Quote:
Originally Posted by cmorioles
I agree, and don't really think it was helping the Lakers much either. I'm just talking PR wise with fans, outside of LA, it looks really bad.
I'm a huge Thunder fan. The team was extremely lucky to get two, maybe three, quality draft picks three years running...four if you count Ibaka. Only the fact Durant isn't a big market whore like a lot of these other guys will keep them together. If small market fans don't think there is any chance they can keep stars, they will not be supported for long. That is bad news for the league unless they want to contract to about 6 teams.
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I dont think that fans would see this as anything but what it was, a team getting what it could for a player who was going to leave anyway. Lets face it Stern is a puppet at this point. The lockout had zero to do with competitive balance, it had to do with the owners being greedy.
I dont buy that only big markets teams can compete. The Heat thing only came about because Miami had an unusual situation of having virtually no one under contract, a superstar with an expiring contract and 3 star level players willing to play for less than market value. AND they didnt win last year because they still had no room for anything other than bums. The Knicks made all these deals but look at the rest of their roster? It is a joke. OKC did it the right way regardless of market size. They drafted well and got lucky that the Blazers blew it once again. San Antonio showed what a team can do if they are run properly.
Teams that arent very good arent going to retain their players regardless of market size. With the salary cap in place there are only so many destinations that these guys can go to.
In the end we are talking about a guy who averaged 16 and 10 last year and isnt far removed from a knee injury. The NBA looks far worse in nixing this trade than had it gone through. If they arent going to let NO try to run its business in a long term fashion then they should just contract them now.