hear me out, Presti tanked multiple consecutive years and drafted extremely well. But other than that, what else has he done? His coach is below average, he traded away Harden too soon, the personnel he surrounded his stars with don't seem all that special. Is it possible he just has an elite scouting department and not much else?
he was extremely lucky that the Blazers passed on Durant... The Westbrook pick was a gamble, but the one that paid immediate dividends was drafting Harden(made them a playoff contender)... Presti over thought the risk of losing Harden..they shouldve amnestied Perkins, and kept a 4 member team of Durant, Ibaka, Harden and Westbrook...instead for some reason, Presti felt more value in keeping Perkins over Harden..lollll... Presti's rep really lies on the fact that he has drafted very well with the picks he has had(and got lucky with Durant)
OKC will always regret letting Harden get away. They will and they should. They would have been a dynasty with a core of Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka. All young and still improving.
Maybe he realized that he needed good post defenders against big opposing front courts like LAL, Mem, and SAS. And don't forget that we tried to get gasol and nene.
I think Presti is a great GM. And if for whatever reason Morey retires tomorrow, I'd be happy for Presti to sign on as our new GM. But nickel and diming an easy way-over-the-max player who you're getting for below-market value(due to the NBA putting a ceiling on max contract) and then trading him for no star upside in return basically violates every moneyball rule in existence.
Very well said. It's sad but the Harden trade may define Presti for years to come. We'll see. All I can say is: Thanks! :grin:
What else has he done? 1. On July 20, 2007, Presti agreed to take on Kurt Thomas' salary from Phoenix in exchange for first round picks in 2008 and 2010. The 2008 pick, 24th overall, was used to select Serge Ibaka. 2. In November 2010, Presti signed Nick Collison to a contract extension using a loop-hole that has since been closed. As a result, Nick Collison received a signing bonus for the 2010-11 season, but is owed a fairly small amount for each year until 2015 ($2.9M this year, $2.5M next year, $2.2m after that). 3. Drafted Reggie Jackson 24th overall in 2011. Jackson has looked pretty good filling in for Westbrook and good enough to replace Eric Maynor, speaking of whom... 4. Agreed to eat Matt Harpring's salary in exchange for young PG Eric Maynor who did good work for them until getting injured last season. 5. Signed Thabo Sefolosha to a 4 year, $13.8M contract. Obviously the guy is not perfect-- for example he used an 11th overall pick (acquired in another smart trade, in which he took on the salary of Mo Petersen in exchange for getting the 11th pick for the 26th and 27th pick) on Cole Aldrich, who didn't become useful for that team when several of the later-drafted players have been more productive. However, Presti has done plenty more than just using top draft picks wisely. He's taken advantage of the CBA and used his team's cap room to acquire valuable assets (draft picks, young players, Collison signed to a favorable deal). In Ibaka and Jackson, he's also selected two players with the 24th pick that have performed above par for their draft position. I don't like the Harden trade, but it's likely more of a matter of ownership not willing to spend the $ than Presti not knowing what he has.
presti is a little "over-rated" but i mean, few teams still have as bright of future as the thunder...so i'll take ratings with a grain of salt.
Not really, at least from what I remember. I don't think it was a matter of Oden being "far and ahead" the better player, but more so the belief that big men were more valuable than wings (which is certainly a fair view). They had Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge at the time so the thinking was that Oden would be their defensive force down low, and he certainly would have been if he stayed healthy. They really didn't have a "wrong" pick either way.
I wonder if when Presti offered the trade to Houston, he expected Harden to go, err, Houston? no thanks" whilst instead Pelinka went "err 5 year max, no state income tax? that works"
Oden was far and ahead the consensus first pick for most of the year - but Durant closed quickly on him. In the end most analysts still had Oden first, but by then it was mostly because big men seemed more valuable. By the way, when has this "big men are more valuable" ever panned out in the draft the last couple of years?
Presti's last 4 years of personnel moves since drafting Harden have been an enormous ****show. I'll post the list later but its awful.
-ish. but he's still lucky to end up with the no2 pick instead of no1. it would've been hard to pass on Oden
