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@dream catcher
The problem with young players is we dont have the mins for them, look at white and weaver, they would play on other teams. Yeah there is a risk in signing someone who doesnt fit, but id rather take that risk and have a chance at a title then not and be a 5-8th seed for the next 6 or 7 years.

Yeah presti is calculating which means he knows we have to sign now or not at all, at least make a play at the top players available. We need to build depth, if we have a year with portland like injuries we need to be able to survive, our current roster cant do that.

Cpt. C-Note :
I was in the yard for a moment and Roy got hurt for Portland?! What happened?

knee injury, bumped knees with Artest

@andrew

Justin already said it, but it's all about efficiency.

Westbrook averages 16.3 points on 49.6% TS; we need someone who is noticeably better than that on a consistent basis. I agree it might be a bit much to ask for that from a perimeter player (especially one sharing a backcourt with Westbrook + Durant), but it's not much from a decent post player. Even Green is close and he attempts less than half his shots in the paint (15.1 @ 53.5%).

Holy crap what a save by Tiger.

justin :@dream
catcher
Right now Presti has a top five player, a top 10 point guard, and a very cheap bench / rotation with rookie scale deals. This scenario won’t come around twice, since we will be winning more and won’t get high draft picks. If Presti is smart, he capitalizes on this situation now to build that contender.
It’s not rushing things to shape the roster and optimize your position. We don’t have five or six years to take building up to contention, by that time most of these young players will be gone save the core we’re talking about.

I agree, Im just scared we will sign a player that doesn't fit our team. I love the chemistry and don't want to mess it up.

I was in the yard for a moment and Roy got hurt for Portland?! What happened?

@dream catcher
I agree this is the most likely scenario, unless we get a Tyson Chandler-type center. It's the only "block-buster" trade we've really tried so far in OKC.

btw, Portland looks really good even without Roy.

@dream catcher

Right now Presti has a top five player, a top 10 point guard, and a very cheap bench / rotation with rookie scale deals. This scenario won't come around twice, since we will be winning more and won't get high draft picks. If Presti is smart, he capitalizes on this situation now to build that contender.

It's not rushing things to shape the roster and optimize your position. We don't have five or six years to take building up to contention, by that time most of these young players will be gone save the core we're talking about.

f5alcon :@dream
catcher
we cant continually take young players, vets are needed, really we are past the phase of get as young as possible. We need proven performers.

with the way we performed this year yes expectations have soared, but that's not how Presti operates. He is diligent and calculated. He won't rush things. He said earlier in the year that he is still learning about this team.

Sammy :Roy’s out for the rest of the game. Man, the luck those guys have…

Roy's always been prone to injury and getting banged up. Stinks for the Blazers.

@dream catcher
we cant continually take young players, vets are needed, really we are past the phase of get as young as possible. We need proven performers.

Why wait for the season to do that when you can just do it in the offseason when they are far more options?

@dream catcher

Durant will get around $13.5M or so.

justin :@dream
catcher
Jeff Green and Kevin Durant will have substantial cap holds if they aren’t already signed to extensions. Also, we’ll have less space, and more open roster spots.
This summer is the summer to make an acquisition…

forgot about the extensions. How much would Durant get if he signs for the max? I think Jeff Green gets around 8 million per.

Sammy :@dream
catcher
Green/Durant’s extensions kick in. And Collison/Krstic will have to be replaced/re-signed.

well they would be replaced with the young player we get back.

@dream catcher

Jeff Green and Kevin Durant will have substantial cap holds if they aren't already signed to extensions. Also, we'll have less space, and more open roster spots.

This summer is the summer to make an acquisition...

@dream catcher
Green/Durant's extensions kick in. And Collison/Krstic will have to be replaced/re-signed.

Sammy :@dream
catcher
This is our last summer with cap space. We have to use it of lose it. If we don’t use it, that’s a major red flag that ownership isn’t willing to shell out and is happy to have a perennial non-contending playoff team.

don't Collison and Krstic come off the books?

@dream catcher
This is our last summer with cap space. We have to use it of lose it. If we don't use it, that's a major red flag that ownership isn't willing to shell out and is happy to have a perennial non-contending playoff team.

Sam Presti is not going to trade Jeff Green. I say that with confidence.

I think the most realistic thing that could happen is doing nothing this off-season, then before the trade deadline do the same thing we did this year and take on a contract to help out a team in need and get a young promising player back.

Roy's out for the rest of the game. Man, the luck those guys have...

I'm not confident we can beat them on the road.

@justin
I don't know about need. But it certainly takes a lot of pressure off tomorrow's game if they do. Odom looks like a beast tonight.

We really need Portland to lose this game.

