Russell Westbrook has knee surgery AGAIN, out until after All-Star Break

He'll be back.

Thunder will be fine. Thunder will be right there at the top still come playoff time.

No need to feel bad or sorry.

Carry on.

 

Yeah I think Lamb was the more valuable piece. Martin was a fill in guy that they hoped could be a nice veteran piece to their team while Lamb grows into what Harden was.

There were SOME people on the internet forums that did think Martin could fill Harden's role. I always found it humorous.

 

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....thunder-dont-need-to-fill-james-hardens-slot/

 

At the time of the trade, people who didn't think the difference between Harden and K-Mart wasn't huge were clueless. The way most NBA pundits blasted Sam Presti indicated most of them understood.

Maybe some blind OKC homers wanting to look at the bright side of everything downplayed Harden's loss, but that's all. I've watched the vast majority of Harden's games from day 1 summer league. When the trade happened, I knew the Rockets immediately stepped to another level.

 

He knows he can't be the energizer bunny and play as aggressive as he used to. All these explosive PGs like Rose and WB are going to have to tone it down. His body can't take the level of intensity he brings to play.

 

Yea, some were looking at Harden's 16.8 pts/game and saying "Martin can give us that". It really didn't seem so absurd given Martin averaged 17.1 the year before.

 

Well, as usual I don't take much from player comments. That's the right thing to say. If he says...

"No, there is no replacing Harden. Especially not with Martin..." then that would have been throwing in the white flag for the season. So he said the right thing there.

Besides I'm sure guys like Westbrook and Durant truly believe that they are good enough to get it done. That's why they are who they are, two of the best players in the NBA.

 

If were only about comparing average stat lines. You don't have to know anything about basketball to do that.

 

Look to see if Derek Fisher has to leave the team due to medical reasons...err..

Spoiler

basketball reasons.

That will tell you what the chances of Westbrook returning this season are.

 

It was absurd. Beyond absurd.

Even tough Harden came off the bench for the OKC, you could tell the following...

Harden created his own shots. Martin didnt.

Harden created for others. Martin didnt.

Harden gave you points in the paint as well as from the perimeter. Martin was strictly a perimeter player

You can run an offense through Harden in the 4th quarter. Martin runs away in the fourth quarter.

To simply look at the ppg production and assume Martin would be an adequate replacement for Harden's was being delusional.

 

Your preaching to the choir.

I was only saying that for the casual fan, it might appear Harden's scoring could be replaced by Martin.

I agree with all your points, btw.

 

They must feel really stupid.

 

I could have sworn you were in the "not sure how Harden will be able to handle being the #1 option for an entire season."

 

Well Bev found his Achilles heel.....but his hand is still broken. i woulda luved some pb last night, what a weird win.

 

Pretty sure Bev would rather be playing and getting booed by the OKC fans than having to deal with an injury

 

I was, but what the Rockets gave up for him made it a steal. When a team can get a guy like Harden for chump change (K-Mart + Lamb), they win.

IIRC, after the trade happened, there was a lot of euphoria here and it scared me. Some balance in the discussion was called for.

 

OKC fans are a bunch of idiots.

 

The PB effect is still lingering....nice!

 

Sure you do, if its clear the bench player has star potential and is just sacrificing coming off the bench. That's something a GM should be able to recognize. I highly doubt there have been many instances of bench players worth the max on teams that had the luxury to bring them off the bench. In all of the instances I can think of, the team with said bench player recognized that players potential and kept him (McHale, Rodman, Manu, etc).

OKC was dumb to trade Harden. It's rare to have that much young talent on the roster, and to have a talent like him willing to come off the bench.

 

yes. Derrick Rose, and then this. it sucks for the whole league.