Unfortunately, the OKC Thunder, after accumulating so many draft picks over the years, look to have a better future than the Nets; unless, of course, We sign LBJ

“look to have a better future than the Nets”

Assuming they keep all of their young players, yes.

1) The Nets have more draft picks (10) overall—and more first round picks (5)—than any team over the next three years. Only one of those picks is still protected, the 2012 Warrior pick and it’s lightly protected, 1 through 7.

2) Ever been to Oklahoma City?

@ NI exactly lol, Hmmm either Newark/Brooklyn or Oklahoma city. I think when Durant hits the free agent market he’s gone.

NI why do you even bother to post links to espn insider? who wants to pay to read that???

“Ever been to Oklahoma City?”

Does it really matter that much?

It’s not like they have to recruit LeBron to “save” the franchise. Durant is a stud. They just need to find that other star to help him.

That team is already packed with capable complementary players and even if they don’t sign a big FA, they’re going to have plenty of cap space available to make any advantageous trades in the future.

I’ve been to all but one of the country’s 100 cities…and OKC is about as boring as any of them. It makes Cleveland look like bright lights, big city.

@atronic
Durant likes it in OKC and fits very we;; with that group of players. the talented on their squad is DEFINATELY limited without durant, but i dont see him moving unless its to a team that can ALREADY be in the playoffs without him.

in an ideal scenario, i would like to see make the ral big splash in 2011. at that time brooklyn will closer and proky will be approved. This year we could pursue david lee or boozer and get some nice role players in addition o really actually be set up for 2011. at this point, we were not ready, we satrted rebuilding and are ina tough situation. neverthless, immediate success is not a problem adn if LBJ decided to come over here ill be happy.

Also, would you trust the Nets to make the right choice with, say, the #4 pick?

I’m not sure I would.

50% chance to get one of the top 2 players in the country…we desperately need turner or wall…I think favors is going to be good as well…but we need that a top 2 pick…

the first top 3 picks are basically set…1.wall 2.turner 3. favors. If we get the 4th it could be cousins, johnson, aldrich, who knows

@NI you must live a fabulous life. The nets have a great future, espn just sees this year’s record instead and assume

Do the Nets overlook Cousins because of his makeup? Do they take Wes Johnson that high? Do they trade the pick for an established star?

Exciting times ahead. That’s for sure.

I didn’t have time to read it, but I’m not surprised ESPN would be biased against the Nets.

The hardest task next season is going to be managing expectation. Nets fans will fell, quiet rightly, that they are owed something for hanging with this team. The trouble will be trying to do everything sensibly and putting the right pieces in the right places. It might not be a really quick turn around but it needs to be solid and well thought out. So much depends on who the coach is going to be.

Well it’s not the quantity of picks, but the quality of them.
It would really suck if we can’t get quality players from all those picks that we have. I mean we do have a history of drafting not that well.

I’d put much more stock in BP. that being said if we get the 4th pick I am going to cry for a week.

Also I’m with the people who don’t think Durant’s going to be moving. I think a lot of young stars today want to be the next Jordans/Kobes. Basically playing with one franchise their entire careers and leading them to greatness continually, rather than jumping from team to team and basically being worshiped by the city for the rest of their lives.

You said city, like LA and Chicago, not some hick town with 3 tall buildings. Durant is looking like a superstar, he was drafted in Seattle, the entire team was sold moved to a new city. I don’t think he’ll have any problem leaving the OKC.

I think I’d take OKC over Newark and Brooklyn, but I guess it depends on your perspective. fresher air, less claustrophobia. Besides, the players aren’t there all year, just during the season, and they are out of town half the time to boot.

OKC did a great job; just a couple of years ago they were right where the Nets are now: They lost something like 25 of their first 27 games or something like that before playing better in the second half.

The Dallas pick and the Nets’ second round pick, while they look good on paper, are essentially worthless. All their eggs are in one basket: Getting the first or second pick in the draft. They aren’t going to get a top free agent; there are too many other teams in the game right now.

