is the kind of player okc needs to be a more efficient scoring team.

He can definitely hit 3s but at what cost?
I think at 7 mil he would work
But 10 is very high

slick_watts wrote:i don't understand this strong aversion to ben gordon. okc has hardly any outside shooting and ben gordon is 41% career on a ton of attempts. i know there are concerns defensively, but westbrook is already a capable defender if they're set on him at PG. i think gordon would be a good fit and is the kind of player okc needs to be a more efficient scoring team.

If his whole role is to be a sparkplug type scorer for us, then we could realistically find a guy like Eddie House for under half of the price.

gordon's worth 9-10m a year in my opinion, especially on a team like this where NONE of our current backcourt players are good perimeter shooters. weaver, westbrook, livingston, and thabo are all inconsistent even from 18ft out and are more effective as slashing guards, especially westbrook. if westbrook is going to start at pg for this team, they need a guy next to him who can shoot the basketball and score consistently. this team is not going to win with thabo sefolosha or similar players next to westbrook who don't compliment his offensive game at all.

most of you guys are attached to this idea that sam presti is devoted to defense, but i really don't see it. jeff green at pf is not an above average defender, kevin durant might be decent someday, nenad krstic is not a good defender, etc. you really need a balance, i think ben gordon could score ~23ppg efficiently on a team like this with russell westbrook guarding the opponent's best backcourt player. especially if the team ends up drafting thabeet, then you really need consistent backcourt scoring. ben gordon's the best available option there, he's young, and fills a huge hole.

I don't think he's a bad option. And I think that he'd fit alright. But if we're going to keep the guys we've got now, plus a top 5 pick (if he pans out), then we can't afford to have ~11-12 mil (with raises) in a couple of years to Ben.

The last thing this team needs is a undersized, trigger happy guard that doesn't play defense.

It_Was_Typed wrote:The last thing this team needs is a undersized, trigger happy guard that doesn't play defense.

+1

I wouldn't pay Ben Gordon more than 4 mil. And I know some GM who needs his skill set will pay him a lot more than that.

The guy can fill it up but I would rather save the coin and find a guy who is a poor man's version of Ben Gordon who doesn't mind coming off the bench.

Gordon is a decent player but I just don't think he fits the mold that Presti is looking for.

i dont think so i think livingston will be a blessnig in disguise. next year move westbrooke to the 2 and start shaun. he will get even better in the offseason game/health wise, and he will should start looking like the shaun livingstion the was about to breakout before the inury.

canomad wrote:i dont think so i think livingston will be a blessnig in disguise. next year move westbrooke to the 2 and start shaun. he will get even better in the offseason game/health wise, and he will should start looking like the shaun livingstion the was about to breakout before the inury.

I myself would love a lineup of
Livingston/Weaver
Westbrook/Thabo
Durant/????
Green/White
Kristic/Thabeet???

I don't like how people are trying to degrade an efficient 20 ppg scorer, however if this team ends up with Thabeet and more than likely a swing player that is a deadeye shooter off the bench they should be pretty tough to beat next year.

Gonna be hard to get rid of Watson and Wilkins, but Collison and Krstic should be good. White looks completely healthy now.

I guess the rotation will be something like:

Starters: Westbrook, Thabo, Durant. Green, Krstic
Main Bench: Livingston, Weaver, Collison, White
Deep Bench: Watson, Wilkins. lotto pick, Spurs pick

Gone: Rose, Atkins, Swift

No wonder why Presti got rid of that third draft pick for Thabo. The Thunder really don't need to be getting any younger.