Oklahoma City Thunder: 2 Seed Likely Topic

During the draft I always hope not to end up with a 7' white guy, so not only did that dream come true we ended up with Perry Jones III. The way they were talking about his knee you'd figure he'd walk down the stage like he was Young Forrest Gump. If he's able to play I imagine he could get 5-10 minutes/game as Durant's backup and steal a couple minutes from Collison/Perkins.

I figure Brooks will be back as coach, but if for some reason he bolts to Portland (like Nate McMillan did) or Orlando, it would be a nice upgrade to get Jeff Van Gundy or in a miracle move Phil Jackson.
6/29/2012 5:09 PM
lets go sonics! wait, whats that? aawwww.....
7/27/2012 9:36 AM
Locked up Ibaka for the next five seasons. Sweet. Not that 12M a year is a great deal, but if Hibbert can get a max deal I'm sure someone would've offered one to Ibaka.

Harden is next on the list. Give him whatever it takes, then next offseason amnesty/salary dump Perkins and the team salary is still reasonable.
8/19/2012 4:56 PM
not a bad deal but now comes Harden - even without perkins you'll be close to lux tax - does clay have the wallet/will?
8/20/2012 1:08 PM
2013-14 salaries

Durant - 17.8
Westbrook - 14.7
Ibaka - 11ish?
Perkins - 9
Sefolosha - 3.9
Aldrich - 3.2 (team)
Collison - 2.6
Hayward - 2.1 (team)
Jackson - 1.2 (team)
Thabeet - 1.2
Jones - 1.1
Orton - 900k
Reid - 900k
Thompson - 800k

So even using the amnesty on Perkins and not picking up any of the team options, that puts the salary at just under 55 million without a thing for Harden and a bunch of empty roster spots.   Picking up the team options puts them at around 61 million and 70 million if they don't amnesty Perkins.  Then they still have Harden and Maynor who are coming due and owed a Q.O. 

I am guessing that OKC is probably going to be looking to dump some salary next summer or maybe even this year (maybe try to ship Perk out with picks and young talent at the deadline for an expiring contract that could help them this year).  That way they don't have to eat Perks salary and thus would more likely to pay more luxury tax. 
8/20/2012 4:56 PM (edited)
Not sure where you got your numbers. I'm looking at HoopsHype since they're the first thing that comes up when searching for "NBA contracts".

For this season the salary cap is $58M, but the dollar for dollar luxury tax doesn't kick in until $70M. This season OKC looks to be almost exactly at $70M. So I'd put the chances of them shedding Perkins pretty damn low.

For the next season they'll be at $70M accounting for all the young guy's options being picked up and Maynor leaving via free agency, and without a dollar being spent on Harden. Amnesty on Perk will clear $8.5M off the salary cap. If Eric Gordon can get a max contract, Harden surely can. If it comes to that I see the Thunder waving good-bye as the progressive tax system becomes murderous over the years.

If they ended up having to make a choice on Harden or Ibaka, they made the right one. It's much easier (but not necessarily easy) to find a bench gunner, rather than an outstanding shotblocker with an ever improving jumpshot.
8/21/2012 12:03 AM
Hoops hype doesnt have Westbrook's number plugged in yet - the thunder are at just about 70m if you factor that in (unless Westbrook is playing for free this year)

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/oklahoma_city.htm

8/21/2012 8:26 AM
I factored in Westbrook's salary using a different site that had the information.
8/21/2012 9:49 AM
Harden, Aldrich, and Cook gone. Martin and Lamb in.

Figured OKC would find a way to keep all 4, but the few millions they wanted to save by not giving Harden the max undid it. Martin is what he is, a very good shooter and a guy that can create his own shot, but he's just an awful defensive player that has a tendency to miss a fair amount of games. He does come as just a one year rental though.

I wanted to see Aldrich finally get some PT as I think he has a some promise. His loss leaves a hole in the post rotation. I figure they're working PJIII as a PF.

Always liked Cook. I'm a fan of 3 point gunners.

Overall not a terrible deal, but also wait and see. Alot depends on how they use the cash they aren't spending on Harden. Also on how quickly PJIII, R-Jack, and now Lamb can develop. Haven't heard if the picks are protected.
10/28/2012 12:32 AM
17-4, tied with San Antonio for best record in the NBA. Less isolation play and the assists have shot up from last to 8th this season.

Undersold how good Kevin Martin is. Nice having a knockdown 3 point shooter. Team has gone from 11th last season to 1st in 3PT%.

Never would have though Thabeet would have this big of a role. He's passable and better than Nazr was, but it's not pretty.
12/10/2012 12:06 AM
6 straight wins and starting a 6 game road trip with a OT win in Dallas. Durant is in beast mode as he just went for a career high 52.

Best record in the NBA but only 1 game ahead of the Clippers.
1/19/2013 10:14 PM
So far, looks like the James Harden trade has worked out fine for OKC.
1/20/2013 12:17 AM
For this season it's fine. Questions for next season is does Kevin Martin re-sign and does Perkins get amnestied.
1/20/2013 8:46 AM
Westbrook was bad Westbrook vs the Lakers. Bump in the road, but Spurs have the #1 seed now.
1/29/2013 12:57 AM
Why the F is Derek Fisher back?!?!?!? Reggie Jackson is playing well. What a bunch of crap.
2/25/2013 1:40 PM
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Oklahoma City Thunder: 2 Seed Likely Topic

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