For Ben Simmons, sure. This is a huge risk, but we'd swing for the fences here. It'd require us going that entire rebuilding route, but I'd do it.
Even with this ridiculously pessimistic assessment, it doesn't make sense to trade him. If a team needs 2 or 3 stars, then Harden can easily be one of those stars. Good luck signing someone lol. It's amazing how this fanbase has forgotten how difficult it is to even get a secondary star and that Harden was the MVP last season.
Trading Harden is a dumb idea. I'll give Morey credit, he tried to alleviate some of the offensive burden on Harden by getting Lawson--it just hasn't worked out for whatever reason. Either way, we're back to square one, and that is Harden has to do just about everything on offense. Howard is the guy who needs to be moved, but for what? I also want to ship T.Jones out and I'll take just about anyone. I'm tired of his inconsistent play and horrible shot selection.
As much as I dog Harden for being a non-team player, he can't be traded. Reason: young, scorer, marketing, law-obiding citizen. Rockets should not make the decision to trade him because of this awful season so far, unless he makes the decision to abandon team. We have next season to look for, it is wrong if we blow up the team now. Maybe we need another 3rd star, a seasoned coach, or better role players. Give Dwight and Harden time, eventually we will get it right unless one, or both don't want to be here.
In a heartbeat I'd trade him for the guaranteed #1 pick assuming they'd take Simmons. Now that is actually a player who has the natural abilities to flourish with Hakeem's tutelage. Of course, that's not going to happen because I think everyone is starting to see Simmons as a once-in-a-generation type player. EDIT: to the poster above, I'm almost positive that nearly 2 and a half seasons (regardless of injury) is enough time for two stars to figure it out.
Don't want whiteside Eric has said there D is worse when he's on floor numbers shows, he said it's because of his rotations and gambling. 1. Can shoot a jumper if needed 2. Can shoot free throws. DONT NOT WANT A CENTER AGAIN WHO CAN DO AT LEAST ONE
I would be all over that trade if i was houston, run away an never look back. Chicago would have to really think about it, it could push them to challenge cleveland for the title. They might not let taj go , maybe Jokim would be inserted there instead... But morey would have to look at that as well.
We traded Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem, Steve Francis, and Tracy McGrady. So, it's not like we haven't traded star players in the past. We have Harden under contract through the 2017-2018 season. If Les and Morey come to the conclusion that they can't build a championship contender around Harden in the next two years, then it would probably be best to get what you can for Harden and begin the rebuild. Les and Morey CANNOT be afraid to take a step backwards if that is what's best for the team long term. My guess is that Les and Morey will wait until this summer to see what free agents and new coach they can reel in before making any decision about trading Harden.
I'd trade Harden for any alpha dog who plays defense: Jimmy, George, Beal, Wall, Kahwi, Millsap, Horford, Towns, Gasol, Z-Bo etc. Harden doesn't care about winning so why should I care about him. **** Harden, never liked him, could stand him at least when he came and carried the team last year but he always had Tracy written all over him. You think he loses sleep over this? Hell no, he laughs at fans and sleeps in the millions he earns by just showing up. Who would want a loser like that as their top dog?
This is the laziest most incorrect myth ppl put out there. Harden isn't burdened with carrying the offense. He needs to take those dumb shots to get himself going. In other words if he starts off 1-5 from the field, instead of getting others involved, he's gonna launch 10 more shots to find HIS rhythm. ZERO trust in his teammates. He doesn't play to his personnel. If Thornton's on the floor he's not looking to get him shots, Harden's looking to score. Stop playing Harden up to be the victim. He wanted a pg playmaker & STILL dribbles the ball the whole shotclock. Harden WANTS to be the only offensive weapon
Yes. That's a no brainer. But you don't trade Harden now. You wait til next season and see how he plays under a much stricter coach who'll demand accountability, especially at the defensive end. If we discover at that point that he's a soft player who's only interested in putting up big offensive numbers and can't be a leader(i.e. Carmelo Anthony, Glenn Robinson), then you strongly consider moving him and rebuilding around someone else.
We've already determined what kind of leader Harden is. The great ones don't need a drill sergeant to get them to play hard. Also, in today's game, the star players have more power than the coaches. The only person that can hold Harden accountable is James Harden.
