OKC will have to make a big decision about who to keep, harden or Ibaka. If they choose to trade Harden for young players and picks I say the Raps take advantage with their 12 million in cap space.
Derozen, Ed Davis and the number 8 pick.
That leaves the Raptors with
calderon, bayless forbes
Harden, bayless forbes
JJ Kleiza
bargs, amir
val gray
and no draft pick
Not a bad team.
calderon 30 bayless18
Harden 36 bayless 12
jj 28 kleiza 20
bargs 34 amir 14
val 30 amir 14 gray 4
Anything except maybe Valanciunas. Maybe. Harden would instantly become the Raptors best player and, IMO, a great "core" piece to build around. I consider Harden right now be very similar to what Joe Johnson was with Phoenix but actually a bit better than Johnson. That's the future I see for him. Not quite a superstar player that will carry you deep into the playoffs on his own but a solid #1 scoring option who, with help, can be a key player on a great team.
I don't think OKC trades Harden though. I think they'll risk it and it will backfire on them. If Harden reaches restricted free agency, there will be a couple teams that won't hesitate to throw a max contract at him forcing OKC to match if they can.
If I'm running OKC I'm keeping Harden and Ibaka. Try to get a slight discount on both. Maybe Harden for 15 and Ibaka for 12. If necessary you trade perkins to a team with cap space for a draft pick.
the question is how good is he without Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka? Is he a solid starter and number one option?
I think he is.
Right now he is a hyper-efficient scoring guard who is a good playmaker, and decent defensive player. His ability to create his own offense off the dribble is huge. If he were to move to a team like Toronto, his efficiency would clearly drop with the higher usage but I don't think it would be drastic. And dropping from "incredibly efficient" to just "very efficient" would not be too bad.
If Harden's agent is smart, they'll know the market for him and demand a max extension from OKC because that's what he'll get on the free agency market once he hits it.
I would be comfortable with giving Harden the max, as mentioned his abilities aren't inflated by playing with the other stars except for his efficiency. At his age, he's as good a max candidate as any players that's been in that position recently.
But I doubt both Harden/Ibaka makes it to next summer without an extension for at least one of them. Perkins is a pretty viable option for them to amnesty. He's proving his worth against Bynum (the primary reason for which he was acquired) but in today's NBA, that kind of size is a luxury no longer required IMO (esp. at 8 million a year) with less emphasis being placed on true low post players. They could easily form a cheap platoon while seeing what Aldrich is capable enough and gain some valuable room to keep Harden/Ibaka.
What is exactly the reason why they should trade Harden or Ibaka?
Oklahoma is a small market, they won't have another opportunity to build a perennial contender. Of course they'll have to go over the luxury cap at some point, but this is a unique opportunity for them.
What is exactly the reason why they should trade Harden or Ibaka?
Oklahoma is a small market, they won't have another opportunity to build a perennial contender. Of course they'll have to go over the luxury cap at some point, but this is a unique opportunity for them.
That's why. I don't know who owns that team but I'm going to assume it's not someone for who the team is a hobby like a Mark Cuban who will spend whatever to build a winner.
If a major corporate-owned team like the Raptors were in the same situation, I would be making the same assumption that they would not be able to keep all those players.
The thing about Harden is that as efficient as he is right now, his efficiency skyrocketed when he started coming off the bench. He was not very efficient as a starter. So for me, it's hard to say that you plug him into our team (or any shitty team) as the #1 scoring option and the #1 guy the first stringers focus on and that he'd be as dynamic, efficient, and prolific as he has been off the Thunder bench. I think it'd be a lot harder for him and I don't think he'd be able to carry that weight as the #1 and only. That said, I'm not so sure the thunder would be willing to let go of him, especially if they win it all this year with their core.
What would you give up to get Harden
