Leaderboard

So I was debating this with some friends today. Does trading for Westbrook (at the right price of course) make sense for the Heat? My friends acted like I was crazy for thinking so. I get it... 4 years $170M left on his contract, shot terribly last year (.428/.290/.656... gross), etc., etc. But the way I look at it, why not? The Heat have already pushed all their chips in on winning now by signing Butler to his own massive contract, which will hurt the value of their first round picks. They don’t have their 2021 or 2023 draft picks, depending on their draft position. They’re pretty much capped out for the next three seasons. Why not trade Dragic, Winslow, some other scrub, and a protected first rounder for Westbrook? (Depending on the market, they might even be able to get a better deal than that). Westbrook is still a top 15-20 player at worst for the next two seasons, and I think they’re a top 4 team in the East with him and Butler. Sure, they won’t win a title, but they’ll be fighting just to make the playoffs over the entire course of Butler’s contract with the roster as it currently stands. I think it makes sense.

Kaufman up to 31 overall in new 2021 rankings. First at 36.

That sounds good. Heading to the Windy City Smokeout BBQ FEST. I will report back on my findings. Old Dominion will be in Concert then off to see the Reds and Cubbies. My boys first trip to Wrigley

Good find, and what that article reiterates is that even at that time Harden was thought of as a max, star player. Everyone knew he was way more than a 17 PPG sixth man, he was sacrificing for the good of the team. Teams were lined up to give him the max if he had hit restricted free agency with OKC, and teams don't line up to give max contracts to guys that come off the bench. While people probably weren't expecting him to be a future MVP, most everyone knew he was a great player at the time. From Simmons column right after the trade to Houston: In the Thunder’s case, we only knew that they had three of the 20 best guys in the league, all under 25, all of whom loved playing together.

9 Indiana kids in the top 175 on 247. Kids not listed that will still be playing D1- Hopf, Sisley, Montgomery (baseball more than likely), Jacobi.. can't get over how deep this class is.

You're not completely wrong here by any means, but I gotta go with Rico and dgambill on this one. Nobody thought Harden was going to be an MVP level player, but even at that time many thought he had a chance to be an all-star caliber player, and OKC did too. The only real reason his scoring was under 17 PPG was because he wasn't getting the time/touches behind Durant and Westbrook, and they didn't really try to play them all together very much. OKC went with bringing Harden off the bench so he could 'run' the second team, but everyone knew at the time that Harden was a stud. OKC was hamstrung by the Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka contracts, and they chose balance (Ibaka being a forward) and trade market (Harden fetching more on the market compared to Ibaka) over keeping the three best players and just figuring the rest out later. I'm not sure it was a terrible move though. While the super team thing is hot right now, there hasn't been a ton of success with that model when you have three extremely ball dominant guys (Durant, Westbrook and Harden) together. I don't really see how those three could have coexisted long term. You could argue they should have traded Westbrook maybe.

Thanks for the Pizza cravings!! However, let's not forget Barbecue! https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/casual/the-best-bbq-joint-in-every-us-state/ss-BBEGgZT Or Burgers! Yumm https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/the-best-burger-in-all-50-states/ss-BBtOi6i

Making me homesick. Love Home Run. Can get it in the freezer counters at the local grocery stores. Always cut it into squares. And have ordered from Malaniti's for years. Up to four at a time. Just to have some in the freezer, when a deep dish hankering hits. Kind of pricey. But worth the price, IMHO.

I see my confusion now...I thought you were saying he was first...instead you were saying Furst was at #36. All cleared up now. That's a big move.