I believe OKC is stuck similar to the way the Nets were stuck with RJ, VC & Kidd. Both teams have no center and can’t really get one. They’re too good to get a high draft pick. Are unlikely to sign a major FA even if they had the cap space and are left with the option to trade which will require good talent to be sent to a dumb GM who gives up a good center which is not likely. If a situation like Shaq wanting to leave Orlando happens again the player will force a trade to a big market like Shaq did. Wait till Durant’s contract is up and OKC is up against a player wanting max $ who can’t deliver a title by himself. They will be between a rock and a hard place. If you look at the history of the league the player who led them to a title most likely was drafted by them. Over last last 20 years I counted 13 title winners that were led by a player drafted by his team and that doesn’t count Kobe who was really traded before the full extent of his greatness was realized.

Durant’s a guy with his head on straight. When the topic of his contract extension came up, he said he wasn’t even thinking about his contract. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna stay there, he’s not one to leave because of the city. Plus, they have a pretty good group there, a few more years and a few more pieces and you have a dangerous playoff team. Good situation he’s in.

@malorkayel, yeah but it gives Durant a chance to be the premier star and the first to lead that particular team anywhere. He doesn’t have to live in the shadows of what stars before him did. If he goes to Chicago and fails he’s going to forever be compared to Jordan, in LA he’ll always be compared to Kobe/Major/Kareem etc. In OKC he’s literally the first and only. Along with the bigger cities comes HUGE increases in media pressure and coverage and less privacy.

OKC is stuck? The major difference with the OKC/old nets comparison is that the OKC players are at the very beginning of their careers, the old nets group was at the twilight of theirs. Big big difference, they can afford to wait. Plus, they still do have a lot of cap space and good young players to trade if need be. The old nets had no such luxury. They could easily sign a good young center this summer and take it to the next level next year.

And like i said, Durant’s a good kid. Have you ever heard any negative attitude stories about him? He’s not one to force his way out or something. They’ve got good character guys there. Something we should try to emulate

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/57611/thunder_happy_to_hear_durant_isnt_preoccupied_with_contract

“Most of the focus this summer will be on the current group of free agents, but July is also when the Thunder can begin negotiating with a 2011 free agent: small forward Kevin Durant. The Thunder would have until Oct. 31 to work out an extension, or Durant would become a restricted free agent the following summer.

Durant, however, says he hasn’t been thinking about his next contract, something that GM Sam Presti was pleased to hear.

"One of the things that makes him special is his ability to focus on what’s in front of him," Presti told NBA.com. "And what’s in front of him right now is this season. He’s thinking about what can make him a better player and a better teammate today. We’re fortunate that we have a young player with that kind of maturity.""

OKC is stuck cuz they can’t get a high draft pick. They’re too good. Character guys are good for the church league run by coaches like Opie. For every good character team I’ll give you nut jobs that won titles.

@ Muwu agreed, there’s still upside to their current players surrounding Durant, and even some to Durant. And they don’t really need any impact players, just depth but if they did they have the pieces to move.

@ Mr. Big, what teams of nut jobs this decade?

The guy who won it last year was accused of rape. I’ll leave it at that.

@Dumpy
Newark/Brooklyn = New York City. Oklahoma City = Tulsa without the oil wealth.

@LetsGoNets
Yup. In 2004, after the KMart and Kittles trades, the Nets had 10 picks in the next three drafts, same as they do now. They traded two firsts for Vince Carter and two seconds for Cliff Robinson.

Here’s who was ultimately taken with those 10 picks, after trades, etc.: Antoine Wright, Joey Graham (by Toronto with pick from VC trade), Chris Taft (by Golden State with pick from Cliffy trade), Mile Ilic, Renaldo Balkman (by New York with pick from VC trade conveyed by Toronto), Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Hassan Adams, Sean Williams, Stephen Lasme (by Golden State with pick from Cliffy trade). It’s too painful to go through all the players who were taken after those 10, but here are some names: Danny Granger and David Lee (after Wright and Graham), Andray Blatche (after Ilic), Rajon Rondo (after Balkman), Paul Millsap (after Marcus Williams and Boone), Wilson Chandler (after Sean Williams), Marc Gasol (after Lasme).

@Scott
Dead on right.

@NI

If you’ve traveled that extensively through the U.S. you should know that vast majority people in this country would rather have root canal than live in New York. The assumption that Durant or any free agent will automatically come to Knicks or Nets because they dream of living and playing in New York is false. Durant may very well enjoy the laid back lifestyle that a place like OKC affords him.

The one thing in the BP article that makes me doubt their projections is the part about Nets having enough talent on hand to win 50 games next year WITHOUT adding a free agent. Does anyone actually believe that only adding Turner or Wall to this roster would result in a 50 win season?

