Draft Day Jitters
Posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:43 am by Brian Robinson
Man this court case is important.
I’ll be committed to Basektball today, spending all day at court and then heading over to Fox Sports for the draft. Hope to see a few of you there.
I don’t have many inside sources today but the media folks I talk to continue to feel that Brook Lopez is the most likely draft candidate at this time. He’s a legitimate center who had good stats and I could live with the pick, but damn it won’t be sexy.
I believe our draft board looks something like Beasley, Lopez, Bayless, Gordon, Love. Eric Gordon is the dark horse to be drafted, Lopez probably the most likely by a hair over Bayless. I tend to think that the sudden “falling out of love” with Bayless could be misdirect. They should still have some interest in him.
My prediction for “I hope it goes like this” draft outcome goes like this:
1) Rose - Obvious
2) Beasley - You can’t not select him here. His value is too high and even if the Heat aren’t enamored with him as a player they can select him and look for the best return in trade.
3) Lopez - Call me crazy but when I look at the T-Wolves roster they really need a center to play alongside Jefferson. I don’t see Mayo as a great fit when they have Foye,and Brewer on this roster. Neither of those guys are great but they are both young prospects and high picks and the Wolves have a serious lack of talent on their roster. They can’t afford much duplication. Lopez makes sense next to Jefferson for years to come.
4) Sonics - OJ Mayo - I’ve come to the realization that we probably don’t want Mayo, despite the fact that he’s my pick if available. Like the Beasley pick we take him and then leverage, looking to trade him either to Miami for Beasley or down, maybe to NY for the #6 where we could take one of the other guys on the list.
5) Memphis - Kevin Love
6) NY Knicks - Jeryd Bayless - We know that Mike D’Antoni loves the fast break. Bayless can bring the ball up the court.
My “Most likely” Projection
1) Rose
2) Beasley
3) Mayo
4) Lopez
My pool of players at #24 includes Serge Ibeka, DeAndre Jordan, or Nicolas Batum. Frankly I don’t expect to use that pick. We either trade up or trade down with it. If we do use it we will go for a guy who either slipped and is a steal(Jordan) or will stay overseas (Ibeka or Batum).
David Locke is reporting that we will draft Lopez and trade for a pick in the 10-15 range. As was said in an earlier thread I really miss Locke on draft day. Great for fun speculation. If this happened I could only assume that we would be targeting Russell Westbrook with a second pick. If we hypothetically moved to up from 24 and wound up with Westbook does the Lopez pick suddenly look better? Draftexpress has Westbrook going at #9 to Charlotte. I think Charlotte at #9 or Indy at #11 may be the most likely available picks for us that he would be available at.
Most likely Ridnour gets traded today. It should be a fun one full of lots of unexpected twists.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Ibaka wants to be a secound rounder to avoid the Rookie-scale contracts.
He is also unlikely to come soon in the US.
Would be thrilled to see my man Batum in a Sonics Jersey.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:00 am
A whole thread seems to have disappeared. Not sure what happened there…
June 26th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Yep I saw that…
It happened 2 hours ago
June 26th, 2008 at 4:51 am
NO LOPEZ!!!! NO WESTBROOK!!!!
If you want a C, then go and get one with that pick that you traded up from 24. First priority….Beasley, then Mayo.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Here it is:
Sonicsgate: Seattle vs Sonics - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS3SRiEmllw
Hope you all enjoy…Now, a few hours of sleep before going to the courthouse…
SAVE OUR SONICS! See you all at the trial and the draft party!
reidster
June 26th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I did a completely un-scientific poll of my 12 year old daughter. All she knows is the Sonics wear green. I gave her 5 names and told her to pick: She chose Lopez. Her second choice was Mayo…….
Kids have special insight.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I hardly slept last night.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Two players I like at #24 are Chris Douglas-Roberts and JJ Hickson. I would use the #32 pick on a foreign player such as Ibaka, Jawai, or Pekovic and leave them to develop for a couple of years.
I don’t know who they will end up with at #4 and can only guess that it will one of a pool of Bayless, Mayo, Westbrook, Lopez, or Love. But a trade down suits me fine as well depending on what asset comes back in return.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I just have a feeling that we will be taking Lopez. If it was the old ownership group I doubt they would spend another high pick on a big but the new group isn’t going to be as worried about fan reaction to the possibility of another blunder in drafting a big and it not panning out. If Wilcox is shipped out as many believe, then we would have absolutely no low post scoring ability. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Wilcox and Ridnour dealt along with some of our extra picks to move up in this draft and get a young PG/SG in the later part of the lottery. First option would be to try and get that #2 and get Beasley though. A trio of Durant/Green/Beasley would create matchup problems for the opposition.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Hopefully We can get Mayo
Lopez is not our boy…
June 26th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Boo Lopez! What happened to us taking Bayless…oh well im on the way to the courthouse for the first time! I think im gonna be early.Oh well todays a big day.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:08 am
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/sonics/
thenewstribune use Lopez as their photos , will this give us any clue ?
June 26th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Go for bust Presti bring Beasley home….
I could be happy with Bayless or Mayo. Lopez, Love or Westbrook would leave me feeling as I did the year when we drafted Nick and Luke, with a sense after all the anticipation that something special might of happened but didn’t quite materialize.
It will still be better than the feeling when Sene’s or Swift’s names were called.
I also hope the Judge had a good nights rest and sees things clearly today
June 26th, 2008 at 7:29 am
A Lopez, Westbrook draft would definately fill holes and “needs” on the roster, but as said above, it would definately not be a “sexy” draft. Beasley and Westbrook would be much more “sexy”…….
If we have a deal in place to move up from #24 high enough to get Westbrook, in a package including Wilcox and/or Ridnour. Then I say tell Miami, they can have our pick at #4 along with our #32 (essentially Mayo + Pick #32 for Beasley) otherwise we’ll keep Mayo. I doubt Miami makes the Beasley pick unless they know they have a deal in place to snag Mayo, but you never know. If we could somehow come out of this draft with Beasley and Westbrook, I’d consider it a major coupe.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:32 am
What happened to the other draft thread?
June 26th, 2008 at 7:38 am
In order of Preference, Beasley, Mayo, Bayless and Lopez.
I don’t mind overpaying for Beasley.
Can you imagine that core of Beasley, Durant and Green? Plus they all know each other from the AAU days and are all from the same area. Beasley wants to play with Durant, so we know chemistry is not going to be a issue.
at #24, take Mario chalmers if he is there (he might be gone). If Chalmers is not there, take Ibaka or Batum. In the 2nd round, I hope Courtney lee is still there at #32.
I also do not mind packaging the lower of the 3 2nd round picks, to try to get back to maybe 26 or low 30’s, if there is a asset that we want (Jawai, Amik)
June 26th, 2008 at 7:41 am
If we have a deal in place to move up from #24 high enough to get Westbrook, in a package including Wilcox and/or Ridnour. Then I say tell Miami, they can have our pick at #4 along with our #32 (essentially Mayo + Pick #32 for Beasley) otherwise we’ll keep Mayo. I doubt Miami makes the Beasley pick unless they know they have a deal in place to snag Mayo, but you never know. If we could somehow come out of this draft with Beasley and Westbrook, I’d consider it a major coupe.
My only fear is, even if Minnesota does not want Mayo, they might trade down to #7 or #6, The clippers or New York would take mayo..then the trade would not work.
I can easily see Minnesota trading down if its not taking mayo..but instead want love or lopez.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:43 am
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/sonics/
thenewstribune use Lopez as their photos , will this give us any clue ?
Yes, it gives us the clue that the tribune reads the mocks as well. Nothing more, nothing less.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:50 am
If we land Mayo/Bayless, I’d rather take Brandon Rush with the proposed pick in the 10-15 range. But if we get Beasley/Lopez, then I’m all for taking Westbrook as well.
If we keep the 24, I’ll take Douglas-Roberts or Chalmers
June 26th, 2008 at 7:57 am
i wouldnt be too upset if we came away with Lopez and traded up and got Augustine (his size is a problem i guess, but there is the chemistry with Durant and the guy has good PG skills). This doesnt solve all our problems but it certainly patches up some holes.
i think if Mayo is there we take him though. Miami are high on him so a trade to get Beasley would be easier with Mayo to deal. Im sure they would pull the trigger and send us Beasley for a package of Mayo and Wilcox.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:01 am
The Miami Heat are reportedly now considering taking either O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless with the second overall pick, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The Heat worked out both Mayo and Bayless on Tuesday, according to report on ESPN.com.
There has been continual speculation that Miami is considering passing on Michael Beasley, despite his status as a consensus top-two prospect.
And Minnesota is torn between Mayo and Love
Although if Miami passes on Beasley, I think Minnesota trades down, and take love at #5.
The best situation would be Miami trading the #2 pick to Seattle, then getting either mayo or bayless (if they are actually that high on bayless). That way the trade happens no matter what Minnesota does (since Miami will have at least one of the two options there)
If Miami doesn’t trade down..and still takes bayless (which would be insane, because you can go to 6 and grab bayless).
June 26th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I can easily see Minnesota trading down if its not taking mayo..but instead want love or lopez.
Latest rumor is that Minny is trying to decide between Love and Mayo. If they trade down for someone else to take Mayo, they have to be sure that nobody between #4 and where they trade to is going to take Love or they lose both. Its a gamble, but one they may take. It would be typical minny though to trade down and then lose out on both players they were targeting with the #3 pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Im sure they would pull the trigger and send us Beasley for a package of Mayo and Wilcox.
