I disagree about this year, I don't think he was as good. He was still good, but two years ago he was much better imo. 14-15 he played better defense, he didn't walk, he moved off the ball, he didn't have turnover issues, he shot a better % from 3. And that all is reflected in his plus/minus numbers which were much better back then. He's only 27, he should have an off season regimen to get back into that peak shape
Actually, he was very impressive against the Thunder. He adopted his style based on what the defense gave him. The Rockets went from a 3 point only team to taking it to the point. They did that because Harden lead the team there. They were successful in the first round because of that.
Game 5 tips our way and this conversation isn't happening. That's simply all you need to know about the topic of cutting ties with Harden. Take a moment and breathe, folks. Give Morey and D'Antoni a chance to build something.
OKC outscored Houston when Harden was on the court. We won that series due to bench production, not because of Harden who got outplayed by Westbrook.
D'Antoni's team needs a super PG to thrive. His past successes as coach all had this element. Harden is the perfect PG for him. I don't think Harden will develop an off ball game under D'Antoni. We all have seen Harden's flaws. That's fine. I think most reasonable people would agree that getting rid of a player like him to get better would be extremely unlikely. I see Harden as a rich man's Steve Francis. You stick with him, knowing all his flaws until you can trade him for a McGrady. (Of course McGrady turned out to be flawed too. But he was clearly better than Francis.)
How about we just stick with him and let him age like fine wine? He will mature...hopefully and we can get better, everyone has to go through failure to learn how to succeed. DD
I don't think you can trade a top-5 player unless you agree to forfeit the next few seasons while the Warriors continue to run roughshod over the league. I would only give him up for a sizable package of young talent and picks that give us a shot down the road if the Warriors begin to wane (huge if) or Steph takes a hometown deal from Charlotte after winning his millionth ring. OP is correct: nobody else is winning a championship while this Warriors team is out there and/or LeBron continues to never break down. This Spurs team will be lucky to win a game against the Warriors in the WCF. Harden's knack for disappearing in big postseason games is a disturbing trend: last night, game 5 against the Warriors in the WCF, game 6 against the Clippers, long stretches of the Portland series and the Finals with OKC. I've always thought his game doesn't translate well to prolonged exposure in a playoff series. Teams figure out his moves and they don't commit fouls they may in a one-off regular season game (see: Patty Mills' hands being up, nobody swiping at the ball on his hip, etc.) which leads to frustration, chucking and, most worryingly, a lack of desire on offense. Lou Williams has the same problem. Both can put up big regular season games against Orlando on a back-to-back when the latter doesn't have two weeks to study game tape and learn their "tells" when fishing for foul calls, but the best coach in American sports (Popovich) knows how to adjust to stylistic quirks. TL;DR Harden's game is not built for the postseason. When teams figure him out, he sulks instead of adjusting.
Problem is there are only a handful players better then James so the scenario us getting a superior player in return is not happening. Unless you are suggesting getting less the dollar in return. I think Morey will go all out in the offseason to improve the depth and get a second all star to have a full tilt at the title but if that dosent panout you can be sure Harden is on the block. I dont think Les is a patient man.
"Much better" is silly. That's disingenuous. He was great this year and a deserving MVP candidate by all accounts.
That's why we have to trade him. Also, as long as Harden is the face of this franchise, no great player would want to come here to play with him who is that inconsistent on offense, all the while playing no D.
As embarrassing and disappointing the last two games were for Harden, you don't trade away a top 5 talent in his prime unless there's hidden locker room/off court issues we don't hear about. Other than trading for Lebron/Durant/Curry, realistically who can we trade Harden for that can win a championship for us?
This has happened, before. No doubt. It sucks. And there's no defending his performance last night. It was abysmal. But you also are ignoring the many times he has played great in the playoffs and has dominated games. I have more confidence in Harden figuring out how to avoid those performances in the future than I do trading him for the sake of trading him hoping we back our way into an even better player, which is immensely unlikely.
The Rockets will give him next season to mature but if he repeats this performance again all bets are probably off. deserves another chance to redeem himself. Dude there is ZERO chance he gets traded so calm down.
Oh man. I'm crying laughing. Harden has just been compared to Steve Francis. By a Rockets fan, no less. We have now jumped the shark. Hell...we might have jumped 50 sharks.
Jesus christ what are you saying man? Are you an idiot? You are being far too logical. A faux charge not being called would have readied us to prepare for an ass pounding from GS. This was never a championship team, and it had to end somewhere, but one game doesn't undo an entire season of over preforming. We had a better record than Cleveland and even Boston. Let that sink in. Both of those teams have one if not two stars alongside their Mvp candidate. We have two 6th men next to harden. Big, humongous difference.
Harden is not top 5 if you factor into account his post-season performance. Even IT and John Wall have played better than Harden in the playoffs this year. Also, trading Harden doesn't always have to mean we get another player of similar value. It could be that we get several good, but not-as-great players that actually show up during big moments and play with fire and passion. At this point, I've seen enough of Harden's lackadaisical and careless plays and his game is just not built for the playoffs. If you are content with being a decent regular season team with no particular playoff success for the next five years, then sure keep Harden. If you don't care about the regular season records as much, and actually want to see some fight in your best player come playoff time, then it's time to make some changes.
We've had that before when we had battier,scola,landry etc. We still lost in the playoffs. I understand the frustration watching Harden play like that but maybe trading him isn't the answer but trading for someone who will be the alpha dog to pair with him is the answer. If Harden can't play with an alpha dog on this team THEN we trade him. Talent wise he has it, leadership and fight he may not have that.