Projecting ahead, if we can’t sign LeBron/Bosh/Wade;

I still want to know who the Nets are going to play at PF next year. We have plenty of wings/guards and probably will draft another one. Maybe we would be better off picking 3/4 and drafting a big. Unless Yi has a big finish this season, Yi would be probably better coming off the bench. Do we try to snare D. Lee, Bosh, Boozer, Amare?

Do we draft Wall or Turner and take our lumps again next year, then draft high again?

Or do we overpay second tier FA’s and hope to be .500 team?

Any ideas?

@ Tin Man

Agreed. If the Nets don’t improve the PF position we’re doomed. To me its about getting a player a that position who can lead us to a title. Out of who’s possibly available only Lebron can and he hasn’t won one yet. Adding someone like Amare would give you 50 wins or so but thats not what I would be aiming for. If I’m drafting with high lottery picks I’m going for the best defensive big men. Those guys make winners. Wall and Turner are window dressing.

@mike

The stars are aligning for the Nets and they need to take advantage.

The have an almost 50% chance of getting what looks like a sure fire franchise type player in the draft. If that happens they will have one obvious gaping hole on the team at PF. They happen to be very fortunate to have a ton of cap space the same year that there is a wealth of talent available at that position. They have to take advantage of the situation and sign one those free agents.

@ Mr. Big, he was accused of rape, which didn’t stick, but for the most part Kobe’s been considered a top character guy for his career. That’s not very strong support for your statement.

Amare’s going to cost more than he’s worth, if he doesn’t choose his option, same with Boozer considering his age and the youth of the rest of the team, even with him the team is too far off to make it worth the financial investment. I’d say if you can get D. Lee for 10 million or less go for him, or try and make a trade for a relatively young/cheap pf with a team that needs guards/swingmen, since we have oh so many.

@ Mr. Big, they make winners, but they also have the highest bust rates when you’re talking about high picks. If we got a second relatively high pick maybe you take a high upside big man but with the first one you should be looking for the closest thing to a slam dunk you can get.

@TinMan
Yeah, that’s why more than half of the city’s residents were born outside the city and moved there…most of them from overseas. It holds no lure.

If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

@NI

Might be worth fixing the typo in the post title? Yes, no?

@NI

That draft list is a compelling reason to limit Thorn’s role in the draft. However, Rajon Rondo was picked right before Marcus Williams and Josh Boone. I remember cheering when Rondo was taken because it left us with the higher rated Williams. Doh!

Everything I have heard is that the young Okc core are all close friends on and off court. They all hang out and genuinely pull for each other. Durant is at the center of that. He’s a true pro. He’s not leaving. Book it.

@ jabez, from your lips to Prohky’s ears.

Also @NI. I think the allure of NY to FA’s is bigger, with the bigger city comes MUCH bigger media and fan pressure and way less privacy. The NY media will turn on players for a mistake just as quickly as they’ll embrace them. I could definitely see why a player wouldn’t fall over himself to play in NY.

As for draft hope for turner or wall. My preference is turner at this point as I think he has less ego and will be better teammate. And everyone bashing kiki should pray he is still GM going forward. He is much better st drafting talent then rod.

@NI

That’s a really old song and Frank Sinatra is dead. Even he didn’t believe those lyrics since he chose to live in California. I hear Tony Bennett really doesn’t care for San Francisco either.

Yep, most of the New York’s residents were born somewhere else. Russia, Jamaica, China, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ukraine, New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, etc.

Unfortunately Durant, Lebron, Wade and Bosh aren’t from any of those places.

Wow that should say I think the allure of NY to FA’s is overrated.

@Gina
  
Exactly, for some athletes playing in a big market is a plus but for just as many it’s a negative.

@ryan234, completely agreed. If Kiki is fired and not VERY quickly replaced this draft will end up being a complete mess. Unless Prokhy literally has a quality gm waiting in the wings right now we’ll be better off keeping Kiki. He’s a horrible coach but for the most part he can identify talent and he’s pulled off pretty good trades.

Trying to say, Durant and the entire team just got to OKC. Seattle showed these young kids, they shouldn’t fall in love with any team. There is no team/company loyalty, it’s a business.

Durant is a good kid, but what does he owe OKC?

@malorkayel, loyalty isn’t usually born out of feeling like you owe something. What reason does he have to leave OKC if they support him, surround him with talent and pay him?

