Daily Thunder.com

The only negative I have with Pietrus is that he sometimes relies too much on the three but I think that's by design in that offense.

@Crow

For my part, it's less to do with stats or what he'd add to our team. I just like to watch him play. Good defender, plays well off the bench, can hit the three, aggressive going to the hoop. Love his game.

He probably wasn't supposed to still be a 20 minute wing and he surely wants more but he is that now and if the Thunder went looking for a 10-20 minute wing who may not play every game in the near term but might do more later he might fit at least those basic parameters. Decent defense from what I can tell.

I assume a big part of the attraction with Pietrus is his 3 pt game? I liked before but I see that his recent Adjusted +/- is weak. That may not be important to everyone, but it does cause me to be a bit cautious.

Sometimes if you can't really get the guy you want you can look to make one of your own players more like them (Thabo, if he gets the 3 ball dialed in better?) or look for a guy kinda like him that maybe you could get.

I won't give an exhaustive list but I will quickly note that Nick Young can shoot the 3 and has a positive Adjusted +/- and from what I see & hear is not that well regarded right now and might be available and at a decent price-tag.

I am not saying go get him but I am saying he has some positives and might be worth a closer look if they decide they want another wing shooter.

I would not do Ibaka / Love. You're basically putting him in the same position he was in with Minnesota.

@Kivman
I would consider doing this. We've went back and forth on if Ibaka/Lee would work? Is Ibaka/Love any better or worse?

Love for Green and a 1st.

Done and done.

You don't give up Green and Harden.

Given their GM (Kahnnnn!!!!!) may not be that good, how about Love + Minny's first (assuming it's not top 3) for Green, OKC's two firsts and top 2nd. That's good consolidation!

@justin

I'd consider eating Gortat's crappy contract is Pietrus was thrown in.

Also, this would never happen.

Mark! :Apropos to nothing, I really like Mickael Pietrus’s game.

He'd be perfect for us.

Apropos to nothing, I really like Mickael Pietrus's game.

7 of the top 8 playoff offenses are still alive.

Among the teams above average in playoff defense, all of those still alive were also above average of playoff offense except Boston. Atlanta is below average on both.

In this playoffs good defense has generally not been enough. Good offense- to this point has been. As they go further in the rounds defense usually proves more significant and separating.

3 teams are above average on both and are the most likely to make the conference finals.

Thunder got to above average on both efficiencies in the regular season. They just need to step the offense up next playoffs, especially team eFG%.

@Keith

I asked it as a question but I agree with your answer.

I think Love can and will improve as a shooter / scorer and as a defender if in a better environment.

@Keith
Actually Love has 3-pt range believe it or not. Shot them fairly well this season.

@Crow
I think he still has room to grow offensively. Minny guards really weren't great passers, and of course they would prefer to go to Jefferson over him when on the court together. He has some good moves around the basket, and a jumper our to 15 feet, but his greatest asset is rebounding. He would probably grab 11+ rebounds per game starting for us.

I don't think he would ultimately provide the kind of offensive impact that Jefferson would (draw doubles, open the floor, get high percentage shots easily), but I think he would fit much better with the team (ball-moving, screener, highly efficient when we get him the ball).

Hadn't thought about them being teammates. I rarely watch college ball so I didn't see them and if they meshed well on the court or not, and I wonder if there was an open off the court wavelength or not. But it was worth a footnote.

Love will be interesting to watch from here- is he at his peak already (some get there quickly, maybe especially the best prepared before the NBA) or still going up? Does he stay in Minny or end up elsewhere and when he has some say in it does he want to get to Portland or LA or is location very important to him? He isn't perfect but he has talent and might fit pretty good with a slow pace team, with a good working team defense, needing scoring from the interior positions and more rebounding is always handy.

