[quote]scj119 wrote:
The thing is, Pau/Kobe/Nash aren’t getting any younger, and in particular Nash is gonna need resting in the regular season. If Nash plays 30 mins/night and their big guns all play in the high-ish 30s, they’ll probably win 60 games or so because their bench is AWFUL, again.
However, when the postseason starts and the stars are all playing 40-44mins per game, the bench woes go away and they get like 30-40 extra (total) minutes of all-pro caliber play from 4 positions. This team is built for the postseason, period, and the vets probably know it.[/quote]
100% Agree.
I am still so ecstatic about D Howard in LA. Such a HUGE upgrade from Bynum.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
You have to think the off-season opened his eyes on how disposable he was in all the trade talk. Playing with nash can’t hurt either. If he stays bland then I think’s it’s definitive that his best years are behind him. [/quote]
Ummm don’t you mean TWO off-seasons ago? You know, the off-season where he actually was traded (to HOU) as part of the three-way deal for CP?? Much like your jumping on the Iggles’ bandwagon, you’re a full year too late with this.
Anyway, agreed on a possible uptick in Gasol’s efficiency – let’s call it the non-mathematical Nash effect – but I also expect more low-block touches for him, as well. Whereas Bynum’s presence forced Gasol out to the high-block, D12 is just so mobile and will provide that much more offensive flexibility.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
You have to think the off-season opened his eyes on how disposable he was in all the trade talk. Playing with nash can’t hurt either. If he stays bland then I think’s it’s definitive that his best years are behind him. [/quote]
Ummm don’t you mean TWO off-seasons ago? You know, the off-season where he actually was traded (to HOU) as part of the three-way deal for CP?? Much like your jumping on the Iggles’ bandwagon, you’re a full year too late with this.
Anyway, agreed on a possible uptick in Gasol’s efficiency – let’s call it the non-mathematical Nash effect – but I also expect more low-block touches for him, as well. Whereas Bynum’s presence forced Gasol out to the high-block, D12 is just so mobile and will provide that much more offensive flexibility.
[/quote]
Two off-seasons ago is really less than a year ago. And in that failed trade Gasol was essentially the Laker’s contribution in a one-for-one trade. In all the proposed trades this off-season he was just the ‘icing on the cake.’ I’m pretty sure he publicly acknowledged feeling a bit disrespected when the CP3 trade failed. You have to think it’s now or never as far as realisations you need to step your game up.
And the thing is, I haven’t been overtly critical of Gasol like Laker fans have been but he has been playing below his talent level. Let’s not forget he was the reason the Lakers won those two titles a few years ago.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Let’s not forget he was the reason the Lakers won those two titles a few years ago. [/quote]
No argument from me, as long as we include Bynum as well.
In other news, pretty crazy to see OKC move James Harden.
[/quote]
Key piece to the puzzle? Yes. “The reason”? Ummm no. Remove Kobe or Gasol and you’re not winning… Bynum or Odom and you’re probably not getting a ring either. It’s not all on one player (unless you’re talking about LeBron getting the Cavs to the finals lol)
Yeah I was surprised by the Harden move as well. OKC must have wanted to ship him out while he still had value and wasn’t looking for a max contract from them. This could have a huge impact on the Thunder… Harden was huge off their bench.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m curious as to how Harden will fare as the number one option.
Anyone think the Rockets still won’t make the playoffs?[/quote]
Not sure where I sit on this trade. Houston seem to be investing a lot of $$$ in relatively unknown territory. Should be interesting but I think they will miss out by a couple games again this year.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m curious as to how Harden will fare as the number one option.
Anyone think the Rockets still won’t make the playoffs?[/quote]
not well, with the new flopping rules he doesnt have much game to fall back on[/quote]
Hilarious.
Speaking of which, Adrian Wojnarowski’s post-trade writeup also had the following gem:
…Across 72 hours and culminating on Friday night, the deal became this: Martin, Lamb and two first-round picks, including a guaranteed plumb lottery pick via Toronto.
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years
[quote]therajraj wrote:
How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
I also expected the money gap to be much greater than that. So it must’ve been more about wanting to be the alpha-dog, done being 6th-man etc. (and I believe Wojnarowski wrote as much, esp on the heels of Harden being an Olympian)
But whatever, contracts are shorter in length now (five years max, iirc) so he can always just come back home and join D12 when he’s ready for a serious title run… :-o
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets. [/quote]
While Westbrook is good the league has become bloated with athletic PGs who can score.
I would say Westbrook’s talents are much easier to replace than Harden’s.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets. [/quote]
While Westbrook is good the league has become bloated with athletic PGs who can score.
I would say Westbrook’s talents are much easier to replace than Harden’s. [/quote]
What? Are you serious lol. The only PGs that i can think of that can score like Westbrook is Derrick Rose and maybe John Wall… Not many PGs have the athletism and speed these two guys have(westbrook and rose). The guy can drop 40 when he’s on and not acting stupid.
If Westbrook gets his act together, OKC will be looking even scarier.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets. [/quote]
While Westbrook is good the league has become bloated with athletic PGs who can score.
I would say Westbrook’s talents are much easier to replace than Harden’s. [/quote]
What? Are you serious lol. The only PGs that i can think of that can score like Westbrook is Derrick Rose and maybe John Wall… Not many PGs have the athletism and speed these two guys have(westbrook and rose). The guy can drop 40 when he’s on and not acting stupid.
If Westbrook gets his act together, OKC will be looking even scarier.
[/quote]
Rose
Wall
CP
D-Will
Brandon Jennings (at some point maybe)
Monta Ellis
Stephen Curry
Jeremy Lin (not as athletic but can potentially put big points)
Kyrie Irving
Perhaps not as athletic, but they can score just as well as Westbrook or potentially be able to in the future.