Official 2012 NBA Draft Thread

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Kevin Cleveland

Ibaka is more easily replaced.

Now that I can agree with.  Bak just doesn't get them the 2, but he could get them a player, and a cheaper one at that. 

My question is will they think they can keep Harden coming off the bench his whole career so as not to flood the starting lineup? 

   That part, is where Ibaka fits in perfectly, a guy that doesn't need the ball like the other 3. 

  

 

[ValarMorghulis]

wow and

at the thought of Harden being traded especially IF after they win the chip



....in Sam Presti I trust....

 

[scientific method]

Nobody in this draft excites me enough to want to trade either. I know, impending restricted free agency for both after the '13 season and the new more punitive luxury tax. I'd hope we can get Bennett to bite the bullet on the tax to keep them together at least 2 yrs. I wonder what the return is relative to if you can have a championship team or borderline and how that impacts the value of your franchise and merchandishing, tv deals, every way you can make money in terms of offsetting the tax penalty.

And comparing James to Ben Gordon and Jamal Crawford is just insulting. Besides the fact neither of those guys set other players up, both are low efficiency volume players while Harden is literally among the most efficient at his position in ever. Literally. Just this yr, dude gave us 17ppg on 10 shots. 49/39/85 (shooting %s) at 22 and he's already a grizzled, battle tested vet while only being maybe 2 yrs older than whoever we would maybe replace him with.

 

[pmatic]

I was throwing out a strategy, I didn't have anyone in mind.

Kev:

@SHowardCooper John Henson said ankle injury led to bad test results at Chicago camp. Now: "It’s not 100%. But I don’t have time to sit down and rest it."

@SHowardCooper Henson said he is not planning to skip a workout to rest the ankle. His upcoming: Suns, Rockets, Bucks, Cavs, Raptors, Pistons, 76ers.

 

[essential1]

And there you have the new CBA deal... Try to make smaller market teams competitive, by punishing large market teams.. First team on the chopping block, Oklahoma City

Gotta do what you gotta do, but trading Harden for a #2 sets the Thunder back at best a year, at worst 3..

 

[p1nstr1pez]

Originally Posted by Kevin Cleveland

I guess I just wouldn't consider trading Harden, period. A top-15 player that isn't quite 23 years old going for just that pick? Nah. Way too important to that team in every facet of basketball.

Ibaka is more easily replaced.

I agree that Ibaka is more replaceable, but Ibaka won't land you the #2 pick

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Are you guys serious when you say Ibaka is more easily replaced than Harden? When I look at Ibaka I see one of the only guys I can think of that can potentially lock up KD. There have been games this postseason where Harden disappeared and Okc was still able to win. I don't think the Thunder are still playing without Ibaka's defense especially on Dirk, Pau, Duncan who was looking like 1999 before playing Okc and now Bosh. How stupid would they look if they let him walk and then he shuts down Durant in the playoffs. You might not be able to get an exact replica of Harden but there are plenty of guys that can come off the bench and score and distribute. I mean they already have Maynor and Cook, give those guys more burn and they can easily replace Harden's production. Where are you gonna find another guy that can get you 10 blocks on a given night, near 7 foot with a 40+ inch vert that can knock down 15 footers and never complain about touches. The guy is basically Dwight Howard.

 

[university of nike]

Originally Posted by leemelone

Are you guys serious when you say Ibaka is more easily replaced than Harden? When I look at Ibaka I see one of the only guys I can think of that can potentially lock up KD. There have been games this postseason where Harden disappeared and Okc was still able to win. I don't think the Thunder are still playing without Ibaka's defense especially on Dirk, Pau, Duncan who was looking like 1999 before playing Okc and now Bosh. How stupid would they look if they let him walk and then he shuts down Durant in the playoffs. You might not be able to get an exact replica of Harden but there are plenty of guys that can come off the bench and score and distribute. I mean they already have Maynor and Cook, give those guys more burn and they can easily replace Harden's production. Where are you gonna find another guy that can get you 10 blocks on a given night, near 7 foot with a 40+ inch vert that can knock down 15 footers and never complain about touches. The guy is basically Dwight Howard.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by leemelone

