Quote:
Originally Posted by Fruit Ninja
its a good trade in the long run. short term maybe not. HE did NOT pull a Pioli.
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He pulled a Belichick.
When Belichick traded Richard Seymour, he really hurt his team's chance to win a championship that year (and potentially undermined it altogether). He got very good value for the player, a guy he knew was likely to walk anyway, but in the process he took a very valuable contributor from his roster and diminished his championship chances substantially that season.
Presti did the same here. I'm not convinced that the Thunder a championship caliber team without Harden. Just like that Patriots team, they still have their motor and they still have his top dog running mate. They still have the look of a team that can win it all.
But the Pats desperately needed Seymour down the stretch and his absence was glaringly obvious against the Pats toughest opposition.
I applaud Presti for getting nice value for his player (though it's the NBA; first round picks past 10 are about like 3rd round picks in the NFL). That said, I almost wonder if he shouldn't have just held onto Harden, made his championship push and then done a sign/trade for less overall value in the offseason (but get one more season of Harden out of it).