Poll: If we signed Durant, How many years till we won a title.

[KG Living Legend]

 Durant would be 27 years old if by some miracle he wanted to be the man in Boston and play for coach Stevens.
 If say with no other major additions we win it his third year here if he stays healthy.

[Monkhouse]

 Durant would be 27 years old if by some miracle he wanted to be the man in Boston and play for coach Stevens.
 If say with no other major additions we win it his third year here if he stays healthy.

Sure lets entertain the 0.000001% possibility that Durant would come here. If he does, I can envision him winning by his second year. Ainge wouldn't waste any time putting around the right team for Durant, and Stevens would need about one full year like he did in his rookie coaching year to really get acclimated to his superstar like he did with the speed of the NBA.

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

[greece66]

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

Agreed. With the exception of that crazy guy in Clippers (who the NBA finally managed to get rid off) OKC easily qualifies for one of the worst front offices in NBA history.

They kept a mediocre coach for way too long, they have given full permission to Westbrook to do whatever he likes (big mistake IMO, esp in playoffs) and they let Harden walk away for little return.

Cherry on the cake, they let Reggie Jackson, a hustle player and a real PG (with a good win share) walk away for nearly nothing after letting him rot on the bench for years. And to think that he had emerged as the leader of the team while Westbrook and KD were both injured.

[Who]

Need more top tier talent to win a title than just Durant.

[celticdog]

I dont want Durant anymore.  His foot injury is very worrying.  I wish him all the best with OKC and I hope he can win it all this year with a real coach.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Depends... how long does it take for hell to freeze over?

[Rosco917]

The virtual pie in the sky.

Is he even healthy?

[BudweiserCeltic]

Right away.

[saltlover]

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

Agreed. With the exception of that crazy guy in Clippers (who the NBA finally managed to get rid off) OKC easily qualifies for one of the worst front offices in NBA history.

They kept a mediocre coach for way too long, they have given full permission to Westbrook to do whatever he likes (big mistake IMO, esp in playoffs) and they let Harden walk away for little return.

Cherry on the cake, they let Reggie Jackson, a hustle player and a real PG (with a good win share) walk away for nearly nothing after letting him rot on the bench for years. And to think that he had emerged as the leader of the team while Westbrook and KD were both injured.

You're right on some of it, but not Reggie Jackson.  They got some good pieces for him -- Enes Kanter first and foremost, but Kyle Singler is also a quality player.  They may have had to overpay to keep Kanter, but Jackson got nearly the same amount of money, so that's moot.  Furthermore, there were many reports that Durant and Westbrook didn't like Jackson, and were glad to see him traded.  KD does not have the reputation that Kobe and LeBron have for turning on their teammates, so if he doesn't like a guy, the problem is probably with that player.

The biggest mistake was hanging with Brooks too years too long.  I'm interested to see Billy Donovan tho -- I would have thought they'd go for Kevin Ollie if they went to the college ranks for a coach.

[greece66]

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

Agreed. With the exception of that crazy guy in Clippers (who the NBA finally managed to get rid off) OKC easily qualifies for one of the worst front offices in NBA history.

They kept a mediocre coach for way too long, they have given full permission to Westbrook to do whatever he likes (big mistake IMO, esp in playoffs) and they let Harden walk away for little return.

Cherry on the cake, they let Reggie Jackson, a hustle player and a real PG (with a good win share) walk away for nearly nothing after letting him rot on the bench for years. And to think that he had emerged as the leader of the team while Westbrook and KD were both injured.

You're right on some of it, but not Reggie Jackson.  They got some good pieces for him -- Enes Kanter first and foremost, but Kyle Singler is also a quality player.  They may have had to overpay to keep Kanter, but Jackson got nearly the same amount of money, so that's moot.  Furthermore, there were many reports that Durant and Westbrook didn't like Jackson, and were glad to see him traded.  KD does not have the reputation that Kobe and LeBron have for turning on their teammates, so if he doesn't like a guy, the problem is probably with that player.

The biggest mistake was hanging with Brooks too years too long.  I'm interested to see Billy Donovan tho -- I would have thought they'd go for Kevin Ollie if they went to the college ranks for a coach.

Good points TP.
The price they paid for Kanter was higher than just Jackson though.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--thunder-trade-reggie-jackson-to-pistons-201419618.html

[saltlover]

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

Agreed. With the exception of that crazy guy in Clippers (who the NBA finally managed to get rid off) OKC easily qualifies for one of the worst front offices in NBA history.

They kept a mediocre coach for way too long, they have given full permission to Westbrook to do whatever he likes (big mistake IMO, esp in playoffs) and they let Harden walk away for little return.

