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2012 NBA Preseason |OT| The Rich Get Richer, The Poor Get Rasheed Wallace

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darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
if Lamb can become even 75% of what Harden was, the Thunder might be better off. They will have him for cheap for the next 4 years or so.

The window for the Thunder was now. Maybe Lamb can be that good a few years from now but they are wasting away their prime opportunity right now to get to that point. They're banking on the unknown with those draft picks, it could end up being great or they could end up being stuck with some middling PFs. Morey got tired of that life.

How could any Rockets fan be excited about years to come of Max-deal Harden being your franchise player?

When is the last time your franchise ever had a player that was of the same calibur as Harden?

Max-deal player doesn't mean hes one of the very best players in the league. Harden is young and around a top 25 player or so right now, and anybody around that range is a max deal player. I'd much rather have Harden than Gordon or Brook Lopez or other fringe guys like that with max deals.
 
The window for the Thunder was now. Maybe Lamb can be that good a few years from now but they are wasting away their prime opportunity right now to get to that point. They're banking on the unknown with those draft picks, it could end up being great or they could end up being stuck with some middling PFs. Morey got tired of that life.



When is the last time your franchise ever had a player that was of the same calibur as Harden?

Max-deal player doesn't mean hes one of the very best players in the league. Harden is young and around a top 25 player or so right now, and anybody around that range is a max deal player. I'd much rather have Harden than Gordon or Brook Lopez or other fringe guys like that with max deals.

All things considered, if you set aside injury history, you'd rather have Harden over Gordon?
 

KingGondo

Banned
I loved Harden.

The course of NBA history changed tonight.

I don't think Presti's done, though. Unless Thabeet is suddenly decent or something.
 

Lkr

Member
yeah Ibaka resigned. Harden might not be Durant, but there are teams out there that would give him a max deal. Why are athletes the only profession where they are criticized for not taking their market value. If some other company offered you more money would you stay and make less than your co-workers just because of the "family atmosphere"?


And the Thunder have the money to pay him too. They were just pinching pennies. Like the lockout, this is a case of owners pretending to play the poor card when it suits them.

I'm sure the Thunder would have continued to negotiate if they weren't given a great offer like this. I am not faulting him for leaving, I am just curious. either way he was going to get a good pay day, i personally think i would prefer to be a star on an elite team for years to come than get $2 mil/yr extra on a team that just traded away a good chunk of talent
 
I don't think the Thunder's regular season record will be hurt by this. I think Westbrook and Durant can increase their volume and both guys will like being able to play with the other on the bench a lot (since Westbrook will have to man the second unit now). However, if Westbrook or Durant gets hurt, they're fucked completely and I think they suffer in the playoffs.

I think the Rockets should be around 40-45 wins.
 

Zep

Banned
All things considered, if you set aside injury history, you'd rather have Harden over Gordon?

They're basically the same player. Gordon is a little better shooter while Harden is better off the pick n roll. Point is, if people value Gordon so high, they should do the same for Harden.
 
Thunder are definitely not winning a title this year, not with Kevin Martin being a net negative and Lamb not knowing how to contribute to wins. I dunno, I think their hands are tied unless Lamb gets really good really quick.
 

Rodeo Clown

All aboard! The Love train!
They're basically the same player. Gordon is a little better shooter while Harden is better off the pick n roll. Point is, if people value Gordon so high, they should do the same for Harden.

Harden should be more valuable because you can't separate health from the equation.
 
I'm sure the Thunder would have continued to negotiate if they weren't given a great offer like this. I am not faulting him for leaving, I am just curious. either way he was going to get a good pay day, i personally think i would prefer to be a star on an elite team for years to come than get $2 mil/yr extra on a team that just traded away a good chunk of talent

part of it im sure is pride (why should I take a pay cut but Serge Fuckign Ibaka doesn't?) and the other part is, yeah to you and I, what's another $2 million when you are making $13, but I'm sure all these stories of players going broke runs through these guys' heads. On top of that, most of these athletes are going to be done earning money, maybe for the rest of their lives, in their mid 30s. At that point an extra $8-10 million could be a huge deal to them.
 

Cipherr

Member
Im on the fucking floor right now.... They offered homey the 52 or whatever, then shipped his bearded ass out when he stuttered. Fucking hilarious.

I like dude as a player, but I really do feel like a great deal of his effectiveness came from the team as a whole and role he played. A puzzle piece if you will, I dont think he is guaranteed to be some amazing player anywhere he goes, so watching him will be interesting.

