Yeah I think he's kind of overrated. But he also had an ownership mandate that they weren't going to give Harden a max. So I'm not sure what he could have done. You never get more than pennies on the dollar for an all star player unfortunately.
I agree presti is overrated, but I think a. Bit unlucky too this past year. 1. Hardens value since trading him has 10x. We didn't even know he was gonna be THIS good. 2. That Toronto pick was supposed to be a low lottery, but ended not being so bc of the Rudy gay trade. 3. We ended westbrooks year in the playoffs which made the lack of harden on that team really stick out. It could've Gone differently had Martin stepped up and been a 6th man of the year type player, a top 5 draft pick, and a visit to the finals had westbrook not been injured. But all in all I agree, he is overrated.
Kendrick Perkins is a complete zero to that team. No "lockerroom presence" is worth 8.7m a year. Perkins was one of three players to have a negative PER in the playoffs last year. I think Presti declined to amnesty Perkins because he didn't want to admit he was wrong to give him that ridiculous extension. The funny thing is, they might end up amnestying him anyways. Oh well, the Rockets now have two franchise players and a third on the bubble. I can't complain, but Presti certainly F'd up a championship caliber squad.
Presti is overrated. Who gives a 9 million dollar contract to Perkins and we though Master Lin was overpaid lol. And all the picks he made were obvious picks. I mean Thabeet before Harden, really Memphis. Harden is now the best shooting guard in the NBA, the entire league! who trades the best shooting guard for martin and other fillers
I think people make too much of the recent woes of OKC. They're still in great shape with a Big-2.5 that is still young. They just look a little bad now because Westbrook got injured and ended their playoff run prematurely. They're still contenders and will be dangerous for years to come.
it's funny how history shapes itself. if Westbrook and Harden were switched in the years they were drafted then westbrook would've been the sixth man and Harden would have started and we might have ended up with Westbrook as our star player to pair with Dwight. but I am happy we got Harden, I think he's better than Westbrook IMO and he complements Dwight better with his PnR
Presti is middle of the road. I think he was overrated, but people are probably realizing he has flaws. He is evidently a great draft talent evaluator. His reputation will go as far as KD and Westbrook take him.
I think he's overrated in a sense that if Portland takes Kevin Durant #1 in the 2007 draft, then OKC isn't even close to being as good as they are now.
Ibaka's extension over Hardens proves GMs value big men such as Asik over the likes of Ryan Anderson etc.
OKC this past year had a better winning %, scored more points, and allowed fewer points than the previous year. They had the best point differential in the league and one better than any team in the last 5 years (since Boston in 2007-2008). They were the #1 seed and the favorite to reach the finals from the west. Presti may or may not be overrated, but he still managed to improve his team last year despite salary cap / luxury tax constraints of being in a small market. Any team, whether they have 1, 2, or 3 superstars, is going to look ugly if they lose one of their stars in the playoffs.
Serge had a great year last year but he can't be your second option. He is a great complimentary piece next to Durant and WB but struggled in the playoffs when WB went down. If Morey could get Ibaka on his current contract for a trade centered around Asik he would jump at the chance.
Not sure who has kidnapped the normally empirically aware Major this year...? His team may have improved "organically" last year but obviously not BC of anything he did in the prior offseason. You don't need me to explain Presti is on a half decade-ish cold streajk bookended by one if the worst trades in recent league history. Facts. But otherwise he's among the best around.
I've been one of Presti's biggest detractors on the board, but if you so much as said anything bad about the guy before this season you'd be crucified by the board. Glad to see everyone else is seeing the light, although to be honest I didn't think the Harden trade was horrible for them, it was great value for Harden at the time people just have trouble separating hindsight from reality at the time. With Presti, he's not horrible but I don't think he's in Morey, Kupchak, the Jazz or Buford's class either. As I kept saying, the guy was handed the dream scenario of a clear capspace, Durant, and another pick to start with, any average or above average GM would be able to build a contender with that. I personally think he's made 2 critical mistakes, the biggest one was giving perkins 9M a year. 2nd was choosing WB over Harden as the sidekick lol. Hopefully Parsons can also make KD to Houston happen LOL.
asik is better than ibaka giving ibaka 50 million just because he can block shots was a bad decision ...also considering that money could have gone to harden.
well they would have picked Oden (bust) but would have gotten Westbrook and Harden, and Ibaka too possibly so they would be very good still.
