Lets talk about Kevin Durant
Posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm by Brian Robinson
We got lucky. AMAZING.
Talk about the guy here. Would Portland concievably take Durant over Oden to get a Durant, Randolph, Aldridge lineup?
Posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm by Brian Robinson
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I’d be shocked if Portland took Durant over Oden, but as I said in the other thread, SF is their rosters biggest hole…………weirder things have happened……..
….but it would still shock me if they did.
Picking Durant, essentially means Lewis should be a sign and trade this offseason in order to built up the other weak spots on the roster….
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I really dont see Portland not taking Oden. They really don’t have a true Center except for Magloire and hes getting old. I see no reason for them to take Durant over him. But i am really excited over getting either one of these guys. If Rashard decides to leave in the offseason this could be a good replacement for him. Lets just pray that the FO doesn’t make a bonehead choice and pick some idiot over Oden or Durant.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Psyched beyond my mind.
Huge, HUGE news!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I would still be interested in seeing a Durant/Lewis SG/SF combo…I’m not the biggest Lewis fan, but having two 6′10″guys on your wings would be pretty nice to see. If you could trade Allen for a PG or a C I would consider it very strongly…
Very, very happy today…I will be one of the first to say that I’m not as impressed with Oden yet as everyone else seems to be.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
TONS of speculation going to come from this. SF is their biggest hole but Oden the concensus #1(just like Emeka Okafor was…). Sitting at #2 with your biggest rival having #1 is fun.
If you buy into the NBA conspiracy theory at all you can say this. Seattle needed the pick, Phoenix was WAY too vocal in their criticism of the league last week, and if you wanted to punish Memphis and Boston for their OBVIOUS tanking without disrupting things too much you would arrange for the 4, 5, and 6 teams to leapfrog over them…
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Very exciting, though #1 would’ve felt better still, since we’d have the ultimate power. Ha, I wonder how ESPN feels that TWO Pacific Northwest Teams will get either Durant or Oden. Now they’ll have to talk about these two teams…it’s great!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
IMO you gotta put rashard on the block now. Whether it’s for an upgrade at C or PG, one of the two, but he’s gone.
Also makes it easier to recruit a better head coach now. Amazing the difference one roll of the die makes.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:17 pm
The looks of shock on the Boston fans faces was priceless….I can only imagine the distress the Memphis fans were going through!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Wow! In a way I wish it wasn’t our Northwest neighbour in Portland that got the No.1
You’d have to be pretty silly to not settle on a franchise center so i expect Seattle will pick Durant. I’m not sure they will trade Lewis.. I guess it depends on what you get back in return.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:17 pm
How can you not be impressed with Oden? To do what he’s done with a cast on his shooting hand the entire season is impressive on itself. But the fact that he led that team to an NCAA championship appearance with one hand makes him special.
Back to Durant. He’s the most complete package in the draft so I wouldn’t mind seeing Lewis go. He has the handles, the jumper, the post game. This could possibly be the turning point of the franchise.
Hopefully they won’t be dumb enough to trade down..
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm
This is gonna be a good week for me personally! Driver’s license and American Idol (if Blake wins). By the way, Lenny looked like he is thinking a lot when Brandon Roy was being interviewed. “Shoot, trade lewis or sign lewis? what if Portland picked Durant?
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm
#2 is amazing… what a huge thing for this franchise.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=31579
Can’t believe we moved up… I was sure we wouldn’t. Sucks for the teams that fell. Good for us.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Wow, just read and saw the news….WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Now this should assure us Connelly witht hat pick..
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Wow, just read and saw the news….WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Now this should assure us Connelly witht hat pick..
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Wow, just read and saw the news….WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Now this should assure us Connelly witht hat pick..
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:20 pm
If I was Portland, I might pick Durant. They were the Bowie over Jordan franchise.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:20 pm
This draft pick can definitely be a franchise changer. Hopefully, we don’t reach for a player. Durant or Oden will help the team.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
We’ll be seeing many Portland vs. Seattle match-ups on national TV now….who would have thunk?
Anyways I would love to see Shard and Durant play together. Like others have mentioned in the previous thread, I can imagine a playing style similar to the current day Pistons with Rasheed and Webber.
I am still in shock…the best Sonic news I have heard in a *long* time.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Just woke up at 2 am to see the lottery and WOW !
We have to sign and trade Lewis if we get Durant
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
NO POSSIBLE WAY!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
i might need a pair of “Oops, I crapped my pants”
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
TIME TO CELEBRATE.
wooooo hooooo
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
How are Durant/Oden defensively?
MAN I’m pumped.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I’m so excited I can’t even believe it. I think Durant is going to be the bigger star, and I hope he’s a star in Seattle, and not some other place. How bad could this be to get Durant, make the playoffs and see the team move away. Save our Supes!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
i think i might be getting season tickets.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Portland will draft Durant - let’s be realistic. I understand Oden is a big time center (very young), but in this league, big men are possible in other deals. It would only be for a mid-range veteran, but someone like durant does not come easy. The scoring punch alone wins games.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I damn near hit my head on the ceiling when Milwaukee and Atlanta fell out of the race. Lord knows Portland and Seattle deserved it, for different reasons, but nevertheless it was amazing. The one time i did the ESPN draft simulator, it came out as Seattle #1, Portland #2, hah.
I believe we are beginning to realize our dreams of a 6′10+ roster.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:32 pm
From what I’ve read, Durant is improving defensively. He’s obviously got the athleticism and length to be good, but the rest is up to him to be above average.
Obviously, Oden is a defensive stallworth. He leaps like a cat after his initial jumps and is fast running up and down the court. So you know he’s going to be a force on the defensive end for either us or Portland.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I have my theory and it goes like this. The Sonics select Kevin Durant at #2 and then in a stunning move they trade Ray Allen and Durant to the Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay, and the draft rights to Yi JianLian.
Basically I think this whole thing just seriously messed with our ability to draft the chinese big man. We’ve got to find a way to wind up with him!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Don’t forget we’re also going to be witnessing the return of the handsome-as-can-be true double-double franchise player center of our own.
Oh yeah… give it up for Robert Swift
Durant and Swift? Money
… lol
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I am P-U-M-P-E-D!!!
For taro - this from Chad Ford on Durant’s D (take the opinions for what they are worth, but the stats are the stats):
Let’s start with his work on the boards, where the 6-9 Durant, despite not having Oden’s height or physique, outrebounded Oden this season, 11.1 to 9.6.
Durant also proved to be a strong shot-blocker (averaging almost two blocks per game) and racked up an impressive 1.9 steals per game compared with Oden’s 0.6.
With a little added strength and coaching, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Durant could be a Kevin Garnett-type defender in the pros.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
No way we make that trade with Memphis. Durant has the potential to be a superstar - the next level above Gasol. You don’t trade a guy like that! Especially not with Allen!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
WE HAVE TO SAVE THIS TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Kiv,
It was a joke, Bro.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Brian man… that would be a horrible horrible trade… its only possible because of our new president of operations…
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Brian, are you joking or smoking crack? If that happened, it would be disaster. No way we could save that team. A team with Ray (a player the locals are familiar with), Durant, and others might do the trick.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
whatever malaman…
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Check out the front pages at the Times an PI’s websites. Times has the #2 pick story and the f’n PI has a pic of Clay Bennett and Kansas City as the headline. (sigh)
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
They need to somehow trade for Andre Miller. I think he could be the PG that distributes and plays that this team was sorely lacking last year.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Come on bro’s! We have got to SAVE OUR SONICS!!!
We can do this! This is exactly what we needed to renew our passion. It’s been a rough road, but let’s not give up! Kevin Durant will play in Seattle!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I wouldn’t be suprised if Portland took Durrant. They have 3 bodies at the C spot. And a glaring need at the 3… i see no reason they would take oden.
