Re: The NBA Thread
I'm not saying they're lottery pics, but it's not as if the Rockets are a top-tier team whose draft pics couldn't amount to something. Especially over the next two drafts.
One is from the Raptors, by way of Houston, but I imagine it is a protected pick. From everything I have read both picks should be between 10 - 14, where the best the Thunder can hope for is a competent role player.
add Harden on the MVP poll, he made a magnificent debut with the Rockets
That is the flip side of the trade, Harden was held back by his role in OKC. Even if he could get a max deal from the Thunder he was better off leaving. Now he has the chance to be the best player on his own team, an opportunity he deserved. He and Lin looked great together too, that should be a potent combo.
---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 AM ----------
Actually, they did. They just chose not to.
The owners were cheap, the team got a 30M profit last season and the harder luxury tax will hit only next year. They could've resign, make a last run with this core an then traded him next year.
That is true, they could have offered him the max and payed the luxury tax. Except for the Lakers, how many teams have three players signed to max deals and another player signed to near the max? Even Lebron and Bosh took discounts to play in Miami. Once Ibaka was signed to an extension a Harden trade was inevitable. I would have resigned Harden rather and traded Westbrook.
Anyway, the lakers game just sucked... I hate Mike Brown, really... after years of phill jackson, to have him is just bad for my health. I know that the offense needs time to get some chemistry, but the princetton offense just don't work for this core of players, the only guys who would excel on it are Gasol and Kobe.
We need a heavy P&R offense with Nash and D12, while Kobe works on the weakside(what he did really well tonight) and Gasol do his thing on the high post when the defense collapses(and on the low post when Howard sits).
Thi game had like 5 P&Rs with Nash... it's a shame
And I didn't even mentioned his terrible rotations..
Mike Brown is a joke. He was a joke in Cleveland, he's still a joke in LA. The team may have the talent to overcome his bad coaching, at least in the regular. The Lakers would be better off without him.
Princeton offense was designed for teams with little talent and marginal athleticism, not for teams with Kobe, Nash, Howard, and Gasol.
