The Thunder didn’t do anything – what’s it mean?

I think Presti made the best decision at the deadline he could've. The only guys who were probably available at Centre were Biedrins(And there are understandable reservations based on the length of his contract and the CBA), Dalembert(And Philly was saying that they weren't making financial trades, + 12 million a year), Thabeet(but Memphis was moving him for scoring to try and make the playoffs(Mayo + Thabeet for Monta Ellis(http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64893/20100219/warriors_rejected_mayo_thabeet_for_monta_offer/), so not available to the Thunder. Given the fact that The Phoenix pick is unprotected and another key rotation guy, rather that 2 depth guys. Worst case sceanrio, from a draft POV, You end up with 23 and 20 or so, Which could be packaged to move up to about 14, and having about 11 million in space (After the pick salary). Monroe is(based on current projections) going to be available, or just gone, but that's not out of the question. If David Lee(Boozer) is available as a Free agent, He gives you garbage scoring and fixes the defensive rebounding problem, While Monroe also gives you inside scoring, and someone you can run offense through.

Monroe/Ibaka/Mullens
Lee(Boozer)/Green
Durant
Thabo/Harden
Westbrook/Maynor

With Collisons expiring contract, DJ White, and future picks to work on to get some kind of veteran(An experienced Centre?)

Could you have done better with making a move. Possibly, but not by much. You might either have to give up a pick to get someone, or take on a contract which restricts free agency options, and the picks you pick up for taking on a contract aren't of real value to the Thunder now.

Can that team win a title? I think so. Uncle Jeff and Harden lead the scoring for the Unit of the Bench, with Durantula, a great defensive backcourt starting, a solid to good rebounding team and prospects at Centre. I think Harden as the Sixth man has the ability to be a 18-4-4 type guy with good %'s and Westbrook is growing into being a PG, and will start to be less turnover prone over time. With no change in Defensive efficiency(fairly likely, if not an increase as less 2nd chance points), and possibly an increase in offensive efficiency(Less turnovers from Russ, more effective close range shooting from Bigs), It's not out of the question for that team to be top 5 in both offensive and dfensive efficiency. I'd say Presti's done well in keeping pat.

@DizzyDai
Something tells me that DJ White will be this guy, as he's not really in the rotation and still has some value to other teams (especially with the recent success of guys like Carl Landry.) On draft night there are normally quite a few small trades of people trading up or down in the draft depending on position. It's kind of hard to say who will deal and who won't at this time due to not knowing the lottery situation. Everyone knows that teams like the Nets obviously want John Wall, but if they lose out on that situation, it is unclear if they'd rather have 1 good player or 2 or 3 decent players. Also there is always a ton of parody in drafts and people that shoot out of no where during March Madness or private workouts, this makes for some people targeting "potential" players which would help some of the players we would seem to be going after fall a bit further. Much like the fall of Blair last year.

@Chas

The problem is we have too many PF's. I think someone will still have to be moved.

@justin
"Nenad Krstic won’t be able to be traded on draft day because he has a player option."

That is horrible news.

@Chas

There will be many options to acquire a center in a trade, especially on draft day. Don't just look at the free agents..

Note that we don't need max space to sign a max free agent. It's likely that if any max free agent switches teams they'll do it via sign and trade, since the free agent would lose a considerable amount of money if they just signed with another team outright. So if Chris Bosh wanted to come to OKC, we'd probably have to work out a sign and trade with Toronto, where they signed him to a maximum contract and we'd have to send the difference in cap space - salary (~$3.5M). Even if Chris Bosh wanted to go to Miami, which has the cap space to sign him to a max deal, he's want to do a sign and trade also or he'd lose money. This is why most free agents stick with their own teams and the Knicks might look real silly.

