2013 Draft Class Extension Deadline

[tankcity!]

Just curious ... would you rather have Gobert at 102 million over the next 4 years, Adams at 100 million over the next 4 years, or Horford at 113 million over the next 4 years?

Don't think beyond that. Just think about the block of the next 4 years. Who would you rather have?

For me, it's Horford because of his offensive and defensive versatility, but I definitely get if you think Gobert's defensive impact is more valuable. Adams ... I'd rather have Horford.

I shudder thinking the Celtics might actually sign Gordon Hayward to something like 4 years/113M as well next offseason.

Hayward doesn't thread the needle for us, and would use up the C's remaining cap space, which also complicates the possibility of extending any of IT/Bradley/Smart... (I think KO is all but gone at this point)

Would be hard to watch the Celtics knowing this is it.

[tazzmaniac]

I LOVE Steven Adams, but idk about that contract. They must really believe in his potential.

Such a bad move by OKC. Is their plan to have Adams + Oladipo + Westbrook as their core? I don't know how competitive that is in the West.

Westbrook is from LA, but he is on the short list of guys that I want in green, including Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Paul George.

They've also got Kanter's contract for 3 years.  So with just those 4, they'll have used 92M of the cap.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity for the next few years but maybe that's all they could hope for with Durant leaving.

First thing, you've got a weird definition of mediocrity.  They're certainly in the 8-14 range of teams, and probably at the higher end of that.  Locking down two starters who are both under the age of 25 for the next four years is a pretty reasonable decision.

Secondly, I explored this months ago when Westbrook signed his extension, but the Thunder didn't have enough cap room to sign a max player next summer (presumably Griffin) before these extensions, anyway.  To do so they were always going to have to convince a team to take Kanter.  That's still the case today.  In fact, depending how the deal is structured, they could actually be paying Oladipo less next year than his cap hold would have been.

Is it a championship move? No.  But not all moves are.  Having these two locked down helps lay the foundation for future moves.

Mediocrity means average which is what I think they'll be with little chance to improve.  I see them more likely to finish 6th to 9th in the West.  Probably just making the playoffs with no chance to actually contend.  So far they've played 3 of the worst teams in the league and its taken a Herculean effort by Westbrook to beat the Sixers and Suns.  If Westbrook misses 10-15 games that could easily cost them the playoffs. 

Edit: By the way, how would Oladipo's cap hold be more than the nearly 19M that they're going to pay him now?  At most it would be 250% of his current salary or just over 16M.  Adams cap hold would have obviously been much less than the 23M.   If Griffin had wanted to come to OKC, releasing Adams and Oladipo should have given them enough cap space or at least close enough to it where they could move a much smaller contract than Kanter's.  I'd rather build around Westbrook and Griffin than Westbrook, Oladipo and Adams which they've now precluded as an option. 

[saltlover]

I LOVE Steven Adams, but idk about that contract. They must really believe in his potential.

Such a bad move by OKC. Is their plan to have Adams + Oladipo + Westbrook as their core? I don't know how competitive that is in the West.

Westbrook is from LA, but he is on the short list of guys that I want in green, including Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Paul George.

They've also got Kanter's contract for 3 years.  So with just those 4, they'll have used 92M of the cap.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity for the next few years but maybe that's all they could hope for with Durant leaving.

First thing, you've got a weird definition of mediocrity.  They're certainly in the 8-14 range of teams, and probably at the higher end of that.  Locking down two starters who are both under the age of 25 for the next four years is a pretty reasonable decision.

Secondly, I explored this months ago when Westbrook signed his extension, but the Thunder didn't have enough cap room to sign a max player next summer (presumably Griffin) before these extensions, anyway.  To do so they were always going to have to convince a team to take Kanter.  That's still the case today.  In fact, depending how the deal is structured, they could actually be paying Oladipo less next year than his cap hold would have been.

Is it a championship move? No.  But not all moves are.  Having these two locked down helps lay the foundation for future moves.

Mediocrity means average which is what I think they'll be with little chance to improve.  I see them more likely to finish 6th to 9th in the West.  Probably just making the playoffs with no chance to actually contend.  So far they've played 3 of the worst teams in the league and its taken a Herculean effort by Westbrook to beat the Sixers and Suns.  If Westbrook misses 10-15 games that could easily cost them the playoffs. 

Edit: By the way, how would Oladipo's cap hold be more than the nearly 19M that they're going to pay him now?  At most it would be 250% of his current salary or just over 16M.  Adams cap hold would have obviously been much less than the 23M.   If Griffin had wanted to come to OKC, releasing Adams and Oladipo should have given them enough cap space or at least close enough to it where they could move a much smaller contract than Kanter's.  I'd rather build around Westbrook and Griffin than Westbrook, Oladipo and Adams which they've now precluded as an option.

Respond to edit: I have a migraine and got Oladipo's deal confused with Dieng's.  But as for just letting Oladipo and Adams walk -- that would have been foolish.  I'm sure a team will give them a real asset for Adams and his four year deal if they suddenly need room, and I'd bet the same with Oladipo.  Someone would have offered Adams a max contract next summer.  He turns 24 next July and is turning into a top-tier center.  Those guys don't grow on trees.

