I wasn't referring to the national opinion on the trade, I was referring to the national opinion about what kind of player Harden is. To the majority of them, the trade is more palatable because Harden isn't the superstar we believe him to be. He's simply a talented sixth man SG who could perhaps be an all star but mostly is hugely benefited by playing next to two superstars in Westbrook and Durant. I'm not saying I believe this, I'm saying this is the dominant opinion. The opinion shared by Simmons and Lowe in that radio chat seem to echo my thoughts exactly, however. They both seem to reach a consensus that he's a top 20 NBA player right now, perhaps high teen's to low 20's if you really need to count, but also that he might end up higher if you just give him another year or two to hit his ceiling. Lowe brings up a good point that, for his position of SG, the age of hitting the peak is 27 (which is what Lebron is now btw), and that Harden has 4 more years to see what his peak might ultimately be. The fault I think Clutchfans do make, in general, is that we tend to ASSUME that he's going to peak higher than what he is, as a top 10, without really knowing. Every player is different. It might ultimately be that the arguments about Harden playing other teams' second units is true, and that he never hits the kind of efficiency numbers that he put up last year, ever again. That'll all be ok, so long as he keeps working on his game, gets better at defense, and manages to keep what made him good in 31 minutes last year and extend it to over 36 minutes this year, WHILE being the focal point of the other team's defensive gameplan. We'll see. No matter what it should make for compelling television.
I remember when people were saying Tracy McGrady would never be an superstar after he left Tornoto. After he left Toronto he became one of the best scoring swingman of alltime in his prime.
It seems there are a huge number of people both in the media and here feel a 23yr old basketball player is a finished product. Which is odd, because history and common sense would suggest the exact opposite.
To add to what Meh rightly said players who play at SG usually hit their perime from 26 to 32. Thats still 3 to 9 years away. You would be insane to think a 23 year old who will finally get the chance to develope as a go to guy is a finished product.
Yeah I think this is a win-win. Rockets HAD to do this and OKC got some decent pieces for the present (Martin) and future (Lamb, lottery pick). And if the present (Martin) isn't working out, they still have his attractive expiring contract to trade at the deadline for more pieces.