As Newlin stated, I think we already know how Harden will respond to a new coach. That is, he won't - he'll continue to do his thing and passively-aggressively do everything he can to undermine the tighter offensive-defensive schemes. Even in a best case scenario - Harden responds positively to a better coach/better system - his improvement will be short lived and he'll revert back to his bad attitude and bad habits. We've seen this with every diva-superstar, including Harden himself (he responded positively to the Olympic coaches but needed only half a year to stop playing defense and dominating the ball). So given that we know this, do we really want to risk diminishing his value by holding on to him for too long? I say no - Harden had his chance to prove his leadership and has failed badly. He is not a legit #1 option and may in fact also be a cancer on the court and in the locker room. It sucks because there's no question the basketball talent is there, but the right mentality is clearly not. Expecting a coach to fix that is not only unfair to whomever is coaching our team but is also unrealistic and mostly unprecedented (name me one player who went from being selfish lone wolf type to an unselfish leader). I'm fine waiting until the draft season to see if we could score a top pick for him, but at this point, Morey and Les should be sending feelers (or listening to ones they previously ignored) and if the right offer comes, they should take it.
We complained for years that we needed a Star, and when we get one, albeit a flawed one, we b**** and complain and ask for him to be traded. Y'all will never be happy unless you get a once in a lifetime talent like a Hakeem, MJ, or Lebron. Fact is, with the right coach and some better talent at the 3 & 4 spots, this team could be dominant. Unfortunately, those in charge of the Rockets seem to value flexibility over all else.
Trading Harden is risky. Remember the Rockets stuck with Dream during a seven year stretch where the Rockets: - made it to the 2nd round of the play-offs twice - lost in the 1st round 4 straight seasons - missed the play-offs completely in 92 - Win totals of 42, 46, 45, 41, 52, 42 and 55 wins. Only two season at 50 or better. Nothing there indicated that the Rockets were ever going to win a championship. If those seasons had happened during the time of fan boards and the internet, posters would have been screaming to trade Dream. But of course we stuck with him and he rewarded us with two championships. In Dallas, they stuck with Dirk Nowitzki even though his defense is every bit as bad as Harden's. Dirk was called soft for years and he couldn't hit the big shot when it counted most. Cuban stuck with Dirk and retooled around him multiple times going through Finely & Nash until he found Chandler & Terry to help him win a championship. I'm not sure that trading Harden would be a bad thing depending on how you rebuild your team (Malone turned into Sampson & Dream) but it's very risky. James Harden was a legitimate NBA MVP caliber player last season. He has been integral parts of teams that have enjoyed a lot of post season NBA Play-off success. Those types of players don't just grow on trees and at least you know you have one a guy with that type of talent that has proven it on the court. If someone calls me wanting to trade for Harden I might listen and do my due diligence but the price for someone with his talent is going to be extraordinarily high IMO. I would certainly be leery of trading him away at this point.
I disagree. Kobe was a terrific player early in his career, but never won jack squat until Phil Jackson took the reigns in LA. Harden's been in league 6 1/2 years now. Who's he played under? Scottie Brooks, Kevin McHale, and now JB Bickerstaff. What do those guys all have in common? They're players coaches. Harden's pretty much allowed to do as he pleases which is why nearly 7 years into his career, he still gives little to no effort on defense, makes horrible turnovers, and mentally checks out of games when he doesn't get calls. Now I'm not saying a stricter head coach will fix all these problems. Maybe Harden is who he is and we can't build a contender around him. But I at least wanna make sure before trading him away. The Rockets nearly dealt away Dream back in 1992 before a better head coach and a more defensive oriented roster helped him take his game to another level.
The trade that I have been proposing is something centered around James Harden, Brewer, and TJ for Blake Griffin and JJ Reddick... Both teams need something to spark life Harden Goes home Blake won't have the pressure and the curse of LA Harden and Paul will be the best back court or rival Thompson and Curry Griffin and Dwight would be the best front court Both teams will get back a huge star that were both in the same draft
The big difference between Dirk and Hakeem is they aren't locker room cancers like Harden is proving. People called Dirk soft, sure but did they question his work ethic? Was Dirk constantly in the clubs before games?
