After inking Westbrook to the 2nd max contract on their roster, the brain trust in OKC is going to have a difficult decision to make come the end of next year. both Harden and Ibaka will be coming up for RFA, and will be highly sought after. Harden is obviously the superior talent, and will garner a max deal on the market. Ibaka is stout in his own right, and the league is notorious for overpaying for size. can a small market team possibly afford to keep 3 players (let alone 4) at max or near max dollars? San Antonio is the sole small market team that has systematically overcome a league otherwise geared towards benefiting the major markets. but they have only done so by managing to keep two of their big three locked into below market contracts (Parker and Manu combine to make less than $26MM this year). Presti was hired from the San Antonio front office to run the Thunder, and up until this point has put OKC on much the same trajectory. However by locking Westbrook into a max deal at the age of 23, these paths will begin diverging quite quickly. compounding a great deal at the end of next year... while I realize it's beating a dead horse, ultimately this goes to show how little has been gained through the new CBA. the question remains, can 3 max contracts possibly be sustained by a small market team over the long haul?
I think because they're playing so well and because they're the state's only pro sports team, they can make enough money to keep Durant, Westbrook, Harden & Ibaka (especially because Harden and Ibaka might take less money to stay part of that core) I'm interested to see how they fare like 20 years in the future. Eventually, Durant will retire, they'll have to rebuild. Can they attract big names? Hell, can they keep fans interested? Anyone can root for the new team in town or the local contender, but what about the struggling team that doesn't have that new car smell?
trade Westbrook and harden for d-will, and brooks. Trade ibaka and Perkins for a huge expiring contract and picks. Sign d12 if the magic don't trade him. Championship. Unstoppable big 3!
exactly. and this is a team which has avoided any major injuries to this point. by locking up Harden and Ibaka you are basically committed to 4 guys over the next 6 years and Perkins will be due for a raise 3 years in. while it's certainly a nice problem to have that pretty much every lottery pick you have made has been a homerun. this doesn't appear to be the makings of a 10 year dynasty simply based on how the salaries line up.
Harden won't get a max contract and Ibaka won't get anything remotely close. If they choose to sign both long term, I think OKC can get it done and be fine.
Harden averages 16-4-3, he isn't getting the max. The guy is good, but no team is that stupid. Serge Ibaka averages 7 & 6. He really isn't getting near the max.
Funny that you mention Joe Johnson, because OKC seems to have the same problem that the old Phoenix team had -- too much young talent on the cusp of giant paydays. That's why Johnson ended up in Atlanta. So, I suppose there is a precedent for OKC being destroyed by its own success.
I don't know, Harden's shown he doesn't mind being a smaller fish in a bigger pond by coming off the bench. It wouldn't surprise me if he decides to stay in OKC- especially if they go to the conference finals this year.
Technically, the Suns promised to match any offer, but Joe Johnson begged them not to match Atlanta's offer, and Atlanta gave them 2 first-rounders and Boris Diaw to convince them not to match.
It's all about the market, if Gasol can get the type of money he got for being a solid starter at best, then I suppose Harden could get near max money too. I still don't think he's worth that quite yet.
He's restricted, so he'd have to pull a Joe Johnson and complain his way out of town if he did want to leave. Here's my random guess. They give the big contracts out to Harden and Ibaka to go along with Westbrook and Durant. Then they trade Westbrook for 2 good veteran players or for an expiring contract and a lotto pick/player. That way they can save a little cash without giving up too much talent.
something along those lines is going to have to happen eventually. for some reason I have always envisioned Harden being the odd man out.
Marc Gasol plays the center position. He plays it well and is young. Harden plays one of the easiest positions to fill in the league, rather than the hardest.
declaring him a max player is a leap of faith at this point I realize, but the guys numbers are definitely on pace. quoting the guys per game averages are completely skewed due to his limited playing time. scroll down to his advanced stats and you will see where I am coming from. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01.html the other notable per minute wonder I could think of as a cautionary tale for comparisons sake is ben gordon, and his numbers pale in comparison across the board. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gordobe01.html
You (and most people) forget the Suns had a chance to sign JJ for 5yrs/$50MM the prior year but Sarver would only go up to $45MM. It was literally a $5 million standoff. Stupid stupid stupid. Sam Presti is much smarter than Sarver. Harden will sign next summer.
If Harden and Ibaka don't test free agency they're much dumber than I thought they were. One or both of those guys can get significantly more than the Thunder are capable of giving them. For reference on what you can expect of Harden's salary: Kevin Martin --> $12M Ray Allen --> $10M Corey Maggette --> $10.2M Luol Deng --> $12.3M Jason Terry --> $11.4M Ben Gordon --> $11.6M Harden is already better than all of those players now and when they first signed. He's also the only one that has that elusive playmaking ability. He can get at least near max money in free agency. For reference on what you can expect of Ibaka's salary: Deandre Jordan --> $10M Kris Humphries --> $8M Carl Landry --> $9M Serge is one of those special cases where most of his contract will be based on potential. I expect the Thunder to do whatever it takes to keep Harden but I'm almost certain Ibaka won't be playing in OKC for his next contract. I don't see the Thunder giving him that Deandre Jordan type contract but someone will.
