Would you be willing to try and trade for KD while things are going so poorly in OKC? His trade value has to be down at least a bit. A few questions... Would you want him here? Would it cost too much? What would it cost? I am neither for or against acquiring him, but I was thinking it would take Rudy Fernandez Martell Webster Jerryd Bayless Channing Frye Raef LaFrentz 1st in 09 For Kevin Durant Nick Collison Earl Watson Damien Wilkins http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...teams=25~25~25~25~25~25~22~22~22~22&te=&cash= How we would look PG-Blake/Rodriguez/Watson SG-Roy/Wilkins SF-Durant/Outlaw/Batum PF-Aldridge/Collison/Diagu C-Oden/Pryzbilla OKC PG-Westbrook/Bayless SG-Fernandez/Webster/Bayless SF-Green/Webster PF-Wilcox/Frye C-Swift/Petro/Sene I think this is the only way to get Durant without giving up our big 3, and I don't like it one bit. OKC gets better, more balanced, and Portland takes on longer contracts. Our bench just gets gutted unless we make a move for a backup shooting guard. Maybe Durant becomes a beast when he is the 3rd/4th option though, instead of trying to take the team on his shoulders. We know he isn't the 2nd coming of MJ, but it may be something to think about if KP thinks Durant would be dominant on a more balanced team where he doesn't have to do it all.
I think Durant is one of few "untradeable" guys in the NBA. Sure he can't carry a team by himself...yet, but he still looks like he could be a potential superstar for a franchise that desperately needs a star. As the team around him improves his shooting percentage will go up. He also still needs to settle into a position which will come with age. He's played 2 or 3 most of the time and his perimeter game isn't that refined yet and he's not yet big or strong enough to play 4, which is where I think he'll end up being a perennial all-star. Anyway, short of giving up Oden or Roy, there's no way you're getting Durant.
I just can't envision Rudy being a part of ANY big trade we're thinking of making. We made it such a priority to have him come over, and he wanted to come to Portland. There is no way he is being traded, along with Roy, Aldridge and Oden.
I would rather trade Aldridge/Bayless/Outlaw for Durant. Mainly because I think he'll blossom into a dominating 4, much like Nowitzki in his best years. PG-Roy SG-Rudy SF-Webster PF-Durant C-Oden That would be an awesome crunch time lineup.
I hope KD is untradeable because I really don't want him on the Blazers unless we gave up almost nothing for him.
Hell, I'm not convinced that KD is going to be that much better than Batum. We don't know what this kid's ceiling is going to be yet. I'm not saying Nic will be better, but he could end up being a superstar. I just haven't seen anything to limit him yet.
I think Batum is thriving being an indian and not the chief. That's one of the main reasons he fell in the draft because he didn't take the next step in becoming "the man" in his last year in the Euro League. Nic is the ultimate glue guy. We need that so I'm not expecting anything more from him other than that. I'm sure he'll have his nights where he takes over some games due to his natural ability, but he seems content in being the 3rd/4th/5th banana.
I like Durant as a PF for us. If we like LMA's "outside" game, we'd love KD's. He'd get abused on D, though. If it was LMA for Durant straight-up, I'd probably do it. Gets us some extra Summer 2010 cap space, a really good upside player that KP loved, and a way to go really small but really good.
Durant is not a PF, and he is the "lead" player on a 1-15(I think) right now. Presti has to be wondering what the hell is going on with Durant at this point.
What has been going on with Durant is that he had a coach that put him in the wrong position because the GM (Presti) was dumb enough to take another SF in the same draft he took Durant - and instead of playing the lesser player out of his natural position - he shoe-horned Durant at the SG position. This is even more absurd when you consider that Seattle had 3 million bust centers on the roster and he did not take Hawes (or even Noah who is not great - but a zillion times better than the bunch they have there right now), had no proper SG on the roster and he passed on Stucky or Young and could have also taken a young PF like Wright. Add the fact that the same GM has taken on a coach who was never good in the NBA as a head-coach - and had a history of getting his players to choke him... Poor GM job and poor Coaching job is what happened to Durant.
KD is a special talent no doubt, but I sometimes wonder if that first year with PJ didn't set him back quite a bit; instead of learning to play NBA ball the smart way, he was basically given carte blanche to jack bad shot after bad shot, to the point that now he's apparently nothing much more than a very tall, athletic jump shooter, who doesn't player much D and rebounds poorly. KD as a power forward? And to think how much people get on Lamarcus' ass for not rebounding and for taking outside shots -- At least Lamarcus plays solid perimeter defense.
I wouldn't trade any of our fives Oden, LA, Roy, Rudy and Nic for KD. He is ok and will get better but if you think La is a bad rebounder..think again with Durant. He is the Harvey Grant of OKC. We played the Bullets in 93 or 94 and Harvey scored 35 on us. We traded Duck to the bullets a week later and I was like oh yea we totally screw Washington. Harvey sucked on a good team. Say no to Durant for that price.
KD would be a very good SF in the league - but he really needs a proper coaching staff to help his development. This is one of the reason I love what Nate has done with this team - people will whine that he slows the game down and that he does not play their favorite player enough - but he makes sure these guys play proper professional basketball - and the results slowly buy surely appear.
Out of curiosity, why? I am not a Durant homer. I was just bored and was thinking of teams calling about Raef an star players on below average teams.