Cherry on the cake, they let Reggie Jackson, a hustle player and a real PG (with a good win share) walk away for nearly nothing after letting him rot on the bench for years. And to think that he had emerged as the leader of the team while Westbrook and KD were both injured.

You're right on some of it, but not Reggie Jackson.  They got some good pieces for him -- Enes Kanter first and foremost, but Kyle Singler is also a quality player.  They may have had to overpay to keep Kanter, but Jackson got nearly the same amount of money, so that's moot.  Furthermore, there were many reports that Durant and Westbrook didn't like Jackson, and were glad to see him traded.  KD does not have the reputation that Kobe and LeBron have for turning on their teammates, so if he doesn't like a guy, the problem is probably with that player.

The biggest mistake was hanging with Brooks too years too long.  I'm interested to see Billy Donovan tho -- I would have thought they'd go for Kevin Ollie if they went to the college ranks for a coach.

Good points TP.
The price they paid for Kanter was higher than just Jackson though.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--thunder-trade-reggie-jackson-to-pistons-201419618.html

Right, but they also got Kyle Singler, who they liked enough to re-sign to a 5-year deal, which is why I said they also got more than just Kanter.  They also got a capable backup PG in DJ Augustin.  Not quite sure why they got Steve Novak tho.  Remember too when they made that trade, they thought Durant was coming back and Ibaka hadn't yet been hurt -- they wound up with a very different team than they thought they'd end up with.  The Jackson trade was a good move.  It didn't work, but more due to injuries to their 1st and 3rd best players.

[greece66]

@saltlover

tbh, my problem is more with them not giving playing time to Jackson.
I didn't know the issue with KD you alluded too, but I'd be really surprised if Reggie Jackson turned out to have character issues. To me, it looked more like he had legitimate complaints for being treated as a third string player.

[hpantazo]

See, to me, that's the difference between Ainge and Presti.

Ainge would never ever waste or ever let Harden go. If he did let him go, he would've asked for almost nothing short of the moon. OKC has literally nothing to show for Harden's departure, and literally squandered so many chances of contention by not putting the right players around Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant.

Agreed. With the exception of that crazy guy in Clippers (who the NBA finally managed to get rid off) OKC easily qualifies for one of the worst front offices in NBA history.

They kept a mediocre coach for way too long, they have given full permission to Westbrook to do whatever he likes (big mistake IMO, esp in playoffs) and they let Harden walk away for little return.

Cherry on the cake, they let Reggie Jackson, a hustle player and a real PG (with a good win share) walk away for nearly nothing after letting him rot on the bench for years. And to think that he had emerged as the leader of the team while Westbrook and KD were both injured.

All true, and people still think PJ3 and Jeremy Lamb must be lazy scrubs with attitude issues if OKC let them go for practically nothing.

[saltlover]

@saltlover

tbh, my problem is more with them not giving playing time to Jackson.
I didn't know the issue with KD you alluded too, but I'd be really surprised if Reggie Jackson turned out to have character issues. To me, it looked more like he had legitimate complaints for being treated as a third string player.

Here's an article from after he got traded.  There were others like this that appeared after they got Waiters, and even before that.  Jackson didn't fit in OKC.  It's probably on Jackson because KD tends to give credit to hair teammates very quickly, and this is the first time I remember hearing about him having a problem with anyone.  That said, sometimes people are just in the wrong place, and maybe Jackson will be a great teammate and leader in Detroit.  I personally have my doubts, but I've experienced people who were great in place A and terrible in place B, and it was just the wrong situation for them.  So who knows.

http://espn.go.com/blog/okc-thunder/post/_/id/320/durant-jackson-got-what-he-wanted

[mmmmm]

@saltlover

tbh, my problem is more with them not giving playing time to Jackson.
I didn't know the issue with KD you alluded too, but I'd be really surprised if Reggie Jackson turned out to have character issues. To me, it looked more like he had legitimate complaints for being treated as a third string player.

Here's an article from after he got traded.  There were others like this that appeared after they got Waiters, and even before that.  Jackson didn't fit in OKC.  It's probably on Jackson because KD tends to give credit to hair teammates very quickly, and this is the first time I remember hearing about him having a problem with anyone.  That said, sometimes people are just in the wrong place, and maybe Jackson will be a great teammate and leader in Detroit.  I personally have my doubts, but I've experienced people who were great in place A and terrible in place B, and it was just the wrong situation for them.  So who knows.

http://espn.go.com/blog/okc-thunder/post/_/id/320/durant-jackson-got-what-he-wanted

To me, that article, including Durant's quotes, don't put anything "on" Jackson other than the simple fact that he wanted to be a starter.  And he deserved to be a starter.  But it's a fair point that with Westbrook there, he wasn't going to be a starter.   So he had to be moved.

The more interesting take out of the article is just how much they lamented the loss of Perkins.