Durant and the harsh reality of being a small market

[Porckchop]

And I do agree the draft is the most important avenue to success, and yes we need to start winning first to make players take notice.
Chicken or the egg thing there tho, how do you win first to get the players you need to start winning?(did that make sense?) Or do you just suck it up and overpay for a guy this year (or next) to get this winning ball rolling to make future FAs take notice.

[thedoper]

I think there is a valid point that we should have asked for a meeting with Durant and Horford. So what if we get turned down, it shows we are serious. Perception is important, if we are already worrying about the luxury tax when we are way below the cap it is crazy. OKC ultimately fucked up because they were cheap, even though like us the value of their franchise has increased steadily. We didn't get anyone because we haven't started winning, but we need to throw the gauntlet down that we are serious about winning now.

[Monster]

Slim-- I still see us trading Rubio to Philly for Noel

Whatever it takes. But Ricky is feeling secure about not being dealt, to read his quotes. Someone has apparently said something to him, about this year at least.

Philly ponied up 8 million for Sergio Rodrigez. Years ago he was a decent player and he is probably even better now. He just turned 30. I won't be shocked if he ends up being a solid starter for them.

[Monster]

Let's hope Towns doesn't have a change of heart and make decisions on a whim like I read today Durant tends to do.

For me I guess I just gotta enjoy the ride. Years ago it felt like you could have a 10 year era for your team if you did it right. It seems every few years that gets shorter and shorter. No matter the sport it almost seems planning even 3 years is too short. It kinda sucks.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If you don't watch your money you end up like the Thunder and need to deal someone like Harden because you dropped 9 million on Kendrick Perkins. Spending a lot on the middle class makes no sense with this team when our stars aren't stars yet. Either bring in a legit star or make more sensible moves like the Aldrich deal. There were a lot of terrible deals handed out this summer. Just be happy we didn't hamstring ourselves. Right now in this crazy market is the worst time to lose patience. Players are still waiting to see something from our young guys to get them to come here which leaves us in overpay to acquire territory still (i.e. 20+ million/year on a 35 year old Gasol). Towns is going into year 2. We got 7 more years to enjoy him before even thinking about him leaving. Let's build it right and not panic this early in the rebuild in an attempt to stop something 8 years down the road.

[thedoper]

If you don't watch your money you end up like the Thunder and need to deal someone like Harden because you dropped 9 million on Kendrick Perkins. Spending a lot on the middle class makes no sense with this team when our stars aren't stars yet. Either bring in a legit star or make more sensible moves like the Aldrich deal. There were a lot of terrible deals handed out this summer. Just be happy we didn't hamstring ourselves. Right now in this crazy market is the worst time to lose patience. Players are still waiting to see something from our young guys to get them to come here which leaves us in overpay to acquire territory still (i.e. 20+ million/year on a 35 year old Gasol). Towns is going into year 2. We got 7 more years to enjoy him before even thinking about him leaving. Let's build it right and not panic this early in the rebuild in an attempt to stop something 8 years down the road.

They didn't "need to" drop Harden. They refused to pay luxury tax because their owner was cheap. They had a legit window for a dynasty and threw it away in favor of short term profitability. They haven't been the same since and likely will never be. Unlike OKC, We need to be ready to be agressive and spend when the opportunity arises.

[Monster]

If you don't watch your money you end up like the Thunder and need to deal someone like Harden because you dropped 9 million on Kendrick Perkins. Spending a lot on the middle class makes no sense with this team when our stars aren't stars yet. Either bring in a legit star or make more sensible moves like the Aldrich deal. There were a lot of terrible deals handed out this summer. Just be happy we didn't hamstring ourselves. Right now in this crazy market is the worst time to lose patience. Players are still waiting to see something from our young guys to get them to come here which leaves us in overpay to acquire territory still (i.e. 20+ million/year on a 35 year old Gasol). Towns is going into year 2. We got 7 more years to enjoy him before even thinking about him leaving. Let's build it right and not panic this early in the rebuild in an attempt to stop something 8 years down the road.

They didn't "need to" drop Harden. They refused to pay luxury tax because their owner was cheap. They had a legit window for a dynasty and threw it away in favor of short term profitability. They haven't been the same since and likely will never be. Unlike OKC, We need to be ready to be agressive and spend when the opportunity arises.

The problem with the Harden deal was it took too long to pay off. Martin was supposed to be the guy that helped right away while the young guys stepped up. Ultimately getting Stephen Adams was a great return the problem was they didn't kill it on the rest of the deal so those few years in between they didn't get much. As much as I wanted Harden to stay (and to some extent still wish he had) I don't know if Harden Westbtook and Durant could have realistically co-existed and that's a legit thing to consider. It also didn't help that Perkins game dropped off (and the league changed) when they picked him as an important piece at the time of that trade.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

Lets get this thread back on track:


RICKY RUBIO

[thedoper]

If you don't watch your money you end up like the Thunder and need to deal someone like Harden because you dropped 9 million on Kendrick Perkins. Spending a lot on the middle class makes no sense with this team when our stars aren't stars yet. Either bring in a legit star or make more sensible moves like the Aldrich deal. There were a lot of terrible deals handed out this summer. Just be happy we didn't hamstring ourselves. Right now in this crazy market is the worst time to lose patience. Players are still waiting to see something from our young guys to get them to come here which leaves us in overpay to acquire territory still (i.e. 20+ million/year on a 35 year old Gasol). Towns is going into year 2. We got 7 more years to enjoy him before even thinking about him leaving. Let's build it right and not panic this early in the rebuild in an attempt to stop something 8 years down the road.

They didn't "need to" drop Harden. They refused to pay luxury tax because their owner was cheap. They had a legit window for a dynasty and threw it away in favor of short term profitability. They haven't been the same since and likely will never be. Unlike OKC, We need to be ready to be agressive and spend when the opportunity arises.

The problem with the Harden deal was it took too long to pay off. Martin was supposed to be the guy that helped right away while the young guys stepped up. Ultimately getting Stephen Adams was a great return the problem was they didn't kill it on the rest of the deal so those few years in between they didn't get much. As much as I wanted Harden to stay (and to some extent still wish he had) I don't know if Harden Westbtook and Durant could have realistically co-existed and that's a legit thing to consider. It also didn't help that Perkins game dropped off (and the league changed) when they picked him as an important piece at the time of that trade.

There are plenty of pure basketball arguments for it being an ok trade. That is what you are pointing out. But simple fact is they were in the finals with those 3, and they would have been back. I am sure they started losing Durant the minute they decided that the luxury tax was more important than winning. Also no one beyond Kiwi here thought Adams would become what he has. It was a poor decision in terms of winning and ultimately they starting playing catchup from that point on. Too little too late now. I think Pork is right in pointing out OKC as a learning lesson for the Wolves brass.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

This thread needs to be renamed. This situation happened because of a ton of key factors, and none of them were because of the size of the market.