NBA Rumors: Oklahoma City Thunder May Not Bring Back Kendrick Perkins

An article to make Cowens' heart go pitter-pat.


http://fansided.com/2014/06/01/nba-rumors-oklahoma-city-thunder-may-bring-back-kendrick-perkins/#!TIAhK




NBA Rumors: Oklahoma City Thunder may not bring back Kendrick Perkins
by Josh Hill 18h ago TWEET (1) LIKE 0




The Oklahoma City are going home empty handed yet again in the postseason and there will be plenty of decisions made over the summer as to what can be done to make sure the present day Thunder don’t become the 90s era Jazz where they always come a step short of achieving immortality.


Among the players the Thunder will have to decide on is Kendrick Perkins and at the moment it’s not looking too positive as to whether or not he’ll be back in 2014-15.

Head coach Scott Brooks was directly asked about Perkins future with the team and was non-committal at best with his indirect answer.


Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
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Brooks when asked if it's time to turn the page on Perkins: "That remains to be seen. There’s a lot of work to be done this summer."
8:51 AM - 1 Jun 2014



Perkins wasn’t that big of a help for the Thunder in the series at least not the way they needed. Had Perkins showed up for the Thunder, they may have been able to force a Game 7 or not even needed one all and ended up on the right side of a six game series.

The fact of the matter is though that the Thunder are out and so too might be Perkins. It all comes down to what kind of money the Thunder have to spend in the offseason and whether or not Perkins did enough to warrant a spot on their roster and a place on the payroll.



bob
MY NOTE:  Of course, Scott Brooks might not have been sure if HE was coming back next year either (he still might not), so talking about a player might have been awkward at best anyway.  Regardless, he wouldn't say "yes, he will be gone".  The story here, if there is any, is that he didn't say something firmer like "I believe Kendrick Perkins is a valuable part of OKC's future until I am told otherwise".  Perk will make $9.15M next year, the final year of his contract, which fit nicely into the TPE without wasting much.  OKC's salary next year, for players under contract, will be $67.9M.  Trading Perk without picking up a player and their contract in return (because of the TPE) would get them under the cap.  Perk is only 29 years old, 30 in November.  Would OKC roll the dice with just Steven Adams as their center to get under the cap?  All will start to become clear 6/26, draft day, and even more clear a week or so later when the free agent signing feeding frenzy begins. That would, however, fix one of our problems. Between Hibbert, Perkins and Bogut (injuries), there are three centers who disappointed these playoffs.


.

OKC would be smart to retain him. Otherwise, I could see them taking a step back.


KJ

Which problem would it fix? Not a young, stud intimidator on the upside of his career, still moves on a large percentage of his picks, and is shooting free throws at the worst clip of his career. I hope that, if he's cut loose, Perk lands in a good situation.

Sam

sam wrote:Which problem would it fix?  Not a young, stud intimidator on the upside of his career, still moves on a large percentage of his picks, and is shooting free throws at the worst clip of his career.  I hope that, if he's cut loose, Perk lands in a good situation.

Sam

sam,

Asik will be 28 in July. That's only 2 years behind Perk. He's UP to 62% free throw shooting.

Gortat is 30. He shoots 69% free throws.

Which young, stud intimidator on the upside of his career were you thinking of?


bob


.

I'd prefer Gortat out of the 3 because he offers the best balance of offense and defense.


KJ

I don't see Perk as being the answer to anything here except a trivia question; who played center on the '08 title team?

I'm sure he's got a few years ahead of him in the NBA and there are teams who could use him.  It would be no great change to OKC since they generally rotate Perk out and slide Ibaka over.  Adams could fill the same role, I'm sure.

Based on a variety of reasons on the topic of Perk, Gortat and Asik I prefer pass, pass and pass.  I don't mean the act of throwing the ball to a teammate either.

I'd rather either take a flyer that Vonleh becomes the next Unseld or Cowens sized center, or wait to find a better fit.

Perk?  No.  But good luck to him if he moves on.

