• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

Cavaliers need to emulate OKC & how they were built

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

sailfish

The 52 year drought is over!
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
6,939
Reaction score
5,957
Points
113
Like the Cavaliers, Oklahoma City, is a small market team. They realized that their best chance to sustain a winning model would be by building their team through the draft & trades. They used their cap space, not to sign free agents, but as flexibility in trades. That said, let's take a closer look at how the Oklahoma City Thunder were built by their GM, Sam Presti:

Point Guard
Russell Westbrook- 1st round pick (4th overall) in 2008
Eric Maynor- trade from UTAH (w/ Harpring in salary dump); was 20th pick overall in 2009 draft
Nate Robinson- trade w/ BOS (for Nenad Kristic, 1st round pick, & Jeff Green, who was 5th overall pick in '07); was 21st overall pick in 2005 draft by NYK
Reggie Jackson- 1st round pick (24th overall) in 2011

Shooting Guard
Thabo Sefolosha- trade from CHI (for 2009 1st- Taj Gibson); was 13th pick overall in 2006 draft by PHI
James Harden- 1st round pick (3rd overall) in 2009
Daequan Cook- trade from MIA (w/ 1st round pick in salary dump); was 1st round pick (21st overall) in 2007

Small Forward
Kevin Durant- 1st round pick (2nd overall) in 2007
Lazar Hayward- trade w/ MIN (for 2 conditional 2nd round picks; was a 1st round pick (30th overall) in 2010 draft)

Power Forward
Serge Ibaka- 1st round pick (24th overall) in 2008; pick acquired from PHX
Nick Collison- 1st round pick (12th overall) in 2003

Center
Kendrick Perkins- trade w/ BOS (for Nenad Kristic, 1st round pick, & Jeff Green, who was 5th overall pick in '07); was 27th overall pick in 2003 draft by BOS
Cole Aldrich- draft rights traded from NO; was 11th pick in 2010 draft
Nazr Mohammed- trade from CHAR (for P. Brezec); was 29th overall pick in 1998 draft by PHI
BJ Mulllen- draft rights traded from DAL; was 24th pick in 2009 draft


To summarize:
-15/15 players on the roster were 1st round picks into the NBA.
-8/15 were 1st round picks by OKC.
-7/15 arrived by trade. 2 trades were salary dumps & 3 were draft night deals.
-NO current players were signed through free agency.
-Team was aggressive in making trades, especially those that involved draft picks (ex- Kurt Thomas + 2 1st round picks from PHX for a 2nd round pick; team then traded Thomas to SA for a 1st round pick + 2 players).
-Team hit on most of their 1st round picks, but not all (Johan Petro in '05, Saer Sene in '06, Mullen in '09, Aldrich in '10).


THIS is the model the Cavaliers need to follow!
 
This is the first time I've seen this comparison/suggestion.
 
This is the first time I've seen this comparison/suggestion.

Wow, what a smart ass. :thumbdown
If there's another thread out there like this then kindly direct me to it.
 
I'm really sick and tired of hearing this shit

You know what the difference between Oklahoma and Minnesota's plans are? Kevin Durant

That's it. Plain and simple.
 
I'm really sick and tired of hearing this shit

You know what the difference between Oklahoma and Minnisota's plans are? Kevin Durant

That's it. Plain and simple.

Wrong. Yes, having a superstar helps, but Kevin Love is not all that far behind Kevin Durant as a player.

The main difference between the two teams is the culture created by their front offices, led by Sam Presti & David Kahn. Presti has acquired draft picks & talent with an objective in mind. David Kahn acquires players & draft picks and makes trades with seemingly no objective in mind, other than to accumulate talent & picks. For instance, I don't believe that Sam Presti would have acquired Michael Beasley 'cause, although the guy can score the ball, he's generally a bad seed and not the kind of guy you find on a winning team. Presti & others saw that, while Kahn just saw a guy that can put up points.

Another example is when Kahn took two point guards, Ricky Rubio & Jonny Flynn, with the #5 and #6 picks in the 2009 draft. It was as though he was trying to entice other teams to trade with him for a point guard. Nevermind that Steph Curry & Brandon Jennings went in the 4 picks after the T'Wolves selected Rubio & Flynn or that DeMar DeRozan is a player that could have helped the team. Rubio decided to remain in Spain for 2 more seasons, while Flynn hasn't panned out and was traded to Houston during the 2011 draft. Just another example of Kahn outsmarting himself.

