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Hello Thabeet

I'm glad. Blake deserves to play in a real NBA market like LA.

Thabeet? If so I'm happy for you guys. This team will be a great team in the future if everyone can continue to develop.

The african... But I still think there's a chance to get Rubio... the griz have Conley already!!

poor blake his career dies before it even begins lol

i'd try to work out a trade up with the clips, their frontcourt is pretty crowded..

slick_watts wrote:i'd try to work out a trade up with the clips, their frontcourt is pretty crowded..

And Griffin will be better than all of them.

EDIT: Yoshi I was thinking the same thing. Blake Griffin is going to spend his first 5 years in the league in purgatory.

wiff wrote:

slick_watts wrote:i'd try to work out a trade up with the clips, their frontcourt is pretty crowded..

And Griffin will be better than all of them.

EDIT: Yoshi I was thinking the same thing. Blake Griffin is going to spend his first 5 years in the league in purgatory.

clips have ~66m invested the next two years in their frontcourt, plus deandre jordan who looked alright this year. nobody's trading for randolph. they've got the 2nd lowest payroll in the nba, have a notoriously cheap owner, do you think they're going to pay randolph AND one of kaman/camby to be backups? i don't.

I think the clipps will definitely look to trade... but I think it'll be looking to do something like getting rid of Camby and Randolph. No way that they trade Griffin ESPECIALLY considering their owner, you get a great player and he's locked in at a bargain price for 4 years!

I think that the Thunder end up with Thabeet. I would guess that the Grizz take Rubio because Conley won't cut it or just trade out of that pick all together.

they are in a bit of a jam... If Griffin takes Randolf's minute, it will get ugly.

i have a feeling james harden's stock will go up some during work-outs (lack of athletisism and explosiveness partially dispelled) and thabeet's (clumsy, uncoordinated) will fall some. i really hope the thunder don't draft thabeet. centers, especially those touted as 'defensive minded, offensively challenged' are notoriously bust prone as high picks.

i know lopez fell in the draft and teams regret not selecting him, but he was much more polished as a player. the odds that thabeet will contribute to the team above average performance at his position in the first 2-3 years are fairly low. he'll be foul prone and difficult to keep on the court. the thunder already have a lot of other problems involving players playing out of position, or other growing pains, do they really need a project center?

okc needs a player that can contribute immediately and tangibly. stockpiling talent and 'waiting' for them to develop is a losing strategy in the nba with a salary cap in place. james harden fills as big a need as thabeet does, possibly even a bigger need since the drop off from harden -> sefolosha is greater than thabeet -> krstic, especially in the immediate future.

hope they take harden or trade the pick.

Im with Slick - although i think we could do worse than Thabeet.

The Clips just might trade the pick..... I agree with slick on this too.

slick_watts wrote:james harden fills as big a need as thabeet does, possibly even a bigger need since the drop off from harden -> sefolosha is greater than thabeet -> krstic, especially in the immediate future.

My only 2 problems with this is that 1) while shooting guard is also a big need, it is MUCH more difficult to find a center than a shooting guard and 2) I think that Sefolosha could be a very solid starter in the league with the right complimentary pieces, to me Krstic is a little bit further off of that.

That said, I'm open to pretty much all options at this point. I would just love for a Thabeet pick to work out and the Thunder get the shot blocking/rebounding center that they really need next to Durant/Green. Maybe I'm wanting to draft the idea of Thabeet as opposed to the actual player though...

I can't imagine the Clippers trading Griffin.

Marcus Camby expires at the end on 2010 and ZBO expires 2011.

You don't trade the #1 pick in the draft because you have a PF who has a contract that lasts for two years.

You use the #1 pick to build around.

I thought you were alluding to trading the pick Slick not one of the others front court players.

You are right about nobody wanting to trade for ZBO this year. Next year might be a completely different story with him being a 17mil expiring contract.

Camby expires this year so they could move him pretty easily. Especially in the 2010 free agent bonanza.

Personally I think Kaman and Griffin would compliment each other really well in the front court and Kaman is locked in to what I feel is a reasonable contract.

So sure they could part with Camby but is he really someone the Thunder would need or even want? They could simply draft Thabeet.

So I guess if you are dieing for a one year rental of Camby maybe they would take Earl Watson?

But I wouldn't give up a second round pick for Marcus Camby at this point. The only reason why I would give up Earl is because Camby is an expiring contract too.

Hey Wiff and co., just to let you all know, I started a mock draft on the draft board. It is your teams turn, right now and I need someone who follows the Thunder to make their pick at #3. If you are a Oklahoma fan, please feel free to participate (or complain, if someone beat you to the pick.) You guys are on the clock!

Thanks

-Gopher

I selected Thabeet for us, hope everyone doesn't mind. But like I said in my post, I don't think it matters if its Thabeet or Harden as both would fill some big needs for us

Whatever decision they make I trust Presti will make the right one.

dre_1614 wrote:Whatever decision they make I trust Presti will make the right one.

This.

Sam Presti has a great track record.

I don't see the Thunder taking Thabeet. Don't the names of Swift, Petro and Sene ring any alarm bells?

Krstic and Collison are more than capable of playing the 5. Take Rubio (if he slips to #3) and move Westbrook off the ball. Or keep Westrook at PG and take Harden at #3.

I will choose Thabeet at #3, there's no reason not to draft him without Griffin and Rubio, especially for the Thunder. He has chance to become a game changer for the Thunder in the defensive end provided with his 7-3 height and 7-9 wing span as well as not too bad atheletism. Plus I think DJ White and Collison are both tough guys who can compensate Thabeet's soft rebounding and less strong body contact. I don't mind trading the pick for other bigs, but don't skip Thabeet for Harden at the third spot, that kills me.