If cp3 is really a target then that means Harden is on board with him coming in, which is a good thing. One thing we all know about James, he thinks he's the best player in the game. Naturally with that self belief he thinks he can play with anyone and make it work. I think Harden, hopefully, is over the individual accomplishments, quite frankly outside of actually winning MVP he can't do much more from that standpoint. He's consistently in the MVP discussion he's been 1st team all NBA 3 out of the last 4 years been the assist leader and top 5 in scoring 5 straight years, not much more to do on that front. It's gotta be about winning in the playoffs. I know harden can get a team to 50+ wins and home court advantage that's pretty easy for him. But in order to take the next step in become a playoff headliner instead of the joke he needs to be willing to play with other elite talent and take a back seat for the greater good of the team. He'll still be the face of the franchise he'll still lead the team in scoring because he's that good but getting 12 assist a game and trying to get triple doubles should not matter. Go back to 25/5/5 harden with better defense and win big. That's what he needs to do, I didn't see KD avg 30 this year, scored 25 a night and had his best season personally because he won. Time for James and cp3 even to do the same. While we're at it Paul George also. Lol
It depends on what blueprint Morey has in his mind and what price Morey would like to pay for. As it is, I don't think Morey wants to do it.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/06/19/lebron-james-clippers-jerry-west-nba/410735001/ According to two people with knowledge of the situation, West’s potential ability to improve the Clippers’ chances of landing the Cleveland Cavaliers star in free agency in the summer of 2018 was a significant factor in his hiring and in the willingness of owner Steve Ballmer to pay West between $4 and $5 million annually. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the team’s plans. There’s all kinds of work to do before then, like re-signing James’ close friend/Clippers point guard Chris Paul this summer (which is still believed to be likely) and convincing five-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin to come back too (which is considered more dicey). There’s the Carmelo Anthony situation that hasn’t gone anywhere over these past few months. A scenario remains possible where J.J. Redick, via a sign-and-trade, would be sent along with another Clippers player to the Knicks in exchange for Anthony, who is also close friends with James and Paul.
Do I even need to explain it? Cp3 is on a different level than ty Lawson who has shown not only in houston but his last two stops after that he's just not very good at basketball anymore. That was all on Lawson being bad and had nothing to do with harden.
Bev at <6M a year... Ryno at 20M a year... bev is the wolverine - heart and soul of this team! ryno was a dumpster fire many nights where he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn... can't rebound... cant defend.... should CP3 really be a priority? i'd much rather spend that money on Blake, Milsap or Ibaka... and move Ryno along down the road...
If you think either Harden or CP3 can go stretches of the game with no touches.., you haven't watched Harden or CP3! They both feel they have to massage the ball almost every trip down court... no way one will concede over to the other to handle the ball!! Let's please go after someone else at another position of need!! We have a nice 1-2 with Harden/ Beverly/ Gordon and even Lou
AMEN, brother! How soon people forget... if Harden doesn't have the ball in his hands - he doesn't move... Do people really not remember how james would just drift off to the side and daydream when he wasn't driving the bus? Honestly.... am I the only only who remembers how he would disappear when we tried to incorporate Lawson? Hell when i asked why harden had to bring the ball up every play (thinking if he didn't he may have some juice for defense...) I was told he had to so he could look over the defense and plan blah blah blah....
I have a tough time believing CP is really considering the Rockets based on fit, relative competitiveness. Seems more like an attempt to either force LAC and SAS to pay up.
exactly. not sure why people keep bringing up players like lawson and think it's the same situation when there in completely different tiers as players being that cp3 is a top tier one, while lawson was even being debated as a middle level starter at the time
cp3 needs to do nothing to get money. this isn't some rookie. hes going to get paid anywhere he goes regardless. that has nothing to do with it
When is the last time Harden played with a playoff starting caliber PG? Can't point to Lawson since he flamed out in Indy and Sacramento as well. We all rave about Harden's IQ, so I'm fairly certain he'd adjust well to the best point guard of our generation if it meant a shot at contention.
I know how folks are going to take it, but get back to me when he takes a discount of any significance. Most players opt out simply because it's the right thing to do in this cap environment. Even if he goes down to $12M or $13M per for the security of multiple years, it doesn't move the needle much at all on their space. Some perspective on the numbers: In other words, even with Gasol off the books entirely, they still have to clear another $10M (Danny Green) to get in the $30M+ range for CP3. And then, of course, you have to subtract whatever Gasol's new contract is from that figure (can't keep Pau without a cap hold, so they'll work out any new deal quickly). In short, even if we assume a Danny Green trade, there are three possibilities for SA: 1.) Trade Parker or LMA into cap space to get in the game for CP3 2.) Let Gasol walk entirely (i.e. renege on this "agreement") and refuse to work on a new deal once he opts out 3.) Go after a Kyle Lowry, George Hill, Jrue Holiday-type at PG that won't cost $30M I tend to think it's the third option.
@The Cat assuming Pau is taking a low enough salary, we have to hope someone (including us maybe) will have better offers on the table to dump salaries to teams like Nets, Kings than what the Spurs are going to offer to dump Parker, which i guess will be something like 1st, 2nd and Anderson. How many bad/tanking teams are going to have cap space this summer?
Will never happen. There are college graduates that have literally not known a Spurs team that haven't won at least 50 games.