Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose together? Thoughts on the Sonics

[sactownfan]

Could you imagine if the Sonics had a legit C, PF, and SF. wow... Durant playing at the 2 is funny to me. If he remains at the 2 for his career he could be a HOF player. Other teams are lucky right now that he is only a rookie and the sonics are terrible.... This year.... However if they get the 2nd pick and get Rose or Beasley. Wow....

Rose a big PG Durant a big SG and Green a 6'9 SF along with a full size PF and C would make these guys the tallest all around team ever??

crazy.

 

[Widowmaker2k]

That would be impressive, but is Durant really a shooting guard? Isn't that 'out of position' for him? I guess if he can play it, watch out.

 

[Bricklayer]

That would be impressive, but is Durant really a shooting guard? Isn't that 'out of position' for him? I guess if he can play it, watch out.

People always want to go small for some reason,. but basketball is a game, like all others, where being big helps. If Durant starts to build that body at the 2, he'll be completely unstoppable with his size. If he develops a post game at all it will just be unfair. this first season, you can see the talent in flashes, but physically he just wasn't ready for the NBA at any position.

 

[sloter]

Off topic, but if you want to think future, it's hard to overlook Portland. Oden, Roy, Aldridge, and then they also have rights to Rudy Fernandez, probably the best young European guard. They will be scary in a couple of years.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Off topic, but if you want to think future, it's hard to overlook Portland. Oden, Roy, Aldridge, and then they also have rights to Rudy Fernandez, probably the best young European guard. They will be scary in a couple of years.

isn't rudy a SF/SG? they do have rights to petteri kopponen and that english dude.. his name escapes me right now.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

that would be insane if they got rose and durant. all they would need is to pick up a big name free agent w/ their capspace and they would be ready to rock w/ some great talent.

 

[king07]

Oklahoma City is going to get a great team that should be fun to watch for the next decade.

 

[Bricklayer]

Off topic, but if you want to think future, it's hard to overlook Portland. Oden, Roy, Aldridge, and then they also have rights to Rudy Fernandez, probably the best young European guard. They will be scary in a couple of years.

Oh yeah, that has been obvious since before the year even began. Now add in another lottery pick here, even if it jsut be late lottery and...wow. They are going to be stacked, and young, at every posiiton but PG. And this is a deep PG draft.

 

[kupman]

Off topic, but if you want to think future, it's hard to overlook Portland. Oden, Roy, Aldridge, and then they also have rights to Rudy Fernandez, probably the best young European guard. They will be scary in a couple of years.

This team will be getting very expensive as well. Yes, Paul Allen has more than just a little cash. However, have you seen how much money this guy has lost on this team/arena deal in the past few years. The figures were in a semi-recent SI article. Sorry I do not have the reference. Point being, even though he has billions, I am not sure that he will be all that motivated to burn alot of money above the salary cap.

Additionally, you have several big names there that will 1) want to be "the man" on a team, 2) will be coveted by the big market teams that hold the allure of great endorsement deals. I am just not convinced that these guys will playing together all that long. Maybe if it was 1982, but the dynamics are much different now and creates much more parody.

The same could be said for the Sonics as well, I guess. These two teams do show promise, but I would not plan the parade quite yet. It seemed that Orlando was destined for a championship (if not a dynasty) when their one ball struck gold for them in the spring of 1993. Yes, they did end-up with a really good team, but no cigar and certainly no dynasty.

 

[KCKingsCountry]

Magic didnt become a dyntasy bc Shaq left and the team fell apart plus some guy named Jordan was dominating at that time.

 

[hrdboild]

Also they traded Webber for Penny Hardaway and his knees went out on him. Also they signed Grant Hill and he had his chronic ankle injuries. It wasn't just Shaq that killed that potential dynasty.

 

[sloter]

I never said that the Trail Blazers will become a dynasty, it's way too early to predict that they will even win a championship, but they will be a very exciting team to watch in about 2 years.

 

[greypoupon]

This team will be getting very expensive as well. Yes, Paul Allen has more than just a little cash. However, have you seen how much money this guy has lost on this team/arena deal in the past few years. The figures were in a semi-recent SI article. Sorry I do not have the reference. Point being, even though he has billions, I am not sure that he will be all that motivated to burn alot of money above the salary cap.

Portland just went out and literally bought Phx's draft pick for $3M last summer just to take Rudy Fernandez so they could stash him over in Europe. How many owners can do that?

They essentially "bought" the pick for Brandon Roy by getting their owner to take on an additional year of Raef Lafrentz's contract. That's another $13M in deadweight salary the owner committed to.

Guy has deep pockets and I'm willing to bet he'll shell it out to keep his players as needed.