If anybody wants a good chuckle, check out what I just dug up off Bleacher Report from almost a year ago:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/181921-durants-farewell-tour-in-okc-in-2009-2010

Yeah, rescinding that Chandler trade was SUCH a mistake. And Durant would NEVER want to stay here, because we'll NEVER come close to winning a championship, and we'll ALWAYS pick in the lottery.

:::snicker:::

@andrew

David Lee is more productive than Russ. Jefferson I'm not as high on, but he could be scary as a legitimate second option. He has problems with all the double teams he sees with the Wolves. Teams wouldn't double him nearly as much playing next to Durant.

Russ isn't a true second option because of his inefficiency.

I honestly think we are getting a little greedy... we need an upgrade at the center position but you guys really think we are going to go after and afford a 2nd option better than westbrook? Al Jefferson has been very unimpressive this year and I would not consider him to be a more valuable/better player than russ. He is a poor passer and is not a very efficient inside scorer.. Is David Lee a better player than russ? I dont think so... So basically if we do not believe russ can be the 2nd banana Bosh is the only realistic option this summer that would be..

@justin

I think we have room for one solid deal this offseason, whether its a trade using players + picks or a good free agent. That one deal has to be for a player that can be a legit number two behind Durant.

I think having a second player that can be depended upon to score behind Durant *and* be more consistent than Westbrook is going to be absolutely essential for Westbrook to make a similar (if not quite as amazing) jump next season.

I also agree that it's a frontcourt player. That's where we have the most room in our rotation and it's where our biggest deficiencies are on defense (rebounding + help side). Nevermind how impossible it would be to find a perimeter player who offers the kind of dependability on offense that we need for him to be ahead of Westbrook and leave room for Durant to be amazing. How many players are there that fit that bill right now? 2? 3? And they're all paid more than Durant will make on the first year of his max deal, I promise you.

I just dunno about Love. I really like him. But is he that number two guy? Maybe. Possibly. But we had the chance to take him two years ago and picked Westbrook instead. Love just strikes me as a solid upgrade trade, but I don't think he's the piece that puts us over the top. Make sense?

Love is definitely a safer acquisition than Jefferson. I think Jefferson has the skill set, but if our front office passes on him, I won't be upset either. I trust their judgment on these things; I haven't been given a reason not to yet. I would be underwhelmed if we traded one of those four players I listed before to get Love. Not mad, but underwhelmed for sure.

@Mark!

You could narrow it down even further, since the 'Someone Else' is certainly going to be a front court piece.

It's interesting you'd trade for Jefferson and not Love.

As usual you put it much better than I could..

@M.J.

Those are all things Sam Presti would have to consider when evaluating personnel.

The NBA is sink or swim. I'm excited for next season because several of our players look like they'll make some kind of jump (Serge Ibaka, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook most notably) into their 2nd and 3rd seasons respectively. At the same time, it's easy to rest on the laurels and just see where your hand takes you. We're going to have a lot of options in the offseason, a ton of maneurerability to balance out what most would call an imbalanced roster. Shoring up those holes while counting on some natural progression from our younger guys would make us contenders right away.

justin :The question is, is Jeff Green good enough to be one of those core pieces? Is he the third best player on a championship team?

Not even sure if that's the right question. Ever since it became clear that Westbrook was emerging as a legit player, I've thought our team would be a championship contender the moment Westbrook is no longer the second best player on the team.

On that note, Jeff is sort of irrelevant to the discussion. He would be nice to have on that team (Durant/Westbrook/Someone Else), but if you have to give him up to get that other player, you do it. Outside Durant and Westbrook, no one on our roster is sacred if they're part of a deal to get a legit number two.

That said, I wouldn't ship off two players out of Thabo, Harden, Green, Ibaka. Only one of those + picks, prospects, whatever.

I like Jeff. I think we could be a really great team with him on it, even if we don't acquire that legit number two. I just think it would take a few miracles for us to win a championship built that way. Just IMO

As far as Love goes, I wouldn't make the trade. He's good, probably better than Green, but I don't think he's that solid number two so I wouldn't be favor of dealing to get him.

I would deal for Jefferson though.

(In a Dire Straits/Sting-style falsetto, I sing)

...I Want My Pre-Game Primer...

@justin
"I’m sure Kevin Durant isn’t under the delusion that he’s going to play with the same players his whole career, but his fans seem to be."

Straw-man alert, and unnecessarily harsh to boot. I don't think anyone honestly believes that we're going to ride exactly this same nine-man rotation for the next decade, but at the same time, I don't think anybody's ready to break it up in the near-future without an awesome reason -- including Presti. The question is, would Love or Jefferson be that reason? Would their acquisition be valuable enough to sacrifice a piece from our normal rotation? And I'm not just talking in statistical terms...would they be good teammates? Would the locker-room chemistry stay excellent? Could/would they be easily included in that tight bond the players seem to have going?

