http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9239387/thirty-questions-part-2 Was it as good for you as it was for me?
Said it then as well. Why trade him at all? Keep him, go for a championship and hope at the end of the year that being in the finals two years might convince Harden to take a paycut. Also it sounds like when Harden came here that he sounded devastated from this...he wanted to sign but him and his agent was negotiating and Presti let his ego get in the way here. They had MONTHS to negotiate for a superstar player and just decided that it was not worth it. Silly.
It really is. I just can't imagine they didn't have other avenues. They couldn't amnesty Perkins or something? ANYTHING? How much will it kill Thunder fans if it's a Harden led Rockets squad that knocks them out of the Playoffs? As much well deserved praise as Presti gets, if that happened to Morey 99% of this board would be calling for his head to be served on a platter.
Morey showed Presti who the real moneyball king is. I wonder if the reason Presti was so self-satisfied about the trade was because Morey convinced him it was great.
You trade him b/c you know he's not going to be there for the 13/14 season so you might as well start your future now. OKC already has a lot tied up in salary, and there's no way that Harden would've taken a big paycut to stay on a contending roster. Maybe they could've amnestied Perkins, but they need him against big teams like Memphis, SA, and LAL.
Not really. Any 7 foot stiff can provide 90% of the time what Perkins brings. Harden is a top 10 talent and it may have destroyed OkCs only chance against Miami.
Yes, but the article said it best: In the NBA, you "never, ever, ever, ever, EVER trade a dollar for four quarters". Even if OKC thought it was getting good players in return, none of them were even close to Harden's caliber. What they should have done was do everything in their power to replace all of their other players for cheaper alternatives. It's easy to replace a Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Martin, or even a Jeremy Lamb. James Harden is the kind of player you build a team around - which is exactly what Morey did.
You never know how players will develop, remember when Memphis traded Pau Gasol for Marc Gasol and they got robbed? Two first round picks, one second round pick and Lamb is a lot, especially under new CBA where picks are extremely valuable.
Should have amnestied Perkins, and done some Morey level analysis on defensive big-men. It's been said before but it needs repeating: superstars are the rarest of commodities in the NBA. Their impact on a team can't be replaced by just getting the "right pieces" in return. Now that we've seen OKC without Westbrook, I don't think they would've had a chance against the Heat, even with a healthy Westbrook.
I was wondering how much would it cost for them to keep Harden for long term or if that's even possible?
I love it! I remember when everyone said Presti was the best GM in the league. He got trade raped by the DM DA GM!
There's definitely a sales aspect to making trades work. Morey strikes me as a guy that throws a good sales pitch.
It was a fair trade for both sides. Presti taste the market and nobody makes a better offer But now, with the late toronto pick and the big Houston season, the trade look worst for OK.
Yea amnesty Perkins he's barley playin not even a factor this series that's a problem if he can't be utilized in evey game u can get antoher stiff 7 footer they won't get another Harden
