Minnesota Sports Forum

So if the Thunder lose in round one. I think they will be ready to make a roster change. Would they want Pek?

bleedspeed177 wrote:So if the Thunder lose in round one. I think they will be ready to make a roster change. Would they want Pek?

They'll make a coaching change first, but a major shakeup of the roster is possible. I thought they played better basketball when Westbrook was sidelined and Durant was the primary ball-handler.

I'd throw Pek and 13 at the Thunder for Westbrook and see what they said. They'd likely want more, but you gotta start trade talks with something.

Rubio/Westbrook/Love core. We'd be in business.

Oddly enough, a Pekovic for Westbrook trade makes the Thunder eight wins better according to ESPN's Trade Machine. His offensive rebounding and low post, efficient offense would be perfect for them.

Rubio
Westbrook
Ariza (MLE)
Love
Dieng

I'm salivating over here.

It makes sense for both teams. We would both meet in the WCF.

At the very least it would be Rubio and Pek for Westbrook, but even that is a stretch.

I think if we're trying to trade for Westbrook it would make sense for both teams to try and send Martin back to the Thunder. The Thunder already have a PG of the future in Jackson, and while Rubio is a good prospect they're not gonna play him at SG, probably wouldn't want to put him in front of Jackson, and their lineup is going to need scoring.

My proposed trade is this: (Needs to be done after June 30th because of restrictions on the time frame of the thunder requiring Martin)

Min Gives:
Pekovic
Martin
and one of barea or LRMAM or Brewer, or Chase
along with 2 second rounders and swap of 1st rounders this year

OKC Gives:
Westbrook
Perkins

Why for OKC:
KD and Westbrook are struggling together as both are alpha dogs and if they proceed to lose in the first round it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Perkins has been a huge disappointment and notwithstanding his defense this series is one of the worst contracts in the league. They'd be taking back a center and low post presence who would complement Ibaka along with Martin who could either complement their starting lineup as an off ball shooter or slide back into the 6th man role he occupied last year. They can choose among our wings/jose to make salaries work. I think this trade makes them a better team that can easily get past the Grizzlies.

Why for MN:
Pekovic is a great player who is beloved here but he's not the world's best complement to Love defensively. The trade would be predicated on the notion that Dieng is going to grow into his body and become a stronger more physical player capable of starting but if necessary Perkins or Turiaf can slide into the starting role initially. Martin while still an asset might be a liability on this team given how soft he plays and how little he gives us at the defensive end. His best role is probably as 6th man on a playoff team and since we haven't been to the playoffs in about a decade I doubt he'd accept the role here. Westbrook is the big payoff here and we eat salary and give up several assets to get him. I'd play him alongside Ricky as kind of dual PG's essentially as Phoenix has done with Dragic and Bledsoe. Ricky and Westbrook would thrive together because Ricky does not demand the ball and would get Westbrook better shots. They would also be more than adequate to create fits in opposing back courts. Love would see this move as a genuine effort to build a contender and along with his college room mate I think he could enticed to re-sign in Minny.

Lineups:
Min:
1. Rubio/Shved/LLE backup PG
2. Westbrook/ Muhammad/ Budinger
3. MLE Guy/Budinger or LMRAM or Brewer
4. Love/Dieng/ 2nd rounder or trade for Barea
5. Turiaf/Dieng/ Perkins

OKC:
1. Jackson/Fisher/ Signing
2. Lamb/Thabo/Martin
3. KD/Budinger or LMRAM or Brewer
4. Ibaka/Collison/
5. Pekovic/Adams/Thabeet
+ 13th pick

replille, I totally disagree with your comparison of Dragic/Bledsoe to Rubio/Westbrook as to why this would work. The reason Dragic/Bledsoe work is that both are EXTREMELY EFFICIENT, lights-out shooters and scorers. You simply can't lay off one, as the other will absolutely kill you. In Rubio/Westbrook on the other hand, you have 2 guys that absolutely HAVE TO HAVE THE BALL a lot in order to be successful. And the missing piece is shooting for both players. Westbrook is a moderately efficient scorer, and is a pretty bad shooter overall. And we all know what Rubio brings on this side of the ball. Would our offense be better than now? Maybe, but Rubio and Westbrook are certainly far from an ideal pairing as you look at complementing pieces.

Westbrook certainly fits a need for the Wolves as a dominant scorer, but he fails in my eyes as a complimentary piece to Rubio. He needs to replace Rubio and then have a shooter next to him. Martin could actually thrive in this type of role. Maybe it is a guy like Stauskas in the draft. There are a few others in FA like Meeks, etc that may fit.

I can totally see that argument. Bledsoe/Dragic is a more potent and balanced offensive combo than Rubio and Westbrook for sure. However I think on the other side of the ball ours would be the better pairing. Rubio and Westbrook are both plus defenders and Rubio is a better defender at SG than at PG. Additionally Rubio is a better player overall when slotted at SG instead of PG http://www.82games.com/1314/13MIN2.HTMas can be seen here.

While I agree that Rubio is more successful offensively with the ball in his hands than off ball the truth is that at this time he has not proven that he is the caliber of player that you can build your whole offense around and be successful. He has some offensive development to do before he's ready to assume that mantle because he has trouble scoring on his own and if you want to win this year, which we basically have to do in order to keep Kevin Love, he's gonna be sharing duties with others by necessity.

With that in mind I think our central disagreement might be over Rubio. I wouldn't picture Westbrook as a complementary piece to Rubio, rather I would argue Rubio is a complementary piece to the 1(a) 1(b) tandem of Westbrook and Love. So while I like Rubio and hope for his continued development I don't hesitate to acquire a superstar player because of how he fits with Rubio.

Not a novel ideal. But I still support it:

Westbrook for Rubio AND Pekovic.

It will require that kind of deal. And even then... OKC might not pull the trigger. They certainly aren't doing it for Pekovic, a poor Martin contract and bit parts.

Besides, Westbrook is a high usage guy who (for good and bad) does the most damage with the ball in his hands. I don't know how that works with what Rubio does. All we know is that Pekovic/Love/Rubio trio isn't enough to make it to .500.

Two top 10 players and bit parts... however... it's worth a shot. The Wolves have to swing for the fences or we're looking at another rebuilding project. Again.

All it takes is two stars. Once you got 'em, the rest is just picking from the lot that wants to sign here to play with them and developing your draft picks as role players.