IF Ainge gets Love this off-season, Bringing Perkins back would make some sense (and keep Rondo happy as well).

Perkins has never been a stats guy. But fact is he's been a starter on winning NBA teams his whole career.

Worth $9M maybe not, but that can and will be corrected in his next deal.

I don't see it happening however.

A player who doesn't score can still have a valued role on a team, but OKC got blown out with two of them (Sefolosha and Perkins) in the starting lineup and only Reggie Jackson as a scorer off the bench.

Perk is a great teammate and very good post defender, but OKC desperately needs offensive production beyond Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Jackson. Part of the problem is Perk's contract -- he made $9 million this season and has another year left at $9.6 million -- which limits OKC's ability to bring in another scorer. They could try to trade him, but there won't be much of a market for him at that price, and his main value would be as an expiring contract. Another option for OKC is to amnesty him.

In order to win a championship, OKC is going to have to make changes. It's likely that both Perk and Sefolosha don't have much of a future there.

Outside,

OKC is going to go a long time without winning a title. Why? They are too afraid to pay the money.

They let James Harden go and thought they could win without him. Well, all of the regular season wins only to lead to repeated defeats in the playoffs certainly proved them wrong. You can't come to the big table without willing to gamble.

Imagine if OKC had kept Harden. They would have had 3 of the top players in the league and could go to war with any team in the league and probably win. But again, they weren't ready to shell out and we are seeing the end result.

I think Sefolosha and Perkins are good pieces in OKC, they just need to build onto what they already have. More offensive scoring and probably a Tony Allen-esque designated defender.



KJ

Is their age a factor ? Very young team. All their best players are 25 or younger. May need more time to allow their mental skills to catch up to their physical skills.

swish

k_j,

I don't think OKC is afraid to pay the money. They are a small market and don't want to go over the luxury tax threshold like Brookyn or the Lakers, but their total payroll for this season was $71.3 million, just out of the luxury tax bracket and 10th highest in the league, one spot above Boston.

They have $53.2 million tied up in four players -- Durant ($17.8 million), Westbrook ($14.7 million), Ibaka ($12.3 million), and Perkins ($8.5 million). In the summer of 2012, they were faced with the prospect of only being able to afford Ibaka or Harden, but not both, and they chose Ibaka. They saw the writing on the wall that they couildn't afford Harden, who wanted to be paid like a no. 1 scorer -- his contract goes from $13.7 million this season and ramps up to $17.8 million over the next four seasons. Ibaka's contract is a flat $12.3 million over the same four seasons, so he was far more affordable and a more appropriate use of salary resources than paying no.1 scorer's money to their no. 3 scorer.

Sefolosha and Perkins can obviously be valuable additions given the right situation, but they are two starters who combined for less than 10 points per game during the season and less than seven in the playoffs, and San Antonio abused them by doubling everyone else to the point that Brooks had to bench them.

OKC doesn't need a Tony Allen-type defensive stopper, because that's what Sefolosha is. But Sefolosha hasn't expanded his game offensively; Tony Allen is hardly an offensive force, but he scored 9.0 per game during the regular season and upped that to 12.3 in the playoffs so that he at least contributes at that end. Sefolosha needs to make himself into a three-point threat like Bruce Bowen did so that he's not a liability at the offensive end.

Sure, if everyone else could be counted on to score, they could afford to carry Perkins and Sefolosha as defensive specialists, but when you only have four guys on your entire team you can depend on for scoring -- Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Jackson -- that makes starters who don't score that much more of an issue. Jeremy Lamb and Steven Adams may provide some bench scoring in the future, but for now, Caron Butler and Nick Collison were supposed to provide that but didn't. Jackson was the only guy coming off the bench they could count on, and when he was forced to move to the starting lineup, they had no one.

The other issue is salaries. You can afford a defensive specialist if the price is right, but at $8.5 million this season and $9.7 million next season, Perkins is expensive. Sefolosha was only $3.9 million this season, so he was more reasonable, but when using $12.4 million of the available salary for two players, you need some offensive production from that expenditure.