12 LaMarcus Aldridge C 6-11 245 07/19/1985 Texas R
21 Jamaal Magloire C 6-11 265 05/21/1978 Kentucky 6
10 Joel Przybilla - C C 7-1 255 10/10/1979 Minnesota 6
24 Luke Schenscher C 7-1 265 12/31/1982 Georgia Tech 1
That means we have 4 7fters under 21.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Here’s a possibly preview for next year, sorry about the shoddy PS job: h
ttp://photos-216.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v72/180/49/10733093/n10733093_34158216_3975.jpg
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I’m telling you. They need the chinese guy. Over the last couple of weeks I have convinced myself he’s a star. Checking out the youtube video he is near dominant. They have to make this move
Best yet with Rudy involved the headlines the next day can read “Sonics Make Gay Durant Trade!”
Hope I don’t offend anybody. Laugh it off. It’s a good day to be a Sups fan.
I can tell you that in conversations with OKC they probably preferred Durant to Oden. They watch him all the time broadcast in that southern region and simply love him. LOVE HIM.
Creative Rashard Lewis S&T offers wanted now. Obvious one that does nothing for me is to Orlando for Darko. Also Sactown for Bibby if they draft a guard with their pick, or resurrect the Indiana trade and try to move Lewis and Wilcox for Jermaine O’Neal. Could Dallas put together a strong enough package worked around Terry? Ideally we get a strong PG or a defensive stud who can compliment Durants offensive game.
Lets all wish for a second that Washington would give up Gilbert Arenas…
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Now it’s time to find a head coach who can manage a run ‘n’ gun team. let’s keep ray and shard, bring in durant (2, 3, 4) and run all the way to the final horn.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:59 pm
because drafting at the top isn’t about need, it’s about talent
I just keep getting more estatic. In hindsight, if we can turn things around with another ownership change, a competent coach, and a stud GM, this suffering will just be a little blip on our radar of happiness.
When it comes to Seattle, when it rains, it pours. Hopefully it’s true on the other spectrum
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:00 pm
we don’t need to change a thing. don’t sign and trade rashard, let’s keep the nucleus and go.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Love the headline.
I also like the idea of getting Miller. Would Philly be interested in Shard?
What is great is that we now have viable options. Does the base year thing affect sign and trades? If it does, we can get 1 good PG piece by moving Shard and one of our PG’s. The other team would have to be under the cap though. I think??
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Guys - no way durant falls - Portland doesn’t need a center, and they will select durant. You should see the portland boards - it’s all durant - don’t get hopes up - everyone in portland knows they need scoring not defense.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
LOL who cares???? We are fricken guarenteed Durant OR Oden. Just bask in the glory
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
What did I say??? DO THAT TANK, GET DURANT!.
My slogan turned out golden .. THAT RYTHM TOO
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
i was on the yi jian lian bangwagon… cause im the one that started it.on clubsonics.com…but Durant clearly is head and shoulders above yi..and again..its not a fore gone conclusion that POR takes Oden
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I don’t really mind getting Oden if it comes to that…they are both players to build a team around, and if we don’t get Durant, it will make signing Rashard all the more important.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Hey… If Portland lets Oden draft… great. Makes decision easy for us. But I doubt they make that mistake.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
If Vince Carter leaves, is there a way that Jason Kidd could be had?
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
if sonics pick oden there any chance take mike conley jr too ? they said want play together
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
did not read any of above.I cant believe this!! player of the year!! there are so many angles to this.How good is durant!?
save our sonics baby!! go sonics!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:14 pm
(Running around my house in the small city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota that is predominately Timberwolves fans screaming) SONICS GOT NUMBER 2 DRAFT PICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I’m thrilled with these results. But we only have until 10/31 before Bennett will issue his verbal ultimatum and there’s no ball yet to be played to sway the minds of the faddy fans here.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
my heart is still beating fast..and the lottery has been dome for an hour and a half..lol
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:25 pm
A good article about Durant’s work ethic…would be nice to have a guy that pushes himself this hard:
Sometimes it’s hard to know. Only minutes after Durant had torched Baylor for 34 points and nine boards in an 84-79 win on Jan. 27, he was almost apologizing for yet another sick box-score line. “I could have played much better, man,” he said, shaking his head. “Could have rebounded more, could have played better defense. I just have to improve on my weaknesses.”
For years the game’s guardians have lamented the sacrifice of American fundamentals at the altar of summer basketball and its glorified pickup games, but Durant’s mastery of the basics — his feather-soft shot, his unselfish passing, even his low defensive stance — is a stinging rebuke to those who say it can’t be done anymore. None of it happened by accident. “Between the ages of 10 and 16, Kevin put in eight-hour days during the summer [working on basketball drills],” says Taras (Stink) Brown, the coach at the Seat Pleasant (Md.) Activity Center outside Washington, who forbade Durant from playing five-on-five during their winter training sessions so he could concentrate on fundamentals. “Some days I wouldn’t pick up a basketball,” Durant says. “He’d put 60 minutes on the clock and say I had to do defensive drills the whole time.” To toughen up Durant even more, his mother and Brown would make him run sprints up Hunt’s Hill, a quad-burner near the rec center that Durant estimates he scaled a thousand times over a six-year period.
Durant’s work ethic has only intensified now that he’s in Austin. Not only does he start pregame shootarounds 40 minutes before his teammates, lofting jumpers from all over the court with assistant coach Russell Springmann, but he’ll also show up for Sunday sessions the day after Big 12 road games when Barnes would prefer that he take it easy.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
The only thing worse than not getting the number one pick
is that PORTLAND got it!!!!!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Unless the Portland Trailblazers decide to select Kevin Durant rather than Greg Oden with the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft — which, of course, would make me literally cream myself — the Seattle Supersonics will pretty much have to part with Rashard Lewis via a sign-and-trade deal during the upcoming off-season. In any event, the following is an example of that scenario.
The Seattle Supersonics re-sign Rashard Lewis to a six-year, $113,625,000 (2007-2008: $15,000,000; 2008-2009: $16,575,000; 2009-2010: $18,150,000; 2010-2011: $19,725,000; 2011-2012: $21,300,000; 2012-2013: $22,875,000) maximum-level contract — which, for whatever it’s worth to y’all, is approximated due to the fact that a maximum-level contract for next season will have a starting salary of 30% of the 2007-2008 salary cap with annual raises of 10.5% — and, in turn, trade him to the Portland Trailblazers in a four-team deal.
FROM PORTLAND
PF Zach Randolph ($13,333,333)
FROM PHOENIX
SF Shawn Marion ($16,440,000)
FROM SEATTLE
SF Rashard Lewis ($7,500,000 Incoming Value & $15,000,000 Outgoing Value) [Base Year Compensation Player]
PG Earl Watson ($5,800,000)
FROM WASHINGTON
SF Antawn Jamison ($16,360,095)
TO PORTLAND
SF Rashard Lewis ($7,500,000 Incoming Value & $15,000,000 Outgoing Value) [Base Year Compensation Player]
TO PHOENIX
SF Antawn Jamison ($16,360,095)
TO SEATTLE
SF Shawn Marion ($16,440,000)
TO WASHINGTON
PF Zach Randolph ($13,333,333)
PG Earl Watson ($5,800,000)
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818153
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Me and my 11 and 12yr old kids are whooting and hollering while my wife is trying to get us to eat dinner. She is looking at us saying “calm down.” “How can we calm down!!!! We are going to see Kevin Durant in a SONICS uniform!!!!!” WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO.
and to see Atlanta keep its pick and not make Phoenix any stronger…..BIG BONUS!!!!!!!!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:37 pm
why do you guys wanna trade lewis?? WHY? this is PERFECT!
did you see what the warriors did? we could be like that only BETTER!
imagine a run ‘n gun small line up of luke/earl, ray, durant, lewis, wilcox!!!