Are you guys serious when you say Ibaka is more easily replaced than Harden? When I look at Ibaka I see one of the only guys I can think of that can potentially lock up KD. There have been games this postseason where Harden disappeared and Okc was still able to win. I don't think the Thunder are still playing without Ibaka's defense especially on Dirk, Pau, Duncan who was looking like 1999 before playing Okc and now Bosh. How stupid would they look if they let him walk and then he shuts down Durant in the playoffs. You might not be able to get an exact replica of Harden but there are plenty of guys that can come off the bench and score and distribute. I mean they already have Maynor and Cook, give those guys more burn and they can easily replace Harden's production. Where are you gonna find another guy that can get you 10 blocks on a given night, near 7 foot with a 40+ inch vert that can knock down 15 footers and never complain about touches. The guy is basically Dwight Howard.

  

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by University of Nike

Originally Posted by leemelone

Are you guys serious when you say Ibaka is more easily replaced than Harden? When I look at Ibaka I see one of the only guys I can think of that can potentially lock up KD. There have been games this postseason where Harden disappeared and Okc was still able to win. I don't think the Thunder are still playing without Ibaka's defense especially on Dirk, Pau, Duncan who was looking like 1999 before playing Okc and now Bosh. How stupid would they look if they let him walk and then he shuts down Durant in the playoffs. You might not be able to get an exact replica of Harden but there are plenty of guys that can come off the bench and score and distribute. I mean they already have Maynor and Cook, give those guys more burn and they can easily replace Harden's production. Where are you gonna find another guy that can get you 10 blocks on a given night, near 7 foot with a 40+ inch vert that can knock down 15 footers and never complain about touches. The guy is basically Dwight Howard.

"shut down Durant"

"basically Dwight Howard"

 

[big j 33]

But he isn't Dwight Howard. Dwight can anchor an entire team's defense on his own.. and has been doing that in Orlando playing alongside a team of 3 point shooters. People look at Ibaka's blocks and overrated the rest of his defense, take a look at how often he gets caught on a simple pump fake. Ibaka is a tremendous young player, but getting a ton of weakside blocks doesn't mean you're a dominant defender. He's got room for improvement so it's reasonable to think he gets better, but we need to pump the brakes on this.

And matching Harden's points by a combination of players is not the same thing as having Harden do it for you. This is a guy who had 49% FG, 39% 3pt, and 85% from the FT line (and he gets there 6 times per game). Maynor and Cook will not shoot that well, and Harden doing that by himself is a major factor in OKC's elite offense.

 

[kevin cleveland]

Ibaka is "shutting down" elite perimeter players now?

And Harden is playing as good or better in the postseason than he did in the regular season.

I agree that Ibaka is more replaceable, but Ibaka won't land you the #2 pick
But who knows who they would target and if they couldn't get him a few picks later. They didn't come out and say they needed number two for either of them.

Thanks, P. Seeing way too many people not take the injury into account as they talk about how his stock is plummeting from clearly affected vert measurements.

 

[kix4kix]

Harden for. The number 2 is asinine

 

[mgrand15]

Another issue when trading Harden is whether he WANTS to stay in OKC long term. It seems like a no-brainer but he might have to take a pay cut to stay (I'm not sure with the new CBA). Whether he wins a chip or not, will he be satisfied as the 3rd option behind KD and Russell for the next 5-6 years of his prime? Never getting the chance to carry a team on his own? He seems like a low key guy but can you blame him for wanting to be a top 2 option on another team?

Is anyone else not intrigued by Henson at all? This dude is a junior coming out of college and is still weak, skinny and not that skilled on offense. I feel like he won't do much in the league.

 

[airmaxpenny1]

Harden for Derrick Williams + Draft Picks???