What they need is a dependable bench scorer like Jamal Crawford, who by the way made $5.2 million this season.

k_j_88 wrote:I'd prefer Gortat out of the 3 because he offers the best balance of offense and defense.


KJ

KJ

I agree. Gortat is the better of the three and made less money.

As far as OKC is concerned, they blew it bY not retaining Harden even if it meant that they hard to part with a big.
Perhaps if they get another scorer things will work out.

Adams, the bu center sucks. Horrible defender.

Dboss

Bob,

I was talking about Asik versus Perk.  Gortat was not part of my post or (as far as I know) not a focus of this thread.

I was talking about the guy who averaged 10.4 points to Perk's 6.3 per 36 minutes this past season.

I was talking about the guy who averaged 14.1 rebounds to Perk's 9.1 per 36 minutes this past season.

I was talking about the guy whose free throw shooting percentage has improved by more than five percentage point in each of his most recent three seasons (seems like upside to me) while Perk's percentage has plummeted by more than four percentage points per season (seems like downside to me).  Projecting those trends, by the 2021-22 season, Asik should be shooting free throws at better than a 100% clip while Perk should be shooting them at roughly 23%.  Trends are important.  Then is not now.

I was talking about the guy who can defend as well as setting and holding picks without constantly picking up fouls (3.4 versus Perk's 5.3 per 36 minutes last season).

Yes, Asik is only 9% younger than Perk, but he has played 68% fewer minutes.  Age is one thing; fresh versus balding tire treads and improvement versus diminishing skills comprise another.

If you want to bring Gortat into the picture, he's a better scorer than either Asik or Perk.  And he could really improve their pick-and-roll game.  But Asik grabs 14.1 boards versus Gortat's 10.4 per 36 minutes.  And, though Asik is only 9% younger than Gortat, he has played 48% fewer minutes than Marcin.

I'd consider Gortat to be a good fall-back position if they can't get Asik.  And I do believe Gortat would complement his finesse play with his own brand of wiry toughness.  But I don't consider him a defensive intimidator, and I want the defensive intimidator.  Have the Boston Celtics ever won a single championship without a defensive intimidator?  There's just something about their selfless tradition that has led to their defense being a little more pivotal than simply trying to outscore the other guys.

And, yes, in one of those championship years, Perk was the intimidator (although he had an arguably better intimidator playing beside him).  But then is not now.  I'd be happy to see Gortat in green; but, in terms of building toward the future, he'd definitely be my second choice to Asik.

Sam

sam wrote:
...Yes, Asik is only 9% younger than Perk, but he has played 68% fewer minutes.  Age is one thing; fresh versus balding tire treads and improvement versus diminishing skills comprise another...



Sam

Sam,

Thanks for the reminder that I wanted to have them put a new set of tires on when my car is in for service this week.

Regards

dboss wrote:

k_j_88 wrote:I'd prefer Gortat out of the 3 because he offers the best balance of offense and defense.


KJ

KJ

I agree.  Gortat is the better of the three and made less money.

As far as OKC is concerned, they blew it bY not retaining Harden even if it meant that they hard to part with a big.
Perhaps if they get another scorer things will work out.

Adams, the bu center sucks.  Horrible defender.  

Dboss

dboss,


Baxter Holmes @BaxterHolmes 02 Jun 02:45 ET
Adams also recalled clashing with Perk at a practice. At one point, Perk elbowed him & yelled, "I’m the only silverback!”
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Baxter Holmes @BaxterHolmes 02 Jun 02:43 ET
OKC's Steven Adams on the weather in Oklahoma: "I don’t want to say it sucks, but it’s borderline."

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bob
MY NOTE:  Steven Adams may not have exploded out of the box like Drummond did, but I predict he will have a pretty good NBA career.  Give him a year or two and I'll bet he'll be a physical intimidator on PnRs, he was just a rookie in the NBA playoffs fer Pete's Sake. He already seems to be a player that gets under opponents' skins. He also seems to be having some qualms about OKC.