Apparently Miami doesn’t want Wilcox in a deal…..they want Green. Doesn’t surprise me that Wilcox isn’t a Pat Riley kind of player.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:11 am
ESPN says Lopez for the Sonics.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:12 am
LOL. Green and #4
I’ll take my chances with the #4 pick.
Although they have a guy from Minnesota right now..and they would take Beasley, if he fell to #3…so I think it might be safe to say that Beasley will not fall to 4.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I want us to select Beasley!!!
and about the court case today, will the judges decision come today or will that take a week or two???
and lastly…
SAVE OUR SONICS!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:16 am
If we stay in Seattle then I’m hoping for Bayless. If those shady cowpokes win, then by all means please take lopez (because the last time Stanford offered up a pair of twins with potential it worked out sooo great…Collins brothers, I’m looking at you)
June 26th, 2008 at 8:17 am
everyone is saying Lopez to the Sonics, I’m going to take everything with a grain of salt. Presti plays his cards close to his vest.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:21 am
NO GORDON, WESTBROOK, OR LOPEZ.
My preference would be Beasley (if you can trade for him), Mayo, Bayless.
Also, I think it will be interesting to see if we trade up to get a mid first rounder to acquire someone like a Augustin, Chalmers, or Rush.
Should be an exciting day.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Mayo and Augustin would make a nice backcourt.
But that also means Durant would have to play the SF position.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I think the pick will reflect how well Bennett thinks the trial and the possible Schultz trial is going. If he thinks it isn’t going well for them, he will draft nothing that will help the Sonics. If he thinks it is going well, it will be a good draft. Remember Presti works for Bennett. He will draft who Bennett wants drafted.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Otto, if KD plays the 3, than Green has to play the 4. That would be a tall, skinny, team if we had to run Nick out at the 5. The whole team would weigh less than 1000#s!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Nothing being ‘reported’ today means anything.
If what’s being said is true, then why in the hell would you trade up? Just stay the course and let Miami take Mayo, leaving the Wolves to not have to decide between Love and Mayo, and Beasley still gets here.
In the end I think we take Jamal Lopez out of Kansas, ya’ll will love him.
“because the last time Stanford offered up a pair of twins with potential it worked out sooo great…Collins brothers, I’m looking at you”
Neither Collins had close to the talent that Lopez does, and holding that someone else failed against him is stupid.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:36 am
If what’s being said is true, then why in the hell would you trade up? Just stay the course and let Miami take Mayo, leaving the Wolves to not have to decide between Love and Mayo, and Beasley still gets here
The Minnesota guy said that if Beasley slips to #3, they will take Beasley, not Love
June 26th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Yesterday on ESPN TV reported that Clay Bennett will be in the back war room.
PRESTI is a PUPPET !!!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:40 am
So im at the courthouse right now. Im sitting in a chair and clay bennett walks right in front of me and stares me in the eye.he was literally 6 inches from me.it was such a wierd feeling and hard to contain myself.and paul lawrence just walked by in his green and yellow tie.alright im goin in now..saveoursonics!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:41 am
PRESTI is a PUPPET !!!
Presti is a good enough GM (and a hot enough ticket), that I think he would be insulted, if he felt that he was just a puppet of Bennetts.
I don’t believe it for a second.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:42 am
After the big 2 I want in order:
Mayo (I like him as a Billups/Payton hybrid)
Love (Has the most important thing: a basketball brain)
Lopez (Could show flashes of his favorite player: Duncan)
Alexander (although he does not fit with JG/KD but I love his upside. I think he will be a top 5 player in this draft 10 years from now.)
Westbrook (I know he is raw but I like his defense and commitment to hard work in the summer. Plus he is the biggest dunker in the draft. I know that he is friends with Watson though and I don’t think that is a good thing.)
Rush (I love this guy. He is exactly what I want my 2 guard to be: Big, unselfish, has rang, plays great D. I’m not sure how teams in the top 10 are going to let him slip by. He would fit perfect next to Durant on the Wing for the next 10 years.)
Jordan (Too much upside to pass on at 24)
BTW, if Locke is correct and we are trading up with CHA? or IND? I bet we are targeting Rush. He seems like a Presti type (versatility, defensive, team player) guy to me.
I think I’ve realized the Sonics can’t go wrong at 4 unless they take Gordon. Just say no to 6′2″ shooting guards!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:44 am
There is too much mis-direction on Draft Day that anything could happen. Every team is posturing and posturing their posturing.
My top 3 things to have happen though would be:
1) Trade up to get Beasley
2) Stand pat and land OJ Mayo
3) Trade down 3-5 spots and get BPA
Not a fan of Lopez at all. I hear the Brad Miller comparisons, which is fine, but I’d rather have a different player. Lopez just FEELS like a bust-type player. That alone scares me.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Hope they draft big. We should take Brook Lopez if available. If not, take Rose and trade him (as Brian R suggested) or pick Love and keep him.
Go big with our next pick too, unless a really high quality player stands out. Every year some players fall way further than they should. That’s why our best #2 pick is so valuable, though I think the devil Clay will instruct Presti to sell it, like they evilly did last year (one 2nd round pick ended up on the all-Rookie 2nd team, the other got a championship ring).
June 26th, 2008 at 8:47 am
“Presti is a good enough GM (and a hot enough ticket), that I think he would be insulted, if he felt that he was just a puppet of Bennetts.”
Proof that he’s a good GM….
*ques theme from Jeopardy*
“The Minnesota guy said that if Beasley slips to #3, they will take Beasley, not Love”
Good for them…
June 26th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Another huge day in Sonics History… I hope it goes well… I’m stuck in Id-A-Ho and can’t even watch the draft… Damn family vacations… Hold it down for me guys.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:49 am
We need Kyle Weaver at #32!!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Hes young and he is the ‘hot shot’ GM isn’t he? If he didn’t get a job in seattle, he was on the next tier to get a job.
Hes doing something right.
He drafted parker and ginobili.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:57 am
“Hes young and he is the ‘hot shot’ GM isn’t he?”
So was Paul DePodesta and JP Richardi.
“He drafted parker and ginobili.”
No he didn’t…nice try.
“Hes doing something right.”
Again, based on what? From what I’ve seen he made one marginal deal, and the rest of it has been moving trash around for small assets. As a GM, he’s 20-62, what right is he doing?
June 26th, 2008 at 8:59 am
PRESTI is a PUPPET !!!
Sorry Otto, but SonicsScott confirmed hearing the same thing in a different thread. Clay Bennett is making the calls, Presti is just dialing the phone.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:59 am
how about a game day thread for the trial?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:00 am
“Presti is a good enough GM (and a hot enough ticket), that I think he would be insulted, if he felt that he was just a puppet of Bennetts.”
If Presti was a puppett he would be doing irrepairable damage to his young resume.
If bennett treated his GM as a puppett then he would have trouble hiring any decent GM’s in the future.
No matter how much bennett probably wants to screw the fans, I think it causes too much damage to bennett for him to actually follow through & do it.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I give him credit for what he got out of the Kurt Thomas chronicals. The jury’s still out on the Ray-Green deal. His handling of last years second rounders and the Cleveland deal were weal and showed his inexperience IMO.
It’s a new day, let’s see how he does today..
June 26th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Bennett wouldn’t screw with the draft just to be a douche, he still thinks he is going to OKC in a few weeks, so to make a bad pick just to piss off the fans of Seattle is a bit of a stretch. And I am sure he has input in the draft, but I don’t think he is making all the calls based on how much time he has spent on the trial and running his other business. I think he hired Presti to make these kind of decisions because he is a basketball guy, and will let him run it as he sees fit.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Presti, being the youngest GM, can’t damage his resume just by taking the job. Just ask PJ Carlesimo.
Believe it or not, it’s a fact that Bennett will be in the war room. Do you think he would shell out all this money and not play GM ? C’mon, you know Bennett is making the big calls and Presti gets to make the announcements.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am
btw….I can’t stand Nick Licata.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:12 am
In the trial, Ceis should definitely be allowed to testify on very limited matters. He is there to refute the connection between the work by Wally Walker & Slade Gorton and the City of Seattle. Under the law, it only matters whether the parties (the plaintiff and the defendant) have unclean hands. The powerpoint presentation is irrelevant to that issue if the unclean hands are those of a non-party. The judge wants the truth and a full foundation. The judge will decide to hear this. Even if the judge’s decision to allow Ceis is wrong, the appellate court will not overturn the decision on that basis - it would be harmless error because without Ceis there is insufficient foundation, and besides, trial judges are allowed this discretion.
Ceis’s testimony will sink the unclean hands defense.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I agree with you WS Tim. He hired a GM that he thought could build him a team that would be good by the time he got to OKC. I’m sure Clay has input in the decisions, but I don’t think he is dictating things to Presti.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:15 am
It is amazing how Licata makes Bennett and Stern look like liars. They went to the WA Legislatures reporting all kinds of benefit to the city. Now, their attorneys are using Licata to attempt to prove that the Sonics have no benefit to Seattle.
It is amazing.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Does anybody know where the war room is this year? Seattle or OKC?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:16 am
9:10 a.m. - Licata testifies says he can’t think of a sports facility built in Washington state in the last 30 years that brought a return to the public. Keller then showing another section of the posting written by the City of Seattle’s law department about I-91 that says “The computation of return for the City would specifically exclude ‘all tangible, indirect, non-cash items such as goodwill, cultural or general economic benefits to the city.’”
