After a slew of “no comments” Friday, Team USA players were more open Saturday to analyzing the Lakers’ part in the 12-player, four-team deal.
“That’s what the Lakers do,” Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant. “They have great management and ownership to make those moves come to life.”
Is Oklahoma City still the team to beat in the Western Conference?
“You never know, but we feel confident about ourselves,” Durant said. “The Lakers, we always respect them. We always have battles with them. I’m sure it’s going to be even more fun this upcoming season when we play against those guys.”
Oklahoma City looked like it would own the West for years thanks to its stable of 23-and-under players. Friday’s deal might have changed that.
“Was I surprised? No,” Thunder guard James Harden said. “Big market. The Lakers always do a great job of getting good players. It doesn’t take away from us at all.”
Same question for Harden: Is Oklahoma City still the best in the West?
“Of course,” he said.
Forward LeBron James of the NBA champion Miami Heat still refused to comment about the trade, saying he’d rather talk about Sunday’s gold medal game between the U.S and Spain.
More opinions eventually will surface, but there hasn’t been anything like the backlash that accompanied the quickly vetoed Chris Paul trade in December.
Nor has there been public griping from San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich . . . yet.
Popovich famously said that a trade committee should be created to review all NBA deals after the Lakers somehow turned Kwame Brown into Pau Gasol in a 2008 trade. They then advanced to three consecutive NBA Finals, winning twice.
U.S. Olympian Carmelo Anthony knows a thing or two about blockbuster trades after being sent from Denver to New York last year.
“It definitely gives them that presence once again,” he said. “It definitely makes them another powerhouse in the West or in the NBA as a whole. Right now, it’s just a matter of them putting it together to see what happens.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers can celebrate — until training camp opens at the end of September.
Coach Mike Brown was already rubbing his hands at the thought of what the Lakers could do with Howard. The phrase that pays is pick-and-roll.
It’s been a long time since the Lakers had a center who played great pick-and-roll defense. Shaquille O’Nealwasn’t good at it, often refusing to jump out and harass the guard. Andrew Bynum tended to be a step slow, getting caught between moving out on the guard or staying with the opposing big man.
Howard should clean that up a bit.