SICK SICK SICK!!!
even the suns will have a hard time hanging with us!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
wow!!!!put that sonic hardhat and sonic warmup on for GOOD LUCK as i rode my bike to work today,then stopping at the pub for a porter, just like a game night…thank you.. oh sonic gods..there will be happiness in section 205…from an old seabee..SONICS….CAN DO!!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR SONICS!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I, by the way, hope that the Seattle Supersonics will have the ability to select Greg Oden with the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. I don’t think that Kevin Pritchard would moronically draft Kevin Durant instead of Oden, though—but it’s still a possibility.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
THANK YOU GOD!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Yeah, this is freaking awesome.
Best case scenario: Portland takes Durant and we end up with a lineup of Watson, Allen, Rashard, Wilcox, and Oden. Good god would that be sweet. Probably won’t happen though, but we really can’t move Lewis until we know for sure, right?
If all goes as planned, however, I hope we can move Lewis and one of our point guards for a better point guard.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:16 pm
IMO you gotta put rashard on the block now. Whether it’s for an upgrade at C or PG, one of the two, but he’s gone.
Also makes it easier to recruit a better head coach now. Amazing the difference one roll of the die makes
- Not sure how you can “put Rashard on the block” he controls your trade partner completely…another reason to keep him around.
How can you not be impressed with Oden? To do what he’s done with a cast on his shooting hand the entire season is impressive on itself. But the fact that he led that team to an NCAA championship appearance with one hand makes him special.
- His team was pretty good. I’m much higher on Connley than most. Also, I never watched an Oden game and felt like “wow this guy is completely dominating the game”. When he plays you see a guy who has obviously always been the strongest player in the paint and it made him a little lazy at time with concerns to his defensive stance and getting up and down the court. Also, it has been mentioned numerous times that he appears to lack some fire.
Of course, there is still an 85% chance that he will be a great player…but I don’t think he is a 100% complete and total lock like some pepole.
Best case scenario: Portland takes Durant and we end up with a lineup of Watson, Allen, Rashard, Wilcox, and Oden. Good god would that be sweet. Probably won’t happen though, but we really can’t move Lewis until we know for sure, right?
- I just don’t see the love for Oden on this team. Even if he is a great defenisve player I don’t think he is so good that he can suddenly make the team that much better. In fact if you have Oden on your team I think that means you have many more moves to make to begin to reshape your roster. Durant would require much less manuevering.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I think all three teams that got the top three picks have a chance to signficiantly alter their franchise…which is unusual.
Portland/Seattle: See debate above. Both teams could use both players to make a significant push into the playoffs again. (Nate defenders…your clock is ticking)
Atlanta: To me, they came away smelling like roses. Ford has them drafting Connley at #3. However, if I were them I would draft Horford (I think he is a star) and then hope Connley falls to 11 or draft Law. A line up of:
- Law/Connley
- Joe Johnson
- Josh Smith/Josh Childress
- Horford/M Williams
- Pachullia
Is pretty impressive. They also have some very attractive trade chips…
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Awesome news for the Seattle Sonics!! Resign Lewis!! Go Sonics!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
This works:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818236
and then do this:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818265
followed by this:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818470
of course I am probably just dreaming and high off of Durant news…..
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Okay…So guys, I jumped up and screamed when I got the call from my bro. I stood on the edge of a pier and screamed at the top of my lungs.
However. Lenny Wilkens is still team president.
I am not at all confident we end up with Durant or Oden until the draft day is over. I’m actually very scared. I liked my comfortable shell in the #5 slot. Not to good, not to bad.
#2 IS TOOOOO MUCH PRESSURE!
Okay, okay…KD welcome to Seattle..
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:34 pm
PG: Ridnour
SG: Allen
SF: Lewis
PF: Durant
C: Wilcox
WHOOLLYYY SH@#@@#@@%%%TTTTT!!!!
did you see what warriors did with a small lineup with al harrington at PF? well, take that and multiply it 5 times!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:36 pm
btw, maybe Lewis doesn’t opt out now and stays? Bet he’s excited too!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
One really interesting sidebar (as if this isn’t all interesting) is the fact that we have that #30 pick. We’ll know our #2 pick instantly, but having that #30 will keep my eyes glued for the entire first round to see who’s slipping, if we trade it, etc.
I’m officially taking draft day off work 100%.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Don’t devalue Rashard. He is clearly one of the top three SF in the game. You don’t package that for a “better PG”–You get a star PG.
The sonics must find a way to get into the middle of the first round with a package of the 31st pick and Earl Watson. There are two players that are going to make everyone look like a fool when their careers are said and done: Acie Law and Nick Young.
Young and Law’s games are tailored for the NBA. They will score, they will command respect, they will lead, they will draw defenders, and they will defend well at their positions.
People forget how incredibly talented some guys are when their teams don’t go far enough into the Tournament for ESPN to pick up on them, and these two guys have been floating right outside of the coverage screen ever since their teams got knocked out of the Tournament. Both of these players would have a dramatic influence on the Sonics next year and combined with Oden/Durant, we are looking at the Pistons incarnate.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
“What did I say??? DO THAT TANK, GET DURANT!.
My slogan turned out golden .. THAT RYTHM TOO”
The most shameless tanking teams did horrible in the lottery.
We should keep Rashard, IMO.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:45 pm
This works:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818236
and then do this:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818265
followed by this:
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3818470
of course I am probably just dreaming and too excited off of Durant news…..
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
ok
my comment is stuck in moderation
basically What my idea is:
Trade Rashard Lewis for Andre Miller.
Then Trade Damien Wilkens for Chris Duhon.
Then trade Luke and Earl for Cuttino Mobley and Quinton Ross.
All of those trades work according to realgm but I dont know if any of the GM’s would pull the trigger.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:55 pm
“I’m officially taking draft day off work 100%.”
Nice.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Rashard and Durant cannot work together, IMO. They are pretty similar players and while Durant could become a good defensive player, I don’t see him as being too great right now, and we all know about Lewis’ defensive deficiencies.
Also, I don’t want to see the Sonics bring Durant in with the mentality of letting him learn the ropes for a year behind a proven vet like Rashard. The guy is a stud, just give him 30+ mpg and the knowledge that he’s the man at SF and see what happens.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Two things: I am firmly in the keep Rashard camp and try the coexistence route. If it fails, you still have all your chips to play.
Philly has 3 first round picks, lots of cap room and a shitty roster. Lenny needs to get involved and see if he can work a deal with a combination of our 2nds and players to get a midlevel first rounder from Philly. We can parlay that into Acie Law hopefully and have an extreme makover.
Philly will probably be loathe to draft and sign three players to guaranteed contracts.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
The gods are smiling on the Sonics for now. #2 is very cool.
I have a question for those of you who follow this more closely that I. Can KD play the 2? My sense is that the upper body strength is his biggest weakness (pun intended). So, lets assume he is not going to play inside. The comparasion I have seen most often is McGrady, but a little taller. So can the guy play the 2?
I’m really intrigued with the Lewis/KD on the wings line up. But I don’t know if it’s a reality. If so, trade Ray, Ray rather than Rashard. My sense is that Ray just became too old for the team and we might have a future upgrade. (Ok, I’m talking myself into KD playing the 2, but what to I know?)
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:10 pm
For pick 31 or 35 or even a trade up into 1st I think Gabe Pruitt seems like worth a long look.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:12 pm
good god, it´s ludicrous that some people are actually considering trading Ray instead of Shard. Shard is the redundant talent here. Ray is the proven leader and veteran professional we need to provide KD with guidance.
we gotta lose Luke (and/or Earl), Shard and one (or two) of the young bigs IMO to get us some veterans who can help this team NOW. this pick is the stroke of luck we needed to help the team stay in Seattle. now it´s time to assemble a competitive roster.
my RealGM trade proposal (# 3818720) is a 3-way with us, Philly and Denver where we give up Shard, Luke, Earl and Sene and get Camby from DEN and A. Miller from PHI. it´s a work in progress, gotta crunch some numbers, but this could give us a balanced roster with veterans and KD´s youth to lead us.