Bottom line: keep KD happy, within the broadest possible interpretation of "within reason." As he goes, so goes the franchise. If KD wants Jeff, then Jeff is essential.

Lakers looking good.

Kobe's playing today? That surprises me. Go Lakers!

@Brew
Yeah, your right. I was referring more to the 4 years than the actually amount of money, but I guess with a cheap contract you can save more cap-room in year 3 and 4 if we wanna move him. I'm not really defending Thabo over The Beard as a starter myself, I'm just going with recent trends in the organization.

Sammy :If it really is true that the wolves are gonna shop love, Kahn is even dumber than I thought. After drafting or signing 4 point guards, they end up starting the worst one. Then they reduce the minutes of the best power forward on their roster with the intent of trading him. How can a man that supposedly knows so much about business be so retarded when evaluating his assets?

Agree. But he's certainly jerking Love around enough that makes me believe that it's a possibility.

Players are going to come and go.. NBA rosters are fluid. You get one, maybe two or three core pieces and build around those. And even those can change. If the only reason for keeping Jeff Green around is to keep Kevin Durant happy, it's not a good reason. I'm sure Kevin Durant isn't under the delusion that he's going to play with the same players his whole career, but his fans seem to be.

The question is, is Jeff Green good enough to be one of those core pieces? Is he the third best player on a championship team?

@Cpt. C-Note
It didn't cost that much to sign Thabo, backup money range, I believe.

@justin
I don't suppose we'd have more of a chance at Jefferson for little?

If KD wouldn't sign off on a swap of Green for Love, then we can't do it. It'd be great if the Wolves gave up Love for a couple 1st rounders and Weaver/Mullens, but I just don't think they're that dumb. They'd want Green or Harden. So what's our next option? Overpay Lee, and sign KD and JG in the offseason? :/

@M.J.
It would be great if they wanted Etan or something. Maybe an expiring contract we have?

I like your points about our Rooks continuing to get better on D and Love being an upgrade over Nads on the boards and on D.

I just don't think Presti would have locked Thabo up for 4 years if he wasn't going to be our starter. Then again, We drafted a 2 guard with Harden at the #3, which will be a bigger contract soon, so...yeah...

@justin
I agree.

BTW...
What's the over/under on T-Wolves drafting more guards this year?

I got it at 2.5

If it really is true that the wolves are gonna shop love, Kahn is even dumber than I thought. After drafting or signing 4 point guards, they end up starting the worst one. Then they reduce the minutes of the best power forward on their roster with the intent of trading him. How can a man that supposedly knows so much about business be so retarded when evaluating his assets?

@Cpt. C-Note
I agree with your hesitancy. I wouldn't have proposed what I did if it weren't for the following two factors:

1) Love is a very capable defender, and can help us clamp down inside and grab rebounds more than Krstic, where we need the help the most.
2) Both Ibaka and Harden have made huge strides on the defensive side of the court this year, and I don't see that stopping in the off-season.

Alternatively, see how you like that proposed lineup if Harden doesn't make the jump. Durant, Westbrook, and Love between them could still be an offensive nightmare for opposing teams, Sefolosha's intensity would still be there at shooting guard to start the game, and we'd have both Harden and Green on the same unit for added punch.

Then again, I'm honestly not sure why I keep thinking about this. Both those lineups hinge on a near-impossibility, namely: getting Kevin Love without a bit of sacrifice in the core. I don't suppose Minnesota would give him up for a package of something like our two first-rounders plus a couple players...maybe Weaver and Mullens...

Nope, they wouldn't. I'm looking at that deal, and I'M laughing.

One of Love / Jefferson will get traded, the writing is on the wall. Either of them would upgrade our team significantly, IMO.

@Sammy
Yeah, but he gets lost in rotations and assignments sometimes. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into him being late on the Deron Williams double-screen game-winner at Utah, but I'm sure if some savvy vet teams are watching film on our late game defense, that will be something they try to exploit. We played pretty darn good D last game though, so here's hoping we keep it up!

@cpt c.note
I think harden is a quite able defender. He uses his size well.

@M.J.
I think what your saying is interesting, but not realistic to Presti/Brooks' philosophy of Defense first. Taking 3 of our starters from this year and moving them to the bench would drastically change our teams identity. Thabo makes this team go on defensive intensity and I just can't see him getting benched for Harden, who struggles(on D) as a younger player.
If we can get Love for someone/something outside our core and he's cool with coming off the bench on a young, talented, going-somewhere-soon, type of team like us. Why not? It just seems like a long-shot with Serge, Mullens(in the future hopefully), Kystic, and Nick playing pretty damn well together.