Harden to Charlotte for number two pick is possible

[CelticSooner]

You have a potential dynasty in OKC. It would be foolish to trade Harden so soon. His value will only go up.

[More Banners]

You have a potential dynasty in OKC. It would be foolish to trade Harden so soon. His value will only go up.

I think so.  I pay Harden and squeeze or flip Ibaka.

[snively]

If I'm OKC I'd rather just amnesty Perkins in 2013/2014 to ensure the ability to retain Harden and Ibaka.

That is, unless Harden has indicated a desire to play elsewhere, i.e. a place where he can start and play a more prominent role.

[Bosstown]

If I'm OKC I'd rather just amnesty Perkins in 2013/2014 to ensure the ability to retain Harden and Ibaka.

That is, unless Harden has indicated a desire to play elsewhere, i.e. a place where he can start and play a more prominent role.

OBVIOUSLY! Why are you going to choose between Ibaka or Harden, when you can amnesty Perk? Get rid of Perk and keep BOTH Ibaka and Harden. You can fill in any guy whose 7ft tall and that team is already a contender. Luc Longley wasn't that good, he just played hard...sign Aaron Gray or some 7 foot bum.

You guys are failing to realize Ibaka and Harden are still in their early twenties and are only going to get better. YOU DO NOT get rid of either of them, get rid of Perk...Keep both. Sign a Role playing big who boards and rebounds...do not break up that core. Harden is a stud and Ibaka is so raw offensively you got to keep these guys around.

[Kane3387]

I would really consider moving Harden. He is extremely talented, but the Thunder are looking at the luxury tax. That's not the old luxury tax either but a much harsher one.

They can get more for Harden then Serge at the moment. Beal could be a nice replacement and fit at small contract for the next four years. I mean Harden isn't key to the Thunder's success.

The interesting thing for me would be to move number 2 to Portland for 6 and 11. You could potentially be looking at a Drummond and Lamb combo. Or Austin Rivers and Drummond. There are guys in this draft who while not as talented as Harden could definitely play his role as Super Sub next year. Waiters, Lamb, and Rivers could all fit in there and one should be available at 11.

At six you are getting one of Barnes, Drummond, Robinson, MKG, or Beal. All of those guys are in the same tier in my opinion.

In moving Harden you can definitely keep Serge and Perk, but also add 1-2 very talented lottery players on rookie deals.

Rich Cho, Charlotte's GM, was Presti's assistant GM two years ago so the relationship is there for discussions to become very serious.

[Donoghus]

Top 3 wouldn't be a bad place to be, obviously.

I have Davis on the top tier, then Kidd-Gilcrist and possibly Beal.  After that, I think there's a dropoff to a third tier with more question marks like Robinson, Drummond, Barnes. 

[CoachBo]

Chuckle. That may be the one way Presti comes out of this salary cap mess looking moderately intelligent.

Still think the CLEAR best course of action for him is to cut Perkins loose and resign Harden and Ibaka.

[Moranis]

Chuckle. That may be the one way Presti comes out of this salary cap mess looking moderately intelligent.

Still think the CLEAR best course of action for him is to cut Perkins loose and resign Harden and Ibaka.

How is a team like Oklahoma City going to afford to do all that?  I mean this isn't the Lakers or Knicks we are talking about. 

The reality is all super teams are going to be three stars and a bunch of lower tier role players unless they keep making trades of one of the stars.  The financials just don't allow teams to keep 4 or 5 high paid players anymore. 

[guava_wrench]

The OKC financial considerations are good news. How much should teams be rewarded for being bad over multiple seasons? It is good that they need to make decisions about who to keep. This won't necessarily hurt their future since they could get a good pick for Harden, but it at least introduces risk.

If the fans want to keep everyone, then the fans with have to spend for that to happen. They will have to have the commitment to watching games on TV that leads to better advertising deals and better TV contracts.

[BballTim]

Chuckle. That may be the one way Presti comes out of this salary cap mess looking moderately intelligent.

  If OKC wins the title he'll have to screw things up as badly as Dumars to avoid looking awfully smart. Almost any move a gm makes is seen in a good light if it helps bring home a title.

[Fafnir]

The OKC financial considerations are good news. How much should teams be rewarded for being bad over multiple seasons? It is good that they need to make decisions about who to keep. This won't necessarily hurt their future since they could get a good pick for Harden, but it at least introduces risk.

If the fans want to keep everyone, then the fans with have to spend for that to happen. They will have to have the commitment to watching games on TV that leads to better advertising deals and better TV contracts.

The issue with the NBA's economic model is that fans have limited influence on revenues that team's rely on.

Instead its the size of the subsidy the owners can extract from the state or municipality when it comes to arena construction and coporate and other institutional customers dominate revenues for most teams.

Some markets have such large TV markets that they can use those local television deals to fund the team, but thats only the largest of markets.

[KGs Knee]

The OKC financial considerations are good news. How much should teams be rewarded for being bad over multiple seasons? It is good that they need to make decisions about who to keep.

Wow, I just completely disagree with this statement.  I was always under the impression that was suppossed to be the reward.

I say it's a sad day for the NBA when a team isn't able to keep players they drafted themselves.  OKC drafted well, and the reward is having to trade one of the players for financial reasons?  That sucks!

OKC should just pay them their money, luxury tax be [dang]ed.  Then again, it's not my money.

Here's a question to ponder, what would happen if a team like the Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, Mavs or Celtics were in this same position?  I assume they'd pay up.  So, if so, what exactly did the new CBA do to fix competitive balance?

[Fafnir]

With the new punitive tax I have my doubts, the Lakers are trying to drop salary to avoid it.

[KGs Knee]

With the new punitive tax I have my doubts, the Lakers are trying to drop salary to avoid it.

Yeah, this is true.

I question whether it' just because of the tax itself, or because the players causing them to be in a position to have to pay the tax are mostly older players on the downside of their career.

[Fafnir]

With the new punitive tax I have my doubts, the Lakers are trying to drop salary to avoid it.

Yeah, this is true.

I question whether it' just because of the tax itself, or because the players causing them to be in a position to have to pay the tax are mostly older players on the downside of their career.

I think its because of the tax itself, the Lakers ownership's only real business is the Lakers. So they do need to make money to support the family.

Though if they had another player like Bynum I bet they'd commit to both of them and try to figure it out from there. Its the fact that OKC has 4 young players who will be asking for big big money that's the issue.