MIN - NOH - OKC - Blockbuster Poll

[shrink]

If each of these trades were presented, would you accept them?

Vote on each one - so you can vote on up to three of them.

TRADE ONE:

MIN GETS: Westbrook
OKC GETS: Chris Paul
NOH GETS: Rubio + Derrick Williams + OKC 1st

TRADE TWO:

MIN GETS: Harden + Ibaka
OKC GETS: Love

TRADE THREE (combined):

MIN GETS: Westbrook + Harden + Ibaka
OKC GETS: Chris Paul + Love
NOH GETS: Rubio + Derrick Williams + OKC 1st

[shrink]

If these trades look familiar, they should. Trade One is something I ended up at after a discussion with you guys and players on the trade board, Trade Two is something that got batted around the trade board a lot early last season, and Trade Three is a combination of the two - and currently being proposed by a poster on the TB that arrived here on his own again.

This is a blockbuster trade for all three teams. Blockbusters are rare, and one reason is because a team's top players have been heavily marketed to local fans, and those are the ones that sell tickets. However, because the overall direction of these three teams is so different, I could see each one having a little traction:

1. NOH needs to get something for Chris Paul. Westbrook alone is a bad fit, because once he gets his new contract, he could also demand out of NOH. Williams and Rubio will help hold onto fans, and the Hornets can keep them, cheaply for several years on rookie scale.

2. OKC may like Westbrooks athleticism and upside, but they are a contender now and don't want to waste a shot at a ring. Chris Paul is the best PG in the league, and can run that offense brilliantly. Kevin Love may not be as strong defensively, but his overall game and extra possessions in CP's hands would give the Thunder a Big Three that would rival anyone in the league.

3. MIN has many players that have a chance of being a star - Westbrook already is one. MIN isn't likely to get a star in free agency. And even better, the kid has upside on his physical talent. If you choose the "keep love" option, he also has another advantage - He and Love and BFF's, and maybe both wouuld be happier staying put. If you chose the "Trade Love" option, we get three starters for two, and balance out are roster extremely well, giving Kahn a better chance of winning and keeping his job with young, athletic players that can defend.

[Wingman]

I don't like Westbrook, but I'd do trade 2.
Rubio
Harden
Beas
D-Will
Ibaka
with Wes off the bench would be a beautiful thing.

[shangrila]

I wouldn't do either. I don't like Westbrook and if they're trading for Ibaka just to put him at centre then I hate that too.

[Biff Cooper]

I don't like either of them for the Wolves.

[C.lupus]

I don't like either of them for the Wolves.

[PG24]

The Rubio/Love era is going to rock. An offense ran through two crafty, high BBIQ players? It's gonna be a thing of beauty, and to break up that unique duo would be a real shame (even considering the value in return is more than fair). The foundation is finally set, it's strong, it's special, and rather than tearing it apart Kahn needs to continue to acquire athletes/defenders to put on the court with the duo, and for the most part he's done a decent job so far with still a number of assets to continue to surround them with the most complementary pieces.

[cpfsf]

This is the best blockbuster trade (from any team involved) that I have seen on the trade board. Personally I wouldn't pull the trigger because I feel it's more of a low risk low reward move. We become a mediocre playoff team for the next several years while creating an NBA monster in the Western Conference. A playoff run would be nice though...

I love Ibaka, but we are losing all of our best prospects in this trade. We could trade for Emeka Okafor at the expense of our cap space.

[B Calrissian]

Pass on both. The combined one is way too much in OKC's favor. Getting Paul and Love (two popular all stars) for 3 players that are all arguably (Westbrook over Love maybe) less valuable.

Beasley and Johnson for Harden is something I would do.
Rotations-

Westbrook/Maynor
Johnson/Thabo
Durant/Beasley
Beasley/Collison
Perkins/Ilbaka

Rubio/Ridnour
Harden/Webster
Williams/Webster
Love/Tolliver
Randolph/Darko

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'd be tempted to do one or the other to get an explosive young star like Westbrook to team w/ Love or the guy who I think may very well be the 3rd best SG in the NBA right now (though the competition is kinda meh) in Harden.....as a whole though I'd rather take my chances w/ all the Wolves young guys and try to forge our own identity than lock ourselves into a core of the current Thunder team minus Durant; that'd seem weird to me to commit to such an obvious limited-ceiling team

[cpfsf]

Trade 3 makes Minnesota the OKC Thunder...we just wouldn't have Kevin Durant on the team.

