Around the League: Week 1 10/27-11/2

[ShelC]

If Durant leaves?

[Gladiator]

How on earth are the Lakers beating the Clippers?

[Sunsfan4life]

How on earth are the Lakers beating the Clippers?

I don't know but I'm happy about it. I have a hard time finding 5 worse team then the lakers, so unexpected wins are welcome.

[Flagrant Fowl]

How can the window be shut?! All their guys are young, they're about to get out of the Perkins contract, and if the salary cap rises, they'll be able to add more talent.

That team is doomed to mediocrity if/when Durant and Westbrook leave. Ibaka is barely a serviceable 3rd guy, and good luck trying to convince FA's to sign there without any other superstar talent on the roster.

[SwingMan]

How on earth are the Lakers beating the Clippers?

I don't know but I'm happy about it. I have a hard time finding 5 worse team then the lakers, so unexpected wins are welcome.

Damn straight - ours is not to ask why, but only to enjoy the benefits.

[Wally_West]

Lakers up on the Clips? Awwwhahahahahahahaha

[SDC]

How on earth are the Lakers beating the Clippers?

the lakers, celtics, philly, indy will be at their most dangerous during the month of november.

[LazarusLong]

They have the money to blow on re-upping Perkins, but would afraid to pay Harden?

Apples and oranges.

First, those two decisions were not made at the same time. So it's not like they let Harden go to pay Perkins.

Secondly, Perkins significantly improved that team on and off the court, so it's not hard to see why they prioritized keeping him. And also, centers don't grow on trees. What they didn't account for is that he would increasingly become drastically less effective with each season that passes.

Third, Perkins has made $8-9 million a year on his deal. Harden was asking to be paid $16 mil/yr. Again, apples and oranges.

Fourth, the Thunder had just gotten beat in 5 games against the Heat and Harden was a complete casper in that serious and there were whispers he became a problem in the lockerroom during that series. I can forgive them for not wanting to fork over the max under those circumstances.

LOL.
OK, you can continue to make Perkins look like Moses Malone and Harden look like a bum.
Perkins was an upgrade over Kristic, but the bar was set low.
But giving him too much credit overlooks the development/maturing of other players.
Harden's a talent, and good organization would figure a way to make it work.
So he had a bad series? Other players have had a bad run in playoffs, and it wasn't the end of the world.

[Gladiator]

How on earth are the Lakers beating the Clippers?

the lakers, celtics, philly, indy will be at their most dangerous during the month of november.

That's true, but a team with (rightly or wrongly) championship aspirations should take care of business better than what the Clippers are doing. They're sitting around hoping the Lakers will miss - sadly the Lakers are bad enough that they'll likely end up missing just enough for the Clips to get away with a win.

[Ring_Wanted]

OKC needed a banger and a post defender to pair with Ibaka from the weak side. At the time Perkins was a high quality role player and proven with the Celtics that won the title. The problem was his decline after the knee injury, which made him extremely overpaid.

Harden was a casualty to the L-tax, like many other players and draft picks before. If the owners won't allow amnestying Perkins and won't pay the tax, you are screwed as a GM. We know well. And at the time the package Houston sent to OKC was absolutely the best available in terms of flexibility and long term potential. In hindsight the sum of the parts don't equal a talent like Harden, but that's not why the move was made.

[carey]

No reactions to Klay's extension? 4/70? I didn't even know that was possible. I know he's made more 3's in his 1st 3 years than any other player ever but that's so much money.

[iLLmatic]

Who would you take right now, Klay or Kobe?

[carey]

To build a team going forward? Klay. For just this year? Don't know & that probably says something. For one series? Kobe. One game? Kobe.

[iLLmatic]

Is Kobe a top 5 shooting guard?

[SDC]

goran dragic is a better player than klay.

[INFORMER]

LOL.
OK, you can continue to make Perkins look like Moses Malone and Harden look like a bum.
Perkins was an upgrade over Kristic, but the bar was set low.
But giving him too much credit overlooks the development/maturing of other players.
Harden's a talent, and good organization would figure a way to make it work.
So he had a bad series? Other players have had a bad run in playoffs, and it wasn't the end of the world.

You're exaggerating my take on both Harden and Perkins.

[INFORMER]

No reactions to Klay's extension? 4/70? I didn't even know that was possible. I know he's made more 3's in his 1st 3 years than any other player ever but that's so much money.

He has responded well to getting paid initially. Dropped 41 tonight on 14-18 shooting.*




*It was against the Lakers, however.

[INFORMER]

Great win for OKC tonight. 11 point win over Denver with Perry Jones coming up big again. Really any win they can pull off is a great one during this plague of injuries.

[INFORMER]

Derrick Rose has a pair of sprained ankles. He did not play Saturday night versus Minnesota.

[Ring_Wanted]

Random fact:

Kendrick Perkins is being used off the bench without Durant and Westbrook, and tonight he dropped 17 points in 19 minutes on the Nuggets, his best scoring performance since his game in february 2013 against Phoenix (also 17 points 8-9FG, 27mins).

To find a better game points wise you have to go all the way back to 2010 while on the Celtics.