Rumor Bleacher Report (lol): OKC looking to trade Westbrook before season starts?

The Spurs are perpetually in the back of the order and they still find talent.

 

I'm not saying he failed to pick top-five players in the other drafts. I'm saying his draft record is extremely ordinary adjusting for draft position--he hasn't differentiated himself as a drafter since then.

 

They stash euros or take upperclassmen/BPA. It's really a fool proof way to succeed when drafting 24-30 year in and out.

 

Sure. and RC Buford is arguably the most accomplished GM the league has ever seen.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't bet against Sam Presti armed with a handful of lottery picks.

 

I'd bet against Presti (or any GM) getting even one top-five player even with a handful of lottery picks, let alone anything more than that.

As I said, I think Presti is a good GM and he's already done a good job starting the process of a post-Durant world with the Ibaka deal (which was impressive in that the deal would have worked with or without Durant). A handful of lottery picks I'm sure will help. But the value he got from 2007-2009 was flukish. I'd say the same no matter what GM pulled it off, even RC Buford or Jerry West. I don't consider those drafts to be indicative of much beyond a good GM on a historically unique hot streak, that's all.

 

I get the feeling we're going to get the answer to that question.

 

Westbrook & Landry >> BOS

Noel & Isaiah >> OKC

Bradley & Crowder >> PHI

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=jfjpw6v

 

Depends on the pick. Remember it actually got them TWO #1 picks, but nobody expresses surprise because Anthony Bennett is a steaming pile of garbage. Kevin Love is easily worth #1 in a weak draft, and it turns out Wiggins isn't all that.

 

Good idea, but if I'm OKC I insist on Marcus Smart (not only is he more enticing, he actually played in Oklahoma).

 

I'd agree with you except that both Harden and Westbrook were surprise picks. When you pick a player higher than anyone else would've and then that player turns out to be the best pick in the draft, and you do that twice, that's a pretty good indication that you know what you're doing.

 

Then Landry goes to OKC instead of BOS: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=h37hwng
Though I don't know if OKC is bargaining from a position of strength to dictate the terms of the trade.

 

Completely hilarious if it was for KD!!!

 

Yeah they definitely go BPA. (or the Euro stash)
Kyle Anderson only played two years at UCLA and Murray one year at UW.

 

This. They inherited a 50 win team. Seattle had to suffer through the losing that got them those high draft picks. The lying hillbilly owners didn't just steal that team from Seattle, they stole it right as it was about to get good. That fan base has never been tested. Let's see how many of them still go to games when their team is in the lottery for six straight years. If/when that happens, I suspect professional rodeo will return to its rightful place as the preferred spectator sport in OKC.

BNM

 

James Harden wasn't a surprise pick. Lots of people had him as a top-three pick. The only player that was unanimously ahead of him was Blake Griffin. I also don't consider Westbrook a surprise pick--he was rocketing up mock draft boards ahead of the draft. Plenty of people even preferred him to OJ Mayo, someone who was expected to be maybe the top pick six months prior. By the time draft time rolled around, it was Derrick Rose as the clear cut favorite among the glut of guards and then widespread disagreement over how to rank Westbrook, Mayo, Gordon and Bayless.

Beyond that, whether a player is a "surprise pick" or not in no way rules out the role of luck. I wasn't saying he got lucky because he always happened to have a consensus blue-chipper waiting at his selection (as he did with Durant). I was saying he was lucky because even smart GMs don't have hit rates like that. And Presti himself has seven years of drafts since then to prove that out, as his drafts have been pretty mediocre overall even relative to where in the draft he's selecting.

 

I don't think Landry needs to be involved, because Philly has so much cap room. Also I think Philly should have Thomas (sucks for him, but he makes sense with them).
So:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=jlltwk5
Plus OKC gets the 2017 Brooklyn pick.
OKC doesn't have a position of strength against the entire league, but it has a position of strength against Boston. There's no way Boston gets Westbook unless they trade for him.

 

Yours is better. I was just trying to make one that worked, and was surprised when I did (it required Landry's contract - I didn't view him as an asset).

 

Prove it!

Be that as it may, he's been "lucky" enough times to have reason to believe he's good at this shit. And more importantly, when you're in Oklahoma, the draft is the ONLY way to stockpile assets because
1. There's no fucking way you're landing a good FA in Okla-fucking-homa.
2. The only way to get somebody good in trade is if you have assets to trade, and the only way to get assets from nothing is the draft.

Olshey seems not to have realized this, given how prodigal he is with our draft picks.

 

Maybe work out a way for OKC to send out Kanter and get Okafor back. They're pretty much the same player but Okafor isn't yet ridiculously overpaid.

 

He was pretty much top 5 across the board

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/06/10/consensus/