What’re you guys willing to wager that Durant signs an extension with OKC this year? Loser has to say “I love Kiki and I think we should keep him as coach for the next decade” lol. If you’re on twitter you can literally know what the entire OKC team is doing since a lot of them are on twitter and they talk to each other and hang out with each other after games.

Durants happy where he is. He gets paid to play the game he loves with his friends as teammates.

OKC has just recently turned the corner to become competitive. Durant is starting to play like T-mac in his prime, who people were comparing him to when he was drafted.

You take Durant out of the team (29ppg,7rb), the Thunders are bad. If I was KD’s agent, it would be best to present all the options. He can jump on a team with cap space and be instant contender. I don’t consider the team they have now contenders.

I have to admit though, the OKC fans are probably better than average and certainly better than Jersey fans. But, I don’t consider tweets and bowling night support.

What we have to do is find our very “own” Durant, LeBron, Wade etc. I guess being lucky in the draft is how you get these type of players. “Luck be a Nets fan draft night”…

Brook Lopez is our own “Durant”, he has comparable stats in his first 2 years, if not better. This summer, Nets steal 1 big name FA and #1 draft, a real coach. We win those close games.

But I think some Jersey fans will find something to be upset over. We still have freak’n Kmart loyalists in the closet from like 8 years ago.

@malorkayel

You could say the same about any star. Without LeBron the cavs are bad, he could jump on any team with cap space and be an instant contender. Without Wade, without Dirk, and so on and so forth.

It think it’s quite logical that if you take a team’s star player from they that every team in the nba would be bad or much worse.

But don’t discredit Durant’s sidekicks. Russell Westbrook is a stud. 16 ppg 5 rpg 7 apg 1.3 spg. If you look at his game logs he’s had a ton of games where he’s only a rebound or two away from a triple double. You just wait and watch him blow up next year. He forms a solid defensive backcourt with Thabo Sefolosha. Jeff Green is the perfect glue guy. They’re really only one solid big man away from being a scary playoff team. Their recent 9 game win streak shows you how good they can be

Brook Lopez is our own "Durant",

I love Brook, but it seems centers are not impact players anymore in the NBA. Players like James, Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, Durant, Anthony, Wade, etc. seem to have more impact then the old traditional centers.

We need a 6’7" – 6’10" SF/PF who can take it inside and out.

Brook is to slow to play that role.

@NI

Traffic, filth, crowds, crime. You really think players will come to NY solely because there are more bars there?

If only Yi was faster and a better shooter he could fill that role. But Yi is one second behind in reaction time. That one second might as well be a hour when playing in the NBA.

@muwu

Cavs, Mavs, and even the Heat doesn’t have the cap space the Nets have, and 50% of drafting a franchise player. The Nets also have the best core players not counting the expirings.

The Nets this year was engineered to lose games. They took on so many expiring contracts and rookie contracts. Cheapo didn’t even get a coach. Kiki is doing 2 jobs.

However, we will reap the benefits next season. I find this more exciting than winning 34 games a year.

As for OKC vs Nets, we have a PG and Center. They have a bunch of wing players. Durant out rebounds Krstic, not a balanced team.

Players will come to NY. For the money, action and limelight. They always have and always will.

Any player that doesn’t need the pressure and high intensity of NYC is better off not coming, and a NY team is better off not having them.

I seriously believe that we wont get Wade or Lebron this summer, and I dont think Thorn (assuming he stays) is going to overpay free agents. Perhaps we get David Lee at a reasonable price.

With that said come 2011, WE WILL GET EITHER MELO OR DURANTULA!

I’d prefer the DURANTULA!! Dude is a beast. Unstoppable. Future MVP. I want him in a Net uniform!!!

LeBron will probably end up with the Knicks, Nets or Miami.
If he wins a Championship with Cav’s he has done his part, and if doesn’t win this year he is out of there.

The NBA needs LeBron in big market area. LeBron will do his duty and join a big market team. Stern will sit down with LeBron and his agent and gently guide him to this conclusion.

Whatever David Stern wants, he gets.

@mike

That only happens in baseball because the Yankees and Mets are able to take advantage of the system and outspend other teams. The Yankees are also the most prestigious organization in professional sports.

If NBA players had always came to New York for the money, action and limelight the Knicks would have won a championship in the last 35 years and more than two in their entire history. The Kings have as many NBA Championships as the Knicks and the Warriors have more.

