I just wanna see all these posts in a few years when Trevor Ariza, I mean Harden flops. It will be some new move we make for an overpaid player and most of you will pretend this trade never happened. All this stuff about the stats and metrics is the same stuff posted when we acquired Ariza.
although i think they play differently, i did think about how we expected ariza to be more like we're doing with harden. Harden does have ball handling talent that ariza didnt possess.
That's all I'm saying. I'm a Rockets fan to the core but I'm also a realist. Some of these comments on here are ridiculous. Hopefully he proves me wrong but I really don't see it. This move looks like more of a ticket seller than anything. Just like the Lin deal.
this genius presti traded the guy he drafted 11th overall just two year ago to us in this deal.... how much higher is that toronto pick going to be .. lets say its the 7th pick overall .. well they gave us their 11th pick from 2 years ago for the 7th pick in this years draft .. when you look at merely numbers (draft order) that does not seem that impressive .. oh and I am talking about COLE ALDRIC not harden
Nothing like the Ariza deal. Ariza was not given the Max and T-Mac and Yao were still part of the team. He was not bought in to carry the team surely although it seems a lot of people expected that of him.
This is the first trade he has made in a while and you cats act like he traded for Jordan, Magic, Bird, Durant, or LeBron. This dude is 6th man who wet the bed in the NBA finals and played below average on the Olympic team. Wake me up when they reach the playoffs. We will not get better until the front office is overhauled, not the team, which Morey is great at doing.
I wouldn't confuse "realism" with '"negativity". You're choosing to look at his status as a 6th man and a poor finals showing as his ceiling when odds are in favor that he'll improve from that just because of his young age. If he was 29-30 years old, yeah I would be more cautious that he won't improve any further, but at 23, come on now. It's a risk for sure, but who else is better risk to throw max money(which any team will have given him) at than Harden?
Good God, man...you're incredibly delusional. Might wanna stick to something not related to basketball.
Sweet trade. Harden is awesome I like the backup center and shooting guard as well. It a complete looking teen to me
I am not sure that this is a home run. No doubt a max deal, but is Harden a max player? That is yet to be determined. Thus far he has been a bench player that had a very bad playoff series. I will "believe" in Morey when and if he ever really puts a team together. So far he is a "stats-nerd" with a shotgun firing at random.
Westbrook will get exposed this year as Harden becomes a star in this league. Harden > Westbrook. Presti f'ckd up. Say what you want, but Morey never would have traded one of his Big 3 if he was in Presti's situation. Presti has been exposed. It took Morey to do that.
Agreed. Love Harden's on court/off court, plenty of his minutes played against starters, btw. Lin had highest adjusted +/- on Knicks last year. Winners.
Need to define what a "max player" is. Using this term without context is meaningless and lazy. Specifically, "the max" is different for players with different experience levels and for contracts signed under different CBAs. For example, "the max" for James Harden is 4-5 yrs at $15M-16M a year while "the max" deal signed by Joe Johnson a couple years ago was something like 6 years at $20M+/year. Lebron James (along with Bosh and Wade) actually makes lowers than "the max", but his total contract $ and per year average are both higher than what would be Harden's "max money." Also, there is a difference between a "max player" and "proven top 5 or 10 star in the NBA." Lebron James would be making like $40M+/yr if there isn't a individual limit on salary. The fact that Lebron and Bosh make the same money doesn't mean Chris Bosh isn't a "max player" or is overpaid. It means Lebron, and the other top tier guys, are grossly underpaid. James Harden, and other similarly situated guys, may very well be (1) clearly a tier below Lebron, Dwight, etc., and (2) clearly underpaid at the NBA's maximum salary. In the end, whether a player is a "max player" means that, in the current market, multiple teams would be willing to offer the guy a max salary if they have the chance. Harden is a guy that most NBA teams will give their left nut for a chance to pay him the max. His performance was worth the max (i.e. $15M/yr) last season, when he was only 22 years old. Remember, Houston, Phoenix, Indiana (and probably others) were offering max deals for Eric Gordon, who is a year older than Harden, has an extensive injury history and never even made the playoffs, and Phoenix's offer sheet was readily matched by New Orleans. So yes, James Harden is a "max player." There are guys who are more proven than Harden, but if you are looking for "max guys" available to be had, pretty much all of them came with red flags that are way worse than Harden's issues of having come off the bench (but played full time starters minute at 31.5 mpg) and having had a bad playoff series against the best team in the NBA. I mean, we are looking at guys like Dwight, Melo, Gasol, etc. who have had significant injuries, reputation of being headcases, want to bolt Houston after a year, or have many miles on their legs. Nobody is trading you a mint-condition proven in-his-prime superstar with zero issues. Harden is pretty much the best guy that any team in the Rockets' situation can trade for.
I guess you failed to mention the other 2 playoff series last year in which he was incredibly efficient and, at times, dominant? I gotcha...
Yes it is unless you are moving the fence back each time Morey swings for the fences. Kevin Martin and picks for Harden...lols. Morey just schooled the reigning top GM...Presti. haha