Isn’t this the city’s whole point? That the team brings value to the city that can’t be measured monetarily?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am
If I was the owner I would be in the war room, who wouldn’t? As a fan it would be a dream come true. Hopefully, I’d have the sense to let the GM do his job but I’d be there………………I’d be there now if I could.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Licata is a backstabbing rat.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I think it’s good to have the owner in the war room to quickly approve big spending moves.
For example taking on contracts such as Mark Blount or Brian Cardinal to move in the draft would require sign off from ownership for most GMs. Why not have him sitting right there in the middle of the action getting impulsive with the spending. Paul Allen and the Blazers are a good example of how this can go well.
Clay Bennett in the war room is a good thing IMO.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Does anyone know if Clay Bennett is at the trial today?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:23 am
“I give him credit for what he got out of the Kurt Thomas chronicals.”
Three late #1’s and the ability to complain about the 5 million he spent on Kurt Thomas, for Rashard Lewis, yeah….what a steal!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Licata, Nichols and Gregoire are all on their way out of office, and not a moment to soon! Please Dino, bring some respect back to WA!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:23 am
He drafted parker and ginobili.”
No he didn’t…nice try.
But it was his rating/scouting players tool that was instrumental in their drafting.
Again, based on what? From what I’ve seen he made one marginal deal, and the rest of it has been moving trash around for small assets. As a GM, he’s 20-62, what right is he doing?
small assets? Lol
He got 3 unprotected picks for the TE.
Those are not small assets.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Sorry Otto, but SonicsScott confirmed hearing the same thing in a different thread. Clay Bennett is making the calls, Presti is just dialing the phone.
Uhh, it might be confirmed that Bennett will be in the room, But that doesn’t mean Presti is a puppet.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:28 am
9:20 a.m. - Licata says with a minimal investment, KeyArena could be a good NBA facility.
Thank you.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Phoenix will be in rebuilding mode come 2010. That is going to be a lottery pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:29 am
“Three late #1’s and the ability to complain about the 5 million he spent on Kurt Thomas, for Rashard Lewis, yeah….what a steal!”
Did you want to sign Rashard to the max? I was happy to let him walk rather than sign a max deal. Turning him to Kurt Thomas and then into 3 first rounders (we’ll see how late the Suns unprotected pick turns out to be) was a good deal IMO.
Hate on him if you want, I think that was one of his good deals, I also mentioned the bad deals. Kurt Thomas for 3 #1’s is a steal IMO. What would you have done that would have show such superior intellect??
June 26th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Phoenix has an uncanny ability to reload without ever really having to rebuild. Maybe a #15 pick at best?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Do you guys really believe that Clay is intelligent enough to make basketball personnel decisions?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Did Licata come today wearing his clown suit? What a Bozo.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Licata says in court “given all the publicity, I’m surprised I’m not on the cover.” Judge Pechman says “that might be reserved for me.”
Ms. Pacman’s got jokes!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:34 am
You feel much more good about phoenix’s chances, than many of their own fans. They are kicking Sarver up and down for not protecting the 010 pick.
Look, we flipped shard, for 3 first round picks.
HECK for awhile, this year phoenix’s pick, was looking pretty good to be a late lottery pick as well (But then they got on a hot streak).
June 26th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Ginobili was drafted in 1999 before Presti was even an intern. Beside Parker Spurs have kept / directly used almost nothing from the draft since.
This draft defines Presti more than everything he has been a part of before now.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Licata is a pathetic jackass.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Does the Exxon ruling fortell the city’s chance against big oil?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:45 am
“Kurt Thomas for 3 #1’s is a steal IMO.”
Sigh, that would have been a steal. But its not Kurt Thomas for three #1’s, its Rashard Lewis for three #1’s and at least one of those three picks is the 24th pick in this draft. A pick I’m counting on being used either on a foriegn guy we don’t bring over or being sold.
“Hate on him if you want, I think that was one of his good deals, I also mentioned the bad deals.”
It’s a marginally good deal. But other than that deal, he’s done nothing. The Thomas to SA deal is getting something for nothing, since Thomas would not have been back next year anyways, so I guess you can call that a win. The Wally/West deal was a complete trasher.
The jury is still out on the Ray deal, I personally find myself more on the side of it being a loss at this point. Green has to be more than a complimentary player for that to work out, and I’m not sure I see that out of him.
Dealing the Landry pick last year was plain out stupid.
“What would you have done that would have show such superior intellect??”
I don’t know what was out there, so its hard to say what could have been done. GM’s are pretty easy to judge, you use thier teams win/loss record and somehow he managed to take a team that was the 5th worst in the league two years ago, add the second player taken in the draft and get worse. Not a strong case for the boy genius.
“small assets? Lol”
Yes, small assets, SA’s first rounder next year shouldn’t be seen as some huge coup. Unless Duncan and Parker both go down, it’ll be a pick in the low 20’s AT BEST. Couple second rounders and shorter term contracts are what else he got.
“He got 3 unprotected picks for the TE.”
And he got the TE for Rashard Lewis and a swap of second rounders. You don’t get to count the picks, if you don’t count the player dealt out. One of those three ‘unprotected’ picks is 24 this year, the second should be in the 20’s next year and while I have hope for the 2010 Phoenix pick, we’ll have sucked for 4 years by that point….
June 26th, 2008 at 9:46 am
If you have a chance, read the propsed findings from the City and PBC. IMO, the City’s DOMINATES in comparison.
Especially, read p 44-46 of the City’s, which is where it factually proves that Clay Bennett was lying about his “man possessed” email.
We all know it, but here’s the official proof.
I felt much better about the case after reading those.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Sonics: Blah blah blah, Licata said they have no impact. Did you say that?
Licata: Yes.
Sonics: Your witness.
City: You took it back, is that correct?
Licata: Yes.
City: Owned.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:50 am
its Rashard Lewis for three #1’s
Even better. Lewis as a Max player.
Hell I would have done that for free.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:51 am
9:45 a.m. - City Ordinance 122492 passed on September 10, 2007 is presented into evidence. Licata says the council’s intent by passing the ordinance is basically to not let the PBC buy its way out of the KeyArena lease. The Sonics object. Narver argues in response that it shows the city does care whether the team leaves Seattle. The objection is overruled.
WE WON AN OBJECTION! WOO HOO!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am
9:45 a.m. - City Ordinance 122492 passed on September 10, 2007 is presented into evidence. Licata says the council’s intent by passing the ordinance is basically to not let the PBC buy its way out of the KeyArena lease. The Sonics object. Narver argues in response that it shows the city does care whether the team leaves Seattle. The objection is overruled. Licata testifies he felt very strongly that the contract should be completed. Licata is excused.
PWNED
June 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am
“Believe it or not, it’s a fact that Bennett will be in the war room. Do you think he would shell out all this money and not play GM ? C’mon, you know Bennett is making the big calls and Presti gets to make the announcements. ”
Agreed. This draft has the potential to get ugly for the Sonics. Like trading this year’s first rounders for future firsters to save money. A move that would dovetail nicely with Bennet’s obvious plans…My gut is telling me they dont even want to pick 4th and would much rather trade.
And since I am one of the biggest Love advocates here, I have to throw in that it was reported this morning on hoopsworld that Riley is askin Memphis for #5 and Conley in exchange for the 2. And Riley would take Love at 5…Another deal is the Heat getting Brand and #7 in exchange for Marion and #2. Looks like Riley sees the need for a PF and it’s not Beasley. He’d rather have Love and Conley than Beasley and Williams (or Cook or whoever at PG).
June 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I actually think Licata’s testimony today went pretty well for us.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:53 am
“Even better. Lewis as a Max player.”
Who would have signed for 5 and 75 during the season. I realize that’s not on Presti’s watch, so I don’t hold him accountable.
I’m going to take a guess and say in three years you’ll look back at this situation a lot differently. Those three players probably won’t make up for Lewis’s on court production…combined.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:54 am
“GM’s are pretty easy to judge, you use thier teams win/loss record and somehow he managed to take a team that was the 5th worst in the league two years ago, add the second player taken in the draft and get worse. Not a strong case for the boy genius.”
It seems you’ve made up your mind on this but most GM’s are judged on more than one year of work. They blew the team up and made no secret of it. They were the 5th worst team with Ray and Rashard and after discarding them did anyone really think they’d be better? I would prefer this approach to the one we previously employed where we drafted #14 each year. Did you think we would be better than last year at the start of this season, I think most pick us dead last in the West.
No one is yet singing Presti’s praises let’s see how today goes. All I’ve seen so far is approval for the Thomas trade, the others have been trashed (Cleveland/Second round debacle) or yet to decide (Ray/Green). Hardly a ringing endorsement but certainly more charitable than your read today anyway….
June 26th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Maybe not, but they also wouldn’t be getting paid even close to what Lewis is making.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Does anybody know why Litvin didn’t testify? Is he being saved for the Schultz trial?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Gorton, speaking as attorney for the city, says the city “has been working hand in glove” with the Steve Ballmer group on a KeyArena solution.
That doesn’t show unclean hands at all. It shows that they were trying to find a way to keep the team here. It does NOT show that they were trying to “bleed” Bennett or “poison the well” or whatever other scary words the PBC wants to misconstrue.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am
The City wanted to focus on the lease…litvin really has nothing to do with that
June 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I would love to see someone from the NBA get up on the stand and answer the question “Does the NBA offer any economic or cultural benefit to a community?”… If they answer No they alienate every NBA community, if they answer yes they throw Bennett’s argument in his face.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:59 am
“Does the Exxon ruling fortell the city’s chance against big oil?”
They still havent paid off Alaska for the Valdez spill. In fact in the face of their excessive profits they now find it the right time to stop the payments to Alaska and hire lawyers to say that maybe theyve paid too much to the people affected.