The one teamwise thing about love is him and russ played together at UCLA, so he would fit in with them team right away

@mtt
To address the Love v. Jefferson debate, Jefferson is probably the best low-post scorers in the league, and a strong rebounder to boot. Given how horrid our offense is against good defenses, having a double-team drawing big man would be huge. Love is the superior rebounder and teammate (can/willing to pass, better screener, more invested defensively).

But also there are other factors outside of their play on-court. Jefferson makes 3 times as much as Love, and thus Minny may have more incentive to move him. Jefferson has not been the same since injury, but beforehand was good enough that he should have been an all-star. Love is younger and was already traded once getting rid of Mayo - the team may want to see him start and produce before just dumping him.

@mastrmatt

I'm glad that you like my name and I do agree that speculation is fun.

@Sammy
I like that explanation for the trade. I think it would be hard to find someone who has the upside that James does in the draft (although I'd be OK if we replaced him w another James, but that's me just being selfish). That being said, your explanation does makes it more plausible in my head.

@Dr Rumble
Love doesn't need to be better than Green and Harden combined. It's about talent consolidation. Love is significantly better than Green. He's a better scorer (per 36), a much better passer, and an astronomically better rebounder. Harden's spot you fill through trade, draft, or free agency. You're basically paying with Harden to upgrade from Green to Love. Whether that's worth it or not is debatable (and purely hypothetical because Presti would never do this trade).

@Dr Rumble

Great name, FYI.

Speculation is fun. Since none of us really know what the crap is going to happen, I hope no one pops up later with a huge "I told you so!" Unless someone on here is close with Presti, I'd assume everything discussed is a huge shot in the dark. To that end, does anyone think that Collins kid from the Suns would do anything for us, or does he suck?

I could maybe see Al Jefferson, but how could you possibly say that Kevin Love is more productive than Jeff and James. He did get more rebounds than Jeff, but also less points on a HORRIBLE minnasota team. Do you really think we would have done better against LA w love and wo green and harden?

@mtt
IF Big AL is healthy,he is much better than Love.He can get 20+10 as center but he is PF.

@justin
Why do you like Jefferson better than Love? I don't know that much about how either of them play, just that most advanced stats rank Love higher and that Jefferson still hasn't really come back from that injury.

I think his ideal scenario might be two switch back and forth from between 1 2 and 3. We saw in the lakers series that he can be a first option if the situation calls and he can be a 3 or 4th even when its better for him to get assists. If he can get comfortable with quickly recognizing which position he needs on a certain night it will be best for the team.

That might be common sense lol. But I'm pretending its a revelation.

@clarkem

If you ignore his horrible April and December, Russ improved a lot efficiency wise.

But it's really about shot selection for him. He needs to get to the rim / to the line and not settle for jumpers. His midrange is improved a little bit but still streaky and not to the point where it's a real weapon.

I think Russ would be best as a third option, opportunistic scorer like Andre Miller is on the Blazers when Roy is healthy.

@clarkem
You can check out the season splits here:
http://www.hoopdata.com/splits.aspx?player=Russell...

@justin
Dwight Howard had 122 first team votes, which is the most you can have. Two people probably voted for Amare over Durant. I'd probably stick Amare on the third team and move Bogut up to the second.

@justin
What was his efficiency in the playoff games? I feel like as the year progressed he started getting far more effective at that foul line jumper. From interviews he said that is the shot he has been working hardest at. He saw a 5% increase in finishing at the rim from last year to this year which I think he can maintain or increase. The midrange got more effective as well. I think that he will focus more on that pullup foul line or elbow extended J and see a rise in efficiency from those regions.

That Amazing Is video thing is cool. Check it: http://bit.ly/b5cpfi

My only hesitation on big Al is that he just doesn't look like his old self to me yet. Maybe he needed a season to get that injury situation out of his system. Maybe he needs to play for a contender to bring his A game every night. I don't know. But if it's still that knee, I hesitate.