@DizzyDai
And, there's no C out there to sign so I guess we might take a PF (although he had a chance to sign Millsap if that was the direction he was heading). Does this shed any light on whether or not Presti feels that Green is the PF of the future. Because, we could do what justin is proposing and prop up a mediocre C next to Lee but that really doesn't include Green. I'm not freaking out (though the tone of my postings may belie my actual feelings), I'm just befuddled and I want to believe that Green is with the Thunder for a very long time but I don't know that that is what Presti wants. Oh well.

@DizzyDai

@justin
Cool. Thanks, guys.

@Lefty

Etan Thomas and Matt Harpring can't be traded from this point forward. Expiring (ending) contracts are prohibited from being traded on draft day. The money is 'paid' during the July Moratorium, the period in July after the draft but before free agency begins when the league sets the cap, etc.

From my understanding, a draft day trade doesn't affect the books for the season that ended. For instance, if we traded Nick Collison and our two first round picks for Andris Biedrins (I know the salaries don't match), Nick Collison would effectively be an expiring contract for Golden State since his 2009-2010 salary is always on our books for tax and cap purposes. Nenad Krstic won't be able to be traded on draft day because he has a player option.

Assuming a $53 million salary cap, and assuming Nenad Krstic picks up his player option, we will have approximately $13 million in cap space. Not enough for a maximum contract, but probably enough for someone like David Lee or Brendan Haywood, or enough to facilitate any number of trade scenarios.

@Lefty
I could be wrong, but I believe your answer is July 1st.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
I see your point of view, but I really got this feeling Presti won't sign anyone for much more than $5-7M.

So, are we at the point where Etan and Harpring's contracts are coming off our books no matter what? Or is there still a chance to move them? I guess what I'm asking is, when is the money paid? Before the draft? After the draft? During the draft? If we have the contracts, how much do we have free in the offseason?

The only real trade I wanted to make was Harping's contract. It seemed like the most movable of all our pieces. But, like we've said before, it comes off our books as well, so there's that.

@DizzyDai
I hope you're wrong about Presti not signing any free agents. We may not have been in a position to trade for what we needed this time around. That's understandable. But there are several free agents this summer who will fit what we need and I would like to see us make a run for them. Otherwise, we're down to drafting what we need, and waiting a few more years for development. We could skip that learning curve with one good free agent contract.

the clippers are probably our best chance to move up in the draft they have a lot of cap room and only a few players under contract, they could use 2 1st rd picks more then just 1 decent one, and have 4 starters already locked up in gordan, davis,griffin and kaman, if they sign a decent free agent SF then they just need to add depth and the late 1st rd could do that for them.

If we need to move into the top 7/8 picks...we offer someone a lower 1st round pick and some 2nd round picks...to a team that is rebuilding and is scared of the new CBA more young cheap players. We need really one guy.

Jeff's shown improvement in some areas, especially on offense lately. If we got a decent center who could score well inside and rebounded the ball we might be fine if our guards learned to shoot better (or James Harden gets more minutes, which will happen eventually). It's easier to find a PF to do those things and then get any stiff to play center and rebound, but it's probably worth it to do the best we can with Green and go another direction if that doesn't work out.

@Chas
Hey, it's going to be fine. What I get from yesterday was that Presti didn't receive any offers that were worth it. We already know he's pretty conservative, and he's not going to give away these assets of ours for nothing. There's still free agency, the draft and any other kinds of trades he wants to make in the offseason - not to mention the natural progress the young guys on this team are going to make. There are plenty of opportunities for this team to get better. It's not a secret that we need more help in the post. Presti knows that. Something will go down over the summer.

Who are we going to trade in order to move up in the draft? Draft positions will probably be a major premium because a lot of teams will want cheap talent heading in to the new CBA so will Collison and Krstic be enough to move up or are we going to give some young talent up for even younger talent?

Even though the Centers that were available were not the perfect players, I don't know of any other Cs that are going to fall into our laps. Heh heh, Bill Russell's not walking through that door! To be honest, I'm now worried about how Green fits in to our championship squad with out a strong C next to him.

