Serg Ibaka is not going anywhere. He's the player on that team that has the most untapped potentail. Green is like LaMarcus Aldridge part 2. Soft outside shooting "power" forward. I'd rather have Hill. Harden? I think he's a bust and really lazy on the court. Here's one guy they should ask them about....Cole Alrich. I'd trade Miller for him.
That whole squad shows up to play. I recently moved to OKC for work and have been going to see the Thunder (and Houston both times they were in town) and they are overall a pretty good team. Nearly every player in their rotation is a monster athlete, and you rarely see someone bricking shot after shot like you have to see with Cbud, Lowry or Shane on an off night... As a Rockets fan you get to see one tame dunk a game from Kmart and afew pretty good ones from Jordan Hill, but on any given night you'll see 5 different Thunder players slam it home. Not that that alone makes them great but it says something for the youth and raw athleticism of the team.
I like your proposal, but if you resign Brooks ... Lowry isn't going to stay in Houston. The guy doesn't want to be back-up forever!
This is my kind of thinking: The Future is Now (for them). Miller's a nice player and I've wanted him here for years, but it's no good for him and unimportant for us. Move him on to a greener pasture. Same with Shane Battier and even Luis Scola. All good players and great guys who deserve a shot at something great.
to whoever wrote in my rep rather than in the thread they certainly can afford all these guys. Currently, OKC only has the 24th largest payroll James Harden is signed through 2014 Serge Ibaka is signed through 2014 Westbrook is signed through 2013 And Durant is signed through pretty much forever They don't even need to worry about resigning ANY of them any time soon with the exception of Jeff Green who is good, but is not going to be commanding any kind of massive. Likely something in the 8-9 million range at the most.But again, they dont even have to look at this until after next season. They have almost all these guys locked up long term already.
I think Ibalka and Harden should be one of our top targets- we could put together a pretty enticing package that come the trade deadline, OKC might strongly consider if they want to try to contend right away instead of being a young and scary, but ultimately fringe title contender. Scola+Lowry+JJ+Hayes for Ibalka+Collison+Harden. Now obviously I realize the very slim possibility I'm talking about here, but from the Thunder perspective, you add a legitimate offensive post threat that won't mess with chemistry, a solid PG that can allow Westbrook to slide off the ball when Thabo comes out, and defensive help off the bench (I'd argue chuckwagon is much more valuable than Collison. But that could be Rockets' bias.) Add to it the fact they'd also be getting over 8 mil in expiring cash to help re-sign Green, and I think OKC would have to at least consider it. Right? Only problem is to contend now you have to deal with the length of the Lakers, and trading away Serge ultimately kills their crunch time interior D.
Truth be told I would settle for a.. Luis Scola for James Harden, Cole Aldrich and OKC's 2011 or 2012 1st rd pick
The Thunder have no needs, they just have to mature. Why would they trade good young players for worse players or draft picks?
...to win a title now? I agree they probably will stand pat, but for the sake of Rockets rebuilding discussion, I'd definitely consider Scola+Lowry an upgrade to Ibalka+Harden, at this point in their careers.
I think they missing someone like Brad Miller to get them to the next level...Imagine him spreading the floor even more for Westbrook and Durant...Plus defensively he a big body to guard opposing centers while Ibaka and Collison come from the weakside to block or change shots...That way they avoid foul trouble
again, why can't they pay them all? the guys are all good player, but only Westbrook will get a max deal. harden is nowhere close to a big contract and neither is Ibaka right now. Green will get a decent contract but nothing huge. And again, the onyl guy they even have to worry about resigning any time soon is Green
Scola is not an upgrade to Ibaka. Interior defense is the most important attribute required to win a ring, no team as far back as I can remember has ever won without an elite interior defender which Ibaka is becoming more and more of. And Harden only gets playing time because of his defense, playing Lowry at 1 and Westbrook at 2 gives you no upgrade offensively or defensively because Westbrook is just that good offensively, playing off the ball probably makes him worse tbh.
They need a center, if they are convinced Aldrich is the guy then your right but if they truly feel like they need a center then Green for Scola makes sense because it allows Ibaka to slide to the five. Green isn't a PF while Scola would fit in nicely at the four and because of how good Thabo and Ibaka play defense, Luis' defensive issues would be masked.
