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Tallcann :
I’m a little dissappointed at Cole’s production in the D League. If I remember right DJ White was a double double machine. Maybe the coaches have him working on certain parts of his game and not worring about overall stats, but they do make me worry a bit.

I seriously doubt that the Thunder want or need him for his offense so I don't think that would have been a priority in Tulsa. We need a defensive monster and I hope that is what he was working on. I may be wrong but that was who he was at KU.... he controlled the paint.

I'm a little dissappointed at Cole's production in the D League. If I remember right DJ White was a double double machine. Maybe the coaches have him working on certain parts of his game and not worring about overall stats, but they do make me worry a bit.

I think Krstic could get more than the NBA league min if he went back to europe where he would be closer to family.

There are a specific group of 8-10 second and third tier vet centers who will be free agents next summer who will compete with Krstic for jobs and money. I haven't really looked close enough to guess how it plays out. Some will get 3+ million, some will get the minimum. Maybe a few in-between.

@Crow
yeah my thought with keeping him was based on nobody else offering him anything, he isnt that highly regarded and there are other center options that are free agents.

Aldrich is still on our roster. He could sit on the bench and just wear a suit. We did that a few times w/ White/Weaver/Mullens last season when the 66ers didn't have a game.

Krstic seems likely to me to move on by his choice to maximize money and time. If a trade happened, it probably wouldn't be until the deadline. More likely they stick with him thru this season. The health of Collison's knee will play a role.

Krstic's health next spring / summer will determine what kind of offers he gets. If he is healthy he'll get $3+ million a year from somebody because there are so few half-decent veteran centers around. He has done alright in 3 playoffs. His time may be up with the Thunder but it could go either way. The middle ground would be to make him a sub.

@AC
just wanted to give you props on a well thought out post.. for the most part, i agree..

@dream catcher
George Karl's kid was routinely playing for the L.A. d-league team and riding the pine for the Lakers on the same day. Unless something's changed I don't think there's any reason Aldrich couldn't do the same. Playing in Tulsa and then playing in OKC. Talk about accelerating his development.

Man... a lot of Krstic hate today. I know he's not what most people would think of as a starting center on a playoff team, but he's not THAT bad. Yeeeesh.

f5alcon :
the thing with krstic it depends on league interest, if nobody wants him we probably could re-sign him for minimum wage, i would pay that much to keep him

I think he would accept a small salary, but I don't think he'd agree to $7.25/hr
;)

@f5alcon

Agreed. Vet's minimum sounds fair for what Krisic Brings.

hmm, Maybe Aldrich just wanted to be with the players? Can a d-league player join a NBA team just for fun?

I checked Tulsa's schedule and they don't have another game till Friday. Maybe they have the day off today and tomorrow.

@TempBoy Brandon

Gotta feel like Aldrich is better than cook/peterson. I mean, they are veterans and they don't even see the floor.

But if his team doesnt qualify for the Euroleague next year he might come over this off-season.

I think we let Krstic go.

Westbrook/Maynor
Sefolosha/Harden/Ivey
Durant
Green/Ibaka
Aldrich/Collison/Mullens

I think Pleiss comes over in 2 years.

the thing with krstic it depends on league interest, if nobody wants him we probably could re-sign him for minimum wage, i would pay that much to keep him

Free Cole Aldrich! Free Cole Aldrich!

See the future... be the future...

Starters - Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Aldrich
Rotation - Maynor, Green, Sefolosha, Collison,
Bench - White, Mullens, Ivey

As an aside, I don't think either Presti or Brooks would make any public comment regarding player minutes. Clearly that is 100% Brooks' call. He's the coach & he's paid to win games. Today. However, the coach & the GM want to be in sync regarding the team's future direction. I would be stunned if Krstic was in the plan & equally stunned if Aldrich was not. I am quite sure there Presti & Brooks have had more than one conversation on this topic of conversation.

@Jeff Allen
nice!!

Yeah I think if either of Cook or Peterson panned out it would have just been a cherry on top. Getting Aldrich and the Clips pick could provide very very useful in the future.

DizzyDai :
I’m really kinda dissappointed in Cook’s performance this season. I thought he’d be a more consistent perimeter threat. Now he’s just a bench warmer.

I'm happy with Cook, because we got the Clips future #1 out of it. Since they are cursed, we will have a nice lottery pick sometime in the next 5 years.

@7 I think he was comparing Aldrich's jump vs. Krstic's. Either way Aldrich has those monster arms that will helps him gather (or block) the ball.

@Bruno

Aldrich can't jump. Pretty apparent from watching him rebound. He relies more on body positioning and working harder than his opponent.

Westbrook named western comfrence player of the week again!!!