C - Camby, Swift, Petro
PF - Wilcox, Collison
SF - Durant, Wilkins
SG - Allen, Gelabale
PG - Miller, FA
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:25 pm
With top picks helping Portland and Seattle get back in the hunt, other western teams may feel more pressure to trade to improve. Clips and Kings in particular but hey the Lakers have to worry about making the playoffs. Hornets probably like their core and should compete. Memphis is likely on a multi-year plan. Who knows what Minnesota will figure out.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
WHAT A GREAT NIGHT FOR SONICS FANS!!!!!!!
WE DESERVE THIS!!!!!
HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG CLEANING UP AFTER PORTLAND AND GETTING DURANT OR ODEN?
THIS IS THE BEST I HAVE FELT ABOUT THE SONICS SINCE ‘96!
THAT WAS 11 YEARS AGO! THIS IS SSOOOOO AWESOME! THIS MAKES MY YEAR!
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2007/05/22/early_disappointment/?page=1
Interesting, the first guy to know Seattle got the second pick…Rich Cho.
Couldn’t happen to a better guy.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Wait a second…Lenny Wilkins is the replacement GM??? Please tell me I’m reading this wrong.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:18 pm
We need a nickname for this kid. Anyone have any good suggestions? I’m pretty sure KC will be able to come up with a masterful one for Durant.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Very good news. Our chances of keeping the team have now moved from none all the way up to Slim!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I think Greg Oden makes us a better team faster. However I think in our situation, Durant is the perfect fit for this team. This kid is a star. Think about this………who can guard this kid? If you play a PF on him he can take him outside or take him off the dribble. You play someone small and he can post him up. The kid can possibly play 3 NBA positions…..possibly 4. A player like Durant could fill Key Arena next season…..all by himself.
The thing that scares me now is that I can see Portland taking him. They have a hole at SF, especially now that Outlaw will be a FA. Plus Portland needs scoring. They don’t have a true scorer on their team IMO.
It’ll be interesting to see how many national tv games we get next year.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:31 pm
I do remember hearing that Rashard and Durant are good friends with a texas connection.
One thing that I was loath to talk about this season was how openly the players talked about Durant and Oden when they got down. At practice they would sit and talk about the guys and who liked who better. I’m going to have to skim the audio files and try to get my memory kicked into gear.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Not Durant related, but what do you guys think of Morris Almond with the #31 pick?
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Hey lets play small ball………
Luke/Ray/Shard/Durant/Wilcox
or………..lets go big……….
Ray/Durant/Shard/Wilcox/Swift
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Awesome idea Nick. They could use a scorer off the bench that isn’t named Wilkins. Personally, I’d like to see Aaron Brooks with one of those to picks
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Anyone else see that the Supes pulled down their ticket packages immediately after we got the pick? They are back up now…….I wonder if they got immediately jacked up.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
“The thing that scares me now is that I can see Portland taking him. They have a hole at SF, especially now that Outlaw will be a FA. Plus Portland needs scoring. They don’t have a true scorer on their team IMO.”
What?? The Blazers need everything BUT scoring. Randolph is their clear cut number 1 option while Roy scores off of Randolph’s attention.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
There is a serious chance Portland takes Durant. With Randolph and #2 overall pick Aldridge, they honestly don’t need another big guy. Then, consider their current starting SF, Travis Outlaw, is a free agent and asking BIG money. Durant @#1 makes more sense, leaving the Sonics with Oden, again, a perfect fit.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:55 pm
i liked durant better anyway. He’ll last longer. LETS go SONICS! I knew we were gonna get a top pick. Bad stuff can only happen to you for a limited amount of time, and the sonics were due some good luck. Lets get rid of Petro/wilkins/ and add some vertrans. Do they televise summer league games?
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
i liked durant better anyway. He’ll last longer. LETS go SONICS! I knew we were gonna get a top pick. Bad stuff can only happen to you for a limited amount of time, and the sonics were due some good luck. Lets get rid of Petro/wilkins/ and add some vertrans. Do they televise summer league games?
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
I know this is pathetic, but I just can’t help going back every couple hours to the sites to make sure I didn’t dream this whole afternoon. After the way the rest of my day went I deserved this dammit.
Just for posterity, here’s what the sites look like…
http://nbadraft.net/
http://draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1956
First site has the changed lottery order, second one confirms that both Oden and Durant have signed with agents and thus can’t decide to not come out.
Pathetic!
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
“The thing that scares me now is that I can see Portland taking him. They have a hole at SF, especially now that Outlaw will be a FA.”
Outlaw shouldn’t have been getting any run last year either, he’s bad.
Do remember that they do have Martell Webster on thier roster.
Portland takes him and we take Oden, Portland takes Oden and we take Durant. I’m really not seeing a downside here.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:05 pm
The exciting thing is that both of these guys seem like really good people. I couldn’t be happier to see them both head out West, where the big losers will be borderline playoff teams in the West like the Lakers. It’ll be fun watching them lose for the next several years…
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:05 pm
OK seriously, everybody needs to cut out the “Let’s get Andre Miller!” talk. That’s absolutely INSANE. Trading Rashard Lewis for a mediocre point guard with a huge contract? I sure hope the people in the Sonics camp are smarter than that … although we are talking about our beloved Sonics decision-makers. Honestly, Andre Miller isn’t the answer to our point guard confusion. Ridnour needs more court time and experience to develop into the guard we want him to be, and splitting all that time with Watson, who has shooting difficulties and turns the ball over to much (not to mention that nasty little contract he has), is only detracting from Ridnour’s development. He has the skillset to be a Hinrich type of player, but Kirk has been given the time and minutes to develop, whereas the second Ridnour starts slipping we’ve benched him for “reliability,” whatever that means when talking about Watson. The only move that should’ve happened was trading Rashard before the trading deadline to maximize his worth and end up getting deeper as a team. We could’ve easily ended up with two lottery picks and a solid veteran player heading into the 07-08 season, AND we would’ve saved a ton of money. Now I’m worried we’re going to throw a bundle at Shard to keep him when we can upgrade the TEAM better with that money spent elsewhere.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I agree. I think people overlook the fact that Andre Miller makes 8 million a year, and has never proven to be a winner. He has played on talented teams too. 45% career fg%. Not a good shooter.
I’m no longer worried who runs the point anymore. We are going to have so many weapons offensively it isn’t going to matter. We could bring back Jim Farmer or Bart Kofoed to run along with Ray/Shard/Durant for all I care.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
“What?? The Blazers need everything BUT scoring. Randolph is their clear cut number 1 option while Roy scores off of Randolph’s attention.”
Name one solid outside threat that the Blazers have.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:22 pm
“Portland takes him and we take Oden, Portland takes Oden and we take Durant. I’m really not seeing a downside here.”
