Thunder: Boy, that Sam Presti sure is a genius, isn't he?

[Findog]

In today's NBA Ibaka and Collison are a much better frontcourt pairing that having Porkins in there. Miami is going to win two les without a good center.

If you want to say that Jeff Green couldn't get minutes on OKC, that's fine, but trading him for a spare is a waste of an asset. Same thing with Harden - there was a better deal out there than Jeremy Lamb and one year of Kevin Martin. I can't completely fault OKC for trading Harden bc the new CBA makes it difficult to keep a super team together. There are rumors Miami will break up their Big Three. If it can't work financially in Miami, than it certainly can't in OKC. But what they got back for Harden was low. Washington offered Bradley Beal.

[OKC]

True on Ibaka and Collison. But back again to the trade - at that moment the most pressing issue with OKC was frontcourt defense, plain and simple. From that standpoint getting Perkins made sense. It's not that I'm 100% anti Perkins, but the frustrating part is Brooks's fascinating in sticking with him. He adds some value to OKC (although not at his current salary), but honestly he's nothing more than a role player off the bench who should play very limited minutes unless there's specific defensive matchups he's needed for. The verdict on Lamb is far from being in. The guy apparently has big potential, but we've just seen so little of him it's hard to tell.

[whitemamba]

I despise Perkins as much as anyone, but at the time he was traded for, he was thought of much more highly than he is now. He did a solid job of manning the middle in Boston, and honestly, had he not gotten hurt, Boston probably wins the finals in 2010 instead of the Lakers.

I'm sure some of it was due to having KG to play alongside, so it made him look better than he really is, but at least its somewhat understandable at the time.

get over that already ... IT WAS DESTINY!

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

They would have taken Oden if they got the first pick too. Really this guy is overrated. They picked up Durant, Green, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden in three consecutive drafts as a reward for being terrible. All of the ancillary moves to bolster that foundation have failed.

I agree with your general point, but one quick note is Presti's true great move was fleecing the Suns of two first round picks to take Kurt Thomas's contract, then trading Kurt Thomas for another 1st round pick. They used the Suns' 2008 1st rounder on Ibaka so that wasn't really cause they were terrible.

Other than that I agree, he had a franchise player fall into his lap in 2007 and surrounded him with other good players via high draft picks from sucking.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The real error wasn't trading Green for Perkins, the real error was drafting Green when his game was way too similar to Durant's for the two to ever co-exist. They weren't gonna get value for Green's talent when his only role on the Thunder was as a spot up stretch 4.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I can't completely fault OKC for trading Harden bc the new CBA makes it difficult to keep a super team together. There are rumors Miami will break up their Big Three. If it can't work financially in Miami, than it certainly can't in OKC. But what they got back for Harden was low. Washington offered Bradley Beal.

He didn't have to trade him last summer, though. He wasn't forced financially by any means. I can understand how OKC couldn't afford to amnesty Perkins, but there were many different ways to create enough space in order to keep Harden, who would have been a restricted FA this summer for them. Must have been some sort of a power trip by Presti, cause it was too quick and like you said they could and should have found a better deal.

[OKC]

Well at the same time I do give Presti some credit (or maybe it's just luck) for taking a chance with Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka. Westbrook had big questions marks surrounding him going into the draft. Harden was said to lack athleticism and that his upside wasn't all that great. Ibaka was completely unknown and was drafted solely on raw physical aspects. He was playing in some dump Spanish league averaging 11 minutes a game. So to me all 3 of these guys were far from a certain thing. I know a lot of scouts questioned whether either 3 of these guys would be very valuable in the NBA.

[OKC]

The real error wasn't trading Green for Perkins, the real error was drafting Green when his game was way too similar to Durant's for the two to ever co-exist. They weren't gonna get value for Green's talent when his only role on the Thunder was as a spot up stretch 4.

Good point.

[King Nupe]

The Celts likely beat the Lakers in '10 had Perkins played.

It's cool, though, Nupe. Still a legit le. Injuries are a part of the game.

It wouldn't have mattered. We destroyed them on the boards with no Bynum in Game 7. KG had 4 Reb Gasol had 18 Reb, kobe had 15 (for you haters that like to harp on 6-26.

[Budkin]

When the Perkins trade happened we were all talking about how stupid Boston was... Green was injured and when he came back he was awful. Now in hindsight it looks like a great trade for the Celtics.

[hater]

funny that this thread was 1 Westbrook knee injury away from never existing

[The Batman]

funny that this thread was 1 Westbrook knee injury away from never existing

[benefactor]

But what they got back for Harden was low. Washington offered Bradley Beal.

Bobcats offered them the #2 pick...which would have been MKG.