Trading the third.

by sammy on May 21, 2009 6:41 PM CDT Comment 28 comments

I'm starting to believe that Presti trades the pick regardless of whether Rubio is there or not. What this team needs more than anything else is depth, depth, depth. Shooting, post-defense, rebounding: these are all things you can get from role players. If rumors are true, Presti's already in talks with the Wiz to exchange picks and pick up JaVale McGee in the process. JaVale McGee: a 7'0 project rookie who can block shots, get boards, run the floor and shoot the J. Sound like someone the Thunder could use? Pair him with Harden or DeRozen and I'd say you got a hell of a lot of value out of the third overall pick, especially in this draft where the difference between the 3rd and 12th best prospects is negligible. I don't think anyone can say with any certainty whether Thabeet will be a more productive player than Jordan Hill, Tyreke Evans, James Harden, DeMar DeRozen, or even DeJuan Blair. Not that McGee will be the trade, but there are interesting trades to be found on any team that's motivated to move up, the majority of which I would take over gambling on Thabeet or Rubio.

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Sounds good to me.

If we can get Harden and an athletic big man, I’d be happy.

by daddydai on May 21, 2009 6:47 PM CDT reply actions

Harden falling all the way to the 12th?

Seems unlikely.

2010 Seahawks Mock: 1A: Eric Berry S, 1B: Ndamukong Suh DT, 2: Charles Brown OT, 4:Zac Robinson QB, 5: Stafon Johnson RB 6: Will Tukuafu DE, 7: Kerry Meier WR
Also acceptable, trade for Patrick Chung and draft Ed Wang so everyone can Wang Chung tonight.

by LantermanC on May 22, 2009 10:42 AM CDT up reply actions

The Wizards...

have the 5th pick. They could not drop down to the 12th in the lottery, even if they wanted to.

AKA - 4D

by daddydai on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions

Ah, I saw

difference between the 3rd and 12th best prospects is negligible

And assumed they had the 12. My fault.

Then, I would agree with the post, if you’re not sold on Thabeet, and Rubio doesn’t want to come, why not trade down and get the 5th and JaVale. Was he good last year, I get him and Speights confused. I think he showed flashes of all-star caliber play, and his per 40 is pretty good.
Personally, I’m not high on Harden, but I don’t really like Rozen or Holiday either. Both of them struggled as freshman, and I didn’t see anything that made me think they’d be any better than a J.R. Smith if he had played one year of college. I still like Jordan Hill, but if the Thunder get McGee and possibly Hansbrough with the 25th, Hill wouldn’t be necessary.

by LantermanC on May 22, 2009 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions

Won't Happen

If any of the following players are available at #3, the Thunder WILL take them: Griffin, Rubio, & Thabeet. Mark my words, one of those guys will be a member of the Thunder next season. Either Rubio or Thabeet can and should fill a long term need at either position.

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by Mr Pappagiorgio on May 21, 2009 10:20 PM CDT reply actions

I would bet money on a trade if only I could be sure

Presti found a partner willing to put up a role player.

I WILL bet money that Rubio will not be playing for the Thunder next season. Why would he pay $7.5 to play for a city he doesn’t want to move to?

by sammy on May 21, 2009 11:16 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree.

Trades will happen (unless Rubio pulls out). The only downside to Rubio’s comments is that the Thunder’s trading pokerface is ruined by the little spanish kid crying in the corner.

AKA - 4D

by daddydai on May 21, 2009 11:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, that does suck.

Especially since it additionally dampens the chance of a bidding war since teams will be a lot more concerned about signability.

by sammy on May 21, 2009 11:47 PM CDT up reply actions

In any other draft year,

Thabeet would be nowhere near the top 5. The only reason people are getting higher and higher on him is because they’re wishcasting based on his height and it happens every goddamn year. Ajinca, Jianlian, Sene, on and on. When will people learn that athleticism and production are so much more important than height? Sam Dalembert was picked 26th. THAT is the right place in the draft to gamble on medium-high upside, bottomless downside centers.

by sammy on May 21, 2009 11:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Olowokandi and Kwame Brown say hello.

2000 draft, Stromile Swift goes 2nd and Marcus Fizer goes with the 4th pick.
2001 Kwame and Curry 1 and 4.
2002 Nikoloz Tskitishvili 5th.
2003, great draft obviously, but Darko with the 2nd? Seems comparable to Thabeet.
2004 Rafael Araujo with the 8th.
2005 Bogut first overall over Paul and Deron Williams.

Seems like a 7’3" center with 10+ rebounds and 4+ blocks would be in the top 5 discussion every year. You’re comparing him to other foreign athletes. He is foreign, but he has played in college for the last three years, making big improvement each year.

by LantermanC on May 22, 2009 10:48 AM CDT up reply actions

2000 and 2001 were terrible draft years, worse than this year.

But, yes, I probably overstated how low he would drop in other draft years, but I guess that only goes to show how inexplicably incapable GMs are of learning from history. I compared him to other foreign athletes because he picked up the game (relatively) late in life and he’s a skinny 7’+. I’m not saying Thabeet’s not going to pan out; he very well could become a dominant center. But I think the smart money is on him being a borderline starter or worse, and probably worse than a few of the guys picked 4-12 (assuming he goes top 3).

by sammy on May 22, 2009 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree, GMs are too often blinded by upside.