Don’t get me wrong. There is no downside. I prefer Durant for reasons previously stated. However I don’t think Oden at #1 is as much of a lock that most people assume.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:47 pm
45% FG percentage is not a bad percentage. That would be Ray’s highest FG percentage since he arrived in Seattle. 45% is good percentage for perimeter players. Since Miller is not primarily a perimeter player, but rather one that likes to back down opposing PGs, I would agree with you that 45% is not very impressive. However, I think he would solve the PG dilemma. Nevertheless, he should not be all the Sonics receive from a sign-and-trade with Rashard.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:02 am
Andre Miller = 31 years old. $9.3 million a year 07/08. $10 million 08/09. Decent, not great stats, on bad teams. Overrated.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:14 am
Favorite comment on ESPN tonight…Steven A. Smith believes that it is horrible for the league that both Durant and Oden will have to play in the PNW, and the only way people will ever get to see them is if they play on Sunday National Day games…
Hmmmm do you think he would’ve said that if the Clippers won the lotto or the Lakers/Kings? I’m not sure (I’ll have to check) but I am pretty sure that we are all in the same time zone…its amazing that people like him are actually able to get TV shows where they can express their opinions
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:17 am
“- His team was pretty good. I’m much higher on Connley than most. Also, I never watched an Oden game and felt like “wow this guy is completely dominating the game”. When he plays you see a guy who has obviously always been the strongest player in the paint and it made him a little lazy at time with concerns to his defensive stance and getting up and down the court. Also, it has been mentioned numerous times that he appears to lack some fire.”
That’s funny, because every time I watched OSU I wondered why Conley and company couldn’t execute a simple entry pass into Oden. The dude is the biggest guy on the court and couldn’t even get his guards to pass him the ball. That will change in the pros.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:49 am
So I’ve calmed down a little bit now, and I’m starting to calculate: the Sonics need to make some major moves on or about draft day if they’re going to generate the enthusiasm they need to stay in Seattle. Don’t play it safe again, make some deals.
Assuming Durant’ts the pick, we need to have a deal on the board. What’s it going to take to pick up Conley at #5? Kwash–I don’t know about the other guys on OSU this year, but Conely can pass. Oden was fronted half the time, and in the other half the game plan was to cut off the entry pass at the perimeter. That’s when Conley broke them down off the dribble, which he did whenvever he wanted to.
We have a lot of pieces–this year’s #31, Luke/Earl, Petro, Wilcox, Rashard in a sign-and-trade. There are a lot of options here. Anything feasible? I’m getting greedy, I know. But I want Conley.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:01 am
Anyone who thinks Ray can bring more to this team in the future than Rashard is sorely mistaken, and living in history. My preference is to keep both, but given a choice, I would prefer Rashard. Rashard has gotten better every single year, and he is a greatly more versatile scorer than Ray. Ray is probably still the best shooter in the whole league, but he becomes more and more one-dimensional every season. Two years from now, who would you want signed to a contract, Shard or Ray? Shard obviously. I love Ray, but Shard is the future.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:15 am
Man, anyone checked out the comments on the espn sonics page? It’s like two short buses collided on the way to a retard all-star game.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:23 am
Sorry about that last comment. It’s late, I’m drunk, and I’m happy about the Sonics for the first time since Ginobili-to-Duncan in Game 6 of ‘06. And espn’s comment boards are full of imbeciles who should be deprived of their voting rights.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:46 am
I am extremely disappointed in Steven A. if he did make the comments that you attributed to him about the Pacific Northwest. This area of the country may not have as many titles as other cities but it has as rich a NBA history as such timezone friendly luminaries such as Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Minnesota, etc. (sarcasm excluded). I would also dispute that Rashard has vastly improved his game. I think the main reason why his offensive statistics improved this year is that he improved his three-point shot. However, I felt that he sacrificed some of the development he was exhibiting in his post-game for the three-point shot. His post-defense (not perimeter defense) and rebounding also improved slightly. I only saw glimpses of his improved ball-handling. As Bob Hill said, Rashard is using only 65% of his potential; the question is, at what point in his career will he exercise his maximum potential.
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:55 am
Is there anyway to nab fricken Don Nelson? Rumors are he isn’t going back to GS
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:19 am
ok i know i’m not really saying anything anyone else has said. but can i get a “HHHHEEEEEYYYYYYY”… i mean it has been some tough tough years for us supes fans. yeah the blip where jerome james (ha ha ha — that was our high) helped knock out sacto, it has been since like ‘98 that we had a team that came through for us. this is the highest i have felt on the sonics in a long long time…
what’s the record posts on sonicscentral? this is certainly the best day since it’s inception yeah?
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:14 am
HHEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!!! that was for you G!
Man, I just can’t smiling
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:16 am
*I just can’t stop smiling is what I meant to say!!!
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 am
I am in London right now, and I have managed to see the incredible news!!!!!!!
I am so happy, I do not know what to do with myself.
Durant or Oden……..we cannot lose.
Free agents will suddenly want to come, to get the chance to play with one of two potential hall of famers.
I actually like the fact we got #2. We can’t mess up, it is out of our hands.
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:45 am
While I’m thrilled like everyone else, the wheels in my head keep spinning with thoughts of what moves should Seattle make if Portland picks Oden, and what moves if Portland picks Durant?
If it’s Durant the Sonics get, how will he work alonside Allen? And what happens to Rashard?
If it’s Greg Oden wearing the Sonics cap, what moves do they do? Re-sign Rashard and have it like this season where the ball rarely got dumped in to Wilcox? Would Ray And Rashard be willing to give it up or change the game plan to make sure Oden gets more shots? Would getting a more defensive small forward like a Shane Battier work better?
How does this lottery draw affect the pointguard situation? Is it even more urgent to get the new GM in place as quick as possible because the dynamics have changed and there could be trade offers coming fast and furious by draft day?
And what if Portland decides to play it close to the vest and keeps everyone guessing right up to draft day? How do the Sonics plan their strategy and plan of attack with trades if they aren’t 100% sure of which player they’ll get at #2?
Should the team build around their young star and trade their aging star(s), or can it work with having three go to guys? How will Allen and Lewis react with the new kid on the block taking over as the “big man on campus”?
And what kind of trade offer would it take to give up the #2 pick?
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:58 am
“And what kind of trade offer would it take to give up the #2 pick?”
The #1 pick.
Nothing else, not LBJ, not Howard, not Wade, not KG, not Duncan. Nothing with those guys as the centerpiece either.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 am
1. Look, folks, Greg Oden is better than Kevin Durant. Although I, moreover, have been defending Myk a lot lately — esepcially during his quarrels with Heavy — yet, that notwithstanding, his love of defensively inept basketball has made me sick inside.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers playing the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and the San Antonio Spurs playing the Utah Jazz in the 2007 Western Conference Finals, it should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that fundemantally sound basketball wins championships. Similarly, there’s a reason that the FLorida Gators played the Ohio State Bukeyes in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game.
2. Rashard Lewis is an UNRESTRICTED FREE-AGENT during the upcoming off-season; thus, he has some control regarding the team he signs with this summer.
3. In all likelihood, Lewis will be a BASE-YEAR COMPENSATION player upon signing his new contract. Through this point in time, I’m the only guy here who’s taken that into consideration whenever making trade proposals.
4. Kevin Durant is a SMALL FORWARD rather than a power forward. Despite the fact that Durant could man the high post offensively and technically play at the four spot, it wouldn’t be the most effective way to use him; additionally, there’s almost no way that Durant will be able to productively defend guys like Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, and Dirk Nowtizki upon enterting the NBA.
5. Durant and Lewis have superfluous sets of skills. If Durant is selected by the Seattle Supersonis with the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, then Lewis needs to be dealt elsewhere in a sign-and-trade transaction.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:18 am
Reading hoopshype this morning and saw a Dallas columnist suggest a deal - Sonics sign-and-trade Lewis to Dallas for Jason Terry.
Did anyone else hear Frank Hughes on with Mitch this AM? He made a good point: Rashard doesn’t like playing most of his minutes at the 4 spot (he gets too beat up over the course of the season) and therefore, he may not be so eager to sign with Seattle after all. If that is the case, then we go the sign-and-trade route or let him walk for nothing.
If we do sign-and-trade, I think in return we need a an above-average (good to very-good) point guard or low-post defender in return. How do y’all see Jason Terry fitting in with this team?
