I have confidence that James Harden will be James Harden. I am unsure how the *Team Defense* will hold up. Team defense will be the key barometer of this team. Needs to be top 10 for sure.
I thought and still think the trade was the right move. Not that I think WB is a better fit. But CP3 has slowed down quite a bit. With his age and injury history, it’s only going to get worse. In a worst case scenario (that WB doesn’t work out here), he’s at least a much better trade chip.
I'm confident they will make a deep playoff run. But the early games are going to be hard to watch if they don't start jelling more. They look incomplete as a team. Gordon has to have a good consistent year. And Capela......idk if he last the year playing like he has shown. Don't give it any thought since it's preseason but they looked alot like last year's preseason. Then they meandered until someone unlocked God mode of James and they took off. I don't have any worries for James or Westbrook.
Lots of concerns but any team with someone as great as Harden on it has a good chance of winning a championship.
The rest of the team is not defensively good enough to carry WB and Harden's defense. If those two can play average defense consistently, it would go a long way towards us being a top 10 defensive team. Offensively, any team featuring Harden and MDA is going to be top 3. I would have been more confident with Bzdelik here. I realize he screwed up on a series of plays in the Warriors series, but I am certain he wouldn't have made that mistake again. I do not know what to expect from the revamped coaching staff.
This is very debatable. Westbrook and his contract are likely to be a negative trade value if he doesn't work out here. Most teams aren't interested in highly inefficient, ball dominant poor defenders. If he becomes something different than that, he will work out here. If he stays that, he won't and no reason for anyone to want him.
It's hard to get a feed on this squad right now. I don't thin we'll see them gel until at least January but I don't think this is a championship team
My early take is that they will be a playoff team, not nearly as high of one as some people think. Could see them anywhere from 6th-1st depending on health of other teams. In the playoffs though, barring injuries to Clippers/Lakers, I don't think they can compete for a title.
Even with all those short comings, he’s still a legit star player and can take over games more often than not. For small market teams dying for star power, he’ll be very attractive. Heck the Thunder would’ve loved to keep him had PG13 not bolted.
Bad options @1Deep .. We haven't even seen how this works yet. The team hasn't gelled. It's hard to put yourself in a basket before we know anything. If you told me this team would go deep in the playoffs but won't win it, I'd say I'm not sure I can get on board with that. This team might be really really good. If you told me this team would win a chip, I'd say slow down. We haven't even seen how good the field is. This is a season full of uncertainty if there ever was one.
My projection is the WCF, we aren't going to be the same team defensively as we were a few years ago and along with our depth would be the primary reason why we won't go past the WCF. Also, as a basketball/NBA fan in general, I would never bet against Kawhi Leonard on a stacked team. I have them going all the way barring any freak injuries.
Honestly I’m all over the place. I can see a scenario where we win it all and a scenario where we’re a first round exit. The defensive combination of harden and Russ is a huge concern
Have you seen Harden play defense since that viral video came out? He improved every year since then. During the playoffs the Warriors would've gone at him one v one over and over if he was a terrible defender during that series. But they didn't.
i am confident any team with james harden on it can win it all...if he solidify his floater even more and if the shots fall were winning it all
I am not confident at all. I can't see the Harden/Westbrook duo working . Capella has to make a leap forward and role players have to deliver. I am expecting an early playoff exit. I definitely do not see this team going deep. We will finally beat GS, everyone will. The LA teams will dominate the league.
i don't like what i've seen from pringles. dude failed miserably against GS. now he comes back with nothing. no offensive scheme or adjustments, and our defensive sets are abominable. then he intends to play ryno at the 5. thabo at 4. clemons replaces green. it's like his life perspective has been hijacked by 1980's Sony walkman/discman smaller smaller is always better. get a fuking clue