 

[the wizard]

If they do trade Harden for the #2, I'd pick Lillard. That's just me though. I know he's 6'3, but I think he fits in perfectly with what they want to do.

Would prefer moving Ibaka but what's his value? If I'm OKC, I'm not trading either unless I get a good pick in this draft or a guy on a good deal that goes to the end of RW & KD's deal.

 

[scientific method]

Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

Harden for Derrick Williams + Draft Picks???

Nope. DW is terrible. I'd rather have Beasley

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Of all the possible deals for the 2 I like Derrick Williams/filler and the 18th pick.


Williams and Biyombo and then Harkless/Quincy Miller or even the BPA at 18? Not Bad.

 

[brandon3000]

Cavaliers close to signing Euro Star Mirza Teletovic

could be like having 3 1st round picks....

why does that matter? watch this video of the big that can shoot from deep.




would be a solid free agent acquisition seeing as how we're so far under the cap. What do you guys think?

His 21.7 points per game made him the top scorer in the Euroleague this season. He also led the league in made three-pointers—shooting them at an excellent rate of 43.1 percent—and was second in fouls drawn.

While teams will be prepared to offer eight-figure-per-year contracts to Milwaukee Bucks' unrestricted free agent Ersan Ilyasova, Teletovic is a much cheaper option and brings similar attributes to the table.

The Eurostar is finally ready to take his talents to the NBA and has narrowed his choices down to just two teams: The Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets.

This would be considered a great move for the Cavs to pull the trigger on only if he comes at the right price.

The last thing they want to do is get in a bidding war with the Nets for his services. If the negotiations approach any number more than roughly five million per year, they should immediately drop out of the running and search for other options.

General manager Chris Grant and company are all about smart and savvy moves. They don't want to potentially ruin their future flexibility by signing an unproven player.


Highlights of Mirza Teletovic.
But if everything works out perfectly and he can be had for a reasonable deal, signing the Bosnian sensation makes perfect sense.

 

[brandon3000]

Originally Posted by cleansneaksonly21

wow and

at the thought of Harden being traded especially IF after they win the chip



....in Sam Presti I trust....

I can see this happening win or lose.... sign & trade and draw up the paperwork

harden is good but idk... id do it.

 

[dacomeup]

Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

Harden for Derrick Williams + Draft Picks???

That's an awful deal.

 

[kevin cleveland]

Jeremy Lamb turned an ankle at his Raptors workout this morning (Thursday), but it's not serious, tweets Sam Amick of SI. According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (via Twitter), the ankle is sprained, and Lamb will cancel at least his workout with the Blazers.

Katz "would be surprised" if the Celtics keep both of their first-round picks (Nos. 21 and 22).

The Rockets will probably move at least one of their two first-rounders (Nos. 14 and 16), but if they can't find a deal they like, they don't mind using the picks.

The Jazz are looking to trade into the first round, if possible.

The 17th overall pick is available if the Mavericks get the right offer.

The Celtics, Rockets, Blazers, Grizzlies and Thunder are "definitely open" to trading their picks, Woelfel says.

Woelfel identifies three players whose draft stock is rising: Mason Plumlee, Moe Harkless and Fab Melo. Going the opposite direction are Jared Sullinger, as teams are worried about issues with his back, and Perry Jones III.

 

[bigmike23]

Originally Posted by The Wizard

If they do trade Harden for the #2, I'd pick Lillard. That's just me though. I know he's 6'3, but I think he fits in perfectly with what they want to do.

Would prefer moving Ibaka but what's his value? If I'm OKC, I'm not trading either unless I get a good pick in this draft or a guy on a good deal that goes to the end of RW & KD's deal.

wait lillard at 2?

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by Scientific Method

Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

Harden for Derrick Williams + Draft Picks???

Nope. DW is terrible. I'd rather have Beasley

This is slanderous

 

[woody2626]

Send the beard our way. Ill take that trade every day. Dont want any part of a rudy or dw+picks trade. If we stay at 2 Robinson is most likely the pick