Thunder add Kawhi Leonard

[Andrewu91]

Today, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded for Kawhi Leonard. The price was hefty, but if you are serious about winning, you will understand the reason why they made the trade.

It all started with a random rumor about the Thunder being interested in Kawhi this afternoon. When BI heard of this news, he approached the Thunder and a deal was quickly agreed upon. Michael-Kidd Gilchrist and Demarre Carroll will be leaving and Kawhi Leonard will be joining the core of Stanley, Klay, Qi, Holiday and hopefully Bledsoe.

When asked about the trade, Andrew had this to say: "We are all about winning. Sometimes you have to take risks, unlike Boston. I want our star player Eric Bledsoe to see this and know we are committed to him long term, no matter how much older he gets." The Thunder are expected to play Kawhi at power forward, given his solid rebounding numbers, and small forward.

This trade saves the Thunder roughly 4 million in salary.

[Marcos_Beck]

62.4M in salaries with 5 players.
OKC still won't have more than 6M if they max Bledsoe to keep McRae around, but Kawhi is a talent upgrade for them.
They could be going for the ring with Bledsoe back and some good veterans. That probably would give them a deeper team with less good tier talent, which would be needed if they don't want to overplay their main guys.

[Andrewu91]

62.4M in salaries with 5 players.
OKC still won't have more than 6M if they max Bledsoe to keep McRae around, but Kawhi is a talent upgrade for them.
They could be going for the ring with Bledsoe back and some good veterans. That probably would give them a deeper team with less good tier talent, which would be needed if they don't want to overplay their main guys.

Maybe Bledsoe sees this roster and takes a little pay cut to win? So I can sign some vet minimums. He has high loyalty/play for winner and motivation.....
I know you told me via FB message the other week you can't wait to see me fall...

But we are dealing with PA's now, not the engine. So I have been prepared for a while now.. hopefully everything works out and I'm glad to add the two time eastern conference finalist

[Marcos_Beck]

62.4M in salaries with 5 players.
OKC still won't have more than 6M if they max Bledsoe to keep McRae around, but Kawhi is a talent upgrade for them.
They could be going for the ring with Bledsoe back and some good veterans. That probably would give them a deeper team with less good tier talent, which would be needed if they don't want to overplay their main guys.

Maybe Bledsoe sees this roster and takes a little pay cut to win? So I can sign some vet minimums. He has high loyalty/play for winner and motivation.....
I know you told me via FB message the other week you can't wait to see me fall...

But we are dealing with PA's now, not the engine. So I have been prepared for a while now.. hopefully everything works out and I'm glad to add the two time eastern conference finalist

No biggie. You'll have a really thin roster nonetheless.
Let's see what Bledsoe says, and if there are offers for McRae of course! but it's going to be interesting.

[bt]

An interesting move. I know my post guys will be happy MKG is gone. My back court not so much, lol.

Bledsoe isn't greedy so I could see him giving OKC a minor discount but when it comes to discounts in the NBA/CSL with player agents, we're probably only talking 1 mil or less so it will still press OKC here.

[Silogical]

Playing Kawhi at PF is a waste of his talents. He has the handles def and steals to play the 3. He has a rebounding advantage against other 3's and he cant block shots.

[Andrewu91]

Playing Kawhi at PF is a waste of his talents. He has the handles def and steals to play the 3. He has a rebounding advantage against other 3's and he cant block shots.

Definitely will be fun to experiment with

[drumr]

Yeah I wouldn't change Kawhi either. His preference work is very balanced. I wonder how he'll play on a team with guys who have higher SCRs now.

[Andrewu91]

Yeah I wouldn't change Kawhi either. His preference work is very balanced. I wonder how he'll play on a team with guys who have higher SCRs now.

Should be a fun challenge. I honestly think with his rebounding, I can make him a perfect 4. Time will tell though.

Could I be wrong? Yeah but I'm willing to take the risk before the switch to 19.

[OneNole]

Typically, with my experience. The engine allowed for discounts, especially for the home team. Player agents usually were able to price drive and receive maximum value. With Myles formula, I also think there will be very little persuasion. I'm sure it will help break a tie but other then that it's all formula based.

[WillyJakkz]

Interesting move, didn't see that coming after Blackice contacted me about Kawhi and yeah he definitely is a SF.

Maybe spot min PF? But yeah Bledsoe Klay Kawhi is a great trio with lots of experience.

[Dennis]

Playing Kawhi at PF is a waste of his talents. He has the handles def and steals to play the 3. He has a rebounding advantage against other 3's and he cant block shots.

This

[blackice]

Kawhi is the most consistent player I've ever had outside of maybe Greg Monroe but my lord your starting 5 is gonna be tough to beat for anyone.

[Cyrisnyte]

blackice reverses a trade a little. I sent Kawhi to Toronto for MKG and Henson back in the day in San Antonio. When we ran the Bermuda Triangle defense with MKG, Henson and Dieng. Now he takes MKG and a player for Kawhi.