Brooks and the coaching staff probably work a lot with Byron Mullens in practice. I don't think it's a secret to them where he is as far as his development. Actual game time might speed that along some but is he really far enough along where it'd benefit him more than it'd harm the team?

Mullens will get game time when, and if, he's ready..

I am usually a die hard optimist but Harpring was one of our greatest expendable assets that we'll have for a long time. Everyone keeps saying that big men take 3-4 years to round into shape.... does that fit our timeline? I think that it would have been great to have a stable Center not named Krispy for a couple of years that could help us compete late in to the playoffs while Mullens (our stronger, faster, heavier Krispy) or someone else progressed into a starting quality C. And, I don't think that I have to be a GM to have an opinion.

@ThuDer

@Lefty

I agree with you guys completely. The Thunder needs to see how Mullens develops in an actual NBA game to assess his worth. I have a feeling this weekend will present the perfect chance. Giving Mullens 10 minutes a game against the Knicks and Wolves shouldn't hurt us too much.

I wish we could see more of White's game. Darn injuries.

@erik

I hear ya, but in this thread everyone is pretty much agreeing and being decent.

Concerning the lack of trades... I wanted to see a move (Krstic, Harpering & Phoenix's 1st for Dalembert & Philly's 1st) but understand Presti's strategy.

I still don't think Presti is going to make a run at a big name free agent this summer.

@ThuDer
I'd be OK with this, as long as we're careful where and when we play him. For all we say about Krstic, one thing he does have is experience. He's played against all the good centers from the last few years, and he knows what he can and can't get away with. Mullens doesn't yet, so I think putting him in against backup Cs would be pretty good for a while. Let him try and develop a post game against them, see what his rebounding capabilities are. But keep him out of the end of games. If used properly over the next few games, it could be good experience for Mullens, but improperly, it could cost us wins.

I predict Mullens gets 10-15 min per game to prove his worth over the next 5-6 games after practicing this past week. Green's wrist will be given a few more minutes off over the next 2 weeks. We will see if Mullens can produce? He is long, tall with good feet and a soft touch. Bigs take 3-4 years to develop. People just need to be a little more patient. Enjoy each step is this "process". We will see if I'm correct.

Lets say we miss out on Lee in the offseason. I don't really think there is another viable big man out there that I'd want. Sooo....a slight trade up on draft day to grab Cole Aldrich? Could that work. He rebounds, blocks shots, and has an offensive game. ESPN compares him to Joel Pryzbilla with offense. I could stand for that move. Opinions?

I used love this site... but its getting to the point too many people think they know every ins and out of this squad-players, presti, ownership. I think the fact that nobody called them to be doing this well should keep everybody humble. Share, offer insight and enjoy the games. Plain and simple. There I said it. Just because you can throw out some stats doesn't mean much. I used to enjoy reading everyone's comments-its getting a bit out of hand. The writer's on this site are great though. I'm just saying...and trust me I love this squad as much as you guys. I've been avid since KD got drafted.

We got dominated by POR before their injuries and I believe that we lost to Memphis because of their length (even though we have much better talent else where) and HOU has our number. I'm not really upset because everything in this is cake but I just don't see how we grab a C after this deadline and we really need something if we're going to stick with Green (which I am in favor of).

@Osano-Whoa

Setting aside turnovers for a moment, there are two big weaknesses of our team: high percentage scoring and defensive rebounding. High percentage scoring is our biggest weakness, both of our starting guards have TS% lower than .500, and our center and power forward are below average for their positions. Our only efficient scorers are Kevin Durant, Nick Collison, and (barely) James Harden. Everyone else is from mediocre to downright bad (Thabo, Westbrook). Traditionally, high percentage scoring comes from front court players that get shots near the rim. David Lee is a great example of a front court player who scores very efficiently. If you sub him in our line up for Jeff Green, our scoring efficiency as a team would rise considerably. Any center with some offensive game predicated on close shots would have a similar, if less noticable, effect.