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
I would trade the #2 pick for LeBron James but nobody else (Dwayne Wade before the injury).
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:34 am
I also think you’d be crazy not to trade the #2 pick for LeBron, but that’s just my opinion. Let’s hope Durant can not only take the Supes to the promise land but can also continue the revolution that teams such as the Suns and Warriors have initiated against what AK calls “fundamentally sound basketball.”
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:37 am
BYC and whole salary system is complicated. It is easy to think BYC only applies to rookies coming off first contract because those are the cases that get most talked about and have additional poison pill provisions as AK reminds but it can apply to vets. It will apply to Rashard if he gets a 20% raise or over about $11.25 million the first year of a new deal. If Rashard wanted a sign & trade he would need to stay under that figure for the Sonics to get a big star back (unless he too was BYC) or Sonics would have to get lower priced desirable players and draft picks back. That may be more realistic and could be preferable for cap management. If you propose a sign & trade for Lewis I guess you’d ideally read this http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#73 or run it thru a trade checker after it recognizes Lewis as a free agent which wont come until he actually becomes one.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:44 am
“If we do sign-and-trade, I think in return we need a an above-average (good to very-good) point guard or low-post defender in return. How do y’all see Jason Terry fitting in with this team?”
Although Jason Terry has revitalized her career thus far during his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks, he’s nevertheless an undersized shooting guard who’s forced into playing point guard for several minutes per game while Devin Harris rests on the bench.
Since the Mavericks already have Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard entrenched at power forward and small forward, respectively, Donnie Nelson shouldn’t attempt to acquire Rashard Lewis via a sign-and-trade deal.
As it is, though, I think that Nelson ought to offer Terry to the Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Miller. While Terry would hypothetically solve the Grizzlies’ hole at point guard — no matter his deficiencies as a playmaker — Miller would effectively replace unrestricted free-agent Jerry Stackhouse at shooting guard and, as a result, form a strong backcourt in Dallas alongside Devin Harris.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:46 am
Does anyone think that Frank Chopp knows Kevin Durant from Kevin Spacey? Or, would give a Sadly, this changes nothing if you want the team to stay in the Seattle area.
The best thing about yesterday’s lottery is that we can start rooting for the Blazers as “our” team, while the Sonics play in OKC or KC.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:50 am
3way trades can extend the frontiers of sign & trades affected by BYC.
If Lewis doesnt re-sign or leave freely in first few days or whenever either side sends a clear sign on preferring a sign & trade then viable sign & trades will be most needed to avoid unrealistic clutter.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:59 am
Some sign & trades that fail just BYC obstacles but pass the other requirements could still be done a year from now so the brainstorming behind them could still be put to use later.
I noticed Terry turns 30 before next season starts. Not a dealbreaker absolutely but a factor to consider. He was disappointing in 2 of his 3 playoff years. I am not that high on acquiring him but it all depends on the package. With so few truly desirable vet PGs obtainable he might be one to look at even though he isnt 100% of what you’d want.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:06 am
If I was in Lenny Wilkens’ position, then I’d offer Rashard Lewis a six-year, $81,000,000 contract (2007-2008: $11,000,000; 2008-2009: $12,000,000; 2009-2010: $13,000,000; 2010-2011: $14,000,000; 2011-2012: $15,000,000; 2012-2013: $16,000,000) — which would include an early termination option that he can exercise after the fourth season — yet, at any rate, I expect that it would decline by him.
In fact, I bet that Paul Allen and/or Tod Leiweke informs Kevin Pritchard that it’s his job to offer Rashard Lewis a maximum-level contract — which will have a starting salary of 30% of the 2007-2008 salary cap with annual raises of 10.5% throughout the subsequent seasons — and, in consequence, attempt to facilitate a sign-and-trade deal with the Seattle Supersonics.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 am
I’d have more interest in Terry than Bibby including because of cost. I’d like A Miller better but dont expect he will be available right away. Maybe Feb. or next summer.
Wilkens seems like a pure point guard guy to me but that is just a guess. If they trade for a PG it seems likely he will very active/dominate it defining the specs sought. I do hope he uses some assets to upgrade there.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
“I also think you’d be crazy not to trade the #2 pick for LeBron, but that’s just my opinion. Let’s hope Durant can not only take the Supes to the promise land but can also continue the revolution that teams such as the Suns and Warriors have initiated against what AK calls “fundamentally sound basketball.””
Contractually you have Durant for three years at basically 4.5 million a season at which point he becomes a RFA and you’ll be able to contractually control him for up to 5 more seasons.
LeBron’s got three years on a contract that will pay him nearly 55 million over those years at which point he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Still would make that deal?
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:14 am
So assuming Portland drafts Greg Oden, they then have a glut of power forwards and centers, and will be in need of a small forward.
How does a sign and trade with Rashard to Portland for Lemarcus Alderidge and Darius Miles sound? Alderidge came on strong towards the second half of the season and would be a great bookend with Durant for years to come. I’m thinking it is time to start rebuilding Seattle around two young stars.
Of course taking on Miles’ contract is the reason Portland might be open to this trade. But from what I’ve read he may not be able to play again and might have to retire eventually.
Alderidge may not be as good a scorer as Wilcox, but he is a better interior and post player. A frontcourt of Durant, Alderidge, and Swift, with Collison being the combo center/power forward off the bench looks pretty good as far as rebounding and shotblocking, while not giving up much in scoring.
It then opens the door to moving Wilcox and Ridnour/Watson for a pointguard.
I know, I know, BYC.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Wouldn’t Chauncy Billups be the perfect fit at point guard? Realistically, could we get him?
If we did, we could sign-and-trade Lewis for the best value of picks+players available without regard for position.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Somewhere Bob Hill’s head just exploded. Poor guy - screwed again!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 am
And then Seattle gives Michael Jordan his wish for an allstar go to guy by trading Ray Allen and Luke Ridnour for Ray Felton and the #22 pick. Charlotte has the cap room and suddenly the Sonics are in a terrific financial situation. Draft the best defensive shooting guard out there in Brandon Rush at #22.
Trade Earl Watson and Damien Wilkens to Miami for expiring contract Jason Williams, and by this time next year Seattle really has a low team payroll and has a great young core with three stars in Felton, Durant, and Alderidge.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:25 am
Don’t take my last post too seriously. It’s just play time.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:36 am
DK, you trade either Ray OR Rashard, not both. Keeping the team young and cheap sounds like something out of Sterling’s playbook and we saw how that worked out. You need some kind of veteran presence, as we saw what happened with the Baby Bulls when they undertook a similar experiment
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:42 am
I’d like to see us keep Rashard if at all possible, bring in Iavaroni to coach and play that Phoenix/European style game. We didn’t get Oden, our defense is going to be a little suspect no matter what. Obviously the PG discrepancy is the huge difference between us and Phoenix…but I think Luke is very acceptable as a distributing PG and we could break out the minutes as follows and have a pretty good ballclub:
Center
Swift - 24
Collison - 24
PF
Wilcox - 32
Lewis - 16
SF
Lewis - 24
Durant - 24
SG
Allen - 40
Durant - 8 (maybe that end of the 1st/start of 2nd quarter where Allen always comes out and we stuck in Watson last year)
PG
Ridnour - 30
Watson - 18
Use Ridnour or Watson, Petro, high 2nd rounders to get a better PG/veteran enforcer guy down low maybe. Lewis doesn’t have to play PF for too much of the game, probably mostly in the 4th Quarter when we’d create match-up nightmares for the opposition.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:45 am
Lots of posts…very nice to see:
That’s funny, because every time I watched OSU I wondered why Conley and company couldn’t execute a simple entry pass into Oden. The dude is the biggest guy on the court and couldn’t even get his guards to pass him the ball. That will change in the pros.