[tazzmaniac]

I LOVE Steven Adams, but idk about that contract. They must really believe in his potential.

Such a bad move by OKC. Is their plan to have Adams + Oladipo + Westbrook as their core? I don't know how competitive that is in the West.

Westbrook is from LA, but he is on the short list of guys that I want in green, including Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Paul George.

They've also got Kanter's contract for 3 years.  So with just those 4, they'll have used 92M of the cap.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity for the next few years but maybe that's all they could hope for with Durant leaving.

First thing, you've got a weird definition of mediocrity.  They're certainly in the 8-14 range of teams, and probably at the higher end of that.  Locking down two starters who are both under the age of 25 for the next four years is a pretty reasonable decision.

Secondly, I explored this months ago when Westbrook signed his extension, but the Thunder didn't have enough cap room to sign a max player next summer (presumably Griffin) before these extensions, anyway.  To do so they were always going to have to convince a team to take Kanter.  That's still the case today.  In fact, depending how the deal is structured, they could actually be paying Oladipo less next year than his cap hold would have been.

Is it a championship move? No.  But not all moves are.  Having these two locked down helps lay the foundation for future moves.

Mediocrity means average which is what I think they'll be with little chance to improve.  I see them more likely to finish 6th to 9th in the West.  Probably just making the playoffs with no chance to actually contend.  So far they've played 3 of the worst teams in the league and its taken a Herculean effort by Westbrook to beat the Sixers and Suns.  If Westbrook misses 10-15 games that could easily cost them the playoffs. 

Edit: By the way, how would Oladipo's cap hold be more than the nearly 19M that they're going to pay him now?  At most it would be 250% of his current salary or just over 16M.  Adams cap hold would have obviously been much less than the 23M.   If Griffin had wanted to come to OKC, releasing Adams and Oladipo should have given them enough cap space or at least close enough to it where they could move a much smaller contract than Kanter's.  I'd rather build around Westbrook and Griffin than Westbrook, Oladipo and Adams which they've now precluded as an option.

Respond to edit: I have a migraine and got Oladipo's deal confused with Dieng's.  But as for just letting Oladipo and Adams walk -- that would have been foolish.  I'm sure a team will give them a real asset for Adams and his four year deal if they suddenly need room, and I'd bet the same with Oladipo.  Someone would have offered Adams a max contract next summer.  He turns 24 next July and is turning into a top-tier center.  Those guys don't grow on trees.

I said leave the option open so you'd have the possibility of signing a MAX guy like Griffin.  You might argue that Oladipo could have been offered a bit more in free agency but Adams pretty much got his MAX so I don't see the point of extending him.   

The problem with trading them on their new salaries is that you'd have to trade them to a team with plenty of cap space to avoid having to salary match.  I guess you could also do a sign and trade with OKC with Griffin for Oladipo plus filler but you'd be able to do that regardless of extending Adams. 

[Moranis]

Thunder are going nowhere. That's a lot of money for a team that needs more scoring. We'll see if they truly are championship contenders in the coming weeks. Their schedule is supposed to start ramping up. They've played some crap so far.

Oladipo is developing into a very nice #2 scorer.  Kanter is a pretty gifted big man scorer on their bench.  Obviously Westbrook is a superb scorer.  Not sure how much scoring they really need, what they need are a better SF and PF that can start with Adams, Oladipo, and Westbrook.  Maybe Sabonis develops into that sort of player. 

[TheSundanceKid]

Just curious ... would you rather have Gobert at 102 million over the next 4 years, Adams at 100 million over the next 4 years, or Horford at 113 million over the next 4 years?

Don't think beyond that. Just think about the block of the next 4 years. Who would you rather have?

For me, it's Horford because of his offensive and defensive versatility, but I definitely get if you think Gobert's defensive impact is more valuable. Adams ... I'd rather have Horford.

I shudder thinking the Celtics might actually sign Gordon Hayward to something like 4 years/113M as well next offseason.

Hayward doesn't thread the needle for us, and would use up the C's remaining cap space, which also complicates the possibility of extending any of IT/Bradley/Smart... (I think KO is all but gone at this point)

It wouldn't affect our ability to keep any of those 3 beyond 2018 as we can use bird rights to sign them all. It shouldn't affect our ability to re-sign KO in the summer either as we can use Bird rights for him. Opening up the cap space in the first place will require some sacrifice but we'll see what happens on that front. It would mean a big luxury tax bill in future years I imagine but it looks like Wyc would be open to that.

Ainge's moves leading up to the deadline will show a lot about his plans for the summer and how realistic it is that Hayward could come here. Rumours involving Amir, JJ and Zeller won't matter. But if you hear of KO, Rozier or Smart in rumours for a cheaper rookie scale guy then hat is an indication that Hayward (or Griffin for that matter) is on our radar. Something like KO and Rozier for Okafor would free up roughly $5m in cap space this summer. I'm not passing judgement on that trade, just an example.