2013-2014 NBA Season

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

I like the big dude from Pitt. He can play.
But Harden is a superstar. A legit top 4 player in the entire league. And he is only like 24 or 25. And you can argue that with Harden still OKC gets to the finals last year. They at the very least get through Memphis.

But, he would never be that in OKC. It would be silly to pay a guy max money along with all the luxury tax implications for a 3rd wheel, no matter how good that wheel is.

The Thunder got Adams, Lamb (who also is looking pretty good), another 1st round pick coming from Dallas, and a very promising Euro-stash in Alex Abrines. Obviously the first round pick from Dallas won't be a great one, and Abrines is a bit of gamble, but Presti has a great track record so I'll trust he'll get good players.

Another thing, Harden plays zero defense. You can't be a top 4 player in the league without trying on both ends. Maybe he'll get better, but he'll never be better than average on that end of the floor.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

But, he would never be that in OKC. It would be silly to pay a guy max money along with all the luxury tax implications for a 3rd wheel, no matter how good that wheel is.

The Thunder got Adams, Lamb (who also is looking pretty good), another 1st round pick coming from Dallas, and a very promising Euro-stash in Alex Abrines. Obviously the first round pick from Dallas won't be a great one, and Abrines is a bit of gamble, but Presti has a great track record so I'll trust he'll get good players.

Another thing, Harden plays zero defense. You can't be a top 4 player in the league without trying on both ends. Maybe he'll get better, but he'll never be better than average on that end of the floor.

The Dallas pick could be ok. If Dirk were to go down they would be pretty helpless though I dont know if the pick is protected.

NBA trades are insanely tough to do because of salary cap and talent for talent is almost impossible. Unlike baseball where you get free agent compensation if you lose a player in the NBA you get nothing. They have even tweaked the sign and trades that teams used to do.

Irony in that Cleveland gets Miami's #1 in 2015 (from the sign and trade that Cleveland did when james left-people forget that wasnt a straight free agent signing, it wound up a sign and trade) which could be the year James leaves Miami and goes back to Cleveland. Considering the supporting cast in Miami is already aging that could easily be a lottery pick.

[cmorioles]

The Dallas pick is protected, not sure for how long though.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

The Dallas pick is protected, not sure for how long though.

I looked it up and it is protected 1-20 through 2017 and unprotected in 2018

Fantastic news for the Knicks as they have no picks this year at all except for a 2nd round pick of Sacramento's that doesnt sound too bad except it is protected 31-55 and NY loses it after this year. What cahnce is there that Sac finishes in the top 6 this year? lol

They also have given up their 2016 1st rounder to toronto.

[Cannon Shell]

No draft picks included but try to make a trade

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine

[cmorioles]

Haren's Defense:

http://nba.si.com/2013/11/11/james-h...uston-rockets/

[cmorioles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOYSzVLQyc#t=11

This stuff isn't going to help Harden either. He's already been fined this year, and he'll get less and less calls the more he gets caught. Referees don't like being embarrassed.