I’m like 99.9% positive it just went:
Bucks: “Are you sure Bogdan is okay with this? You know he has to sign a contract for this trade to happen”
Kings: “Yes yes Bogdan good boy”
I agree with some of that. I don’t get why you keep saying they turned Dipo into nothing though. They turned Dipo into PG, who gave them a top 3 MVP season and signed an extension, then parlayed that into an obscene pick haul from the Clippers.
A lot of the moves during their 2013-2016 run were frustrating. But their O/U titles was probably 1 and they ran really bad to not at least push. Even without a great 3P shooter. Even missing out on Pau. Etc.
Presti got literally nothing from KD. Not an asset. And they still have 17 1sts in the next 6 years, SGA, Bazley & Dort on great contracts, and still more assets to move. He is absolutely crushing right now.
I dont know who this guy is, but it seems inline with the tone
I said they turned him into nothing in spring 2018 when it looked like PG would walk. I was ultimately wrong about that and they turned PG into a haul. I was also wrong that Presti wouldn’t eventually tank. I figured he would be scared of being fired. He wasn’t. I also underestimated by a lot how much he could get for them. As you said Presti has been crushing for a year and a half. He deserves a ton of credit for that.
The hard part comes next. Turning a bunch of low first rounders into something. Presti has not shown he is even an average drafter outside of high lotto picks. I realize there is a ton of variance in non top 5 picks so I will cut him some slack but he is going to need to hit a Jokic or Leonard with one of these and there is no proof he can do it.
Personally I think SGA is the only decent young rotation player they have on the roster. Dort and Bazely are fine but they would never and will never be a rotation player on a championship type team.
Like this is just factually incorrect. They got Melo for Dougie McBuckets, Kanter and a 2nd. (They flipped Melo for Schroeder. Schroeder for 2 1sts and an early 2nd.)
They signed Russ to a Supermax. Won an mvp. Kept OKC relevant and in pseudo contention. Then flipped Russ for 2 1sts, 2 swaps, CP (which is now a first, Rubio, Oubre, etc).
They moved Sabonis / Dipo (both who will probably get near max money. Both of who aren’t #1 options) for PG. Got 2 good seasons out of PG, then the dumbest pick haul in NBA history.
Presti hasn’t mortgaged any kind of future. He’s rolled over assets into more assets again and again. There’s an article out there somewhere about an asset they’ve rolled over continuously from the Sonics days. I can’t find it. But it’s astounding.
ETA just saw your post. So I retract some of what I said. But couple things. Those picks won’t all be late 1sts. Rockets could very easily suck for the foreseeable future. No clue what happens to the Clippers if they suck again next year (player options on those contracts). OKC’s own picks could be pretty high. But yea. They eventually have to cash in those picks for players.
No, he likes being a restricted FA that knows his team can’t/won’t match the offers
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Do you not think they would have been better off trading literally the entire roster except VO in 2017 and starting this process way sooner? They would have still gotten a similar haul for their roster. They would have controlled more of their 2018-2019 draft picks and the draft picks would have been higher. Arguably VO was a young guy you can build a team around while still being a lottery team.
They mortgaged the future in the sense that they delayed the inevitable for nothing and it is not clear to me at all they couldn’t have gotten just as many high picks or more if they hadn’t gone the route they did.
17 firsts is great except most of them will be in the 20s. The odds of anyone being a superstar in that range is low and Presti has not shown he is capable of finding talent in the draft outside of top 5 picks. If the Thunder don’t draft a legit superstar in the next 3-4 years all the picks in the world won’t save them.
Incorrect
Right, I’m sure he’d go there if they’d seriously pay him, OR…
Posted elsewhere:
Was just listening to Zach and Windy (recorded yesterday) and Windy was going on about how Bog was going to take less bc he wanted to play with Giannis.
Said him and Giannis are boys so Giannis wouldn’t have him come if he wasn’t willing to resign, he’d give him a heads up (reminds me of Pau and Bron).
So if he’s not coming, it means either his source was wrong about Bog taking less to play in Milwaukee. Or Giannis hasn’t given him the word he’s staying.
Ibaka and Adams? Who am I missing? Also turning VO/Sabonis into Heat and Clippers 1sts for the next 5 drafts probably doesn’t come out ahead imo. Those picks are all going to be late first rounders. The odds of any of them being better than a healthy Oladipo in his prime are very low.
Reggie. Bazley. Sabonis. Even Lamb is a rotation player. Drafting in the 20s in hard.
And it doesn’t take much for the Clippers picks to be good. Kawhi and PG are on player options. Those rockets picks look like they could be amazing all of a sudden. Fortunes change very fast in the NBA when stars decide they want to move teams.
If they traded all that for Jrue with no assurance from Giannis that would not be good.
He could still resign without Bog but just swapping George Hill for Jrue doesn’t help them that much in getting over the hump.
Adam Silver always look this thin? Dude is tiny.
Shams was really working hard not to flat out say Klay is done for :(
Sabonis was drafted 11th by the Magic. Reggie doesn’t really see many minutes for the Clips and was benched for Ish Smith in Detroit.
My entire point is he is going to need to draft way better than he has to have a competitive roster. Like you said drafting in the 20s is hard. Most of the upcoming Thunder picks will be in the 20s.
The pick was made on behalf of the thunder. Draft night trade for Ibaka.
Or you can attribute Brandon Clarke and Eric Bledsoe to Presti if you want to go that route.
Reggie was a good player relative to his draft position (single handedly kept OKC from getting eliminated by Memphis one year). Where he’s at now is irrelevant to my point.
Drafting late is hard. And Presti has had decent success there. But they won’t be drafting late for all those picks. Rockets picks are likely to be lottery. And it doesn’t take much for the Clips to be the Clips again. Player. Option.
The Rockets melting down would be so good for the Thunder. And you are right about Sabonis. For some reason I did not remember him being part of the Ibaka trade but you are right.
To hopefully agree where we can Presti has done a masterful job the last 18 months. Literally he could not have done any better. He deserves a ton of credit for that. That is coming from someone who has spent a lot of time bagging on him.
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I remember you hating him in TZ. I had a lot of issues from 13-16. But he’s crushing now and I enjoyed the post KD era much more than I thought possible.
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