How messed up is that? You make a ton of money and decide to use it against the people they screwed over.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:00 am
The PBC has rested their case.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Scott, you say that 3 picks for Rashard is a wash because most of the picks are low 20’s. Rashard Lewis was drafted #32, so we could in effect get 3 Rashard Lewis’s for one Rashard Lewis. Now thats a shrewd GM!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:02 am
“No one is yet singing Presti’s praises let’s see how today goes.”
No one but otto….;)
“All I’ve seen so far is approval for the Thomas trade, the others have been trashed (Cleveland/Second round debacle) or yet to decide (Ray/Green). Hardly a ringing endorsement but certainly more charitable than your read today anyway….”
So my take is that the Lewis trade is a bit worse than others think it is and the rest kinda floats to where you see things. I tend to think that Presti’s done a good job of making small assets out of nothing, but in his two biggest moves there’s tremendous questions out there.
I’m willing to give him a lot more time to put his stamp on things. I haven’t seen much in him that makes me think he’s a special GM. Then again, last year I thought Ainge was one of the worst in the league, so what do I know;)
June 26th, 2008 at 10:05 am
“Scott, you say that 3 picks for Rashard is a wash because most of the picks are low 20’s. Rashard Lewis was drafted #32, so we could in effect get 3 Rashard Lewis’s for one Rashard Lewis. Now thats a shrewd GM!”
Let’s use the rule instead of the exception…
see you at the draft party tim;)
June 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am
“Then again, last year I thought Ainge was one of the worst in the league, so what do I know;)”
I couldn’t agree more. After all the futility who would have thought. Even a blind squirril finds nuts sometimes…..
June 26th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Scott, see you there! I plan on heading over at about 3:30. I am sure this debate will be a lot better after adding alcohol!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Per Chad Ford’s Chat:
So far … that’s how it looks. They don’t have a trade yet. I think they’d be happy with a deal that nets them either O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless and gives them some cap relief by taking Mark Blount off their hands. Seattle could reciprocate (they could send Chris Wilcox). So could Minnesota (they could send back Antoine Walker’s expiring deal). If I were Minnesota or Seattle, I’d do that deal in a heartbeat. But as of right now … sounds like the Heat and Wolves and Sonics are all playing chicken.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:15 am
i’m not completely sold on Beasley. at 6′7″ i don’t see him being our answer at the 4. unless, of course, he could be the next Charles Barkley, a 6′4″ PF.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:16 am
If anyone here owned a team wouldn’t you want to be in the war room? That doesn’t mean you’re going to over rule the people you hired to manage the team, set long-term goals, and scout and draft and trade and sign players to achieve those goals and generally know things you don’t.
So, sure, the jury’s out on how good a GM Presti is. And this means he’s a puppet how? Whatever the case he’s making a name for himself and has it in his best interest to make good on the reputation that already precedes him, justified or not. Making a dumbass trade in his name for someone who has no plausible interest in hobbling his prize before it even steps out on an OKC court…. Prove he’s doing something right? Prove he’s done something wrong. Prove he’s a puppet. Insufficient evidence that he’s a crack GM isn’t evidence for wild conspiracies.
What good reasons would Presti have had not to make exactly the trades he’s made if the Sonics’ future weren’t in question? That Lewis was leaving regardless and that it would have been crazy for the Sonics to give him the money he commanded is hard to argue with. Whether or not to keep Allen for his last however many productive years at his price on a rebuilding team he wasn’t taking anywhere is a tough decision I think any good GM would face.
Remove Bennett from the picture and ask how differently you can say with certainty Presti would have done things differently. A lot of the complaints against him have taken the “but he’s killing already low fan-interest” tack, but here we’re in damned-if-he-does-damned-if-he-doesn’t territory. “Whoa, that was stupid: re-signing Lewis just killed our cap flexibility for years to come and will get us only middling success and poor draft prospects. Why don’t we rebuild?” Rebuilding sucks.
Bennett insisting Presti draft a blatantly inappropriate player to hurt the team? Give me a break. Who thinks he and his posse are regretting the Durant pick? Laying low and tightening your purse strings until the team’s future is resolved is one thing; you can throw all your money at free agents once it is. But there’s no repairing the damage of playing possum in the draft. Sure, trading some talented (relative to the rest of the roster) players mid-season who had no future on the team anyway saved money. But it also helped the team’s eventual draft positioning. If Bennett were to issue a stupid war-room demand it would take only one witness to leak it and introduce it into evidence in court. If you polled the Sonics’ staff, which would they choose, Seattle or OKC?
Let’s see what happens.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:17 am
i don’t see Lopez as that bad a pick. i’m just leery of our history with drafting centers.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:21 am
More from the chat:
The sonics continually have gotten burned by taking centers high in the draft. Brook Lopez looks like a perfect fit for this to happen again. What points to Lopez working out any better than Swift, Sene, etc…
Chad Ford: (1:17 PM ET ) He’s much more experienced and skilled than either Robert Swift or Saer Sene. He averaged nearly 20 ppg in the Pac 10. I think it’s a safe pick. I think their heart is with Russell Westbrook however. They have an offer from the Clippers that would give them No. 7 and a future first. I think they should take it and then draft either Lopez or Westbrook or Bayless … whoever’s left on the board.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Lopez may be a Tim Duncan type, but just like Duncan, it seems boring. I don’t like it either, but it may work out for the best. Seeing as KD and Green could move to the 3 and 4, we need some height in there. Maybe take a pure pass first PG with a later pick, and it could be ok. Still would rather have Beasly, but is we get Lopez, we can than trade Wilcox for something as we would have to many 6′10″ guys and not enough PG.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am
So give them whatever they want. Because one of Mayo and Bayless will be there at #4
June 26th, 2008 at 10:27 am
“Sonics lawyer Paul Taylor is respondng says the rebuttal is not proper partly because, due to the attorney-client privilege waiver, the defense hasn’t had time to prepare for Ceis’ testimony today.”
No time? You had 5 days you idiots 1 spent on making a motion not to allow him to testify……..
June 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
i’m not completely sold on Beasley. at 6′7″ i don’t see him being our answer at the 4
His wingspan is really good though.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
“Taylor also says there are so many people from the city involved in the case, it makes no difference whether Ceis knew anything. “
Thats his opinion, he hasn’t proved this is a city wide conspiracy.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:33 am
“[The Sonics] have an offer from the Clippers that would give them No. 7 and a future first. I think they should take it and then draft either Lopez or Westbrook or Bayless … whoever’s left on the board.”
Yes. Do it. Add Love to the list.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Taylor didn’t name any of them it seems. Another blanket statement with no proff. This guys piss me off. I say we have a rally at K&L Gates office requestiong they relocate to OKC, as they have a disfunctional relationship with the city of Seattle and there is little to no interest in them sticking around.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
“[The Sonics] have an offer from the Clippers that would give them No. 7 and a future first.
for who?
June 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m SO tired of reading that fans think Lopez will bust. This is three things: racism, fear of repetition and just plain ignorance from not having watched the kid. Let me set some things straight. First, Bogut is fantastic and getting better and he was a worse college player than Lopez (worse conference, slightly superior fg but inferior stats) and also white. Kaman, also white. I challenge all of you to watch Lopez in action and tell me that he’s going to be a bust because barring injuries there is absolutely zero, and I mean ZERO chance of that happening.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
For the no. 4 pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
WS Tim, I think you mean Byrnes & Keller. K&L Gates is the city’s attorneys.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Racism? All I see are fears of Sonics fans of drafting another center in the first round.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:41 am
for who?
For our #4 pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Lopez is as white as Barack Obama.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Definitely racism, please tell me that if this guy were black he wouldn’t be seen as more athletic and therefore more acceptable at 4? Also he’d be compared to Tim Duncan.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:43 am
BBen, just because people think that Lopez is going to be a bust makes them racist? C’mon man, people can have an opinion about a player without being a racist. I wouldn’t want Bogut or Kaman either, or even Kevin Love. I think people are afraid of slight built centers being drafted by the Sonics, nothing more, nothing less.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:44 am
real gm is saying the 2nd pick and marion to the clippers for brand and the 7th. this is just a rumor too though
June 26th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Being hispanic does not preclude you from being white.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:45 am
That’s complete heresy, BBen, and I don’t think anyone is implying racism as a reason they don’t want Lopez. Give me a break. Most of us are clammoring for a trade up to grab Beasley because the man is a beast or OJ Mayo because we feel we need a PG. I don’t think anyone else outside of the top 3 guys sets the world on fire.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:46 am
And yes, I am a moron, I meant Byrnes and Keller, lack of sleep and high anxiety are making me loopy!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Again, based on what? From what I’ve seen he made one marginal deal, and the rest of it has been moving trash around for small assets. As a GM, he’s 20-62, what right is he doing?
- Proof he is a bad GM…he hasn’t done anything good or bad as of yet…this is a pointless argument.
*starts Jeopardy music*
June 26th, 2008 at 10:48 am
“10:40 a.m. - Lawrence also says the city reserved the right to call Ceis as a rebuttal witnesss if the Sonics did not. Pechman asks Taylor if the Sonics contend that Ceis knew about the PowerPoint. Because Taylor isn’t going up to the microphone to answer, I could not hear his response.”