Seriously though, a breath away from a ring with this core group, and they just pulled the trigger and shipped him out, holy shit. Cant go ghost in the finals homey... fuck around and find yourself calling U-Haul.

Harden-gone.jpg
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
I like the move by the Thunder. Yeah their window is close but Kevin Martin is a decent SG and he will likely take that deal. If not they got 3 first rounders next year to use to make further moves as needed.
 

Cloudy

Banned
Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

Houston plans to give James Harden a four year, $60 million extension once deal is completed, league sources tell Y! Sports.

Can't blame Harden but wow...
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
Also in Harden's case theres probably another layer of pride to it. In OKC he's the sixth man and the third cog in the wheel. He probably thinks hes a franchise player, regardless if he is or not, and wants to get the chance to prove himself.

And yeah the money was a huge factor too. Also no chance in hell OKC fans boo the guy, nor should they.

On a side note this deal fucking depresses me because the Thunder still got a shitload more for Harden than the Magic got for Dwight. Like its not even funny. :(
 

Lkr

Member
part of it im sure is pride (why should I take a pay cut but Serge Fuckign Ibaka doesn't?) and the other part is, yeah to you and I, what's another $2 million when you are making $13, but I'm sure all these stories of players going broke runs through these guys' heads. On top of that, most of these athletes are going to be done earning money, maybe for the rest of their lives, in their mid 30s. At that point an extra $8-10 million could be a huge deal to them.

But at the same time they make more money in that span than any of us will make in a lifetime. I'm sure it is a bit about pride, but I don't see Harden as a franchise player. He is a damn good player, but not a max player. Unfortunately other teams make bad decisions(even his own team made some questionable signings) and that basically entitles him to a max contract. compared to lopez, he deserves the max.
 

Zep

Banned
I like the move by the Thunder. Yeah their window is close but Kevin Martin is a decent SG and he will likely take that deal. If not they got 3 first rounders next year to use to make further moves as needed.

lol...The Thunder aren't going to be offering that to Martin.
 
Kevin Martin is:

-A ballstopper
-Just about the worst perimeter defender in the NBA
-Made of glass
-Sucked last year after all of his foul drawing moves were banned


He is not going to do good things for the Thunder.
 

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
Harden was like the only willing passer on that team, too. There's not enough basketballs to go around. Martin is highly inefficient.
 

Cloudy

Banned
What do you guys think of my draft? 12 players $100 buy-in

Round Pick Player Position
1. (8) Kobe Bryant SG
2. (17) Rajon Rondo PG
3. (32) Anthony Davis PF
4. (41) Nicolas Batum SG,SF
5. (56) Andrea Bargnani PF,C
6. (65) Wesley Matthews SG,SF
7. (80) Derrick Favors PF,C
8. (89) Isaiah Thomas PG
9. (104) Darren Collison PG
10. (113) Brandon Bass PF,C
11. (128) Kemba Walker PG
12. (137) J.J. Hickson PF,C
13. (152) Tony Allen SG,SF
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
Is Maynor even the backup PG at this point? Hasn't Brooks been talking up Reggie Jackson? I find that hard to believe.

Also fucking LOL at people acting like Kevin Martin is good now. I see that effect happen all the time in baseball, where a "smart" team makes a move and suddenly a shit player is considered underrated and really good because hey that smart team wouldn't have made that move if the guy didn't suck. It's something I rarely see in basketball, other than Lakers fans hyping up Chris Duhon or some bizarre shit like that.
 
But at the same time they make more money in that span than any of us will make in a lifetime. I'm sure it is a bit about pride, but I don't see Harden as a franchise player. He is a damn good player, but not a max player. Unfortunately other teams make bad decisions(even his own team made some questionable signings) and that basically entitles him to a max contract. compared to lopez, he deserves the max.

True but they are going to be used to a higher level of living. Once a guy retires he's not going to stop living in a super nice, super expensive neighborhood, he's not going to trade in his Bently for a ford Focus. Listen, I'm not saying it's not crazy money that most of us will never understand, I'm just saying put it in perspective, the Thunder were asking him to take a what? 20%? 25% pay cut just to be a part of a winning organization? When none of his co-workers were asked to do that. And when other companies are more than willing to offer him more money?
 
Harden was like the only willing passer on that team, too. There's not enough basketballs to go around. Martin is highly inefficient.

Martin is actually individually efficient...But he takes forever to decide on what he wants to do and kills the rest of his teammates' efficiency because of that though.
 

giga

Member
The beard is overrated. Sure he gets on a hot streak every now and then, but for that price, hell naw. Kmart can score and Lamb is awesome.
 
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