Thabeet is like Darko almost. You see that frame, the agility, the ability to move, and you think, this guy could be good. Well great, his upside is good, but how risky is he? He’s a LOT riskier. Darko never played much in the Euro leagues, and played against inferior competition. Thabeet played in college, but it’s hard to judge a 7’3" guy in college because the dearth of big men to play against, it’s hard to judge whether or not he’ll be pushed around easily, or how well he’ll be able to guard taller athletic guys like Kobe or even Westbrook when they driving in the lane.

by LantermanC on May 22, 2009 1:18 PM CDT up reply actions

"it’s hard to judge whether or not he’ll be pushed around easily"

Oh I don’t think it’s hard at all. I think too many people look at his blocks and think “great! This guy can be our stopper!” He’ll do fine against smaller competition where his length is a real advantage, but against strong power forwards and centers he’s just going to be brushed aside unless he adds some muscle in a major way.

by sammy on May 22, 2009 1:40 PM CDT up reply actions

It's really not hard to judge

if you saw Blair pushing him around in the Big East.

by ElectricPencils on May 30, 2009 2:43 PM CDT up reply actions

this would make me happier...

then drafting rubio or thabeet. This is what Presti does best too, getting better value than he has.

by NYG 28 on May 21, 2009 11:58 PM CDT reply actions

If Presti pulls this off

I’m on board. JaVale looks like a better player than Thabeet — great wingspan, some defensive improvement (then again … how could he get worse … and he DOES still look totally lost a lot of the time … but whatever), and he can actually owns a decent midrange jumper. That said, he does need to work on building strength. He’s probably stronger than Thabeet right now though … (just wild guessing on my part)

by manifestus on May 22, 2009 2:16 PM CDT reply actions

Guys

Hate to break it to you, but the Wizards would have to be stupid to trade JaVale McGee just to move up two spots in the draft. Like, Isiah Thomas stupid.

I don’t know where this rumor originated, but it’s so one-sided in favor of OKC, so it probably came from the Presti camp.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on May 22, 2009 8:32 PM CDT reply actions

You mean...

Isiah Thompson?

…lol

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by Mr Pappagiorgio on May 22, 2009 11:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Perhaps it is just Chad Ford making up stuff to get us excited. The way people salivate over Rubio, I could see something like this going down.

Rubio will be tradebait for Sacramento or Washington if he stays in the draft.

AKA - 4D

by daddydai on May 23, 2009 12:24 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, McGee + the 5th sounded a little too good to be true

(Unless Grunfeld was really enamoured with Rubio). The point of the OP was more that trading out of the third spot sounds like all kinds of good to me because I don’t see too much differentiation between 3 and 12 in this draft and I don’t think Rubio’s a good fit for this team.

by sammy on May 23, 2009 12:26 AM CDT up reply actions

I wouldn't put it past Presti to get that deal done.

He always gets the best possible deal for us, and tends to get the better end of the two teams each time. If anyone can put a deal like this together its Sam Presti.

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by Mr Pappagiorgio on May 23, 2009 9:34 AM CDT up reply actions

If Rubio falls to #3 it could happen.

McGee looked good last season but not so good that you pass up a kid like Rubio. The Thunder might have to throw in their later pick but I could see that deal happening if the Grizz go for Thabeet and Ricky’s available.

The question then is if you want Harden and McGee over Rubio. I like Ricky’s potential but I think the Thunder might actually be better with the two role players.

by SoulHonky on May 26, 2009 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions

The 3rd and 25th

for the 5th and McGee, I like that as well.

Also Known as "4D" one step beyond 3D

by daddydai on May 26, 2009 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions

I'd be okay with that as well...

Then Presti could dump some dead weight on another trade or two if he wants to pick up a 2nd round pick or two.

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by Mr Pappagiorgio on May 30, 2009 5:15 AM CDT up reply actions

I'm expecting some picks coming from the 2nd round

even though we don’t have a pick that round. We’ve been looking at too many player who are predicted to go into the second round. Perhaps we’ll trade the 25th for a couple of second round picks (cheaper and non-guaranteed). Moving the 25th pick for a pick next year would also make sense since next year’s draft has more talent and we will have more cap space.

Also Known as "4D" one step beyond 3D

by daddydai on May 30, 2009 8:00 AM CDT up reply actions

A lot of the guys....

The Thunder have worked out will more than likely go undrafted as well. So you can’t really look the group of guys they picked and say for sure they are looking to get into the 2nd round. Although you have imagine their decision as to whether or not they want to start looking at that would be from those workouts themselves as some of them are sure to be drafted at least at some point.

-This comment brought to you by Mr Pappagiorgio aka Mister P
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by Mr Pappagiorgio on May 30, 2009 8:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Sure maybe,

so maybe you give up the 25th overall as well.

It’s not totally unreasonable if a team zeroes in on one player. Especially if they overvalue Thabeet or Rubio. Never underestimate a team that has fallen in love with a certain prospect (Ricky Williams).

by LantermanC on May 24, 2009 7:51 PM CDT up reply actions

ditto

Spanish Jason Williams at best.

I don’t think Rubio’s a good fit for this team.

In fact I just read this article about RW0. You might have to scroll down a bit.

AKA - 4D

by daddydai on May 23, 2009 1:33 AM CDT reply actions

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