If Ceis is a city official with strong involvement in the Sonics’ relocation and if the Sonics do not contend that such city officials knew about the PowerPoint, then the foundation for the PowerPoint might be so strongly undercut that it is as good as having Ceis testify.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Myk, the point is that Bennett is going to run the show from the backroom, according to ESPN, and that makes Presti a PUPPET.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:50 am
“Definitely racism, please tell me that if this guy were black he wouldn’t be seen as more athletic and therefore more acceptable at 4? Also he’d be compared to Tim Duncan. “
What a ridiculous argument. Why does it have to be racism?? I watched Pac 10 basketball all season and Im not sold on him, definitely not as the 4th overall pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:51 am
BBen, just because people think that Lopez is going to be a bust makes them racist? C’mon man, people can have an opinion about a player without being a racist. I wouldn’t want Bogut or Kaman either, or even Kevin Love. I think people are afraid of slight built centers being drafted by the Sonics, nothing more, nothing less.
How is a 7′0, 260 pound center slight built? That’s perfect playing weight. PERFECT. You’re just revealing your ignorance.
Also, the racism I’m referring to is not blatant fore brain racism, it’s the racial profiling type racism. It’s the kind of racism that makes you judge someone without considering the facts, like you’re doing right now.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:51 am
regarding Lopez: you can’t let mistakes of the past from a different GM affect what you do in the future. Brook Lopez could be the most sure bet and certainly fills a need for the Sonics.
I understand why people aren’t high on him because he’s not explosive and he doesn’t run like a gazelle. I feel the same way — you wanna hit a homerun. I’ll be surprised if they just sit at 4 and grab him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them turn the #4 and #24 into #7 and #8 or something like that. Then they can grab the best guard and big left.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Ceis will not testify.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:52 am
And BBen, its not that Lopez is Hispanic (I didn’t even know that he was) that I am unsure I want him, its because he lived in Oak Harbor.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Oh well on Ceis, the PBC basically admitted he didnt have knowledge of the powerpoint anyway.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:54 am
So, I guess that means that maybe the judge is going to rule for the Sonics. Wow!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:54 am
10:49 a.m. - Ceis not allowed to testify.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:55 am
This is three things: racism
LOL what? care to explain this comment?
Myk, the point is that Bennett is going to run the show from the backroom, according to ESPN
ESPN said that Bennett was going to call all the shots? (Was this their opinion? or did they state it as fact). Did presti come on espn and say, Yes I am a puppet?
June 26th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Who would have signed for 5 and 75 during the season. I realize that’s not on Presti’s watch, so I don’t hold him accountable.
I’m going to take a guess and say in three years you’ll look back at this situation a lot differently. Those three players probably won’t make up for Lewis’s on court production…combined.
- Wow…what a stupid argument…give me a break. Lewis is an empty player. We really could’ve had the ability to sign him for $15 million a year…YES! YES! YES!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:56 am
She also clarifies that Taylor is not arguing that Ceis did not see the PowerPoint.
It was my understanding from last week that this is EXACTLY what Taylor was inferring? If that isn’t the case now then there really is no point in Ceis testifying.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:57 am
“Proof he is a bad GM…he hasn’t done anything good or bad as of yet…this is a pointless argument.”
I never said he was a bad GM, that’s where the problem lies. I just want someone to tell me why he should be seen as anything more than a work in progress. What I’ve gotten is that he drafted Tony Parker (which I think RC Buford and Pop might want a LITTLE bit of credit for as well) and Ginobili which was flat out wrong.
He’s made two deals right now which I think can be classified as bad. The Cleveland deal where we gave them two pieces for a second round pick. That’s just bad. Second is the 31st pick for a future second and cash.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
guess who, i wouldn’t be taking bets on that just yet.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Lopez is white? Whoah you just blew my mind.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:59 am
With all of the rulings going the way of the Sonics (and I do think that not allowing Ceis to testify is a huge blow), I am very concerned about the judge’s ruling now. I do think that there is some room for the city to appeal, though.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Seattle Time: “The final thrust of Keller’s examination focused on Licata’s quotes in a Sports Illustrated story in 2006, in which Licata told a reporter that the economic impact — if the Sonics left town — would be near zero. He also said on the impact of their departure, on a cultural basis, would be close to zero.
Licata was shown a copy of the magazine.
“Given all the publicity, I’m surprised I’m not on the front cover,” Licata said.
The judge chimed in. “That might be reserved for me,” Pechman said.
…….
I think the Judge just showed her hand and will be ruling for the Sonics. Often subconscious ‘truths’ are reveled in moments of humor like this.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
“Lewis is an empty player.”
Thank you genius!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
“It’s the kind of racism that makes you judge someone without considering the facts, like you’re doing right now”
Like calling someone a racist that is married to someone who is hispanic?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
So, I guess that means that maybe the judge is going to rule for the Sonics. Wow!
Why? The judge allowed the fact that Ceis did not know about the power point.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Myk, the point is that Bennett is going to run the show from the backroom, according to ESPN, and that makes Presti a PUPPET.
- Hmmm…sounds like 75% of all owners these days…
June 26th, 2008 at 11:03 am
if the defense is not arguing the plaintiff’s point, then the witness’s testimony is moot. i think that’s why ceis’s testimony was withheld.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:03 am
It’s no big deal, Guess Who. The judge will look at Ceis’s deposition where he says he didn’t know about the Powerpoint. He just won’t be allowed to take the stand.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
what’s lopez being from Oak Harbor have to do with anything? he lived there as a kid. high school in california and then stanford i’m sure has more to do with his basketball skill than anything he would have learned in Oak Harbor
June 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Say what you will about the cleveland deal, we dropped a horrible contract in that deal and gained expiring ones as well as a pick. I’m definately fine with that trade.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Other Chris, it was a joke to lighten the mood.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
What I get from this trial is that people just need reasons to freak out.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
The Times blog says that Pechman didn’t see a reason for him to testify as he already said in the deposition that he had never seen the Powerpoint. Looks more like her not wanting to waste the courts time repeating what they already know.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Like calling someone a racist that is married to someone who is hispanic?
Are you kidding me? Because you’re married to a hispanic makes you not racist? Do I need to educate you on basic psychology? Your brain doesn’t work like that. You have all kinds of racism you don’t even know about. The fact that you’re so sensitive to such a claim goes even further to illustrate this.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Thank you genius!
- What? The fact that you are saying that the Sonics/Presti did not win the Lewis trade (by a wide margain) because we had the opportunity to sign him for $15 million shows that you are just looking for reasons to not like the guy.
Signing Lewis would’ve killed any opportunity for cap space to sign free agents. Blocked our best player from his natural position and would’ve been wasting $15 million on a 6′10″ jumpshooter who does nothing else.
This is just a completely ignorant defense of your stance. You can say he handled other issues like the Cleveland trade poorly…but not this one.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
No, I don’t like the way this trial is ending. That ruling was a huge blow after all of the objections being over-ruled. I have a very, very bad feeling about this. Up to today, I was pretty confident. Not so much anymore. However, I do believe that by denying testimony by Ceis that the door has been opened considerably for appeal by the city.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Question: How can Bennett be in the courtroom today and be at the NBA draft? Perhaps this lends credence to the notion of an evil twin…
June 26th, 2008 at 11:09 am
BBen: I like how you seem to know who is racist, just on the fact they don’t want lopez.
Thats a stretch.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Christopher Michael: Bingo, why have the city call him out to testify he had no knowledge, if Pechman was going to allow the deposition, where he said..he had no knowledge.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I thought the same thing Neb.
Pechmans response “That might be reserved for me” pretty much signals her ruling.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
West Seattle Tim, ok. i was just wondering if there was any significance to it
June 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Otto: ok
June 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
That ruling was a huge blow after all of the objections being over-ruled.
Why? everyone has explained why its not a blow.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I really don’t like how it seems the “objection scorecard” and all those factors seem to be going against the city.
HOWEVER…
It seems as though if Pechman rules in favor of the city, the ensuing appeal with have little to no chance, which bodes well for us. But, if she rules in favor of the PBC, then the appeal would actually have a chance. It’s tough to hear all these things, but it does seem as though the city’s case is so much stronger - it’s based on facts, and a solid foundation, whereas PBC’s case is built on manipulation and theatrics.
Bells and whistles may win you the Tony for best play, but not in a court of law.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Why was it a big blow, Guess Who? The PBC did not dispute the fact that Ceis did not see the Powerpoint, therefore it would be a waste of time for him to repeat what everyone already knows. That’s a win for the city in my book.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
11:07 a.m . - Just talked to Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics about his thoughts. He thinks things are going well. I also asked him what he’s heard about Judge Pechman and how she might rule. The one thing that really stood out is that after talking to three other attorneys who have gone before Pechman, Robinson says Pechman doesn’t like to be appealed. One of the attorneys even suggested that Pechman may lean her objections more towards the side the ultimately ends up losing the case. According to Robinson, that attorney said he/she would rather have Pechman side against them during trial than with them.
GO BR!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Pechmans response “That might be reserved for me” pretty much signals her ruling.
- Why would SI only put her on the cover if she rules for the Sonics??
June 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Everyone just relax and read the king5.com minutes.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I would be very surprised if Lopez is the pick. Too many big bodies in this draft with similar or better athleticism. I did watch some PAC-10 ball this year, and Lopez could do very little if he didn’t get the ball on the low-block and drop step. That and his numbers weren’t really that good. Low FG% for a big and less than 10 boards is not exactly exciting stuff.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:16 am
That was one of the things that some of us thought here.
She is letting PBC throw everything against the wall, because she does not want to leave much room for appeal for the losing side.
She deny’s many of the PBC’s objections/rulings, they have more to appeal on.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:17 am
“Say what you will about the cleveland deal, we dropped a horrible contract in that deal and gained expiring ones as well as a pick. I’m definately fine with that trade.”