[TrentTuckerForever]

I'd do trade 2. The Love/Westbrook connection both personally and on the court sold me. A shoot first PG and do-everything PF reminds me of the potential of the Marbury/KG pairing so many years ago (KG being a far better defender than Love, obviously.)

You'd have to mold the rest of the roster around those two guys, but it would a hell of a start - Westbrook already is the impact player we hope Rubio will be, and he turns 23 in November.

[AQuintus]

I'd do trade 2. The Love/Westbrook connection both personally and on the court sold me. A shoot first PG and do-everything PF reminds me of the potential of the Marbury/KG pairing so many years ago (KG being a far better defender than Love, obviously.)

You'd have to mold the rest of the roster around those two guys, but it would a hell of a start - Westbrook already is the impact player we hope Rubio will be, and he turns 23 in November.

Trade 2 is Love for Harden and Ibaka

[TrentTuckerForever]

^My bad, Trade 1.

[shrink]

We all have our own ideas on how to project players, so there's no wrong answers here. I'm a bit surprised by the lack of interest in Westbrook. In March, the impartial Trade Board voted him as the 9th most valuable player:

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Dwight Howard
4. Derrick Rose
5. Blake Griffin
6. Chris Paul
7. Dwyane Wade
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Russell Westbrook
10. Dirk Nowitzki
11. Deron Williams
12. Carmelo Anthony
13. Amare Stoudemire
14. John Wall
15. LaMarcus Aldridge
16. Al Horford
17. Kevin Love
18. Rajon Rondo
19. Pau Gasol
20. Eric Gordon

Now maybe in four years Rubio becomes a better player, but that's a longshot. Maybe Williams does too, though that's also a longshot. Heck, Westbrook could still be better in four years too - he's this good already, and he has plenty of room to improve.

MIN's chance to trade for a Top Twenty Player on this list (and keep him) seems to make Westbrook the most legitimate candidate.

[cpfsf]

Can these trades even work? OKC is taking in a ton of salary, even if they do have some cap space remaining.

[Biff Cooper]

We all have our own ideas on how to project players, so there's no wrong answers here. I'm a bit surprised by the lack of interest in Westbrook. In March, the impartial Trade Board voted him as the 9th most valuable player:

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Dwight Howard
4. Derrick Rose
5. Blake Griffin
6. Chris Paul
7. Dwyane Wade
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Russell Westbrook
10. Dirk Nowitzki
11. Deron Williams
12. Carmelo Anthony
13. Amare Stoudemire
14. John Wall
15. LaMarcus Aldridge
16. Al Horford
17. Kevin Love
18. Rajon Rondo
19. Pau Gasol
20. Eric Gordon

Now maybe in four years Rubio becomes a better player, but that's a longshot. Maybe Williams does too, though that's also a longshot. Heck, Westbrook could still be better in four years too - he's this good already, and he has plenty of room to improve.

MIN's chance to trade for a Top Twenty Player on this list (and keep him) seems to make Westbrook the most legitimate candidate.

March was before Westbrook's bad playoff series against the Mavs. He definitely showed some "warts" to the world in that series. I've waited 2 years to see Rubio in a Wolves uniform, and am invested in seeing him play for us.

[Worm Guts]

It's 6 games, you should probably put more stock in the couple hundred games Westbrook played before that.

[shrink]

Can these trades even work? OKC is taking in a ton of salary, even if they do have some cap space remaining.

You are astute. I thought that since people were voting on three seperate trades, I tried to simplify them by only including the major pieces. All three can work

MIN's chance to trade for a Top Twenty Player on this list (and keep him) seems to make Westbrook the most legitimate candidate.

March was before Westbrook's bad playoff series against the Mavs. He definitely showed some "warts" to the world in that series. I've waited 2 years to see Rubio in a Wolves uniform, and am invested in seeing him play for us.

I agree on the warts, but would it knock #9 out of a consensus top 20? We all rate players differently, but to me, as good as he is now and with all that athleticism, he has plenty of room to correct his flaws and be even better than #9.

I also agree with you on Rubio. I've continually argued he's one of the classic "he's worth more to us than you" type players, since we've been anticipating his fun basketball for two years. This is one of the few deals that would make me consider trading him.

[Biff Cooper]

It's 6 games, you should probably put more stock in the couple hundred games Westbrook played before that.

Where did I say I didn't put stock in the couple of hundred games Westbrook played before the Conference Finals? He's obviously a very good player and a top 20 player in the league. He had the chance to establish himself as an elite NBA player, and didn't perform well. I think the Mavs series showed that his ceiling as a player isn't as high as it was perceived prior to the series.