Make a push to get to the WCF to keep fans?
Not really. They current have 3 SF's that are "startable" already and a ton of draft picks to trade at the deadline. They're still the 2nd best team in the East and no reason to panic.
Agreed. At worst, that pick was projected what, 5th? 6th? That's still better than an overpaid Oladipo. I love Sabonis, probably my favorite college player in 2015-6, but he has no potential to be a dominant NBA player. Indian just pushed themselves to the bottom of the mediocre teams. Not bad enough to get a top, impact draft pick, not good enough to get to the ECSF, or maybe playoffs at all.
If you have a depreciating asset, it may be just as well to go for the humiliation now. That way, the horribly disgraceful low return Pritchard would have gotten next week is out of the headlines early.
OKC is trying to spend Westbrook's last year well. In 2018-2019, the Thunder could plumb the depths of the 1973 76ers. Now Westbrook and George can fight over the Lakers' sole max contract slot next offseason.
Back Home in Indiana
I laughed, but I'm the one who gave chonce Jack Pumpkinhead.
For sure. Without the security of an extension, the Pacers weren't sniffing BKN, LAL/SAC, Brown or Tatum -- and that's just as well. FWIW, I have Paul George down in my ballhog category.
Right about now, I think Pritchard is probably considering that he would have preferred a Pritch-slap to a gut punch, which is what Paul George gave him. No wonder Larry Bird flew the coop last month.
If this is true, good on Danny. Losing any of those assets for a one year rental that really doesn't make you a true title contender would be stupid, especially after all the work Ainge did to acquire players and picks.
I wouldn't trade Crowder, Bradley, Memphis pick and the 2018 BOS first for Oladipo and Sabonis. At that point Danny was just bidding against himself.
To be fair George has only been on the block for like two weeks and maybe also in some form at the deadline, though I'm guessing Indy wasn't very serious if it's true that a BK pick was on the table. Stuff happens and will happen again.
I disagree. There are several very good players on bad teams or teams who may break bad that may be available under the right circumstances. Given the state of the league (i.e. the presence of LeBron and the Warriors), Ainge should only be dealing valuable pieces when he can get something sustainable in return.
I don't see how this is in any way a bad deal for OKC. As you say yourself, Oladipo is overpaid and Sabonis looks like nothing special. If PG and RW bolt after this season, getting mediocre and overpaid players off their ledger helps long term. They also pulled it off without including any draft picks. This was a great trade for OKC, even if it doesn't lead to either of their stars resigning next year. They gave up virtually nothing and essentially turned one year of Ibaka into one year of George, which probably is more convincing to RW to resign if he can talk PG into staying. If not, they leave and the blow it up.
This is a terrific deal for OKC. Very little downside. Pritch slap, indeed.
No offense to the denizens of this forum, but it is pretty obvious after this trade that the Bradley (for one year), Crowder, & flotsam pu-pu platter has very little appeal to the rest of the league. Nice players (and nice guys) but limited upside, somewhat expensive (especially factoring in AB's pending extension), and overrated by the hometown fans.
Crowder is probably a valuable trade asset, but only to a select subset of teams. Bradley somewhat less so, and also to the same group of teams. If the Celtics are dealing those guys, we know the season has gone very badly.
Pritchard drafted Oden.Add: Looks like the Blazers fired Pritchard; didn't realize that ... well, maybe that's why that wasn't happening.
Was he in charge at that draft? In any event, I don't think that's why he was fired. The Blazers were pretty successful during his tenure. Maybe he was just a douchebag.
He had been promoted to GM in March before the draft. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/06/timeline_of_kevin_pritchards_t.html
I would think Bradley in a contract year is worth a late first in a deadline deal (i.e., as Bogdanovich was).
The interesting question, I suppose, is whether this means Indy was insisting on both Brown and Tatum (truly a non-starter IMO) or whether Boston was unwilling to deal either. Not everyone here is in the Jaylen Brown fan club - I suspect that we have some members who would have done a Brown+draft picks (not Nets/Lakers)+other stuff kind of trade for PG.
Even if Pritchard would have taken Brown + Crowder + matching salaries, I think I'm glad Danny passed before he knows whether Huywurd signs. If PG had left after one year and neither the BRK or LAL draft picks pan out, the Cs probably peaked at that moment.
This is a good point, and I should have been more clear above. Thanks.
This is where I am as well. Crowder himself is flotsam as a role player without any upside and Bradley a rental who would cost you more than Oladipo in another year. Neither have much trade value.....an expiring contract who will be getting paid and a limited skilled veteran albeit on a nice contract. I like the OKC return slightly better than the two Celtics mentioned in the deal, Sabonis > Crowder, so the pick would have to be very high to push me over to the Boston side.
Yup, sign me up. Not a lot of interest in the other FAs though, assuming Galinari will be longer yrs/$ than I want.
I don't agree he is better.
Are we even certain that Bradley was in the offer? Goodman's tweet about draft night suggested two starters, mentioning Crowder by name. And everyone assumes that the other is AB, precisely because he's seen as expendable due to his contract expiring after next season. But couldn't it have been Amir to balance out the salaries during the last fiscal year? That way Ainge could keep AB to play alongside George or move him for an asset, if needed, to free cap space for a committed Hayward.
Oladipo only played 3 more games over the last 3 seasons. Bradley is a better defensive player and a better shooter. Oladipo has more years on his contract but I think you could also extend Avery for the money that he's making (21 million next year).
He's an expiring contract though and I'm not sure he's a whole lot better.....marginal at best. He certainly carries less trade value as an expiring contract. We saw the dropoff in return for George......it is the same for Bradley except much less as he isn't George.
This x 100. Even with PG and Hayward you likely weren't beating Golden State. To mortgage future assets with no commitment from George is lunacy. Don't blame Ainge one bit to hesistate on putting those golden ticket assets for a rental to come in 2nd or 3rd.
This is where I'm at as well. Lurk around outside the true contenders bubble but if LeBron tears his ACL you are the team in the best position to make the Finals.
Oladipo is the significantly better passer, better rebounder, taller and is considerably longer than AB. Surprisingly, his Rebound% stayed mostly the same playing alongside Westbrook and other good rebounding teammates. He also improved his shot from every position on the court year over year since he's entered the league and with slightly more improvement, could be just as good a shooter as AB. Victor has also lowered his TO% every year, has the ability to create shots for himself and others, and get to the FT line. A bunch of those skills he didn't get to utilize in OKC. People are also completing writing off Sabonis. At the least, Sabonis should count as a 1st round pick.
"bc they likely didn't want to." That is just complete speculation. Until I hear the Celtics offered more than 2 players with one being Crowder and 2 picks in the 20's, I'm convinced Indiana took the best offer on the table. If you want to say they pulled the trigger to fast, that's another argument.
