In regards to not re-signing Harden, to be fair to Thunder ownership, the value of NBA teams hadn't hit the rapid increase in value that seams to be the new normal.

• Clay Bennett bought the team in 2006 for $350m
• Ownership had to pay $30m relocation fee to the NBA
• Ownership had to pay $75m to city of Seattle to break their lease
• In 2009, the first year in OKC, Forbes valued the team at $310m, so ownership is down $145m ($40m loss in value, $105m to relocate)
• In 2012, when Harden was traded, Forbes valued the team at $348m, so ownership still down $100m+
• It wasn't until 2013 when franchise values first started to really jump.  Thunder now worth $475m
• And values jumped again in 2015 and 2018, when the Thunder were valued at $930m and $1.25b

https://www.statista.com/statistics/194668/franchise-value-of-the-oklahoma-city-thunder/

That's a CAGR (annual growth rate) of 5.9% for 2003-2012 vs a CAGR of 23.8% from 2012 to 2018.

Also the salary cap was in a period of minimal growth, and even decline.  From 2002 to 2013, the salary cap barely moved (when calculating in changes in purchasing power).  And the salary cap had actually decreased from it's high in 2009 (when team first moved to OKC) when compared to 2010-2014 or 2015 (depending on whether you're looking at real or current dollars).

https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/salary-cap-history.html

Just looking at some of the numbers, especially considering this was before the new TV deal was in place, I can see and also remember why small market owners had to really watch their pennies.

It looks terrible now, and I'm sure if Clay Bennett had a crystal ball he would have done things differently and paid Harden the max.   But at the time there was some reason to be concerned about losing money.

Those are fair points to note. Conversely, though, the league anticipated increased franchise values and revenue as far back as the Harden trade. Cap rose more dramatically than anticipated and the Clippers sale price opened a lot of eyes, but they knew it was on the horizon.

Hey what happened to this thread(s)?  I was the #2 poster yesterday (my highest ever) when there were 2 threads for the same game.  Guess the one I posted in was deleted.   

haha i hear ya..i was #1   shoulda/coulda wish it had been merged lol

They are just desperate, because several things are not going their way:

1. They didn't get Lebron, George, Butler, or Kawhi in a year when they thought they'd be the most attractive team for free agents or pre-free agents.
2. Fultz doesn't look like the All-star they hoped he would be.
3. They traded Tatum and a draft pick to give their biggest rival a huge advantage.
4. They are apparently not the 1st or 2nd best team in the East. They may not even by the 3rd (Bucks), and the gap between them and the 4th and 5th (Pacers and Wizards) may not be that big.
5. Their front office has been a joke in recent years.
6. Brent Brown looks like a good coach, but he also looks outmatched against the top coaches.
7. Their roster is completely unbalanced and in need of perimeter-oriented scoring. They also can't seem to make the necessary trade to make that happen. Covington, Saric, and Simmons all play the same position.
8. They have a constant low-simmer of fear that Embiid will get injured.
9. A lot of Sixer fans really like Holmes, who they traded for nothing.

Anyway. It's not surprising that they are lashing out and taking the victim mindset.

Quote from: Moranis on Yesterday at 08:04:31 PM

Quote from: gouki88 on Yesterday at 07:10:45 PM

Quote from: Emmette Bryant on Yesterday at 06:54:40 PM

Here is some serious whining from Philly:

https://www.libertyballers.com/2018/10/21/18004300/nba-front-office-sixers-rule-change?src=rss

Philly fans are embarrassing. Can’t say it’s not entertaining

Um, it is a report from Woj in which he says the league pushed back the high school kids a year in part because of the trade for that draft pick.  If Woj is right, it is an absolute bush league move by the league.

The league pushed it back to 2022 but had never fully committed to 2021, as there were a lot of things that needed to happen. The league had to get the players to approve it. The league needed to set standards for which players could go straight to the draft. They had to coordinate things with USA Basketball. They had to change things with the G League.

And, they said originally they wanted to do things farther into the future so that no traded picks we're involved in that first year yet. Philly knew this but took a chance they might be able to get a pick in that year anyway. If it wasn't Philly for that traded for that pick and it was someone else, the league still would have pushed it back. If other teams traded for other 1st round picks in 2021, the league would still have pushed it to 2022.

Philly gambled and they lost. The league isn't changing it just because it's specifically Philly that traded for that pick. They would have done it if it was any other team. The league let it be known ahead of time that they didn't want traded picks to be a part of the 1st year of high schoolers coming in but Philly made the trade anyway. So their gamble failed.

And, they had a bunch of other reasons to push it back as well.

Philly is just acting like the paranoid team and fanbase they have been for years.

I agree. I like a lot of the liberty ballers content, and think they have some objection things on there. That article, however, was an embarrassment.

El Segundo.  Go Cs!