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I wouldn't count the Spurs out next year at all. They are clearly going to be haunted by game 6 for a long time.

Parker is almost unstoppable off the dribble in the lane. Duncan still has it with rest during the year. Green is improved. Leonard is going to be even better. Gino, I agree he is near done.

Remember they swept Memphis. It wasn't even close. I don't see the Spurs dropping way off from that in 1 year.

Tough you're joking right?

Spurs: Tony Parker is only 31 years old, why the hell would he retire?

Also Ginobili's 14 million dollar contract falls off the books this season, so next year the Spurs have a lot of money to play with/reload with. I mean, I can see them signing guys like Tony Allen and Mo Williams with that money and having one more go at it.

Nuggets: Will be an unmitigated disaster next season. What George Karl did with that team was nothing short of a miracle. And he did it with one of the worst FT shooting teams in the league. If Iguodala hadn't been declining for the past 5 years and Javale Mcgee could make more than half his shots this team comes out of the west. Karl designed that system to fit those players as well as it possibly could.

Warriors: This team is one ankle roll away from falling off the rails at all times.

Lakers: Well yeah pretty much.

Rockets: I can see this team making the playoffs again, but that's about it.

Memphis: If their owners weren't so darn cheap I would say they would sign someone and really making a go for it.

Clippers: Were always pretenders in the first place.

But shall we forget that Westbrook or not, harden could have easily stepped into westbrooks role. I think Westbrook is one of the most overrated players in the NBA. He can't do better than about 5-20 from the field and his defense is a step above average. And are you trying to say Kevin Martin as a third option is better than Harden? No, and because of this season, fair to say not even close.

It's also about more than production. When the Heat won the championship, the 3 players stood and watched. Looking on as if to say "we got it next year." Why would break that up??? When the Thunder traded away Harden, they lost more than production. They lost camaraderie and chemistry. THAT is why the Harden trade, and I'll rephrase it better, is the worst trade of the modern era.

Last edited by G3C at 6/21/2013 6:22:33 PM

Just to clarify, you're arguing that the 2012 NBA Western Conference 2nd seed made the worst trade of the modern era, and became the 2013 Western Conference 1st seed.

Russell Westbrook averaged 24 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds on 41% shooting as option #2 in the Thunder offense.

James Harden averaged 26, 4 and 7 on 39% as option #1 in the Rockets offense.

Westbrook had more steals and turned the ball over less.

I could go further, but instead I think you should just read the first sentence like eight more times.

Last edited by yeppers at 6/21/2013 8:08:19 PM

They became a stronger regular season team for sure. What remains to be seen is if they can actually win a championship with just their big 2. I'm sure they probably can, but I don't think they would have gotten past Memphis and SA even if westbrook was there. For me it mainly comes down to the fact that OKC had 3 players on their team last season that wanted to take the final shot, now they only have two due to the Martin/Harden trade. I believe it was a step in the right direction for OKC.

Westbrook is not overrated, everyone knows exactly what he is, a super athletic point guard who sometimes moves too fast for his own good, and sometimes shoots too much. People from Oklahoma overrate him and people who do the ratings in 2K.

I agree trading Harden was OKC front office out thinking themselves.

Yes, and if you want me to turn the tables, I'm arguing that the 2012 Western conference Champions made the worst trade of the modern era, and became a loser in the second round of the playoffs. Who cares about the regular season? many times during the 2000s the Mavericks had many 45-55 win seasons, yet never won a championship.

And about your facts, a few flaws.

1. Harden averaged 6 assist, not 4 per game
2. harden and Westbrook shot the same FG percentage (.438%), with Harden having a much better 3pt% (.368 to .323).
3. Westbrook did NOT have more steals than harden, they had the same per game (1.8)
4. he turned the ball over less sure, but you're comparing a PG vs. a SG. A PG better have less turnovers, but he only averaged .5 less turnovers than Harden (3.3 to 3.8) while playing a tad less than 4 minutes per game (34.9 to 38.3)

I'll take Harden over Westbrook any day of the week. It was much better though when Harden and Westbrook were on the same.

I think we should just agree to disagree on this one. I believe they trade was beyond horrible, you believe it wasn't that bad. We won't change each other's minds.

stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com

Last edited by G3C at 6/21/2013 11:39:22 PM

Haha, I feel you when it comes to 2k.

My main thing that irritates me about westbrook is he is too inconsistent. One game he will shoot 15-18 from the field and get close to a triple double, the next, 4-20 and a .25 assist/turnover ratio. I'm just tired of the sports media (ESPN, CBS) hyping Westbrook as an elite PG when I don't think he is. I think he is a good/borderline great PG, but he's overrated to me because people (Oklahoma and Sports Media) consider him elite.

Why would ESPN default stats to postseason instead of regular season? Apologies, a massive oversight by me.

But its still unreasonable to evaluate this trade based on the playoff results, since Westbrook got injured.

And you're also still overlooking the fact that they had to shed someone. They had no choice. My beef is not Harden vs. Westbrook, although i got sidetracked with that. My beef is calling this the worst trade in the modern era. I think thats a gross over-statement. Especially when you consider that Kevin Martin was a consistent 18-20 point scorer in Houston and Harden was a sixth man in OKC.

Along with the fact that they got a first round pick out of it and a couple young players in the deal as well. I'd Trade Harden all day for everything they got. I 100% agree with you.

grizzlles had the league best defense this seson, I think it hurt them losing rudy gay.. hes a very good player nd scorer. They have mark gasol. z bo, the pg is very solid , they need a tony allen to step up more. If they can get danny grieger from the pacers , some how they can go world championship..

the thunder need a better scoring bench, I would trade for Jamal Crawford from the clippers for kendrink perkins. he could bring offense off the bench. maybe even D. Jordan from the clippers for K perkins. Either way K perkins need to traded for some offense. I think they should try to green back from the Celtics ,but him and rondo is future of that team.