LMA will be a top 3 PF in 3 years, if not the best PF in the entire league. He continues to improve at an outstanding rate and when the others decline, LMA will be up there. Its not taking away from Durant to say so...but in terms of impact and wins, LMA will be right up there with him. Durant may have the shoe contract and flash...but LMA will be one of the best, if not best, PFs in the league. I think next year, he will be the primary offensive threat on the team....and the offense will run through the post.
Speaking of the lotto...Minnesota has the same chance of winning that OKC has. What would the Wolves do? They have Love and Jefferson. I am sure they would still take Blake Griffn, but would they trade one or keep all three. Would they trade with the Thunder for a player and multiple first round draft picks? I am glad this is a weak draft.
minny would never trade in the division after the roy nightmare. im sure they learned their lessson lol. isnt it like 8 straight times we beat them? roy always kills utah, minny, and the grizz
That's hard to say. I suppose a case could be made for Rubio or Griffin. If they drafted Griffin they could probably find a taker for Kevin Love and try to fill some of the holes in their roster, or if they just went with Rubio they'd pretty much be set in the backcourt with he and Foye.
Well...that's not true, they may GO somewhere if the economy in sacramento and the Maloofs keeps on taking a shit.
No point of taking Rubio #1 IMO.. there would be plenty of teams lining up to get Blake.. maybe get a player and #3-5 for the #1 and a bad contract? otherwise take BPA I would think.. but you never know with minny lol.
I like our Euro players but.......I would never gamble with taking one with the #1 pick. Too risky IMO. They have too many options on where to play. Will they get homesick? Will a guy from Spain like Minnesota?
If the Thunder manage to snag Thabeet, then all the negative talk in these last three pages towards OKC will be in vain. Yes, the Blazers are much better, but let's not be complete homers here. The Thunder are a legit big man and 2 years away from being a playoff threat to any team in the NBA. Even in the last part of this season they've shown despite their record, they're improving and have the pieces to win games. This isn't the Kings or another lotto team completely devoid of talent. They're where we were two years ago. They have a smart GM (Sam Presti), a top-5 pick in the draft along with multiple other first rounders, cap space to use for FA or in a trade, and an already solid base in place. I'm not crying chicken little, and there's really no reason to have this discussion of blazers vs. thunder now, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and pretend OKC doesn't have a bright, bright future.
I don't claim to have any special knowledge about what Minny would do, but they clearly need a starting point guard. Who knows maybe if the won the first overall pick they'd trade down or trade out and try to get an established 'star' to fill a position of need. Then again, I can't say I really care what Minny does and I'm not sure why I'm spending this much time thinking about their draft strategy
The problem is that the blazers have a track record of success, a rich owner, a dedicated fan base and the ability to keep players. Oklahoma City hasn't proven to have any of that. We have a path, we are on it....OKC is still going to be a lotto team for the foreseeable future.
root for okc to win some games... if they do... and slip to 7th.. they prob wont get thabeet or griffin.
They are the league's manufactured superstars. They get all of the advertisements. They get all of the calls. You can tell this is true by LeBron's reaction to his Crab Dribble. He honestly believed that shouldn't have been called because he is LeBron. No other reason. And he's right. Most of the time that wouldn't be called because he is LeBron and not Roy. This is especially true with Wade and Howard. Kobe and James would be awesome no matter how the game was called. If Roy got the same benefits as Wade, they would be a lot closer then they are now, with the added benefit that Roy doesn't turn the ball over as much.
A two-time All-Star like Roy isn't a "superstar", yet a proven loser who was MVP of the Rookie-Sophomore game is according to Bucher.
It depends on Oden, if he stays at the level of play he is now then they could be our rival. If Oden develops into a top 3 center in the league they will be no competition for us.
bucher completely lost me when he talks about oklahoma city's great young pg russell westbrook. he's had a good year and put up better numbers than i expected, but he has a lot to work on before he becomes a good pg and it likely will never happen.