No we didn’t.
We gained ONE expirering contract, Ira Newble. Marshall and Griffin are still sitting on the books. All we really did there was save Bennett about 5.5 million dollars next year, 5.5 he won’t be investing in other talent.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:17 am
hey, Guess who, “No sugar tonight in your coffee, no sugar tonight in your tea”
relax! the city got what they wanted, a rebuttal from ceis, on the power point issue.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Makes sense…
“Just talked to Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics about his thoughts. He thinks things are going well. I also asked him what he’s heard about Judge Pechman and how she might rule. The one thing that really stood out is that after talking to three other attorneys who have gone before Pechman, Robinson says Pechman doesn’t like to be appealed. One of the attorneys even suggested that Pechman may lean her objections more towards the side the ultimately ends up losing the case. According to Robinson, that attorney said he/she would rather have Pechman side against them during trial than with them.”
June 26th, 2008 at 11:19 am
BBen, I just typed a diatribe on how silly your remarks are, complete with sarcastic remarks and counterpoints to your statments, but I don’t want to add fuel to your one man fire, so I deleted it. Lets get back to basketball and the trial. We have enough problems right now, maybe later we can discuss this, along with religeon and politics, you know, something we all can agree on.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:20 am
“11:10 a.m. - Lawrence starts closing arguments … ”
Can any of you lawyer types tell me how long these closing arguments will (likely) take?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Otto:
Yes. Just to clarify, I know my opinion isn’t a new one, I’ve seen it said here a bunch. I just felt like a number of people were starting to feel down about how things were going. Just trying to keep the mood positive.
Waiting for Pechman to make her decision is going to be the longest….(insert actual amount of time it takes her) ever.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I like how Ford has the Bobcats taking Love and Hibbert in the first round. They take Hibbert so they “can move Okafor to the PF position”, which means that they’d be using their 9th pick to supposedly draft a back up and their 20th pick to draft a starter…doesn’t seem to make sense.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:23 am
“What? The fact that you are saying that the Sonics/Presti did not win the Lewis trade (by a wide margain) because we had the opportunity to sign him for $15 million shows that you are just looking for reasons to not like the guy.
Signing Lewis would’ve killed any opportunity for cap space to sign free agents. Blocked our best player from his natural position and would’ve been wasting $15 million on a 6′10″ jumpshooter who does nothing else.
This is just a completely ignorant defense of your stance. You can say he handled other issues like the Cleveland trade poorly…but not this one.”
That’s not my defense, its your interpretation of my defense.
My defense is that we traded away our second best player and for him right now we have the 24th pick in the draft, what looks like a low first next year and the possibility of a decent pick in 2010.
If you want to say that you think this is the kind of deals good teams make, then by all means. But it certainly isn’t a slam dunk win. At best its solid salvaging of a shipwreck.
In fact with the 15 million dollar comment you show your own ignorance because I said clearly I don’t hold Presti responsible for not getting that done because it was before he was running things.
Should we have signed Lewis, given the way the draft worked out, probably not and maybe three low picks is the best that could be done. We’ll never know.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Lawrence’s closing arguments are hammering it home
June 26th, 2008 at 11:23 am
West Seattle Tim:
I wrote something to win the argument but I deleted it too.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am
BBen - That is probably one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on this board. The reason I don’t want Lopez has nothing to do with his race. I just think The Sonics would be better off taking Mayo, Westbrook, Gordon or Bayless with the #4 pick. I feel we can get someone later in the draft that will give you just about the same thing as Lopez does, at a cheaper price.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am
“All we really did there was save Bennett about 5.5 million dollars next year, 5.5 he won’t be investing in other talent”
We, as seattle fans may not like it, but I think this is Presti doing his job. Don’t hate on Presti for it. Under different ownership, and a more certain future, I like it.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Then of course Ford also has us drafting 3 SGs in the second round…
June 26th, 2008 at 11:25 am
If I could buy Paul Lawrence a beer I would. What a fantastic, focused trial he has run for the city.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Eric - It’s funny but race was only one of three parts of my case. It’s amazing I’m getting picked on for that point alone. Look, your vehement reactions in this regard illuminate a lot more about you than you think it does.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I am still wondering why Berry Ackerley has had no involvement with this case. You would think he could provide his thought process when drawing up the KeyArena lease with the NBA. I would like to know his thoughts on this whole matter.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
BBen, “allegedly” win!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Sorry to be a downer. I just don’t like the ending of this trial. Everyone has said that Friday was a winner for the Sonics. I was hoping that with Ceis’ testimony we could take some of the wind out of their sails.
However, I do believe today’s decision on Ceis does give the city a door for appeal that may not have been there up to today.
And I hope that Schultz has the guts to keep his case on the docket.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:29 am
“We, as seattle fans may not like it, but I think this is Presti doing his job. Don’t hate on Presti for it. Under different ownership, and a more certain future, I like it.”
How would anyone like it under different ownership? It’s a move that didn’t get us under the cap, where we gave away two players who were rotation players on one of hte last eight teams alive in the playoffs and what our team got out of it was 5.5 million dollars less salary paid out and a future second round pick.
The only way it becomes a positive deal is if we can move Marshall as a contract for something decent. Other than that it was a salary dump of decent talent for non-league talent.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Future picks may be for a team in OKC, not Seattle. Bennett is not going to do anything that will make this team attractive to Seattle. He is looking to 2010 or sooner to be in OKC.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:32 am
It’s funny but race was only one of three parts of my case. It’s amazing I’m getting picked on for that point alone.
Maybe it’s because it was the first point you made? Albeit a ridiculous one. Calling someone a racist is a reach unless you have facts supporting such a claim. Which you don’t have other than your “ASSumption”.
Can we all talk basketball draft and the case now?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Guess Who, do you read the other posts? Attorneys who have been IN FRONT OF PECHMAN before say that she usually favors the team who is losing during the trial.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am
My defense is that we traded away our second best player and for him right now we have the 24th pick in the draft, what looks like a low first next year and the possibility of a decent pick in 2010.
- Ummmm, we didn’t trade away our second best player…our second best player had another team offer him an insanely overpriced contract and we were able to convince that team to give him an additional year of way too much money and throw us some draft picks and a trade exception.
By definition we got something out of absolutely nothing.
In fact with the 15 million dollar comment you show your own ignorance because I said clearly I don’t hold Presti responsible for not getting that done because it was before he was running things.
- Signing Lewis to a $15 million dollar contract would’ve been a mistake as well. For all the reasons I listed before.
Should we have signed Lewis, given the way the draft worked out, probably not and maybe three low picks is the best that could be done. We’ll never know.
- So, even if we had drafted Greg Oden….you would’ve wanted Rashard Lewis on your team for the next 5 years at $15 million a year ensuring that we had zero cap space to sign additional free agents?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:34 am
My opinion on Presti is he is blowing it up and starting over with his guys. We coul dhave continued to make the playoffs every other year and losing in the first round, and getting the 16th to 24th pick, or just start over. I like starting over. And I NEVER liked Rashard, he just seemed too soft, and Ray wasn’t getting any younger or healthier. At least we have hope that we will be better eventually, lets just hope its here and not in OKC.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Just read ESPN’s article of the top 60 players drafted since the lottery began. One player for each draft position. I think Seattle held their own. Best #2 Gary Payton. Best #17 Shawn Kemp, Best # 30 Nate McMillan, and best # 32 Rashard Lewis. If only it had brought us a Championship or two. Would be great if in a few years Durant could supplant Payton. Also too bad we can’t get a hold of Rose. It would be sweet to hear Kevin Calaboro scream out…” Good Golly Miss Molly … SLLLLLLAM dunk… GUNS (Durant) From Roses”. Can you tell I’m ready for the draft? LMAO
June 26th, 2008 at 11:37 am
“- So, even if we had drafted Greg Oden….you would’ve wanted Rashard Lewis on your team for the next 5 years at $15 million a year ensuring that we had zero cap space to sign additional free agents?”
Absolutely without question.
A bird in the hand is worth…..
Remember that had we drafted Oden instead we’d have had a solid team with Allen, Lewis and Oden. You don’t need massive FA money at that point, just use your exceptions wisely.
“throw us some draft picks and a trade exception.”
Wow, that’s so not what happened. We traded them a second, they traded us a second, they got the guy they wanted and we got a trade exception.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Otto asked, “ESPN said that Bennett was going to call all the shots? (Was this their opinion? or did they state it as fact). Did presti come on espn and say, Yes I am a puppet?”
Yes, ESPN reported it as a fact. Bennett will be in the backroom directing.
Presti did not go on ESPN and say I AM A PUPPET because Bennett had his hands on the strings.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Guess who, something to cheer you up:
“Just talked to Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics about his thoughts. He thinks things are going well. I also asked him what he’s heard about Judge Pechman and how she might rule. The one thing that really stood out is that after talking to three other attorneys who have gone before Pechman, Robinson says Pechman doesn’t like to be appealed. One of the attorneys even suggested that Pechman may lean her objections more towards the side the ultimately ends up losing the case. According to Robinson, that attorney said he/she would rather have Pechman side against them during trial than with them.”
June 26th, 2008 at 11:41 am
“..a trial court may order specific performance only if there is a valid binding contract; a party has committed or is threatening to commit a breach of its contractural duty; the contract has definite and certain terms; and the contract is free from unfairness, fraud and overreaching.”
Wouldn’t it be great to see Bennett jump up and say “Ha! I committed fraud when I bought the team! So we can get out of the contract now, right?”