Defensive rebounding is less of an issue, but still important. Krstic and Green are both below average for their positions. NewsOK likes to excuse this by stating that our guards are excellent rebounders, but the fact is that they are excellent rebounders by necessity. If we had a big man gobbling up those defensive boards, our guards would be able to get out on the break more and do things that guards are supposed to do. It might sound impressive that our guards are the highest rebounding tandem in the league, but it's really nothing to be proud about as it speaks to our overall deficiency rebounding the ball in the front court. Again, add a player such as David Lee, and we probably go from below average to above average as a rebounding team.

It boils down to our weaknesses being things that are traditionally solved by incorporating a high efficiency big that is adept at rebounding. There are lots of them out there at the power forward position, fewer at the center position. But we'll likely need one to compete long term unless our guards seriously improve their shooting efficiency (likely in Harden's case, unlikely in Thabo's case, who knows in Westbrook's case). For rebounding, it's unlikely we'll be an above average defensive rebounding team with our current roster and rotations.

Presti has to have been given the green light to either sign a FA or be gunning for a high draft pick, otherwise he would have utilized our expiring contracts, hopefully it is the former and he has some FA in mind. We really just need a Paul Milsap type center, good defender and rebounder, Ibaka is a little small but so was Wallace and he played for a while on a title contender. Our post defense isn't that bad, nor is our rebounding, but certain teams have the right players down low to really take advantage of us, which is where the FA needs to come in, thats all we need to contend in the future. We are headed towards being the best defensive team in the NBA, we just need a Big to put us over the edge, our offense will be fine with what we have.

@GAP
we are 6th in the league at opp FG% at the rim and 1st at shots less then 10 feet, so our defense is fine inside

@I am the DON
wow you and justin agreeing, thats crazy.

We are in 6th place, SA has the tiebreaker against us, with the better conference record

I'm not shocked, but I am a little suprised that at least a small move wasn't made. I'm hoping that this summer is when the shock and awe move is made for a second serious scorer somewhere in the paint. It's cool to hold on to the cap space, but as it's been said by others, it better not be just to save the owners the money and be a cheapskate team!

I can be patient enough to wait until the summer, so we can see where this current roster can take us. Oh, and to answer Osano's question...we've been good on defense but not especially in the painted area, where almost game to game we give up easy buckets at the basket and give up offensive rebounds, like the basketball is something to be afraid of.

At some point to be a top tier team, we need a rebound gobbler and a game changing shot blocker IMO.

@Osano-Whoa
The idea is that the team isn't bad, but Krstic isn't exactly what you would call a dominant big man, so if you could upgrade him to a slightly better defensive, offensive, and rebounding player than the team that is already good would be even better. Plus in a playoff series teams like the Lakers (Bynum, Gasol, Odom), Denver (Nene, K-mart, Birdman), Portland (Aldridge, Camby, etc,) the other western conference teams have multiple bigs that are good both offensively and defensively. To take the team to the next level would require an ability to battle and be successful down there not just a game or two but for entire series and throughout the playoffs.

Can somebody explain to me why we need a big interior man to become a true tier 1 team? I understand that usually you want a threat on the inside and the outside to provide the kind of offensive versatility necessary to score reliably, but can't we have a similar kind of versatility by having so many players that can take it to the basket? Defensively we seem to be doing fine against bigger players without having a dominant big man of our own, especially in the last few games. We're not great at keeping players out of the paint, but we make up for it by defending exceptionally well around the basket. I know we're not a top rebounding team, but we're not terrible at it either. Do we just need somebody to help with defensive rebounding?

Don't worry guys. In the offseason we'll have our pick of Brendan Haywood, Brad Miller, Ilgauskas, James (Jerome), Milicic, O'Neal (both Shaq and Jermaine), Kwame Brown, Petro....and Mikki Moore. I mean, when you look at the caliber of Cs in this paragraph, how can we lose?