- Like I said I still think there is a very high liklihood of Oden becoming a great player. However, I do think he will need a little bit of time to get used to the NBA. The guy looks like a player who has ALWAYS been the tallest/most talented player on the floor and I think that has caused him to rely on his natural abilities way too much. Watch some of the games and you will see that one of the reasons he didn’t get the ball was that he wasn’t demanding it in the post. He was content to let the defensive player push him out of position. It will be interesting to see if he can turn it up a notch.
Rashard has gotten better every single year, and he is a greatly more versatile scorer than Ray.
- Rashard has NOT gotten better every year…in fact his performance has been constant or even worse over the last five years. This year (contract year?) he actually started to rebound a little again…guy still can’t dribble consistently, can’t play defense and is NOT a versatile scorer…Durant will show you the meaning of versatile.
Nothing else, not LBJ, not Howard, not Wade, not KG, not Duncan. Nothing with those guys as the centerpiece either.
- This is just silly…yes believe it or not I would rather take a guy (LBJ or Wade) who are the face of the league and proven top 5 players. No matter what their contracts are…why wouldn’t you want proven commodities that aren’t even that much older than Durant…c’mon now.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers playing the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and the San Antonio Spurs playing the Utah Jazz in the 2007 Western Conference Finals, it should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that fundemantally sound basketball wins championships. Similarly, there’s a reason that the FLorida Gators played the Ohio State Bukeyes in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game.
- Thanks for all the support AK, however this statement doesn’t seem to make sense. When you say “fundamentall sound” I am assuming that you are using that for code as “defensive” basketball.
I mean Phoenix is probably the most fundamentally sound team in the league with all of their talent and having the best PG in the league leading them…and they are out of the playoffs so you must be referring to “defense”
Well you are right about San Antonio and Detroit they were the two best defensive teams in the league this year…even Cleveland was number 5 (Eastern Conference thing?)…what about Houston and Dallas? They were #3 and #4 and they got knocked out of the playoffs by the #17 (your Utah Jazz) and #30 defensive teams in the league.
Defense is important, but creating the best team with the most talent is good enough for me.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:47 am
We didn’t get Oden, our defense is going to be a little suspect no matter what.
- Does everyone think that Oden would really significantly change the defensive performance of the entire team? If for some odd reason Oden fell to us, I would think that many more trades would be necessary to make the pieces fit….many more than what we would have to do with Durant.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:47 am
“Wouldn’t Chauncy Billups be the perfect fit at point guard? Realistically, could we get him?
If we did, we could sign-and-trade Lewis for the best value of picks+players available without regard for position.”
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I just don’t see how it would be possible to get Billups.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
how ’bout that Apollo Ohno, huh??? sorry, wrong board.
SEATTLE!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:52 am
I think Oden would definitely make up for a lot of our perimeter defenders deficiencies. Of course, I think the Red Menace can do a passable facsimile of that. He showed some good shot blocking skills at least during the ‘05-’06 season.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
Willie (Portland, OR): Thorpedo, what position do you think Durant is best suited for #3?
David Thorpe: (12:40 PM ET ) 3, 4, 5, and some 2.
- Wow….drafting 4 5men in 4 years…what are the Sonics thinking?
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:58 am
Why would anyone want to trade Rashard to Portland? I only would if I got Roy back in some form, and that sure as hell is NOT happening. Anything less than Roy & Aldridge is a no. Why make Portland BETTER? They already stole Nate from us, they will be drafting Oden…why in the name of all things holy would we trade our second best player to them because we will be getting Durant, a guy who might average 15 points next year, and let’s face it, next year is the year that matters for this franchise and it’s longterm future. It would infuriate me to see Rashard ever wearing a Blazer uniform. I’d rather he walk and we get nothing if it meant he goes to the east.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:58 am
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I just don’t see how it would be possible to get Billups.
- It’d have to be a sign and trade. Would a package of Watson, Wilcox (to replace the aging Wallace, Webber and McDyess trio) and say Damien in a S&T work?? Not sure if Billups is going to get the max so it might not be enough in contract $$$
Detroit better figure out a way to get younger quick…that front line is just flat out old…
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:58 am
ridnour and petro for conley jr? he want play with oden in the same team
SONICS LINE UP 08?
PG Mike Conley Jr
SG Ray Allen
SF Rashard Lewis
PF Wilcox
C Greg Oden
bench
Watson / wilks
31 pick (shoting guard) /35 pick (defensive player)
wilkins / gelabale
collison
swift/sene
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 am
Ray is overvalued. Whoever said he is becoming increasingly one dimensional is spot on. He is worth more to any other team right now than the Sonics. It is a perfect sell-high situation. Rashard will only get better, and if he has platued then its a darn good platue.
There is nothing wrong with playing 2 SFs at the same time in the Sonics system. Tell the GS Warriors that running and gunning with small guys who all play the same position. Imagine the Warriors with 3 6′-10″ guys instead of 6′6″ guys…now we’re talking.
Ultimately, if Rashard does not come back it will not be because he isn’t compatible with KD–it will be because the Sonics can save $90 mill to be in a little bit better position than they were in last year. They will replace Rashard Lewis with Kevin Durant in hopes of saving money and hoping that Durant becomes a Wade/Melo/LBJ clone immediately.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 am
Why would anyone want to trade Rashard to Portland? I only would if I got Roy back in some form, and that sure as hell is NOT happening. Anything less than Roy & Aldridge is a no. Why make Portland BETTER? They already stole Nate from us, they will be drafting Oden…why in the name of all things holy would we trade our second best player to them because we will be getting Durant, a guy who might average 15 points next year, and let’s face it, next year is the year that matters for this franchise and it’s longterm future. It would infuriate me to see Rashard ever wearing a Blazer uniform. I’d rather he walk and we get nothing if it meant he goes to the east.
— Ahhhhh I made this post in the Message Board…not trading Rashard to Portland only because they are Portland is the dumbest reason to not make a trade. You are implying that the Sonics would be making a trade that would be poor for them…if that is the implication THEN THEY SHOULD NOT MAKE A TRADE AT ALL…
In fact…it really should be the other way around. You should ALWAYS want to trade with your rival. You should only make a trade where you come out ahead, therfore, trading with your rival would always have the added bonus of making them worse.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
If Rashard wanted to leave and BYC looked like it would cause problem getting him to the right place at a price Sonics would accept, theoretically Rashard and Sonics could do extension and then trade a little later, I think, if they worked it out in June.
Potentially new GM and Rich Cho could have lots of detail to try to sort out and present to Lenny and the Lewis team. It is too early for me to see what they want or should do.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Extension would cost Rashard some money but if team /city was crucial to him it might be an alternative.
I think there is more chance he re-signs than moves right away. Move later could be option.
Lots of options for management to improve team.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 am
DK, no way Portland gives up Lamarcus Aldridge…Pritchard loves him, and he ain’t giving him up.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:24 am
1. Looks, folks, Chauncey Billups isn’t coming here. Unless something utterly shocking happens between now and the beginning of July, Billups will re-sign with the Detroit Pistons.
2. The Portland Trailblazers are likely to build around Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge; thus, Kevin Pritchard will likely keep Aldridge off of the table during sign-and-trade discussions with the Seattle Supersonics.
3. Darius Miles’ contract is an albatross. As it is, I wouldn’t want the Supersonics to acquire Miles under any circumstances.
4. The best time to have dealt Ray Allen was at the trade deadline. Alas, Rick Sund didn’t attempt to acquire someone such as Ben Gordon — who, along with P.J. Brown, should’ve been dealt from the Chicago Bulls to the Supersonics for Allen — at that moment; thus, there’s currently no point to make a move solely to make a move.
