The difference was Harden played a significant part in the Thunder reaching the Finals. JR Smith disappeared in the playoffs last season.
The Rockets were willing to pay him the maximum of what he could possibly earn at this stage in his career. No one else was. It was a gamble. Among teams that could have traded for him, Golden State at the minimum could have offered a better deal centered around Klay Thompson. But they didn't. Rockets win. Morey haters say he got lucky that OKC's GM had a brain fart. But to be honest the Morey haters were panning the trade from the moment it happened. Steven A Smith saying that Harden would never be able to live up to the bright lights of being THE man, having all the focus defensively on him. So they were wrong. Morey was right. We benefit. End of story. "But I wanna kno is...is he a star star? or just a Joe the Plummer Star?" /sigh
^This. Also, JR Smith was 29 last year... Harden was 23. Really, I hate that I even just replied to a Smith v Harden comparison.
One would think he wouldn't become one since coming off the bench means you are playing against 2nd units, so your advanced statistics would be inflated. Morey truly is a genious based on Harden's move only.
Tracy McGrady was averaging about the same in Toronto when he got his big contract from Orlando. Harden is averaging 25 pts per game since he became a Rocket. He also took a mediocre team to the playoff's last season. So yes he is a Superstar OP.
raw averages don't tell you much, he was top 10 player in 2011-12 or pretty much the same player he is now. His win shares per 48 minutes actually dropped and his PER barely went up despite much higher usage. His production would probably never justify max contract in OKC unless Westbrook or Durant was traded which is why he was traded. That's why CBA exists, to spread talent around the league.
No... If he was a LEGIT star player _ OKC could have got a lot more for him... But he was known as a player with big time star potential and he had big time star performances with OKC coming off the bench in the playoffs and during the regular season. And then you had LeBron's endorsement when he was on the Olympic team when LeBron called him one of the best players on that team. The Rockets tried this before when they got Anderson from Utah years ago when he was the 6th man of the year but it didn't work out... So far so good for Harden.
It's really hard to take any of this guy's posts seriously... In all honesty it would probably be wasted effort writing a thorough primer on advanced stats in response to what is most likely a troll post.
Hey OP, I glanced over your post and decided to save time & put you on my ignore list. Would you mind putting me on yours
I don't know why you all are all over OP. He basically said why Morey offered Harden max money that time , To answer Op question ,no one called Harden a superstar then and Morey saw something that most don't , a lot of people questioned that contract and would Harden able to lead a team on his own. Well he proved he can.
Everyone gets defensive because no one understands what you're trying to get at or everyone does, which is to somehow compare him to Lin. When the contract was first initially signed, there were a lot of people out there that thought the rockets were crazy for giving him that kind of contract, so it wasn't a no brainer. During that playoff run with the Thunder, he took control over several games for the Thunder and they won. He received a lot of flak for his performance during the finals, but if you really watched the finals, he just wasn't getting the same kind of calls. So to answer your questions, if you just look at numbers and gave that kind of contract out, it probably wouldn't make sense. However, he put up those numbers coming in as a 6th man with limited minutes. He was young and with possibly more minutes, he could be a star, he was not anointed a star the moment he signed the contract, but rather what he did over the course of a whole season when he was inserted into the starting line-up.
If Morey had decided to sign the guy to a max contract Harden was already a superstar. He just had not had the on court opportunities to demonstrate it.
Lol. You're talking about career numbers as if he's been a star in the league for many years. He just started his second season as a franchise player. He's the best SG in the league after only one season as a Rocket. That should answer your question. ****in' trolls.
Actually they both weigh the same and Smith is one inch taller. I don't know their wing span, but I agree Harden is stronger and faster. He's the master of trades with that euro step.
Gladly since you respond to a post concerning actual stats and legitimate debate about players, one of whom I have said is the current star of our team, with a hormonal fueled attention seeking insult I will gladly put you ignore. I wanted to debated basketball and actual stats you obviously just want to throw catty post like a spurned sorority sister. I've got not time for that. Now if anyone who like to get back to talking about actual basketball and debating the actual stats I welcome your input.