I can see how a Green for Love trade would work for both teams. Both guys have similar contracts. Green is suited for a 3, which the wolves could use. Love is a good space-filling, rebounding 4, who works well with Russell from their days at UCLA. I could see something like that working out.

I just don't think it will happen.

@Sammy
IF they set duncan as C,Bosh can be in third team.

@Sammy

How about the two geniuses that voted Amar'e over Howard for 1st team...

We're 18-20 when Russ attempts 15 or more shots and 32-12 when he takes less than 15 shots. Clearly we're a better team when others pick up the load offensively.

Pretty amazing that Bosh didn't make it and I don't even know who he should replace. Ideally, he'd be on the third team instead of Roy, but then you'd have 3 PFs and a C on the third team.

@clarkem

Russ would have to seriously improve his scoring efficiency to be our second option. His eFG% is way too low.. when he shoots a lot we tend to lose games against most teams. Lots of wasted possessions.

James Harden is the guy on our team currently most likely to become a 2nd option, he's already a great shooter especially from the corners. He'll have to finish better at the rim and become more reliable in iso situations.

Admittedly, the criteria is a bit relaxed for us because KD is so dang efficient.

@clarkem
that 12 assists would probably be 15 or 16 with Harden as 3rd option

Ok, Justin just beat me to it... :)

@James
Dominique Jones will be an NBA rotation player. He doesn't fit here very well as a 2 guard, if he goes late first/early second, he'll be a steal. Most underrated player in college this year.

Just saw this on NBA.com
KD earns his first All-NBA First Team selection
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/05/06/all.nba/?ls=ire...

Sammy :@clarkem

Shooting 44% from 3 is a pretty easy path to playing winning basketball.

tru nuff

@justin
Can Russ not be the second option? Because I think a third option can easily be Green or Harden.

Option 1- KD ~ 30 points 8 rebounds
Option 2- Russ ~ 16 points 8 assists 5 rebounds
Option 3- Jeff ~ 15 points 6 rebounds
or- James~ who could easily be at at least 15 and 5 of assists or rebounds
60 points 20 rebounds 12 assists is pretty good for top 3 options isn't it?

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/05/06/all.nba/?ls=ire...

@justin
Link? Been hearing leaks, but no sources.

Kevin Durant made All NBA First team.

@clarkem
Shooting 44% from 3 is a pretty easy path to playing winning basketball.

@clarkem

If it's to consolidate talent it might help down the road. Re-signing all these players might not be feasible. If you can trade a couple of the youngsters for a better youngster then you end up saving money in the long run and making your team better. I wouldn't trade Harden and Green for Kevin Love, but it's not an unreasonable idea. Love is already a top rebounder in the league. That's more than you can say of either Harden or Green, who aren't tops in the league at anything.

I'd trade two of our young players for a true second option though. Because then you've got a real core Russ / Durant / SECOND OPTION.

@Sammy
Fredette seems like a quality guy, and he is a winner. Some people are good athletes, some people just find ways to win. The latter is Fredette. You would find no complaints from me if he found his way to this team

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
There's been a lot of speculation that they'll trade one of the two. Minny has a glut at PF, and they don't like playing Love and Jefferson at the same time.

What about Jimmer Fredette? He's already worked out with OKC, so there's some interest in our camp. Not much of an athlete, but he can shoot the lights out, he's a hard worker, and has a great bball IQ.

@justin
Mostly because Presti drafted this core with a plan in mind. Now I can see that Jeff didn't have a stellar year and plenty of people want to do something with him. I'm fine with that. I would happily see him on the bench with Thabo and James and Serge starting, but I don't see how getting rid of 2 players that have been essential to this team is reasonable. I would love to land Jefferson, not so much Kevin Love, but not at the expense of 2 core players.
I will admit that I am still struggling to overcome bias due to the affection I have towards our players, but I can't make sense of moving 2 main players.

Most people think that Minnesota will trade one of them because they don't play well together. Probably Kevin Love.