I'm Impressed with Presti

[Ghost Writer]

Actually, they might. In this day and age, players like to get touches. Durant isn't a facilitator. At this point, he looks like a volume shooter.

And he needs to add about 25 lbs. of muscle.

[Ocotillo]

Good so far but many teams have stockpiled assets. Turning those assets into tangible pieces is another matter. It's going to be hard to woo anyone to the Sonics until they figure out where they are going to play.

Your are correct sir when it comes to free agents. If we think it's tough getting NBA free agents to come to San Antonio, what do you think it will be like getting them to come to Oklahoma City.

On the other hand, if he doens't blow the money on free agents, he will have cap room to take back bigger salaries in trades. Presti should be smart enough to know what are albatross salaries and what are acceptable role player type salaries to take on to place around his young guns.

[Ghost Writer]

A friend of mine said that Seattle's motivation is also to make the team as cheap as possible for the long-anticipated move to another city.

[fyatuk]

A friend of mine said that Seattle's motivation is also to make the team as cheap as possible for the long-anticipated move to another city.

Especially if they lose their case and have to finish out the lease in Seattle. 2 years of crap angry crowds can cost a lot of money.

[CaptainLate]

True. I suspect that Presti will use some combination of the picks and cap room this summer to land some vets to start fleshing out the supporting cast around Durant and Green. What would make sense would be if they could somehow land Jermaine O'Neal.

Who wants to live in OKC?

[CaptainLate]

Do you really think they'll have trouble getting guys to come play with Durant?

Durant will want to come back to Texas, not OKC. Is his contract up in 2010?

[ducks]

Do you really think they'll have trouble getting guys to come play with Durant?

humm boozer sure as wanted to leave little james

[Ghost Writer]

humm boozer sure as wanted to leave little james

That was a financially-motivated decision and also had to do with their style of play.

[FromWayDowntown]

That was a financially-motivated decision and also had to do with their style of play.

Boozer asked the Cavs to make him an unrestricted free agent and, reportedly, agreed to take their MLE once he was eligible to do so. He then got a much bigger offer from Utah and spurned the Cavs.

I think Presti has done an excellent job with the Sonics, as I think most Spurs fans thought he would. I will say that it's a lot easier to make lots of trades and do lots of reshuffling when your club is in full-on rebuilding mode instead of feeling pressure to compete for les every year, when you've got a few older guys who have useful skills and tradeable deals on a club that should be filled with young guys and expiring contracts, and when your ownership is pressuring you to tilt the finances in a favorable direction.

With that said, it seems obvious that in working in that atmosphere, Presti has done a fantastic job giving the Sonics some very good opportunities for growth in the near future.