bondom34 wrote:True. They didn't have a team quite like this though either. IIRC were older and not terribly talented, Rudy Gay and co. Also if you're trading this core to be the Grizzlies in 5 years that's disappointing I'd think.
Pau Gasol in his prime was the key piece they got rid of. They were in a very similar place to OKC. They got rid of Pau before he had a chance to leave and it turned out pretty good for them. Gasol only had 1/2 a season left on his contract when they moved him while Russ is a much better player with 1.5 years left and would get a much bigger return. Not to mention Oladipo as a solid trade chip.