June 26th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Rock:
Yes, ESPN reported it as a fact. Bennett will be in the backroom directing
THen thats bad journalism, Unless presti has said that bennett is calling the shots, That is just speculation.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:42 am
could the decision come down this afternoon? tommorow?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:43 am
“Absolutely without question.”
Are you arguing just to argue or what? Orlando can keep that bird (Rashard) cause I would perfer anything in the bush to that huge contract.
Why don’t we save the Presti bashing for at least a month or 6.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Wow, that’s so not what happened. We traded them a second, they traded us a second, they got the guy they wanted and we got a trade exception.
- I’m sorry…that is a good point. However, it is no worse than you saying “we traded away our second best player”
Remember that had we drafted Oden instead we’d have had a solid team with Allen, Lewis and Oden. You don’t need massive FA money at that point, just use your exceptions wisely.
- So, you were one of the few people here who was willing to make a go with Allen/Lewis as your core for the next 5 years?? I know they had been a successful bunch i the past…
June 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Because everything that ESPN reports is fact.
Settle down Rock. Jeez.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I agree with Myk that Presti’s trade of Lewis in isolation was not bad. What was bad was the insulting treatment of Lewis prior to his going to Orlando. The Sonics just talked gobbledy gook to Lewis and never offered a contract. Presti took what was offered to him by the situation. It’s a wash.
As for Presti drafting Durant, that was a given. Presti did nothing there. He was handed the pick and there was no real choice. I know it will appear on his resume, but he deserves no credit for that. Besides, the owners made that decision too.
None of that changes the fact that Presti is a puppet.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Caller on KJR wants to DJ Augustin at #7
June 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
11:40 a.m. - Lawrence says the lease has a mandatory arbitration clause to settle disputes which he says would never end up in federal court. He says in those cases it would end up before “some triple-A arbitrator.”
Can someone explain what this means?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:48 am
By the way, I think we might end up with Eric Gordon today because of his professed love of Oklahoma City over Seattle.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:50 am
ESPN radio is saying that the sonics are either going to..or have traded the #4 pick to the Clippers for #7 pick and a future first round pick.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:51 am
“- So, you were one of the few people here who was willing to make a go with Allen/Lewis as your core for the next 5 years?? I know they had been a successful bunch i the past…”
No, I was willing to go with Oden as my core with Lewis/Allen surrounding him:) You can’t take the best piece of the three out:)
“Are you arguing just to argue or what?”
You don’t think that an Oden/Allen/Lewis team is better than what we’ll have for the next 4 years?
“What was bad was the insulting treatment of Lewis prior to his going to Orlando. The Sonics just talked gobbledy gook to Lewis and never offered a contract. Presti took what was offered to him by the situation. It’s a wash.”
I’d tend to agree with this. Why I call it a good job of salvaging a shipwreck. Was Lewis great? I wouldn’t go that far, but i’ve seen a lot worse being signed for a lot more. Once we got Durant that probably changed the situation a lot, then the Allen deal sealed Rashard’s fate.
Presti did fine for his position, but he certainly didn’t win.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:51 am
11:47 a.m.- Pechman wondering about how both sides will act toward each other after the ruling. Lawrence says everyone involved is “sophisticated” and will be well behaved. Pechman then questions how sophisticated they are. She makes a comparison, saying that when Mayor Nickels wanted to talk about renovating KeyArena and Bennett said it wasn’t worth talking about was like having both sides go to their corners. Lawrence says the Mayor wanted to talk about keeping the Sonics through the lease and was not willing to discuss a buyout.
Better not mean she is actually listening to the PBC’s bullshit.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Man its really depressing that I can’t enjoy draft day yet…
I hope the trail will end with a happy note
June 26th, 2008 at 11:52 am
The Presti puppet conspiracy theory is pretty funny to me. Why go through all the trouble? Why not just appoint Bennett CEO/President/GM. That saves a lot of money. BTW: What is your job? When your boss asks you do do something…..what do you do? A: Your job.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am
otto, i think something got lost there…
June 26th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Christopher Michael,
I worried when I saw that too. But think deep here. If she rules for PBC why does it matter how they would act toward one another? They won’t be dealing with each other on a daily basis.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:55 am
What do you mean? ESPN radio is reporting the trade, is either happening..or will be happening.
So westbrook? Lopez, Love? Maybe Bayless slide to #7
June 26th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Pechman wondering about how both sides will act toward each other after the ruling.
This makes me nervous as well. Is she thinking that if she rules for the city that both sides are going to be so bitter towards each other that she might as well just rule for the PBC so that the two can go their separate ways?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Andrew 13- are there any quotes floating around the net regarding Eric Gordon and his preference of OKC?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
That’s a good point 4020. If the PBC wins it’s over. They’re gone. Interesting.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
So, Presti does take orders from Bennett.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:57 am
A clippers first round pick is always protected. You can count on a 19th pick or better every year as long as Donald Sterling runs that team!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:57 am
okay, sorry otto, i misread it. i thought it was the sonics either will __________ or will trade #4 etc etc
June 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
LA TIMES: SOnics decline the trade.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I bet That the clippers trade was a back up.
I bet now that Seattle has secured a trade to move up.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
You don’t think that an Oden/Allen/Lewis team is better than what we’ll have for the next 4 years?
- Sadly, that is pretty debateable. I think that Allen saved himself alot in the Finals…but against Cleveland he seemed pretty much done. Lewis is a player that can put up good stats on bad teams and Oden hasn’t done anything yet. Prestil couldn’t have predicted that Oden would be injured all year…but I think many of us knew Ray wouldn’t be worth his contract by the time it was expiring.
The team with Allen/Lewis only won 26 (? don’t want to look it up) games without Oden. I find the arugment that Oden is worth 16 more wins and that Allen and Lewis would continue to provide similar performance in year four then they had given in 2005/06 to be pretty hard to accept.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
LA Times reporting the Clips made the offer and the Sonics declined.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Per Locke’s blog -
As of 12:55 pm on DRAFT DAY
Mario Chalmers is in New York with the Knicks right now and they are trying to get a deal done to be able to pick him between 10-14.
I just ran three mocks with people around the league and in non of them does Jarryd Bayless get drafted in the Top 10 — I will do a top Mock when I get to the ZIons Basketball Center
Ryan Anderson out of Cal is a hot name right now. I just heard him around 16 for Philadelphia.
That would be someone that we have not heard before meaning a big could slide to the Jazz.
**Could this be why we are trying to get into the 10-15 range?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
If the PBC wins it’s over. They’re gone.
Schultz…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Per ESPN we just traded the #4 to LA Clippers for the #7 + a future 1st
June 26th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
ESPN is reporting the trade with the Clips.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
ESPN is reporting the trade with the Clips, and not as a rumor - it says it on the ESPNEWS ticker.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
This is crazy.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I just realized what happened with Rashard! Bennett really wanted him, and wrote Presti “I AM A MAN POSSESSED!!!” to re-sign him. Typical results followed…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Blood Diamond said: Maybe it’s because it was the first point you made? Albeit a ridiculous one. Calling someone a racist is a reach unless you have facts supporting such a claim. Which you don’t have other than your “ASSumption”.
Can we all talk basketball draft and the case now?
Absolutely incredible. I guess I’ve been living outside of the country for too long because I don’t remember people being this sensitive. Review my original post and I called NOBODY a racist. I said it was a racist reaction to label a white player as a bust without looking at the facts. It’s the same as racial profiling, etc. But nowhere did I call anyone a racist. Now, through your nastiness and derision I would hazard a guess that you probably have strong racist tendencies that manifest themselves when confronted by the fact. Once again, not calling you a racist. It’s a mistake to identify one trait as an all-encompassing personality identifier. I’m racist as is everyone, calm the heck down. Yes, your reaction to Lopez, Love, Kamen and Bogut is racist, face the facts and deal with it.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Trading down and a future first? Sounds like Clay/Presti is willing to gear up for a contender 10 years out…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
So we just get a future 1st….It IS the Clips, but I figure we could get something else.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
anybody got a link? i’m not seeing it on espn’s website.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I thought there were. I know I got it from somewhere. But I don’t have the quote in front of me.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The 7th and the future Wolves pick ?
Decent deal IMO
June 26th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Its a conditional first.
Which sucks.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I would hazard a guess that you probably have strong racist tendencies that manifest themselves when confronted by the fact. Once again, not calling you a racist. It’s a mistake to identify one trait as an all-encompassing personality identifier. I’m racist as is everyone, calm the heck down. Yes, your reaction to Lopez, Love, Kamen and Bogut is racist, face the facts and deal with it.
LOL What??? You are telling him he has racist tendencies but are claim you aren’t calling him a racist? Furthermore you tell the rest of us we are judging Lopez based on race but say you aren’t calling us racist? Wow time for you to shut up and move along.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
All I want for christmas is the Sonics to stay in Seattle, a quality PG, and Wilkens out of here.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Seems like a no-brainer to me. There are 5 guards in this class (Rose, Bayless, Gordon, Westbrook, Mayo), plus Beasley and probably Lopez or Love. Basically 7 and 8 are the picks where the talent starts to drop off. Beasley and Durant is like pairing Carmelo and Paul Pierce. I still hope Bayless is the guy at 7.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
If trade with Clips is true, I hope it’s an unprotected pick. My only regret would be IF Mayo or Beasley actually slip to #4… Otherwise we would have taken someone who will probably still be there at #7, so it’s a great deal. Lopez or Bayless at #7.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Yi just dealt to the nets for Jefferson.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/specials/draft/2008/06/26/yi.jefferson.trade/index.html
June 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
its protected! WEAK!