Are we always going to be a slash and jump shoot team? Because I just can't see what Center Presti would consider signing (maybe we can overpay Haywood). Also, is it possible that Presti is looking for a package that would get us a C in the draft? How could this possibly work?

Just think about a time when the last mavs game type performances for harden are the norm. Just picture us getting that from our shooting guard regularly in addition to a better KD and Russ and Green

If this ownership gets cheap and blows it with this group, they should NEVER be forgiven.....EVER

I can't say i am surprised at harden's dynamic game on the offensive end at all. I have a clear pattern from day one of being his #1 nuthugger. I knew from watching him in college and in person during summer league that he was a sure thing and essentially the chocolate edition of ginobili. What I have been pleasantly surprised at and taken aback by is his defense. He is a damn good defender and will continue to be better at it. After that game in cleveland when i saw him matched up on lebron and how unphased he was and what great physical position D he played on him, I knew he was gonna be an even more delicious stud than i had anticipated. And believe me, I was already anticipating an epic stud

James Harden is the biggest wildcard talent wise on this team. Some might say it's Russ, but I'm more excited about Harden. His peripheral #'s are encouraging across the board and his defense has improved significant since he's joined the team. Of all the things Scott Brooks has done, aside from the implementation of the new defense, I love the way he's brought James Harden along. The way he gets to the line, if he masters the mid range game I don't think the Manu Ginobili or even Paul Pierce comparisons are that far off.

@justin

Oh dear, it is surely a chilly evening in Lucifer's domain

@I am the DON

The DON, that is one sentiment we can wholeheartedly agree upon.

Retaining our players will be dictated somewhat by the market and what our situation is as a team with one exception, Kevin Durant, who will receive a maximum contract.

Russell Westbrook will probably get offers somewhere in the Rajon Rondo vicinity; Rondo received 5 years, $55 million. That's probably the ceiling for him, if we do well in the playoffs. Rondo was excellent and won a title, I don't think Russ will have his kind of resume.

It's too early to tell what kind of interest James Harden will get, or what his value is.

Jeff Green's the wild card. We have this season to determine if Jeff Green fits, in my opinion. After this year, Kevin Durant will be up for extension talks and he will get a maximum contract extension no matter what. I don't think Sam Presti will play 'new CBA hardball' with him. If you give Kevin Durant an extension, can you leave Jeff Green hanging out to dry? I'm not sure. It'd be awkward for Jeff to play out another year unextended while Kevin Durant is signed through 2013. This basically mirrors the Brandon Roy / LaMarcus Aldridge situation except with the wrinkle of a possibly new CBA thrown in. I just hope Jeff doesn't get over paid because of it.

Even in a worse case scenario it doesn't seem likely that our rookies won't be extended for money reasons. Unless Russell Westbrook turns a corner and warrants maximum dollars, or James Harden, there will be plenty of money to go around. The problem will be whether or not that core is enough to compete..

This is precisely why I am never 100% excited about our team. There is always that question mark in the back of mind about whether the owners are willing to sign all these guys. It's great when you got them on the cheap on their rookie pay scales, but when the time comes, are you serious enough about building a perennial contender to retain them all?

@Steve H

I agree and I am giving ownership this summer to prove me wrong and to redeem themselves.

I am actually getting worried about whether they'll re-sign all our core guys once their rookie deals run out. We got 4 players we must absolutely retain after their rookie deals, and i would be lying if I said I was confident in our ownership retaining them all.