Here's a pretty good retrospective look at the Thunder's decision to trade Harden, making points that support both 'sides' of this discussion: https://thunderousintentions.com/2017/10/27/the-harden-trade-five-years-later/3/ Some of the points: The bigger issue here is why the Thunder had to chose between anybody. Again, Harden still had one year left on his rookie scale deal. The Thunder could have gone into the season with all three stars and let Harden go to restricted free agency. Then, after the season ended, could have matched any offer. To make room for the money he would have earned, the Thunder could have dumped salaries like Kendrick Perkins. But money was only part of the issue. The Thunder had legitimate fears Harden would demand to start and have a larger role, thus creating an uncomfortable locker room atmosphere, similar to what the Reggie Jackson situation eventually became. Starting could certainly have been feasible, but the Thunder have always had a defense-first mentality. It’s why Thabo Sefolosha started during the Harden days, and it’s why Andre Roberson is starting now. If there’s one negative about Harden’s game, it’s his defense. And in terms of a larger role, it would have been difficult. Durant, Westbrook and Harden are all-ball dominant players. With only one ball, it could have been a challenge to get all three desirable touches. - Again, Westbrook and Harden in particular are ball-dominant guards who need the ball in their hands and really play point. And There is a small portion of fans that wonder what would have happened if the Thunder had traded Westbrook instead of Harden. There are two main reasons in favor of this argument. The first is the Thunder would have gotten a much better package in return. The second is that Durant may not have left if Harden was on the team instead of Westbrook. It’s certainly an interesting argument, but it seems crazy to think Harden would have become the player he is today if he were still on the Thunder. And One of the big misconceptions about this trade is that the Thunder chose Ibaka over Harden. Two months before Harden was traded, the Thunder signed Ibaka to a 4-year 48 million dollar deal. But, the Thunder weren’t choosing between Harden and Ibaka. They were really choosing between Harden and Russell Westbrook. Westbrook was clearly the better player at the time, and it’s certainly more acceptable to say he remains the better player. - Westbrook was lighting it up and the star next to Durant. Harden is the better player now (imo), but he wasn't then. And The Rockets received Harden, Daequan Cook, and Lazar Hayward. The Thunder received Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, a 2013 first round pick that became Steven Adams, a 2013 second round pick that became Alex Abrines, and a 2014 first round pick that became Mitch McGary, At face value, this trade has become a nightmare for OKC. The obvious reason is that Harden has become one of the league’s best and brightest starts. Since joining Houston, Harden has been to five All-Star games, is a three-time first-team All-NBA member, and is a two-time MVP runner-up. He’s led the Rockets to two Western Conference Finals appearances, the same number of times as the Thunder have been the past five years. - Aside, lol at McGary Kevin Martin was a nice player in his one season in OKC. He put up similar numbers to Harden in his final season with the Thunder. Martin was also a big reason the Westbrook-less Thunder were able to fend off the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs in 2013. Unfortunately for the Thunder, they were unable to bring back the free-agent-to-be as Martin signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the end of the season. Part of the reason Oklahoma City traded Harden to Houston was because they felt they would be receiving a long-term replacement at shooting guard in Jeremy Lamb. Picked 12th in the 2012 draft, Lamb seemed like a promising NBA wing. The 6’5 guard looked to have the size and skill to be a quality NBA player. For many reasons, most notably attitude and effort, Lamb simply never panned out. After three underwhelming seasons, Lamb was shipped to the Charlotte Hornets for a second round pick. Or It’s also important to give the Rockets credit for making this move and developing Harden. A good number of franchises would never have traded so many first round draft picks. The Rockerts, who were in desperate need of a franchise player at the time, clearly saw potential in Harden. Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey, who pulled off the trade, also deserves major credit for steering Harden’s career back in the right direction. And After a disappointing 2016 season, where the Rockets finished just 41-41, Morey hired Mike D’Antoni to be the team’s head coach. D’Antoni was coming off two underwhelming stints as coach of the Knicks and Lakers, and looked as if his coaching career would come to an end. But, Morey saw what D’Antoni, an offensive minded coach, could do for Harden. He turned the Rockets star into a point guard and helped make Houston one of the best offenses in the NBA. Had it not been for Westbrook’s historic season, Harden would have been last year’s MVP, taking the misery of this trade to a new level. It's really easy to look back now and say the Thunder blew it. It's just not that simple. Harden developed with the Rockets as the starting point guard, at least as ball dominant as Westbrook. In addition to having to pay Durant, Westbrook and Harden, you have to have room for all three together on the floor and playing off Westbrook is not the game that Harden developed in becoming an MVP.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-recruiting-nine-indiana-players-in-247sports-class-of-2021-top-150-in-nation/

Quimari Peterson- Gary West Side- 140

Regarding Harden, this is an interesting article. I recall Bill Simmons and his cadre of basketball analysts calling the Harden trade legendarily stupid when it happened, not later. https://grantland.com/features/the-harden-disaster/

Whats a list without pizza? https://firstwefeast.com/features/the-best-pizza-from-every-state/ https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/best-pizza-every-state-slideshow

Not sure how he could fit into the Spurs rotation, but he would be great as a mentor with Murray and White. I'm just not sure they can use a fourth PG/CG.

Oh absolutely

Yeah I don’t think those two would work well together, I could be wrong but as neither shoots well and both want the ball in crunch time, think that would fail. Knicks seem likely to me , we’ll see

Ken Burns does a tremendous job of bringing history to life. I have the dvd of Civil War and Baseball and have watched them both many many times. His Statue of Liberty doc is also very good. I love history. People who are indifferent or not curious about history.... I don't much like those folks very much. Another of my favorites is the HBO 7-part John Adams series. Very good.

By the way, pretty impressive 3 year draft run for Seattle/OKC: 2007: Durant at #2 2008: Westbrook at #8, Ibaka at #24 2009: Harden at #3

Thank you. And spot on.

If anybody should have known what Harden was capable of it was OKC. They had him of course it’s their fault. They should have moved Ibaka and other expensive pieces and built around the 3 stars with vet minimums etc. That is why I hare people saying oh we have to trade Myles or Sabonis. You keep your stars when you are small market and build around them. Too hard to acquire them. This was before the time of guys forcing their way out. Worst case scenario is you move Westbrook...they just didn’t have the vision that say GSW had...who held on to their shooters no matter what. GS had to pay the same tax that OKC has...they just got more bang for their buck and spent wisely. OKC was signing guys like Ibaka and Adams to huge contracts instead of putting that money to winning basketball. Everyone could see Harden was special...certainly Houston could. He was being misused as a 6th man because Westbrook was so ball dominant. Rico probably would even say keep the shooter playmaker in Harden and move Westbrook and he would be right....because even Durant had issues with Westbrook leading to him moving on and now so did Paul George. Stars think they want to play with him...then they realize the ball doesn’t move in OKC. Westbrook is the problem.

Indiana Basketball: 2021 wing has Hoosiers atop his list, eyes visit

Doing good,wife feels good ..reduced her chemo down to pill form now..thanks for asking,hope all is well your way!

I seen Hunter on Fee lane,he looks taller then 6'6" imo

They have been out every day since recruiting started again. I did see J.Hunter run today which warmed my heart. Also saw Race and the kid is getting huge.