BOOM. James out, 3 in for OKC!

Swapping places and carrying with them a whole city dream: being World Champions


“Wow. Unexpected. That’s a huge boom.” said a Thunder fan, when asked about it.

Well, everyone in this city knows what I’m talking about. Everyone in this league knows what I’m talking about.

Yeah, you knew that one was coming. He was traded. LeBron was traded.

LeBron James, a 10 year veteran out of Highschool, was involved in a deal confirmed earlier by both OKC Thunder and Indy Pacers FOs. LeBron will be joining the Pacers for the start of 2014/2015 season, headlining a roster that also includes Goran Dragic, Lance Stephenson, among others.

“Hey, at least they got so much value back. It’s though to criticize someone for trading your best player when you get that kind of return. If the FO was thinking about balancing the roster, they got it right man. But, still, it’s LeBron. You know, who’s taking over as a leader right now? Who’s our Franchise Player? Man, thats though to swallow. Still, I repeat, I think they got it right” said another OKC fan, still very much perplexed with what happened few hours earlier.

When Marcos Beck took over as Thunder GM, he announced that big changes were coming. Still, no one expected LeBron to be moved. James, who was part of a double-run in which the Thunder reached the WCF twice and The Finals once, is gone. Replacing him are Paul George and Paul Millsap, both All-Stars last season, alongside Roy Hibbert. The Thunder also gave up Jarrett Jack and Jared Dudley, along with a 2017 unprotected 1st pick and a 2016 2nd.

George now joins a team who lacks a high scoring superstar, but has lots of talents at every position. Millsap is going to take over the start PF role, and Hibbert will be a great addition to a dismantled bench.

“We’re looking to Hibbert as a leader to our new Bench Mob. We want him to score and maintain that high defensive level at the paint for us, even when Dwight is taking a rest. We also look at Hibbert as a guy who could play next to Dwight, in what could be one of the best front courts in the league. It will certainly be though to score easy baskets against us when both are in the game.” said GM Beck when asked about Hibbert’s role and how does he fit with Howard.


No need to fight down low boys. You are teammates now.

"We feel we have lots of scoring coming of all positions. Lowry, George, Millsap, Howard, Hibbert, those guys can score. They’re not the type of guys who are going to take over every single game by scoring at will. But they can surely heat up and score. We have 5 players on our roster who can have big time scoring games out of nowhere. When you’re covering Howard, George can score from the outside. When you’re covering both, you’re leaving Millsap alone to hit those mid-range jump shots. When you’re doing it all, you still have Lowry who can make the 3 ball with easy.”

“But, of course, even though we have a lineup who can score a lot, we’re clearly trying to win ball games with suffocating defense. We have good defenders everywhere on the floor. You have great individual defenders like Brewer & George. You have guys that can shut down the interior with their help D in Howard & Hibbert. Our main go is to not give up any kind of easy basket. Those guys right there, when they’re playing against the Thunder, they’ll know that it will be a physical, though matchup. Even mentally, as great defenders can get inside other players heads with suffocating, annoying D.” completed Marcos.

“We’re a blue collar team, we praise ourselves at the defensive end. We’re going to work hard, play hard, compete every single game. We’re not backing down on anyone. We have a great team, and that chemistry me, Roy and Millsap have, that’s going to be huge, as we know each other well, it’ll make it a lot easier to settle into a new organization, a new city.’ 24yo upcoming young star Paul George said when asked about the move.

But, the man who was mostly happy with that trade was the legend himself. Yes, coach Phil Jackson approved what he called “a great, risky move”:

“You know, you got to have that willingness to take risks in that league. Specially since our main goal is to beat Miami, and with that roster we came close twice, but could never do it. Those guys are players who will blend well into our type of offense. But, of course, our main go is the defensive end. As they say, 'O sells tickets, D wins games, R wins championships’. We have a nice O, great D and even better R. We’re in course to something big that season. You know, losing your star player hurts, but you cannot have a star players and not be able to surround him with nice players. You’re not winning if you don’t have some balance. And we have ours right now. I’m pretty happy with my roster, and we’re reaching some FAs who I think would improve it even more.” said coach Jackson, winner of 11 rings as a coach, and looking forward to add to that total.


If HE said they're moving in the right direction, who am I to disagree?

What a move by the Thunder. What a move by the Pacers. Will it work? Will someone regret? Will BOTH of them regret?
Only time will tell. By now, we just know that Marcos promised and delivered a Boom. Now, there’s still much work to be done.

I've been reading some things at the forum and I came up with that:

Dylan (SAC) wrote:General Managers are more than welcome to write their own articles about the draft class and post them here. There are a few stipulations, however.

1. You MAY NOT share scouting information under any circumstances. You may say things like "This player is a great shooter" but you cannot say "This player graded out as an "A" outside shooter for us."
2. If you want to quote a player, you MUST PM me your question for the player, and you MUST print my full answer. Since quotes will partially represent a player's personality, you may not speak on behalf of the player.

Violation of either of these rules will result in loss of scouting points or forfeiture of draft picks, depending on the severity of the violation.

I've sent a PM to Dylan and also to other guys asking for help but I did not come up with an answer. As I'd lose the "timing" on that article, I decided to post it with a "Paul George comment (of course, I wrote it, otherwise I wouldn't be posting it here)".
As I really don't know much about that rule, I may be doing something that's not allowed. If so, please let me know guys, and Dylan, please send me a PM with some George comments about that blockbuster deal.
I'm really really sorry if I'm breaking any rule, I really don't know exactly.
Thanks

You can come up with the comments and emotions of what you feel players may say, no permission or player statement needed from commishes.

As for the trade HUGE coup for OKC moving LeBron for George AND Hibbert then Millsap as well (though personally I feel Millsap is highly highly paid) but great move no less.

I wouldnt trade Howard, Hibbert was one of the reasons IND lost against CHA. Proven GMs like SS will abuse Roys low DI. SS did it with Brendans "foul draw rate" last playoffs.

Good trade given the fact Lebron has only one year left.
Good lord, poor PA who has to announce that LBJ leaves Indiana.

I've got to give you props: you said you were coming in here to replenish the Thunder and would be willing to move Dwight or LeBron to do it...and then you did it. I think you got a pretty damn good haul for him but replacing a player like him is always going to be difficult. I'm not sure how Dwight and Hibbert will co-exist and it looks like you're already looking to move Dwight so the Thunder will have a completely different look next season.