All of the trades made by Presti have been really big, blow up the team moves that essentially shed salary (Allen, Lewis) or small moves that turned weak assets into valuable ones (Petro- Pick- Thabo, assume Kurt Thomas' contract and get a pick then release K. Thomas and get another pick, give Utah cap relief by taking nice rookie guard and insured contract that pays for itself for rights to phantom player). In addition to being savy, the other common denomenator among them is that they were cheap to accomplish. We have the 3rd smallest payroll in the league. The largest asset Bennett has actually PAID to acquire is Krstic's 3 yr- 5 mill per deal. Not exactly a bank breaker. Everybody acknowledges the amazing Job Presti has done putting this team together- like a master chef making a gourmet meal out of leftovers and a bag of Ramen- but to really compete in this league we will eventually have to break-down and actually spend real money on somebody. Right now we are in the thick of the play-off hunt, with a realistic shot at home court advantage in the first round. The one glaring team need/weakness at this point is our starting center. This is not just my opinion, or that of a few posters here. Just about every basketball blogger, sports writer and TV pundit I've seen identifies this as our biggest need when asked. I really don't see any virtue whatsoever in letting the "pot cook" or "waiting to see what we have". What we have is a really good young team that will be going into the playoffs with a sub-par starting center. Not spending even a little money to improve our playoff chances-and there is no doubt we could have improved on Krstic with relatively little going out in additional salary, non-expiring contracts or long term financial committment- looks a lot more "miserly" than it does "savy". Hopefully the owners will break down loosen their purse strings this summer and when it comes to re-sign our core guys, but I really don't like the pattern that is emerging here.

I'm agree same not make any trade for this time.and wait to play in the free agent market only person i think he is good enough for this team is DAVID LEE he is a good rebounder and can score aswell. and next trade we have Collison and Krstic is expiring contact to play big trade if next year we have a better chance go to win conference

....DALLAS,SPUR,LAKER,SUN is getting older....WE are so young talent and for Durant,Green,Westbrook,Harden,Ibaka is our young core in first team if we not get anyones in the free agent market...who care!!! OKC is we bright future

in my opinion if we can move minor trade our alot of second round pick to be 1 more first round pick or trade to be top 10 lottory team. i will ....it just only my opnion ok//all our 3 first round pick this year . i will select all CENTER in this year and plus IBAKA and MULLED ofcourse .we will have 5 CENTER in ROSTER and pick 1 who is best to be our starter and the rest we will trade to someplace else of next year trade and this way we can keep money to extendtion for our BIG4 Durant,Green,Westbrook,Harden

@Joe
I agree, I feel as though a lot of people got caught up in the rumor mill and what ifs and felt as though the only good move would be a trade. Why fix what isn't broke? Even if we limp into the playoffs, and get swept by the Lakers or Nuggets at least our guys learn what it takes to make the playoffs, gives them hunger for that next level, and shows our management what we need.

@justin

and then the Knicks will sign and trade Bosh for him :p

anyway, I think Sam will surprise us this off-season, I'm quite sure about it.

I'm happy. Sometimes when your making something you just need to let it cook for a good long while before you decide just what additional seasonings it needs. As it stands we've got a good thing going. It shows great patience to me to just let a good thing gel and get better without screwing with it.

Royce, I think you're right, Presti stood his ground even with all his assets because he WANTS the cap room and we still need to see more of Ibaka and Mullens to make the best decision this summer on who to target. If you were Presti, wouldn't you be careful of messing up a team that has won 7 games in a row? The roster is full as has been mentioned, seeing the current team in the playoffs might be the only way Presti can make some long term decisions, can't wait.

The team and nearly all the players are still in evaluation mode. The best learning experience any of our young players could possibly have is playing as many minutes as possible in meaningful games. NONE of our young guns have played in NBA games that really matter. The pressure is about to ramp up tremendously, especially the last 3 weeks of the season, and, obviously, in the playoffs. Why steal important experience from the core in order to bring in a short term veteran who's not going to get the team past the second round anyway? Can Ibaka defend centers? Precisely what kind of center would allow Green to best flourish at PF? Can Green flourish at PF? Once the season is over, then Presti can better assess what we need and the best way to go about getting it.

This just leads me to believe that Presti thinks this team will be in the playoffs. Keep the team, who already knows the offense and defense, intact and make a run at it. I like the move. (non move)