Sam Presti Logic

Don't you know he's the best GM in the league?

 

Apples and oranges with the new giant cap coming. If this situation was the same 3 years Harden would have got full max on day one and would stay in OKC

 

presti had his hands tied by management that didn't want to pay the luxury tax back then. i remember reading that OKC's ownership group was facing bankruptcy, and were trying to avoid the luxury tax, and that's why they traded him.

kanter is a very good offensive center, and a horrible defensive one. is he worth 70 million? maybe not, but with the cap jumping it becomes an easier pill to swallow. they can't sell not resigning him to KD and Russ after already letting harden go, or KD and Russ are guaranteed to leave.

 

okc had the money even without this upcoming cap. their owners are all about the $30m profit each year. that's their prerogative, but don't make excuses for them. if you're getting tax payer support (and most owners are) your team shouldn't be about making money ... they should all be breaking even. they can lose money if they want (that would be their money), but not making $30m when your arena/stadium wasn't built by you.

 

That was then and this is now. Harden desperately wanted to leave anyways.

http://espn.go.com/blog/okc-thunder/post/_/id/606/is-enes-kanter-really-worth-70-million

 

Nice article. Well said. I'm not sure about Harden desperately wanting to leave anyways part?

Today's NBA is a lot different. I remember it used to be that you needed one or two "max contract" players to be competitive. Now, there are more max contract guys than I can even keep up with. Enes Kanter getting a max contract in 2012 would have been absolutely absurd. Now, in light of the kinds of contracts being given out, it is only a little bit absurd. And, IMO, it makes the Brewer and Beverley contracts look even better.

That said, even though it kind of makes sense, it is still funny to think that OKC didn't give out a max contract to James Harden....and then gave one to Enes Kanter. lol

 

Presti must hate himself for that Harden move. He will never live that down. One of the all time gm fk ups in trading him.

Durant, Harden, Westbrook, Ibaka...man i thought they would be the next dynasty.

They should have let Brooks go after that season they lost to the Heat, got a real coach and left that chemistry alone.

How he has a job after screwing that up so bad is amazing. Just put the man in a position scouting talent where he belongs. He can't be a gm after ruining a dynasty for no good reason.

 

To me, I think Presti screwed up more by getting a far lesser return on Harden. He should have trades Harden for a center (possibly even Asik) and amnestied Kendrick Perkins. That would have been a much better takeaway than getting a year of Kevin Martin and Steve Adams.

 

Pretty sure presti would have rather kept Harden. Heck he probably want to keep Kmart as well, but what can you do when Management won't let you.

 

I really don't see it as a mistake at the time.

Remember, This is Durant's contract year. You have to put the best roster on the court for this 2015-16 season. If it means taking on a bad contract you do it. You need that man to sign on the dotted line.

There were not many options out there. They should have made a run at West so that could have made Kanter expendable. That was the mistake. Once West was gone though it had to be Kanter. There weren't other big men just sitting out there waiting to be signed. I guess maybe Bargnani? At least Kanter has upside.

This decision was all about Durant though. They have to contend. He's bad defensively but they still have Adams and Ibaka.

 

That reads like a very sophisticated rationalization of a bad decision.

 

Sure, Presti should not be blamed on not keeping the Big 3 together. It's his boss's call. His mistakes was that he traded the wrong guy. He should have traded Westbrook.

Westbrook would have landed him much more than what he could get from trading Harden. Harden, as good as he was, was a sixth man. No matter how you spin it, a guy coming off the bench is not perceived to be as good as a starter. So Westbrook had better trade value, and Harden would shine as a starter alongside Durant without Westbrook.

Bottom line, Presti undervalued Harden.

 

The mistake was several layers thick.

First they decided to trade Harden.

Then they passed on the offer from the Wizards.

Then they traded him within the Western Conference.

Then they traded him to Houston for scrapes and picks.

Then they didn't use the picks they did get wisely.

Then the player they choose to keep over Harden was ineffective.

Then Harden became a superstar on a very good contract.

Now they have to over pay Enes in a desperate hope it keeps Durant and Westbrook around.... which isn't going to work, because Durant cannot count on Westbrook staying so they both will end up leaving.... but the Thunder will still have Enes so it is all good.

 

I think the other thing is that Ibaka kinda tapered off. For a moment there he looked like he could become top ten big man. The idea of keeping him or Harden was a more difficult decision. Now it seems like a no-brainer.

 

I actually do think harden did want to leave, maybe not desperately but he was coming off an Olympic bid going against Lebron and the guys and reportedly more then holding his own. He's documented as saying that he didnt understand why they wouldn't start him in okc even though he was clearly the better sg than thabo.

I remember after his first game in Houston were he exploded on the scene that Lebron was telling wade "I told you harden was a superstar" clearly harden was very well informed that the best player on the planet thought he was the real deal, and wanted to go out and show it, getting the extra 25 mil from Houston didn't hurt either. Now the rest is history, that first year harden was here was a breath of fresh air not only making the playoffs but having a guy that young and good was amazing, and he's still young and even more amazing.

 

Everything was right except the bolded. Wizards turned them down.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...e4dbb4-43c2-11e2-8e70-e1993528222d_story.html

OKC wanted Beal or Klay Thompson ideally in return from Harden, got neither so I guess they got desperate.

Hated the trade then, hate it now. Like Simmons has written if they were that worried about money, they shouldn't have left one of the biggest most profitable NBA cities in Seattle for something like the 26th in OKC.

They have no room to complain about money ever.

 

He tried to get Beal, Thompson, couldn't. Asik would have been good, but I don't think the $$$ worked out. It had to be Martin, rookies and filler.

 

The perception of value for big men is often cloudy as well. People think guards are a dime a dozen, that definitely plays into it as well.

 

Asik was signed the same year as the Harden trade. Couldn't have sent him anyway.