Rockets/Thunder Trade Analysis http://thesleeperpick.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/nba-trade-analysis-james-harden-to-houston/
my previous thread title should be as : how houston & rockets offense looks like/what offense can be run after the trade - i think it's a good article http://hoopchalk.com/2012/10/29/ripple-effects-of-harden-to-houston/
I believe Morey placed a time contraint on his offer. Once it reached Oct 31st, the offer would be off. Morey wanted to sign Harden before his contract expires. Presti might not see another offer as good as this one.
He was obviously instructed to like this trade by his overlords. After all, they will look less like the idiots they are now when the Rockets win a few truckloads of games.
Yes, Presti looks awfully good because his team lost the lottery. If they had won it, he likely wouldn't look nearly as good.
And on the 2nd page of that article, the author decided to take shots at Harden, Houston and even a shot at Seattle. He should have just ended it on the 1st page..
Harden deal was only deal I was hoping for since last year, now it becomes true. I am so happy for not having Gasol, Howard and others. With this trade, the team will have a direction and can be better each year
The shot at Seattle doesn't even make sense. Bennett consistently lied to the fans of Seattle. It's been documented. What a weird/dumbass article
Exactly. Lets remember here who drafted Oden. Pritchard was hailed as the smart GM then, he had drafted Roy and Aldridge and finally Oden was going to be that new young trio. The Blazers were on the rise. One unlucky pick changed that entire franchise. Oden was the consensus #1 pick, he was the guy that could have went #1 coming out of high-school. He had that hype in high-school just like Wiggins has now and James had. He was compared to Bill Russell... Meanwhile Durant was a skinny wing player that could score. Oden was a center that would come in right away play great defense, own the paint, and hopefully work on his post game.
If Harden had reeeeaaaally wanted to stay in OKC, he would have taken the $54,000,000. But when someone said: "5 years, max money, Chinese market, Be Da Man"... He changed his mind.
And now the Clippers are the closest have ever been to a championship-level team -- because they TRADED for a superstar.
Absent some really obvious red flags about his injury potential - and while it's easier to say there were some now, I imagine there were tons of doctors saying otherwise back then - Oden was not a choice that all of a sudden makes Pritchard a bad GM. Any GM who chose Oden would be making a wise choice. As would any GM who chose Durant. They were a fairly neck and neck #1,#2, with Oden generally the consensus #1. That aside, when healthy, he was exactly as you described. A healthy Oden is probably a top 2 or 3 center in the league right now. A health Oden, Aldridge and Roy competes for championships. I guess at some point when you've got two guys that had at least some (and Roy and Oden did have at least a little bit) injury potential risk, then it starts to become a pattern. Presti is a very solid GM, and I don't see how this trade will ever change that grade. He had a directive from the organization. He got a great return for Harden. It may not work out - Martin just might not fit in, Lamb could just be an ok bench scorer, the Dallas pick might be a mid 20's pick, the Raptors pick might be a #12-#15 pick... all worst case scenarios, while Harden goes on to average 25,6,6... but it's hard to see the Thunder coming out with a better return.
Rox did not at all "fleece" the Thunder. The trade is good for the Rox, no doubt because all indications is that T Jones is a MAN and will get the lion share of rookie minutes this year. Lamb was expendable (even though I hate to lose Lamb)... Who cares about Martin. The Rockets overpaid to get Harden imo, so I hope they get ROI on him. In my mind, Martin, Lamb and that Mavs 1st and the 2nd should have done that. He upgrades the rockets no doubt, but the cost was very high. Harden can ball, no question.....but to say the Rockets got over on OKC is comedy. Depends on who you speak to, I guess. Morey did good, but he damn sure did not fleece anyone here.
Their 2nd best player is some guy named Blake Griffin, who was taken #1. And to get Paul, they had to give up an unprotected 1st (from the lottery projected T-wolves), and 2 guys that were top 8 draft picks.
Well I agree that one pick would not define presti as for me I still think Pritchard is a top GM and I think he'll only make Indiana better and better. But it seems Pritchard was let go because of bad luck rather than judging what he did and the moves he made. Had Roy and Oden remained healthy they are a contending team. Roy was a stud and Oden was really good in his short time despite fouling a lot...but that is common for young big men. The injuries really ruined what could have been for that team... It's the same for Morey too had Tmac and Yao stayed healthy. I don't think injuries are easy to predict. Blair has been pretty healthy throughout his career and I don't think Oden had any problems with his knees going in. Although it was known that he had one leg longer than the other he still had no leg problems until he entered the NBA. I don't think this trade will define Presti either if it should go wrong, I think it has more pressure on Morey though. If Lamb turns out to be the next Reggie Miller and Toronto gets the 4th pick and Harden proves to be nothing but a really good complimentary player then that's going to look really bad on Morey. If worst comes the worst for Presti he still drafted Ibaka, WB, and Durant.