He is kind of good at basketball

I'm really kinda dissappointed in Cook's performance this season. I thought he'd be a more consistent perimeter threat. Now he's just a bench warmer. :(

It depends what criteria you want to use. In the Simmons trade value ranking system:

Durant Westbrook Green Ibaka Harden Sefolosha Maynor Aldrich Collison Kristic Mullens White Cook Ivey Peterson

In talent this very second I think it goes

Durant Westbrook Green Sefolosha Ibaka Harden Collison Maynor Kristic White Ivey Mullens Peterson Cook

In order of minutes I want them to play on the Thunder in a playoff game starting tomorrow:

(42)Durant (42)Westbrook (36)Ibaka (32)Green (22)Sefolosha (20)Harden (18)Collison (16)Kristic (12)Maynor (0)White (0)Ivey (0)Aldrich (0)Mullens (0)Peterson (0)Cook

PG RW 42, Maynor 6
SG Sefolosha 22, Harden 20, Maynor 6
SF Durant 42, Green 6
PF Green 26, Ibaka 22
C Kristic 16, Ibaka 14, Collison 18

@TempBoy Brandon

I would swap Harden and Krstic.

@justin
that was my exact thought.. i actually think the rest of his rankings are pretty right on, but he is way off on Harden.. i'd put Harden 6th..

Green has long arms, its just his shoulders are low.

@Keith

His wingspan vs. his reach. I know he has broad shoulders, but it just seems off to me.

@TempBoy Brandon

No way Harden is that low. Even playing like he is playing, he's better than Maynor, Krstic, etc.

in his chat today, Rohde ranked our roster like this:

1. Durant; 1 1/2. Westbrook; 3. Green; 4. Ibaka; 5. Sefolosha; 6. Collison; 7. Krstic; 8. Maynor; 9. Harden; 10. White; 11. Ivey; 12. Cook; 13. Peterson; 14. Mullens; 15. Aldrich

thoughts?

I've heard guys at the combine deliberately shortchange themselves on the standing reach measurement (can gain or lose 4 or 5 inches by really stretching or relaxing the shoulders) to try to max out the vertical leap measurement (highest point reached on the running leap minus the standing reach). Vertical is important for wing players who want to be considered superior athletes.

Green is measured with a max vertical of 38 inches, excellent for his size, so this may have been what was going on.

Centers, on the other hand, want to max out their standing reach (9'3" standing reach is an important # for those C/PF tweeners) and don't really care about their vertical leap measurements.

justin :
Not looking forward to Boozer / Noah vs. Green / Krstic at all.

but I am looking forward to Rose vs Westbrook, Ibaka vs Boozer, Noah vs Ibaka etc..

look on the bright side.

@justin
Hopefully we see some Boozer Noah vs. Aldrich Ibaka.

Not looking forward to Boozer / Noah vs. Green / Krstic at all.

James Harden has a .5 inch edge in standing reach over jeff green. That is crazy...

@dream catcher
except not as old, but balding

@andrew
Noah is very good at boxing out and is an underrated athlete. Griffin is another guy with short arms who more than makes up for it with strength and out of this world hops. Measurements end up being only as important as the ability/skill they don't see.

@DizzyDai
Do you think Green is bigger or smaller than his measurements? Watching him try to contest the average PF on a shot makes me wonder if he wasn't given a little extra credit on his standing reach.

andrew :
I want Cole to take Nenad’s place sooooooooooo bad. Is there a worse starter on a Western Conference playoff team than Nenad?
I still wouldn’t be shocked if Cole is seeing 15-20 minutes a game by the end of the year. Also, I would be shocked if Nick is a rotation player in the last two years of his contract. I think his extension was made with the thought of him mentoring our big men and providing injury insurance.

sort of like Etan Thomas/Kevin Ollie/Morris Peterson. father figure

@andrew

I really think someone wasn't providing proper measurement at that combine. I still have a hard time believing Green's.

Looking at measurements of Centers on Draft Express. Noah only has an 8'10" reach? Weird...

I want Cole to take Nenad's place sooooooooooo bad. Is there a worse starter on a Western Conference playoff team than Nenad?

I still wouldn't be shocked if Cole is seeing 15-20 minutes a game by the end of the year. Also, I would be shocked if Nick is a rotation player in the last two years of his contract. I think his extension was made with the thought of him mentoring our big men and providing injury insurance.

So the Free Cole campaign seems to be working. What other campaign can we get going? Fans Against Deplorable Defense? People for the Efficient Use of Offense? Mothers Against Super Smallball?

i think nick was getting rest, like what they did with durant last week, i totally forgot that we had a game tonight.

Good.

As a devout Jayhawk fan I got used to Cole dominating other teams with his inside presence. I always thought his offense was questionable but he was a force inside on defense.

I am a little shocked he has not made that great of an impact yet. I know he has it in him and hopefully he can really help the Thunder. I saw way too many second chance points last night that needs to be fixed.

Go Cole and go Thunder...

@Thomas
Also, what are the chances Cole lands this afternoon and plays the same evening? Not much chance, I'm thinking.

I really doubt we see Cole tonight or anytime soon based on Brooks stubborn substitution patterns.