I can’t think of one NBA player who left money on the table to play in New York. Both Grant Hill and Jason Kidd turned down full MLE’s from the Knicks last summer to play in Phoenix and Dallas.

technical question

How do you correct the space where comments are posted when the comments are cut off at the end and unable to be viewed.

Everyone who believes Lebron goes to knicks is delusional. Donnie Walsh just took a huge gamble that’s going to blow up in his face. In a year garden will be full of fire donnie chants.

Minor matter…
Headline typo: “Guaged” should be “Gauged”.

I think the Nets have a promising future in the sense they can make the playoffs with a scoring off guard or small forward with the high draft pick and a solid PF brought in during the offseason. And fewer injuries than this year should help.
But they’ll be a one-round playoff team without bringing in one of the free agents this year (Wade or Gay, perhaps…forget James) or next (can we get Carmelo Anthony?)

@ maylor, OKC has as much cap space as we do. And they have a a pg in westbrook what exactly are you discounting him for? Basically we have a lot of cap space a solid pg and a great center, they have a lot of cap space, a solid pg and a great wing (durant), OKC fans could probably say the same things about Brook going there as we could about Durant coming here.

Realistic Line-up for next season;

HARRIS/T-Will
C. LEE/CDR
AK-47/HAYES
D. LEE/FAVORS
LOPEZ/YI/Dallas Pick

We will have to overpay D.Lee, but money is no object. LOL

We know that AK-47 will end up a Net one way or another.

The Nets can potentially outspend others. The NBA use a soft cap and team pay luxury tax if they go over. This is where having a Billionaire owner and big city comes in handy.

Remember, Jordan didn’t get paid that much more than other NBA players. It was his sponsors that paid him the big $.

So, you can get a max NBA contract, but that pales in comparison to superstars gaining additional 20 million+ a year on endorsements. Lebron is currently the highest total money maker in the NBA.

P.S. I left out Humphries because he has an option to leave after this season.

After much though I believe the Nets should draft a “big” man with their pick. Wall is to “small” and Turner is kind of small and an injury risk.

Big men win in the NBA. Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, James, Howard are all “big”.

Please, no more “little” guys…

That is why Brook Lopez is looking like the best pick of his draft class. Better then Rose, Mayo etc.

Big players are better then little players.

@malorkayel

I saw an estimate that Lebron made 28 million in endorsements last year which was slightly more than Kobe. While the majority of his money comes from his endorsements, his salary will still account for more than 40% of his income.

The big difference is that his salary will be guaranteed while his endorsement deals, as Tiger, Kobe and Mick Vick learned, can vanish practically overnight.

@Malorkayel, the soft cap isn’t that simple, teams can’t just choose to go over at will as long as they agree to pay the lt, for the most part you can only go over the cap to resign your own players. So the advantage in signing players isn’t that huge.

Kobe and James are big men? Since when are sg/sf’s big men? Kobe is 6-7, Turner is expected to measure in at 6-6 to 6-7. And I’m pretty sure Wade has won in the NBA too, and he’s what 6-5? maybe not even that tall. Plus we have a “franchise” big in Lopez.

New York being the so called lure for players is very much overated. Yes playing in a big market like new york is all good but it’s not for every body. Kevin Durant is happy in okc he has so much going on for him there why leave and start over on a new team. There not far away to being big contenter in the west all they need is just a few pieces. Kevin durant ain’t going no where.

@ Mike

Amen

The new nba with the hand checking rules makes it very favorable to perimeter players rather than big men. That’s why we see all these young athletic point guards being able to have a great impact, you can’t touch them on the perimeter anymore so an athletic guard can get wherever he wants whenever he wants.

Big players are better than little players? Portland would like to argue with that. You think they wouldn’t rather have Durant now?

Is Mike Beasley faring better than Rose?

Is Andrea Bargnani or LaMarcus Aldridge better than Brandon Roy or Rajon Rondo?

Is Andrew Bogut or Marvin Williams better than Chris Paul or Deron Williams?

Top players from the last few draft classes have all been point guards or shooting guards. You see how the thinking has changed now. It’s gonna be the second consecutive year that a point guard is the top pick.

Big market not a big deal? Celtics and Lakers won the last 2 Championships with the huge boost from their free agents/trades.

Ask the Bucks fans how hard it is to attract FA in a small market.