 

[Bricklayer]

This team will be getting very expensive as well. Yes, Paul Allen has more than just a little cash. However, have you seen how much money this guy has lost on this team/arena deal in the past few years. The figures were in a semi-recent SI article. Sorry I do not have the reference. Point being, even though he has billions, I am not sure that he will be all that motivated to burn alot of money above the salary cap.

Additionally, you have several big names there that will 1) want to be "the man" on a team, 2) will be coveted by the big market teams that hold the allure of great endorsement deals. I am just not convinced that these guys will playing together all that long. Maybe if it was 1982, but the dynamics are much different now and creates much more parody.

The same could be said for the Sonics as well, I guess. These two teams do show promise, but I would not plan the parade quite yet. It seemed that Orlando was destined for a championship (if not a dynasty) when their one ball struck gold for them in the spring of 1993. Yes, they did end-up with a really good team, but no cigar and certainly no dynasty.

I think this is just wishful thinking. The parity is created by making it hard to acquire bigger $$ talent than your opposition. But if you do it right like the Blazers have, get almost all of it through the draft, the only thing preventing you from retaining all that talent as it matures is the depth of your pockets. When you are one of the world's richest men, those pockets are pretty darn deep. And if the team seems headed toward a tital, there is nothing to prevent Allen from green lighting it.

As for the ego problems -- again unlikely, at least amongst the core guys. Oden is so humble he may be too humble, and Aldridge and Roy show little if any meism. They are at the point now where a 50 win team for a lot of years is almost guaranteed barring unlucky health issues, and the only question becomes will they have enough (and will Oden blossom enough) to start making title runs.

 

[kupman]

Maybe they will stick together. I dunno.

However, I know that even very, very rich people do not want to burn millions and millions of dollars. What is the anticipated payroll of that team in 4-5 years assuming that everyone stays?

From the players side, Portland can seem great until some of the big market teams start courting you. "hey, be the biggest thing in the big apple since A-rod. Have a 100 foot poster of you in Times Square. Be best friends with Spike Lee." Or, "come to L.A. and hang-out with Hollywood types. By the way, Nike will pay you much more if you are wearing purple and gold than that ugly black and red."

It's just a theory.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

They've (Portland) done a pretty good job lately of getting people that want to be here. And if Oden emerges as the superstar he's supposed to be he'll be right at the top of that list. The guy just seems so sincere and humble. When he got outed for playing in a pick up gym game he looked like a lost little puppy who just wanted to play.

Portland's money situation is getting better too - they were giving away tickets in bunches the past few years, now the games are well attended. And when they start winning they will sell out. Portland used to be known the same way Sacramento was. The Rose Garden is also one of the few remaining holdouts without a naming deal and they will succumb to that one in the next few years which will probably also give the team extra cash to play with.

 

[AriesMar27]

what would seattle do with ridnour and watson?

 

[Big Cuz 15]

This team will be getting very expensive as well. Yes, Paul Allen has more than just a little cash. However, have you seen how much money this guy has lost on this team/arena deal in the past few years. The figures were in a semi-recent SI article. Sorry I do not have the reference. Point being, even though he has billions, I am not sure that he will be all that motivated to burn alot of money above the salary cap.

Additionally, you have several big names there that will 1) want to be "the man" on a team, 2) will be coveted by the big market teams that hold the allure of great endorsement deals. I am just not convinced that these guys will playing together all that long. Maybe if it was 1982, but the dynamics are much different now and creates much more parody.

The same could be said for the Sonics as well, I guess. These two teams do show promise, but I would not plan the parade quite yet. It seemed that Orlando was destined for a championship (if not a dynasty) when their one ball struck gold for them in the spring of 1993. Yes, they did end-up with a really good team, but no cigar and certainly no dynasty.

its a luxury to be in that position where you have an abundance of talent.

 

[kupman]

(I moved/copy this from the Portland game thread; the thread was closed about 5 minutes after I typed all this )

I keep hearing how great Portland is destined to be and how we are destined for mediocrity at best. Yet, we keep kicking these guys in the arse. I mean, they were barely even competitive against us last night. We beat them 3 out of 4 this year and all 3 wins were by double digits.

Yeah, I know, I will hear it - "just wait a few years." And, I will be happy to wait a few years and still see the Kings own these guys. It's not like our vets have been beating-up on their poor young future superstars. It was pretty much our young guys beating-up on their young squad. Yes, they will get Oden and maybe, barring injuries, he will live-up to all the hype. However, we have our own young 7 foot center that does not look too shabby. Furthermore, while PortLand will be emptying their wallets just to try and keep what they have, we will have a ton of money coming off the books in the few years as Brad, SAR and K-9 leave. That will position us to go get a proven talent to add to our roster.

So go ahead Portland band wagoners, keep cheering on lottery day and draft day (those are the days of the biggest cheers for you - not the season). Keep dreaming of the future and how great you will be. But realize, at some point, you actually have to start winning games and maybe even make the playoffs one day.

GO KINGS!