Trade Idea - Orlando and Thunder

Not to be a jerk but that’s easily one of the worst trades I’ve seen. I would consider Harden and Perk for Howard but that’s about it and I would hate to see Harden go even for that. If Westbrook was involved it would have to be something fairly close to straight up to be considered. Westbrook is NOT the best PG in the league but he allows so much flexibility and is pretty close.

This is too much for Howard, given the elite position OKC now holds. Harden and Westbrook are allstars. OKC would be much better off trading for Kaman (on the block right now) for non-starters and draft picks, and upgrading the OKC center position, which is now pathetic.

We just made (pretty) sure that we can keep basically our current “core” roster (Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka and Perkins) for 4 years or so. That was not an accident, and I don’t see any way that Howard is enough of an upgrade over Perkins to justify losing Westbrook or Harden, much less both. Perk has looked fantastic this season and he’s actually improving as the season rolls along.

I can see why this trade makes sense for the Magic (who could lose Howard in any event), but I don’t really see how it makes sense from the Thunder POV. I would put our second unit in a world of hurt and basically bone us for salary cap to resign Howard. We’d have no way t o fill the gaping hole left by Harden and Westbrook (singe R. Jackson has not looked horrible, but has not looked anything like a starting NBA PG).

Just my two cents.

What about this one Thunder fans?

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=847xokd

WB is tall and strong enough to check any 2 in the league and Mo would take ball handling pressure off of him while adding spacing and a legimitate 3rd option on offence – or they have him take Hardens place as 6th man. Yes, the Thunder commit to an additional 4,6 Mil for next year, but the important summer is 2013, when Maynor/Ibaka/Harden are due for extensions and this deal will actually open up an additional 3.9 Mil. through cleaning out Thabos contract.

Mavs obviously loose quality in this deal, but their objective is obviously cap space for next summer and they finally get rid of Marions contract. I would argue that they have plenty of front court depth to compensate without a mayor loss in quality.

Clippers finally get their wing stopper and a perfect complementary stopper between CP3 and Butler in Thabo. Marion and Mohammed add depth and versatility to their frontcourt and Billups can take the 6th man role, Mo is leaving behind. Yes, Marion is a mayor contract but Mo gone, they likely will have no use for their Amnesty during the next 4-5 years anways, so it could be spend on Marion next summer moving them several Mil below the tax line.

I think all teams have their objectives met here and benefit a lot from this deal. Obviously this deal depends on Cubans willingness to aid the Clippers even more quality. but I think his desire to clear cap room for next summer has been proven.