The Nets have the potential to be something really big and soon. Lebron has not reached his full earning potential yet.

Durant can stay where he’s at same as KG saying in Minni, or Pau with Memphis. Eventually, they wise up and leave.

Of course you need the “little” guys but the teams that win have the “big” men, and I don’t mean height only, body mass is also important.

@Gina; Have you ever seen LeBron up close? He is huge.

No NBA team ever wins a championship without the good bigs.

You can win with medicore “smalls” if you have the bigs or Jordan and maybe James.

The Nets have to get big. No more wings/perimeter players unless they can hit the 3pt shot consistently.

That guy Blair is an example of a big player. Not height wise but bulk wise. People say that Barkley is only 6’5"/6’6" and he played big.

Can Turner or Wall play big? Or are they going to join Harris and Lee and CDR and T-Will in our little gang that couldn’t shoot straight?

I agree he’s huge but he’s still a wing player. And for what it’s worth Durant is 6-10 so I imagine he would count as big. The problem is true “big men” have HUGE bust rates, and there’s no reason for us to spend the #1/#2 pick on a player who’s just as likely to be a bust as he is to be useful. Turner is probably the safest pick, by a long shot, I’m not a fan of freshmen point guards or guards leaving school early in general, and I’m not a very big fan of taking Wall.

Plus too whoever said Brook was better than Mayo/Rose I agree, but that’s just one big man, most of the rest of the big men taken in that draft have pretty much done nothing, except Robin and maybe Love, but he’s been inconsistent. And pretty much all the guards have at least been productive useful pieces for their teams. Or look at all the big men drafted high in 07, outside of Horford, he was about as close to a slam dunk as you could get after Durant, have any of them really had much of an impact on their teams?

Mike, no team has ever won without good bigs, and no team has every won without good guard or wing play. So I’m not really sure what your point is. Every time that has a good big that’s won has had good guards/wings too.

My point is that unless Wall or Turner are can’t miss superstars, I would rather draft a big man. A lot of teams made a mistake by not drafting Lopez.

I would take my chances with Cousins or Favors and hope to get lucky with them, instead of getting myself another “small” player. Turner might have to play guard in the NBA.

If the Nets had Wade this year we probably would still not make the playoffs but if we had Bosh we might of come close.

Making the playoffs with Bosh this year was really not what I meant to say. What I meant to say is I would rather have Bosh, Harris and Lopez then Wade, Harris and Lopez. Better balance, better team, especially come playoff time.

Turner will definitely play guard in the NBA I don’t think there’s ever been any doubt about it. Cousins and Favors could be good or they could end up doing absolutely nothing and all we’ve done is waste a #1 pick. Turner is pretty much as close as you can get to a slam dunk. That being said I don’t really want Wall, how many freshmen point guards have left and been that impactful?

This article is a little optimistic…but still might be possible. If Devin and Lee can really find their games, and YI, CDR, HUMPH and TWILL serve as 7th, 8th, 9th and Tenth men on the roster, with Brook as our anchor and adding three quality players this off season, one by draft and two by free agency, maybe we will 40 games next year, and 50 the next. But frankly, the only person I have faith in here, is Brook. AND that includes my lack of faith in Thorn and KIKI. We need forwards and a backup center. Boozer or Bosh, Wall or Cousins, and that SF from Atlanta would be a home run and get us to the second round of the playoffs, really. Yes, I do drugs…

@ Mike

They don’t say b-ball is a big mans game for nothing. Winning basketball is about interior defense. Bigs supply interior defense. It’s not worth arguing. Knowledge is power. The people who think smalls or wings are they way to go are the people who don’t know the game. Just let it be. They’re like Yi “a work in progress”. Besides who cares what they think, I believe Thorn knows what wins at thats all that matters.

@ Mr. Big, no one’s saying big men aren’t important. The point is it makes more sense to pay or trade for an established big man than it does to spend a top 3 pick on one when they have such huge busts rates. Spending a top 3 pick on “potential” rather than a slam dunk is a good way to go no where. That’s how OKC has drafted, they took wing players with lower busts rates and now they can probably package a few of them for the big man they’re lacking.

Evan Turner, Sherron Collins and Jarvis Varnado!

@ Gina – What about Derrick Rose?

@ jabez – That’s all Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. If they’d never gotten Allen, Rondo would be out of the league or a third-stringer on a team that has no future.