5. There’s nothing wrong with making trades within the division.
6. Well, DK I’m not wholly against the idea of the Supersonics trading Earl Watson and Damien Wilkins to the Miami Heat for Jason Williams — still, I think that it’d be somewhat of a lateral move — yet, as it is, Sund should’ve offerred the duo of Watson and Wilkins to the Heat for James Posey and Gary Payton at the trade deadline.
7. Unless it’s an amazingly lopsided offer, Michael Jordan won’t trade a fellow North Carolina alumuns like Raymond Felton.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
Lewis/Durant on floor at same time would be hard to cover for most teams. Few teams have 2 tall mobile forwards that can guard them inside and out. Yes some teams could pound a PF inside on one of them. If you played this way a center who was quick to provide effective help defense but smart at decisionmaking and quick to recover would be important. Collison might fit or is he quick enough? Size seems less critical but I guess any weakness could be exploited. If their center wasnt a threat you might be able to put Collison on the scoring PF and play the percentages that a weak offense center isnt going to kill you that bad, especially if you immediately send a guard to attack the ball. Scramble defense ball is costly but that is what we’ve experienced the last few years so it isnt really that much slippage. An outstanding PG defender could help make everyone’s defensive life somewhat easier.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
“There is nothing wrong with playing 2 SFs at the same time in the Sonics system. Tell the GS Warriors that running and gunning with small guys who all play the same position. Imagine the Warriors with 3 6′-10″ guys instead of 6′6″ guys…now we’re talking.”
With regards to the Golden State Warriors, I’d argue that the duo of Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson at the swing positions didn’t cause the team’s downfall. Since Richardson plays small forward on offense and shooting guard on defense while Jackson plays shooting guard on offense and small forward on defense, those two guys are a productive fit together.
The problem with the Warriors, however, is that the roster lacks a high-post threat on offense who’s also an adequate post defender on defense. The following is a trade proposal that should be considered by Chris Mullin and, for that matter, Jerry West.
FROM GOLDEN STATE & TO MEMPHIS
PF Al Harrington ($8,425,625)
PG Sarunas Jasikevicius ($4,000,000)
SG Monta Ellis ($770,610)
FROM MEMPHIS
PF Pau Gasol ($13,709,375)
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3821384
Indeed, it’s finally time for Pau Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies to part ways.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:43 am
You guys have all managed to jump around the guy that Portland would like to offer for Rashard: Zack Randolph. Regardless of his character issues, nobody on this board can deny that this guy is one of the most gifted and talented big men in the NBA. His contract is huge and so is the gamble. However, Randolph would solve the problem of post-scoring. The main problem with a team built around Rashard, Durant, and Allen is that it is too perimeter-oriented; that team would struggle the moment the jump shots aren’t falling. A team built around Ray, Durant, and Randolph would maintain a high level of offensive efficiency but would not go into the offensive droughts that typically plague jump-shooting teams.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:48 am
I don’t think there is anything wrong with making trades within in your division, but making a division rival BETTER and making your team worse is not what I want to do. Trading Rashard to Portland for ANY of their players at this point minus 2 is a VERY bad idea IMO. Trading Rashard to Denver for Steve Blake and NeNe is also a bad deal for the Sonics, as they bolster their team with stars and we get left with none. My point is don’t make a trade with a rival when it makes their team better and ours worse. Durant may be a stud, but Rashard is good/great right NOW. Durant will be great, but it’s not going to happen his rookie year.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:09 am
I think Durant in his first year will be as good as Rashard was in his 4th or 5th year.
I also think Rashard will not be able to deal with the fact that a rookie will be the #2 option and Lewis the #3.
As far as sign and trades go - prefer Eastern division trades #1 and no way in h@ll does Randolph become a Sonic. He is like Ron Artest junior.
Ray should stay a Sonic until he wants out. He is a good leader, solid citizen, and is there any better 3 point shooter in the league? Ray is the perfect SG. He will only get better with Durant and (hopefully) another scoring threat develops (Wilcox?, Swift? new player?) that way Ray can play off the ball and become WAY more efficient.
I have not heard anybody talk about rebounding. I think that is priority 1a after point guard for this team. Will Durant be able to rebound at 11 per game in the pros? I doubt it. Not right away anyhow. Somehow rebounding needs to be addressed before training camp.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:13 am
Who brought up the Denver Nuggets as a possibility for a sign-and-trade deal involving Rashard Lewis? That, without a doubt, is a poorly conceived idea.
1. The Denver Nuggets could easily be over the luxury tax in 2007-2008 and, as a result, will be looking to cut costs.
2. The Denver Nuggets already have Carmelo Anthony.
3. Maybyner “Nenê” Hilario is an overpaid post player whose production doesn’t justify his salary.
4. Steve Blake is an unrestricted free-agent who’ll most likely sign elsewhere.
5. The following trade proposal makes the most sense for the Nuggets and, well, the recently disheartened Boston Celtics.
http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3821510
BOSTON CELTICS
C: Marcus Camby
C: Kendrick Perkins
C:
PF: Al Jefferson
PF: Reggie Evans
PF: Brian Scalabrine
SF: Yi Jianlian
SF: Wally Szczerbiak
SF: Eduardo Najera
SG: Paul Pierce
SG: Tony Allen
SG: Allan Ray
PG: Rajon Rondo
PG: Delonte West
PG:
DENVER NUGGETS
C: Maybyner “Nenê” Hilario
C:
C: Theo Ratliff
PF: Keyon Martin
PF: Ryan Gomes
PF: Leon Powe
SF: Carmelo Anthony
SF: Linas Kleiza
SF: Yakhouba Diawara
SG: J.R. Smith
SG: Gerald Green
SG: Von Wafer
PG: Allen Iverson
PG: Sebastian Telfair
PG: Anthony Carter
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 am
My point is don’t make a trade with a rival when it makes their team better and ours worse.
- Why would you make a trade with ANY team that fits this criteria…look if you (being the Sonics GM) don’t think that Randolph is a fair trade for Lewis then don’t make the trade. However, the team should have nothing to do with your decision.
A good trade is a good trade…there is no possible logical scenario where a good trade can some how be a bad trade just based on where the other team plays.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 pm
With a Rashard trade it would seem to be about whether we get something in return for Shard or he walks for nothing. If he decides not to come back to Seattle, a handful of magic beans is better than nothing.
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
“Since the Mavericks already have Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard entrenched at power forward and small forward, respectively, Donnie Nelson shouldn’t attempt to acquire Rashard Lewis via a sign-and-trade deal.”
AK: I’m confused. Did Don Nelson make his way back to Dallas when I was not looking?
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:57 pm
“AK: I’m confused. Did Don Nelson make his way back to Dallas when I was not looking?”
Ahhh the classic make fun of someone else when in actuality it is you that doesn’t know what you’re talking about.
SonicComic: “Donnie” Nelson is indeed a different person than Don Nelson.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
“Ahhh the classic make fun of someone else when in actuality it is you that doesn’t know what you’re talking about.
SonicComic: “Donnie” Nelson is indeed a different person than Don Nelson. ”
Kelly, my apologies. Thanks for setting me strait. You should have seen me all befuddled rubbing my temples shaking my head at the computer screen while my wife was bitching at me to change the battery in the smoke alarm.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Congrats on your lottery position. I love sticking it to the Celtics and Jerry West at the same time! Even though Blazers and Sonics are mortal enemies, it feels good for the NW to thumb our noses at the dumb-asses on the least coast. I’m looking forward to some great battles in the future, with Oden/Aldridge/small forward from Randolph trade/Roy/Jack vs. Collison/Durant/Lewis/Allen/Ridenour (or some variation thereof). We both win because those are going to be some awesome games to watch. You guys just need to keep your team in your city, dammit!
May 24th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Yes, Donnie Nelson is Don Nelson’s son and, moreover, the President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I still cant even beleive were getting Durant…im definitely going to games this year!!! hes going to save this organization.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
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Good post!