TWolves & OKC

[old rem]

OKC as a solid top contender wants a sure plus ans stability. Minny as a sub-.500 team working to rise, needs upside and the potential to ultimately win the deal long term. This? kind of leans the opposite.
OKC loses a major part in Harden and the more established C. Derrick Williams has a bunch of upside. However.....look at OKC and Williams is backing up at SF + PF. Not apt to unleash his potential. Is Pek gonna be a better C than Perkins? Maybe but how much better and what if moving to a different team and role is no plus for him? OKC gets a pick...and that can help, but I think OKC has got to where they do not lightly deal off two starters unless the deal is a pretty safe bet.

I could more easily see the Thunder a bidder to get Beasley who's market value is less than his "best case" potential. The Wolves don't seem too dedicated to keeping Beasley. While OKC may not have a lot of chips they would look to offer..they can put in a decent offer.

[Golabki]

Bottom line, Harden is far and away the best player in this deal... of course Minny does it.

I hope OKC will be able to retain their guys and not be forced to do something like this.

On Perk v. Pek...

1. Minny fans seem to be greatly over valuing Peks offensive game. He's the type of player (like Gortat) that can get 10-15 if he is running high screens with an elite passing PG 20 times a night.

2. When Perkins is healthy he's still the best 1-on-1 low post defender in basketball. But he is never healthy, and Jason Collins might be the 2nd best low post defender, and he gets the vet min.

3. If Pek gets 8-10 million, he becomes a bad contact, not an asset.

[sipclip]

Hard to debate with people that don't realize just how good Pek is. The dude will be a legit 17pt, 10rb center in this league and so much better than Perk it is laughable.

[NewWolvesOrder]

Hard to debate with people that don't realize just how good Pek is. The dude will be a legit 17pt, 10rb center in this league and so much better than Perk it is laughable.

Pekovic has a positive margin of PER of 8.5 vs his opponent(22.3 vs 13.8). Only Howard(+13.4), Duncan(+10.1) and Bynum(+10.1) were above him among centers.

[Golabki]

Hard to debate with people that don't realize just how good Pek is. The dude will be a legit 17pt, 10rb center in this league and so much better than Perk it is laughable.

Pekovic has a positive margin of PER of 8.5 vs his opponent(22.3 vs 13.8). Only Howard(+13.4), Duncan(+10.1) and Bynum(+10.1) were above him among centers.

As a person that likes stats, I always find it annoying when people use stats that have no statistical rationale or underpinning.

[Texas Chuck]

Hard to debate with people that don't realize just how good Pek is. The dude will be a legit 17pt, 10rb center in this league and so much better than Perk it is laughable.

It doesnt really matter tho. Why is OKC breaking up the best young team in the league? Sure Pek may be > Perk but he doesnt fit their roster nearly as well and you want them to give up an elite player in Harden for this privelege? This is an abosutely terrible trade idea and is a pipedream for Minny.

[sipclip]

Hard to debate with people that don't realize just how good Pek is. The dude will be a legit 17pt, 10rb center in this league and so much better than Perk it is laughable.

It doesnt really matter tho. Why is OKC breaking up the best young team in the league? Sure Pek may be > Perk but he doesnt fit their roster nearly as well and you want them to give up an elite player in Harden for this privelege? This is an abosutely terrible trade idea and is a pipedream for Minny.

They aren't breaking up the best young team in the league. What they are doing is tweaking it so that they are a more complete basketball team. The franchise players are still in place but now they add a legit go to guy in the post that can compliment Durant and Westbrook on the perimeter and actually give the defense a reason to collapse on a post player. This should allow Durant and Westbrook more room to operate on the perimeter. I am also a huge fan of Derrick Williams and think he is the ideal big to bring off the bench because he can play with Durant as the pf as well as giving him a legit backup at the 3 so Durant can get a little more rest. I also like the idea of going big for stretches with Westbrook, Durant, Williams, Ibaka and Pek.

[Texas Chuck]

you do realize OKC doesnt need a dominant post game right? Westbrook scores more pts in the paint than just about anyone in the league and their big 3 all live at the foul line because they can all pentrate and get easy buckets/draw fouls. Also, Durant is a smart superstar who looks at the guy south down I-35 who improved his game every summer for a decade. He, like Dirk did, is going to start adding a post game.

Pek is a fine player--he doesnt fit the Thunder. He would clog things up. And Harden is a stud. There arent ten guys in the league OKC would move him for. Maybe not 5. They have a complete team with no major holes. they can attract veterans like Fisher on exceptions/vet min to fill as needed and they are super young. Oh and Presti comes from the Spurs and isnt an idiot.

[sipclip]

If you don't believe the thunder need a post player then we will never agree. I also don't see Durant adding a strong post game anytime soon because he lacks the strength to establish good post position.

If you don't believe the thunder have holes then you aren't paying attention. They have average rebounding bigs with almost no offensive game. Those are definite holes. They also severely lack scoring punch outside of the big 3.

[MNRunLeft]

I just don't see two divisional opponents making such a major deal with one another.

[Texas Chuck]

they still arent giving u Harden and the problems u listed arent major and can easily be remedied without making changes to the core which they arent going to do.

[becorz]

Does it look like OKC need to make a trade?

This

Also, if OKC is looking for offensive big men, they could probably get Kaman or Landry with the midlevel this offseason. Hell, they might be able to get both in a sign and trade.

[Blkbrd671]

If you don't believe the thunder need a post player then we will never agree. I also don't see Durant adding a strong post game anytime soon because he lacks the strength to establish good post position.

If you don't believe the thunder have holes then you aren't paying attention. They have average rebounding bigs with almost no offensive game. Those are definite holes. They also severely lack scoring punch outside of the big 3.

Do you really need a scoring punch outside of the big 3? don't see a point on have a 4 player scoring punch in one game. Why would you need a post player taking up shots away from durant and westbrook? additionally, why would they sacrifice a talent like harden and the defense of Perk for a 17 and 10(on a bad team) guy like Pek. they could get much better value than *so far a one year wonder in the nba

Yes the thunder have holes, but every team does and doesn't look like the holes are big enough as they are about ot eliminate the LAL.

[Blkbrd671]

I just don't see two divisional opponents making such a major deal with one another.

Minny isn't a threat to OKC

[Texas Chuck]

but they are closer when you gift them an elite player and hurt ur own team in the process.

[Blkbrd671]

but they are closer when you gift them an elite player and hurt ur own team in the process.

true

my point is that they would not , not do the trade because there divisional opponents, but rather cuz they don't just give away players. if the team was outside of their division , they still don't do the trade