Harden is a much better ball-handler (which is a crucial skill for a guard), and better at attacking the rim and finishing. Both aren't very good at mid range jumpers, Klay is a better 3-point shooter obviosuly, but overall scoring wise Harden has an edge because of the reasons I mentioned.
You put Harden in Warriors , he'll out run his slow leg. Put Klay in our team he'll be the perfect guy for Morey ball.
Moreyball means taking advantage of the most efficient shots in basketball, namely lay ups/free throws/and 3 pointers. Harden has all three, Klay only got one. In case you didn't know, Morey was in love with Harden's ability to get to the line, that's why he acquired him in the first place.
I'll take someone who can defend, wants to defend, has a shot you can always rely on because the form is fool proof and has the right attitude over a fat complacent flailing overconfident lazy player.
Harden is clearly the better player, he just need to move his ass more on defense and there's not even an argument about this. Klay is a great player though, Curry and the Warriors are lucky to have him, he would be great here too.
Bump. Who is the better playoff performer? :grin: Klay "raining 3's" Thompson or James "turnovers" Harden?
Actually.. I don't even know why I respond to guys like FTW. I just barely figured out how to use the ignore feature the other day. I should put it to use.
Yeah I totally agree. You can't look at facts to come to a conclusion it is illogical when the person you're going against is from YOUR OWN TEAM. So what if the cold hard facts say that Klay is better than Harden? It's absolutely insane for a fan to bring them up! I'm adding FTW to the ignore list now he's clearly not a real fan.
You poll all 30 GMs, and every single one of them would take Harden. Golden State is a historic team....near perfect in construction and implementation. The pieces fit very well together. But arguing that Klay is better than Harden is like saying Derek Fisher was a better PG than Steve Nash. Sure Klay is better than Fisher was, but he has never had to carry the weight that Nash did and Harden does.
There's absolutely no way that you could convince me Klay Thompson is a better basketball player than James Harden.
The cold hard facts don't say that Klay is a better overall player though. Harden isn't the one coming out and scoring 9 points in a playoff game. Both Klay and Harden have two similar shooting nights. About 2/1 for 8 from beyond the arc and 30% shooting from the field. Yeah, Klay can still get by off of exaggerated reputation on the defensive end of the game, but James has a bad shooting night and well... he's still gonna going to be effective offensively by getting to the line 10 times and finding his teammates 10 times for a bucket. But, then someone well say "he's still the worse defender on the court though" Yeah, because a god awful defender gets 7 steals in that particular game. Harden is a better playoff performer and a better player than Klay. Klay Thompson is a baller, and I'm not taking anything away from him. Klay should be one of the most feared players in the league. If it wasn't for him the Warriors would be watching OKC in the finals. And if it wasn't for Harden we would be debating about whether we should choose between Simmons or Ingram with the 1st pick. But seeing the Rockets luck we'd probably debate about whether we should pick either Murray or Brown with the 3rd pick.
If you want a guy who you can rely on creating your offense, you take Harden hands down. If you already have a guy who you can rely on creating your offense, you take Thompson. I do think that they are about equal in terms of overall impact. Klay is miles better than Harden on the defensive end. You can actually put him on the best scoring guard of the opposing team. Harden you can only pray that he can stay focused on defense for more than 5 minutes a game.