Additionally, Presti stays in the background & is a grinder wheras Kahn is an excuse maker, who has shown a propensity for putting his foot in his mouth. Kahn overpays Darko Milicic, makes some ridiculous statements about him, and then refuses to acknowledge his mistake. Presti followed up on the selection of BJ Mullen by picking another center, Cole Aldrich, the following year. Then, when neither showed signs of stepping up, he traded for Kendrick Perkins the following year. Kahn, meanwhile, brought in only an aging Brad Miller, while he continues to ride Darko.

It's the difference between a winning mentality & a losing mentality.

By the way, if there's a thread already out there on this same topic, we can gladly close this thread down. Until then, I'm waiting....
 
Wrong. Having a superstar helps, but Kevin Love is not all that far behind Kevin Durant as a player.

JagsFanWTF.gif
 
They realized that their best chance to sustain a winning model would be by building their team through the draft & trades.

Damn near every recent contender except the Heat were built this way.
 
Let me answer your response this way


If the Blazers took KD and Oklahoma was left with Oden, where would your rebuild theory be?

If the Cavs had not traded away all their assets and picks for shit in the Paxon era, we would have been able to draft some talent around Lebron and had tradeable assets to acquire the other pieces. We got to the finals off of one pick.

That's the key to your theory is draft a top 5 player and draft a couple other good players in the time it takes for him to resign and presto, you have a good team. Then you trade your other assets for players you need to make a functional contending team. Bingo, bongo, you've got a contending team. All it takes is a top 5 player and all your picks to hit and you will contend, but not necessarily win a championship as the Thunder haven't even made the finals yet
 
Let me answer your response this way


If the Blazers took KD and Oklahoma was left with Oden, where would your rebuild theory be?

If the Cavs had not traded away all their assets and picks for shit in the Paxon era, we would have been able to draft some talent around Lebron and had tradeable assets to acquire the other pieces. We got to the finals off of one pick.

That's the key to your theory is draft a top 5 player and draft a couple other good players in the time it takes for him to resign and presto, you have a good team. Then you trade your other assets for players you need to make a functional contending team. Bingo, bongo, you've got a contending team. All it takes is a top 5 player and all your picks to hit and you will contend, but not necessarily win a championship as the Thunder haven't even made the finals yet

In theory, if, as you say, 'the Cavs had not traded away all their assets and picks for shit in the Paxon era, we would have been able to draft some talent' we very likely would not have ended up with LeBron. Paxson took over in 1999 and it wasn't until, after the failed picks of Langdon, Mihm, Diop, & Wagner, that the Cavs decided to gut the team and go full force for LeBron in the 2003 draft. If the Cavs had hit with a couple of those picks there's a very strong likelihood that we would have finished with a better record in 2002-2003 and, thus, wouldn't have been in position to draft LeBron.

Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. Hitting on picks would have meant a better team & the ping pong balls then don't go in our favor and we end up with someone other than LeBron.
 
Whew! What a relief. I thought step 1 was going to be "relocate to a new city".
 
Durant is near the top at his position.

Love is near the top at his position.

I don't see why sailfish's statement is so outlandish. Kevin Durant is the better player because he is the best scorer in the game. Love might be the best rebounder in the game, gets his scoring in too. Durant is a decently better player but Love isn't that far behind at this point.
 
Im not sure whats wrong ih the cavs appraoch or why it has to be identified as the "oklahoma model" Why not call it the atlanta model.. thats the model presti based his build plan on.. The OKC team was built by having 2 all star players to trade away. The fact is that if Westbrook and durant never wins a championship people will go back and point to a lack of a veteran presence early in their careers.
Cavs have already Established their build plan and its based around flexibility and developing young talent with a veteran presence.

check minnesota, Sacramento r any other team with a plethora of their own first round picks and little to no veteran presence.. By the time their talent gets to the point to actually win in this league. they get rolled over by the free agent market and are typically a game away to rebuiding their rebuild.

The Cavs just need to make Smart decisions. Spend smartly, and stand firm on value when negotiating.

Cleveland had their chance to do thing the OKC way but Grant has no nintetion of blowing up the roster just to blow it up.

Anytime I see the OKC model brought up its when someone wants to advocate trading Varejao , Gibson, Jamison, for next to nothing and thats absurd.

BTw Portalnd trailblazers for years stocked up on any top 15 pick they could get their hands on and still couldnt find their way to a ring.

I dont see whats wrong with what the cavs are doing.. Grant spelled out his build plan quite clearly. if you think it should change.. what part are you not liking..
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top