.

NYCelt,

That's funny. I went to the Subaru dealership this week to see if they could somehow put some new tread on my head. I've tried everywhere else!

Sam

As of 6/6/14


http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/thunder/thunder-s-sam-presti-not-considering-using-the-amnesty-on/article_b865ba72-974b-597e-85d1-28fc8b1e950b.html


Thunder's Sam Presti 'not considering' using the amnesty on Kendrick Perkins


Posted: Friday, June 6, 2014 9:12 am
By ANTHONY SLATER NewsOK.com


NBA Draft: Did the Thunder make a promise to Kristaps Porzingis?


OKLAHOMA CITY - Another Thunder offseason is cranking up, which means a familiar tune is coming from some of the OKC masses: Amnesty Kendrick Perkins.

But before the last season of his contract — the last chance OKC can wipe (but still pay) his $9.1 million salary from the books — Thunder GM Sam Presti told reporters at his exit interview on Thursday that’s it’s not likely to happen.

“I knew I’d get that question,” Presti said. “I wish I had something clever to say there, but I don’t. We’ll look at everything, as we always do. But as we’ve said before, it’s not something that’s been considered to this point.”

This season, Perkins averaged his fewest points (3.4) and rebounds (4.9) since the 2004-05 campaign, but it’s his sturdy post defense and veteran presence that, Presti said, continue to give him value to the roster.



bob
MY NOTE:  Now it's the Thunder that are said to have made an offer to Porzingis.


.

I think the Thunder should trade Perkins and draft picks to the Lakers for Pau Gasol. Adding Gasol to that team could put them over the top. Harden was a great 3rd option, but too similar to Westbrook and Durant. Let Ibaka worry about the rim protecting and defense and let Pau open up the offense.

Interesting thought, TJ. How do you think Perk would help propel the Lakers in the right direction?

Sam

TJ,

Gasol is as soft as centers come, but he is a very adept offensive player.

Would I be correct in stating that you believe OKC should lean their game more on offense?


KJ

KJ,

Methinks TJ is winding up to deliver a momentous response to both of us. Never in the history of this forum has there been a response as great as the one we're about to see. Clear the decks!

Okay, TJ, I think we're properly prepared for your answers.

(Only kidding.)

Sam

Sorry Sam, I've been away from the computer.

I think a sign and trade of Pau Gasol (2 guaranteed years @ $9m/year) to OKC for Perkins, the 21st pick in the 2014 draft, a 2nd round pick in some year and $2m cash is a fair trade.

OKC needs a 3rd option. Reggie Jackson is good but his game almost mirrors Westbrook's game. It's hard to have Perkins, Sefalosha and Ibaka on the floor at the same time. Ibaka can score for sure, but he doesn't create his own shots or open shots for teammates. He scores on offensive rebounds and open jump shots. Perkins and Sefolosha are terrible offensive players. Pau, could be the third option they need. Even when he doesn't score, he is a great passer and can find open teammates.

TJ

Gasol is a center/PF and not unlike Ibaka he needs someone to pass him the ball.  He would be an excellent addition but how the hell can OKC fit him into their salary?  

Bob, I maintain that Adams is a very poor defender.

I cannot see any good reason to get Perk at $9+ million.  If he was in the 5 range I think it could work.

Basically we have our own problems so I do not care about your problems (Other teams)

dboss

if he gets amnestied I think he gets his money and can be signed at any rate

dboss wrote:TJ

Gasol is a center/PF and not unlike Ibaka he needs someone to pass him the ball.  He would be an excellent addition but how the hell can OKC fit him into their salary?  

Bob, I maintain that Adams is a very poor defender.

I cannot see any good reason to get Perk at $9+ million.  If he was in the 5 range I think it could work.

Basically we have our own problems so I do not care about your problems (Other teams)

dboss

dboss,

Perkins is making $9.4m next year.
They could trade him to LA so they don't increase their team salary at all.

Adams is a bad defender? I disagree.
Pau could also do wonders for a young player like Adams.