Bledsoe vs Harden trade

Right now, easily the Harden trade was worse for OKC than the Clippers trading Bledsoe.

Redick & Dudley are worth a dime and contribute. K-Mart left for nothing, Lamb & Adams are still to be determined.

OKC gave up the better player and got much less in return (at least for this season). Adams could flip the equation in the future if he becomes a very good C.

 

Harden trade was far worse.

But if Abrines ends up being something, the martin tpe ends up being used for a decent trade, the dallas picks magically becomes a lottery in 2018, Lamb improves a bit more, and Adams starts next year, then I take it all back.

 

I actually would rather have cap space, Steven Adams & Jeremy Lamb to James Harden. Last year teams weren't prepared for Harden, but this year they are and he has fallen back to expected per, which is a volume scorer.

 

What about that one time when the Clippers gave up Kyrie Irving?

 

Yeah, I occasionally wonder why that is not brought up more often. Small salary dump for an unprotected pick.

 

So do you really think that 31 other teams would need 82 games to prepare for James Harden? You really are discrediting him. He is a great player and him starting off slow does not take away from his greatness.

Also, he has been in the league for 4 years and him starting and coming does not have a different blueprint on how to stop him. He is just missing shots he made all last year.

 

Harden's TS% is the same as last year. The difference in the two seasons is an offseason of expectations.

 

Well good thing you're not a GM then.

Cap space is meaningless. Ask teams like the Bobcats or Pistons what cap-space has done for them. Hell, ask the Mavs...Just because you have cap space doesn't mean stars are going to play for your team.

Also, it is funny how Harden has fallen off yet still is one of the top scorers in the NBA at 24 years old. I see you don't watch games either, Harden's three shot has not been fallen. It's not because Defenses are doing ANYTHING differently, it's because it's just not falling.

He'll have hot and cold streaks throughout the year like every single player.

 

Also, I don't think Bledsoe is THAT great. I think he is somehwhat overrated, but that's only because this is his first time really running a team. However, the clippers got bent over in that deal, because Bledsoe is probably one of the best young hybrid guards in the league.

 

Lol just looked at it, it is EXACTLY the same.

You are right, some people had REALLY high expectations for him. I think many thought he'd be a MVP candidate (and he still can) but I don't see it this year. He still has to mature IMO, learn when to play passive and when to take over in games. Has to play more consistent on defense too.

But the idea that defenses have figured him out is really silly. Anyone watching the games knows he still gets to the rim when he wants to. His 3 point shot just hasn't been consistent this year.

 

Clippers filled a huge need with JJ. He is huge for them this year. Eric still would be coming off the bench only to provide what guys like Crawford produces. Clippers' trade made sense.

OKC's lost huge on this trade. They essentially traded away their path to the finals for the next three-five years and potentially the separation of Westbrook and Durant in the future. For what? For temporary downgrade at the SG position, and two unknown commodities? Lamb has potential -- ceiling is what James Harden already WAS. Adams has potential. But, not Anthony Davis potential.

 

I love when people say Harden is "an inefficient chucker" or a "volume scorer". That's when you really find out who watches the games and who doesn't.

 

Really? Harden has fallen back? Let's see:

His minutes are up slightly (39.3 from 38.3).
His FG Attempts are down (16.3 from 17.1 last season).
His FG% is up (.446 from .438).
His FT% is up slightly (.858 from .851).

So, he plays more minutes, shoots less and hits a higher FG% and that is falling back to you?

You're the "Mike Conley is the second best point guard in the league" guy, right?
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=8399923&postcount=259

Well, Conley takes more shots per minute (Conley .435 fga/min, Harden .413 fga/min) played than Harden so is Conley a volume scorer too?

In your infamous "Rudy Gay is about to show the world that he's on Durant's Level" thread you said "Rudy is a star that doesn't hog the ball trying to get his while making the team suffer".

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6525609&postcount=1

Ok, would you like to calculate the number of FG attempts for Rudy Gay vs James Harden? Would it surprise you that Gay's attempts per minute were higher than Harden's? Do you realize that Harden's assists per minute are much higher than Rudy Gay's?

So, Harden shoots less frequently and passes more yet he's a volume scorer and Rudy Gay isn't a ball hog?

Interesting logic.

 

Everyone following the Clippers knew how good Bledsoe was but obviously he was never going to get time in LA behind the best PG in the league. So they got what they could, and given hoe effective Reddick has been (much better than Butler last year), I think they did OK. At the time, I was hoping they'd swing Bledsoe for Affalo but I don't know what was on the table.

As much as is made of how bad the Harden trade was for OKC, they improved last year and were as much of a contender as anyone before Westbrook went down. And they'll be a contender this year too.

Regarding the Kyrie "trade", we don't know what the circumstances were. Olshey us a very good GM (as seen now in Portland) and it's hard to believe he didn't push for protection on the pick, but moving Baron's horrible contract was essential. I think it all worked out for the best anyway.

 

It has been too long, and I confess to not caring at the time, but why was it essential to move his contract?

 

The thing is, OKC didn't generate any "cap space." They simply avoided hitting the luxury tax limit. They could have also avoided the tax while signing Harden if they let Perkins go via amnesty-- the caveat being that you'd still have to pay Perkins' his salary (minus whatever teams bid for him in the amnesty waiver).

In the end, OKC traded Harden not for basketball reasons (they did want him back and offered him $52M) but because they are too cheap.

 

Waiting for grapenutz's input on how Lamb and Adams are better than Harden.

 

if you can't hit 3 pointers you are a volume scorer, plain and simple and analytics are against you. Nothing else matters but 3 point shooting.