2012-13 General NBA Discussion Thread

Originally posted by crzy:
OKC is so fortunate to have a GM like Presti.

That guy knows how to run a small market franchise in a league that gives every benefit possible to the big market franchises.

Of course, it all started with luck though (landing Kevin Durant).

But Otis Smith (possibly the worst general manager in NBA history) has shown exactly how luck is insufficient when it comes to building a contender after landing an elite player.

The Magic landed the best center in the league of watered down centers and just made stupid mistake after stupid mistake. Rashard Lewis. Wow.

Just a terrible GM... How in tha hell do let Howard get away?

lol Geoff Petrie lol

I think Kevin Martin will play well in OKC. If all you want is scoring, K-Mart can do that.

Originally posted by crzy:
The idea that Harden is worth a max contract is laughable.

It's insane what players are considered "max" players nowadays.

Originally posted by bleeds9ersredandgold:

Originally posted by crzy:
OKC is so fortunate to have a GM like Presti.

That guy knows how to run a small market franchise in a league that gives every benefit possible to the big market franchises.

Of course, it all started with luck though (landing Kevin Durant).

But Otis Smith (possibly the worst general manager in NBA history) has shown exactly how luck is insufficient when it comes to building a contender after landing an elite player.

The Magic landed the best center in the league of watered down centers and just made stupid mistake after stupid mistake. Rashard Lewis. Wow.

Just a terrible GM... How in tha hell do let Howard get away?

Originally posted by bleeds9ersredandgold:

Just a terrible GM... How in tha hell do let Howard get away?

You gotta look at it in perspective. Orlando doesn't have the upper hand in keeping their players. I compare it to having a brand new camaro. Orlando is the camaro. Beautiful car. Looks and drives nice. It'll get you some chicks. But wouldn't you rather have a Ferrari? That beautiful camaro really ain't s**t compared to the Ferrari. The camaro won't get you nearly as much p***y as the Ferrari. The Lakers are the Ferrari. And who wouldn't want the Ferrari?

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by bleeds9ersredandgold:
Just a terrible GM... How in tha hell do let Howard get away?

You gotta look at it in perspective. Orlando doesn't have the upper hand in keeping their players. I compare it to having a brand new camaro. Orlando is the camaro. Beautiful car. Looks and drives nice. It'll get you some chicks. But wouldn't you rather have a Ferrari? That beautiful camaro really ain't s**t compared to the Ferrari. The camaro won't get you nearly as much p***y as the Ferrari. The Lakers are the Ferrari. And who wouldn't want the Ferrari?

Yeah, but Otis Smith took the brand new camaro and then crashed it into a wall. Presti took the camaro and souped it up and now it's respectable against the Ferrari in a race.

Haters gonna hate.

Go Rockets!!!!!!!!!!! I think they could sneak in as a 7th or 8th seed this year. I think Harden/Lin are a good guard combo, I think their play styles will mesh pretty well. Harden and Westbrook were counter productive a lot of times, and I even think Westrbook struggles to mesh with Durant at times as well. I think OKC is definately a weaker team now, Harden offers a lot more then Kevin Martin does. Harden was running the offense when Durant/Westrbook took a breather and did pretty well at it and offers a greater variety of skill sets that helped them out. Sure Lamb and the draft picks helps the future, but you have to build one team that is at its prime in its window for a span of 3-4 years to be a contender, not just be a really good team for 6-7 years.

Harden did dissapear in finals, but really? Because a guy didn't play great against the best team in the league it wipes out everything about his caliber of play.... He is 23 years old, still very young.

I also think its funny you guys are knocking the "max" deal so much. Yet he was offered $55 million. So you guys are going ape s**t over what, $3-$4 million more over 4 years? Thats dumb IMO to criticize it so much when the player is just getting paid about a $1million more per year.

Edit: I think Harden made the demand for max mostly to get out of OKC and become a starter. I think all the publicity he got last year gave him a taste of beign a star and he wants to become one. Ever since Harden came to ASU he has always been huge on being different then everybody else and creating his own legacy. So I'm not surprised he did this.

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:

I also think its funny you guys are knocking the "max" deal so much. Yet he was offered $55 million. So you guys are going ape s**t over what, $3-$4 million more over 4 years? Thats dumb IMO to criticize it so much when the player is just getting paid about a $1million more per year.

He's not worth $55 mill either.



Anytime you're giving a SMoY the max to be your superstar, that ain't right.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
He's not worth $55 mill either.



Anytime you're giving a SMoY the max to be your superstar, that ain't right.

You assume that because you think the best player should get max, and the next caliber player should get less.

But thats not how the market works....Really superstar players should be getting more than the max but the NBA prevents this which creates situatiosn where a SMoY can get the "max" deal.

Edit: And if you guys think Harden isn't worth $55 million, congrats you are smarter about basketball then Presti. lol.

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

He's not worth $55 mill either.



Anytime you're giving a SMoY the max to be your superstar, that ain't right.

You assume that because you think the best player should get max, and the next caliber player should get less.

But thats not how the market works....Really superstar players should be getting more than the max but the NBA prevents this which creates situatiosn where a SMoY can get the "max" deal.

Edit: And if you guys think Harden isn't worth $55 million, congrats you are smarter about basketball then Presti. lol.

So because one GM is willing to give a max deal to a player, that makes it a legitimate move? Otis Smith would be a good GM by these standards.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
So because one GM is willing to give a max deal to a player, that makes it a legitimate move? Otis Smith would be a good GM by these standards.

Thats not what I said. I said that Presti thought Harden was worth $55 million. Obviously Presti has a good track record as a GM. And you said that Harden isn't worth $55 million. Fine, if you think you know Harden's value better then Presti, cool for you.

Clearly Harden was in the market, as valued by multiple GMs in the mid-high $50's for 4 years.

My point was obviously that if people think Harden is overpaid, by his market value, he is hardly being over paid by much. But several posters are acting like he is majorly over paid.

As far as comparing Harden's salary to the bona fide superstars, its ludicrous to make that point. Super stars salaries don't reflect the market value because its not a free market. Eg. Durant on a free market might command a salary of $80+million over 4 years, but rules cut his salary down (well and I believe he took a hit voluntarily so the team could fit under the cap). But because Durant takes a hit, doesn't mean there should be a trickle down effect downsizing Harden's value.

Power Rankings

http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/year/2013/week/0

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

So because one GM is willing to give a max deal to a player, that makes it a legitimate move? Otis Smith would be a good GM by these standards.

Thats not what I said. I said that Presti thought Harden was worth $55 million. Obviously Presti has a good track record as a GM. And you said that Harden isn't worth $55 million. Fine, if you think you know Harden's value better then Presti, cool for you.

Clearly Harden was in the market, as valued by multiple GMs in the mid-high $50's for 4 years.

My point was obviously that if people think Harden is overpaid, by his market value, he is hardly being over paid by much. But several posters are acting like he is majorly over paid.

As far as comparing Harden's salary to the bona fide superstars, its ludicrous to make that point. Super stars salaries don't reflect the market value because its not a free market. Eg. Durant on a free market might command a salary of $80+million over 4 years, but rules cut his salary down (well and I believe he took a hit voluntarily so the team could fit under the cap). But because Durant takes a hit, doesn't mean there should be a trickle down effect downsizing Harden's value.

I just realized I was talking to harden's #1 fan. Backs out of conversation.....

Originally posted by jrg:

Power Rankings

http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/year/2013/week/0

I wonder how he sees the Lakers being "suddenly vulnerable".