Thunder Targets

Ibaka is basically untouchable.

Harden is basically untouchable.

Green? Ok great, but what would we give up for him?

They probably would at least ask for Luis Scola if we wanted Green, and that's not a good return on Scola.

I'd be really keen on trading Battier to them. In return I want Cole Aldrich and the Clippers' first rounder.

Good deal.

 

Before Lowry I was hoping we could get Westbrook

I've always wanted Green, and I agree with Clutch. Trading Scola for him was a good idea.

It would be really nice if the Rockets could sign him in the off season.

 

Brad Miller isn't taking anyone to the next level. The Thunder do need a lost post offensive presence and I could always see Scola fitting in perfectly with what they are doing.

 

Every trade proposal on this forum is horrible for the other team. Clutchfans over rates Hill, Budinger, and the desire of other teams to save money on Yao's contract thanks to insurance paying a portion of his salary.

Minnesota offering Jonny Flynn for Aaron Brooks is the only thing we've heard so far involving the Rockets. Everything else revolves around the Rockets trying to get in on trades, not other teams seeking players from the Rockets. Think about that.

 

Some of these trade proposals are just funny , it is too much to ask people to wonder how the "other " team would benefit from the trade.

 

At the moment, truth. A couple years down the road? Not so thunders are gonna be competitors for some time to come and I do see them keeping the trio together. KD wills it.

 

It would be really nice to see Ibaka at the 5/4 with Chuck. He isn't likely going anywhere.

 

The Thunder don't want anything to do with Scola since he signed his huge, long-term contract. Remember, Westbrook will be getting his max deal this summer. When you look each Rockets player and their contract, they don't have anyone the Thunder would give a dime for.

You have to look at it from the perspective of the other team. Otherwise, you end up with crazy ideas like in this thread. No team in the NBA is going to give up cheap, young players with upside like Serge Ibaka...unless another team has something of great value for them.

Cheap + young + big upside = You no get in a trade.

 

I'm on board with Scola (throw in a future 1st round pick if you have to) for Ibaka (not sure if he's untouchable as many here claim) + a filler. We all know what a player like Ibaka would mean to Houston, but Scola automatically becomes OKC's best post player (no KD is not a post player) and will be enough to help them become semi-elite. I think it's win-win for both teams. Thunder have enough bigs to compensate for Ibaka's loss in Kristic, Collison, and Aldrich (who will start getting some mins). That's the only deal I would do with them. Jeff Green, although a good player, doesn't interest me on the Rockets.

Edit: I'm operating under the assumption that OKC wants to add another talented player to their roster that will have an immediate impact if it comes at the expense of a guy like Ibaka. Thus, I'm also operating under the assumption that they're in semi-win-now mode.

 

"A_3PO" your underrating Scola's value to a team that has no low post scoring.. which is needed in the playoffs, to compete against the elite..
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Luis Scola for James Harden and Cole Aldrich makes sense for both teams..

For the Thunder:
The Thunder get a practical 20/10 guy in Luis, who has one of the best(if not the best) low post games in the NBA. OKC, have the shot blocker needed to hide Luis on the the Defensive end. Plus Luis would provide some much needed scoring to the OKC front-line. Plus Luis Scola at the 4, allows them to move Green to the bench and have him take on a Lamar Odom type role. He can tear it up against other bench players, giving OKC one the strongest benches in the league!
Making them a much more complete team..

For the Rockets:
For the Rockets, James Harden(former 2009/3rd overall pick) is a two way player the Rockets are desperately missing, who unlike Lee and Martin, can create space of the dribble in ISO situations, and has jump shot to go with it. I can see him developing in to a Star player if given space to grow and develop. Many we're comparing him to Brandon Roy(pre-injury) when he was coming out of the draft, sadly, I think coming of the bench for the Thunder has slowed his development

Now on to Aldrich, who despite being the 2010 11th overall pick, has flown underneath the radar for many teams. But I see a Kendrick Perkins(with better offense) type of upside in him, definitely has the talent to anchor a team defense. He has a special talent in that despite being 6'11, he has a very low center of gravity, which help him in deep post positioning..

 

Just wanted to point out that Scola's contract isn't "huge." He's making $7.8 million this season and the 5th year has only a partial guarantee. That's not huge, it's a bargain.

 

You are underrating how much the Thunder care about the salary cap. Scola just doesn't fit their plans. It's as simple as that. Sam Presti likes to keep things close to the vest, but what he has said publicly is enough to rule out a trade for a 30 year-old player with a $45 million dollar contract.

Besides, I don't think either team would go for that trade unless Morey decides to junk the team and rebuild. Aldrich has shown absolutely nothing in the NBA at all. Giving up a proven commodity like Scola for him would be a pure salary dump. And don't even mention James Hardin. Until he finds some consistency, forget it. The Rockets would completely go to pieces.

If this was the last season in NBA history and the league would shut down forever, OKC would do the trade.

 

I'd be really excited if we got James Harden - I'm at ASU and watched him for those two years - he actually lived in my dorm. I don't see OKC letting him go though he goes really well with that team and is going to be a great player in the league for many years. I think Jeff Green is the only obtainable player that we could have interest in and I'm sure they are asking a lot for him. The Thunder were built so well it makes me jealous.

 

What exactly were you expecting out of a 22 year old rookie that's only appeared in 7 games this season?

 

You maybe right but Presti is starting to get some heat for not taking a chance with some of those pieces he has acquired(sounds familar). If they would have acquired Camby, last season, they beat the Lakers and probably make the west finals. From the Thunder's perspective, Scola would allow them to move Ibaka to the 5 and have a true 4, basically put everyone where they belong instead of having Green in the wrong spot.

Hardin and Aldrich for Scola is a very fair move for both sides but Presti over values chemistry and Morey over values his players. Hardin will never reach his potential because Durant and Westbrook will dominate the ball to much and Aldrich is coming off a 20-16 game in the D-League.

 

I would expect a 22 year-old rookie to be good enough to appear in more than 7 games. I would have expected him to push a complete chump like Byron Mullins off the active game-day roster before mid-season.

If the Thunder get some garbage time coming up, I'll take a look at him. You never know. But it's more likely they send him back down to D-League.

 

James Harden is a player that can he had once he hit the free agent market even with the restricted tag. The reason is when they do resign Green, and sign Westbrook to prob. another max contract I believe the Thunder won't match a deal over the mid level. Harden has game but its kind of hard for him to show his true potential with KD, Westbrook and Green looking for shots.

 

Kinda' off topic but weren't you the one defending the Harden pick a year ago? Nice to see you've finally turned around.

Regarding Luis Scola, you seem to underrate him a lot. You make 45M sound like its Juwon Howard-esque, but 9M per year for a 16 and 8 PF is an absolute bargain. Unless OKC wants to take a headcase like Zbo on the team, they're gonna have to pay prime bucks for a low post scorer. If the Thunder really are serious about contending, they're gonna have to go over the cap anyway, 2 max contracts for Durant/WB and a 10M per for Ibaka would wipe out their whole cap already with just 3 players. The Thunder aren't a young team who is set to contend in 3 years' time anymore, they're ready now. A Scola-Green+Aldrich trade would be worth it for both teams if the Rockets decided to go young.

 

I'd love to see Green in the SF spot for a change. See how well he plays there.