June 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Trading down and a future first? Sounds like Clay/Presti is willing to gear up for a contender 10 years out…
Non-sense. If the player presti wanted was going to be there at 7, It would be idiotic not to trade down to get more assets.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Your implications that we wouldn’t like Lopez simply because he’s a big white guy (which he isn’t) indicates that several people in this forum are racists. Which simply isn’t true other than some drummed up imaginative theory that you have.
You want to have a psych theory discussion? Fine. Go do it in another forum. Here, folks want to talk about basketball, the draft, and the court case.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I’m racist against mermaids.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
So we just get a future 1st….It IS the Clips, but I figure we could get something else.
- I think that the one pattern you can see in Presti is that in drafts he will decide the players he wants and if the players he want can be taken later in the draft he will definately try and squeeze as many assets as possible to fall farther down. Sort of the Bill Belicheck method of drafting.
His player evaluation skills is going to be what makes or breaks him…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
“Its a conditional first.
Which sucks”
It depends of the condition but when you suck like the Clippers you don’t send a 1st without protection.
If nothing crasy happens there is not much difference between 4th and 7th. If the goal is to get Lopez you have a great chance to still pick him at 7th with a lower salary and a pick as a bonus.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“its protected! WEAK!”
So was the Otis Thorpe pick…
Until you know what the protection is, its impossible to accurately identify.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Jake, who isn’t? Feaky half fish bit#@es, every time I see one I cross the street.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
The target at 7 has to be Lopez. Clips at 4, Griz at 5, Knicks at 6. Clips have long been rumored to be taking a guard (Bayliss?). Which leaves Love for Memphis and then Westbrook or Gallinari for NY.
So if Presti is dropping back and still assured of getting “his guy” then it stands to reason that his guy is Lopez.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
The target at 7 has to be Lopez. Clips at 4, Griz at 5, Knicks at 6. Clips have long been rumored to be taking a guard (Bayliss?). Which leaves Love for Memphis and then Westbrook or Gallinari for NY.
- Seems like Bayless might be dropping out of the top 10…I think we’re going Lopez…but going from 4 to 7 really doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Anyone have a link to the trade down to 7 pick with Clippers rumor?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I still am not finding the report on that trade guys. Didn’t see anything besides the Yi trade on ESPN. source?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Lopez at 7 plus possible late? lottery pick next year is better than Lopez at 4.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Bennett is stock piling draft picks for when they move to OKC.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
“Presti did not go on ESPN and say I AM A PUPPET because Bennett had his hands on the strings.”
The fact that there’s no proof that he’s a puppet is proof that he’s a puppet! I love it.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
“11:40 a.m. - Lawrence says the lease has a mandatory arbitration clause to settle disputes which he says would never end up in federal court. He says in those cases it would end up before “some triple-A arbitrator.”
Can someone explain what this means?”
Lawrence is countering an argument by the PBC’s attorney’s. They have said if they have to stay the two parties will be back in front of the judge for any other dispute. Lawrence is pointing out the arbitration language in the contract that is to solve most disputes.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
FROM ESPN:
Two big deals have just gone down in the past few minutes that could change the face of the draft.
The Clippers and Sonics have agreed to swap picks as long as the Wolves take O.J. Mayo at No. 3. If Mayo isn’t drafted at 3, the deal is off according to two sources close to the information.
With the No. 4 pick, expect the Clippers to take Eric Gordon of Indiana. They’ve coveted him as the type of dominant scorer that they’ve been looking for.
The Sonics will take Brook Lopez or Jerryd Bayless at No. 7. However it seems like Lopez will be the guy.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Myk:
Its not, I bet Presti has 2-3 players that he wants, and he feels that one of them will be there.
like you said…this will focus on his player evaluating skills.
dave: ESPN news ticker.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
This trade is Brilliant. Obviously the top tier of players is Rose,Beasley,Mayo
The second tier is: Bayless, Lopez, Love, Westbrook, Gordon.
All 5 of those players could help our team now. We also pick up a future first, which who knows when we’ll get it, but moving from 4 to seven feels like a lateral switch, not one where we’re going to downgrade in the talent available.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I’m at home watching ESPNEWS right now…they’ve now updated it to say “Clippers considering trade with Sonics for No.4 pick in Draft”
Ric Bucher says he expects it to go through.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
“The Clippers and Sonics have agreed to swap picks as long as the Wolves take O.J. Mayo at No. 3. If Mayo isn’t drafted at 3, the deal is off according to two sources close to the information.”
So if the Wolves don’t take Mayo at 3 then this trade is off and thus Sonics grab Mayo?!?!?! Thats the way it sounds to me. Either we get mayo or slide down to 7 and get whoever that is (lopez is the consensus?). Now I don’t feel so cheated…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
From Chad Ford: http://tinyurl.com/59lxst
Two big deals have just gone down in the past few minutes that could change the face of the draft.
The Clippers and Sonics have agreed to swap picks as long as the Wolves take O.J. Mayo at No. 3. If Mayo isn’t drafted at 3, the deal is off according to two sources close to the information.
With the No. 4 pick, expect the Clippers to take Eric Gordon of Indiana. They’ve coveted him as the type of dominant scorer that they’ve been looking for.
The Sonics will take Brook Lopez or Jerryd Bayless at No. 7. However it seems like Lopez will be the guy.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Interesting. If Mayo is at #4, then we don’t do the trade.
Seems right, I like that. Honestly thats smart then.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
“With the No. 4 pick, expect the Clippers to take Eric Gordon of Indiana. They’ve coveted him as the type of dominant scorer that they’ve been looking for.”
I like that we aren’t going after Eric “Seattle-hater” Gordon, the clips can have him!
So are we pretty confident Wolves grab Nayo or do we still have a fighting chance at him? Otherwise, I can deal with the second tier spot of #7
June 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
FROM ESPN:
Two big deals have just gone down in the past few minutes that could change the face of the draft.
The Clippers and Sonics have agreed to swap picks as long as the Wolves take O.J. Mayo at No. 3. If Mayo isn’t drafted at 3, the deal is off according to two sources close to the information.
With the No. 4 pick, expect the Clippers to take Eric Gordon of Indiana. They’ve coveted him as the type of dominant scorer that they’ve been looking for.
The Sonics will take Brook Lopez or Jerryd Bayless at No. 7. However it seems like Lopez will be the guy.
This actually makes a ton of sense if its true. So if the Timberpups take Mayo, then we trade back as we figure any of the next tier of players will help us. If the Timberpups don’t draft Mayo and he’s still on the board, we either take Mayo and keep him or have a deal in place to draft Mayo and trade him to someone else (Miami, someone below us?)
June 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Great deal from Presti I think.
Assuming the Clippers take Gordon, Memphis and NY will not be taking a PG, so Bayless is probably still avaiable there.
Although, I think they are targeting Lopez (DAMN!)
June 26th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Trade only goes down if Mayo is not available
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftWatch-080626&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2008%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dford_chad%26page%3dDraftWatch-080626
June 26th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
King5 news did their little blurb on the trial. Doom and gloom as usual.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
so if the wolves don’t take Mayo, we do?
June 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
that’s what it sounds like, TB
June 26th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Could there be another deal where we trade Mayo with Miami? What is the feeling with you guys: Are we puting that contingency in place to deal Mayo to Miami or because Presti likes him?
June 26th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
On TrueHoop:
Chad Ford: Sonics and Clippers Swapping Picks
June 26, 2008 4:43 PM
Chad Ford writes:
The Clippers and Sonics have agreed to swap picks as long as the Wolves take O.J. Mayo at No. 3. If Mayo isn’t drafted at 3, the deal is off according to two sources close to the information.
This is one weird deal. I guess the implication is that the Clippers will not get a shot at Mayo. The Sonics have the fourth pick, and the Clippers have the seventh.
Having just written that O.J. Mayo post, it’s very strange to see his name driving a reported trade high in the draft. This whole show starts in a few hours, and it’s safe to say that things are still unsettled high in the draft. Should be a fun show tonight.
Also, the story is that the Sonics would do this in exchange for the Clippers’ first-round pick next year. Which would, I think, give Sam Presti’s team something like 987 high picks in upcoming drafts.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Sorry, didn’t realize that had already been posted.
Btw, since Bayless might drop, do you think we’re hoping to snag him later, with the Clippers pick?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Where did the new thread go?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Keller is really reaching…talking about the owner needing security guards to attend a game.
So in other words, if you’re a team owner that wants to get out of a lease with a specific performance clause, just announce you’re going to move two years early and p*ss everyone off…then cite the resulting hostility as the reason why you shouldn’t be forced to stay…
June 26th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
WOOOOOOKIIIIIIEEEEEE DEFENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
new thread is up…again
June 26th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
“The City looks very bad - they may still win this thing, but this is a bad situation for the Sonics and it has been for many years. ”
Agreed, but exactly why does that make any difference?
caveat emptor. The point is that Bennett KNEW all along the situation he was getting into.
If you buy a used Geo Metro from the worst used car lot in town, and pay 1.5x the blue book price even though you know the car is a lemon and the guy you bought it from is a well-known shyster, whose fault is it? Nobody’s but your own.
I believe that the Key is an inadequate facility and I think we have terrible leadership here at the City, County and State level. But Clay knew all that going in, now he’s just trying to make excuses and play the victim. Please be smart enough not to fall for it.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:15 am
NO LOPEZ!!!! NO WESTBROOK!!!!
If you want a C, then go and get one with that pick that you traded up from 24. First priority….Beasley, then Mayo.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:39 am
pocker rankings
erratic Krueger,arranges.