If OKC had put Westbrook instead of Harden on the market 2 years ago...

How would it be hard to say? It would be a MUCH better version of the Heat a few years ago. 2nd best overall player in the league, best SG in the league, best C in the league..... How is that not better than Lebron, Bosh, and aging Wade?

 

i dunno.... in this case, we need a scorer off the bench at least. Reggie Jackson, Thabo Sefalosha, these dudes are really good players in their roles.

besides Harden, Howard (who can give you 40-50 pts combined), we need at least 5 players on our roster who can score double digits on any given night. so far, that's TJones, PBev, Lin, Parsons.

you get rid of Lin+Harden, replace it with RW, you'll need 2 extra role players who can give you double-digit scoring. in the end, we'd still be stuck where we are..

 

Saying that about harden is about as unimpressive as the heat winning by default

 

They didn't have Durant. They had Parsons instead. It's funny how championships aren't won by looks.

 

Just my opinion, but without Durant, Westbrook would be viewed similar to Monte Ellis (pre Dallas).

 

Without Durant WB would be viewed as D Rose (pre injury)

 

They shouldve amnestied Perkins...that was such a huge mistake on their part. Period. Letting Harden go might have cost them larger championship window. Even if the Spurs fall off next year, they will have to contend with a improved Western conference...Its never gonna be Easy for them to get out of the West. And they will have to hope that Miami doesnt make it 5 straight finals appearances next year.

 

Do you dismiss the possibility of the Heat breaking up? Not that it would make it any easier to get out of the West, but the East could be SUPER weak next year if they do.

 

You don't trade the best player in the league.

Period.

 

No, No, No.....

Pre injury Rose was up at least two levels from WB...and alongside Durant, with ANY kind of inside game, Rose/Durant would be counting their rings.

 

Milk Hair will get in the way, he always does.

 

You could probably just sub Westbrook in Harden's spot, and also still trade the exact same or similar pieces and get similar results.

However the team would be a little different from a style standpoint. You'd see better perimeter defense, but much worse offensive flow. If you think Harden has an Iso problem, you haven't seen anything until you've seen Westbrook on a team where he's the #1 option.

In the end I think you get similar results because they are two similar talents with their own respective flaws. In the end I'd still take Harden over Westbrook for a variety of reasons but mostly because he's a play-maker who can create for others and himself. Westbrook is just 100% energy and athletic attack without much thought, skill, or team-play put into the equation.

However if the Rockets couldn't get Harden & could get Westbrook, I still would be very happy with the deal. He's a pretty damn good player either way.

(Oh... but my 2 Cents after the matter is OKC should have traded Westbrook instead Harden & moved Harden to the starting lineup. Harden was a great... not good, but great complement star to Durant. His play-making and facilitation was so important to that team late in games. The main reason why Miami beat OKC is because their sole purpose defensively was to stop Harden from creating and it worked. Not even Durant & Westbrook doing their thing meant anything if Harden could be allowed to break down the defense and create.)

 

McHale being an incompetent coach or not reeling in Harden cost the Rox any chance of being a decent team. Why is Harden assigning teammates defensive assignments? What does that show about his respect for McHale's coaching authority?

 

After McHale put him one on one vs Robin Lopez, he SHOULD question McHale's defensive assignments.

 

The point is, OKC and the rest of the league had no idea Harden is this good. We were hoping he was almost this good. So had they traded Westbrook for a starting PG and a starting C then yes, I think they would have been closer to a championship than they are now.

OTOH, they would have been much closer to a championship if they had just paid the luxury tax. If an owner can not pay the luxury tax despite being odds-on favorite to get to the NBA finals, then they shouldn't be an owner. There's a lot of revenue that comes with getting to the NBA finals, and winning the NBA finals. It's never guaranteed that you'll make it or you'll win. But if you can have a roster that is strong enough to be considered a humongous favorite to be that good then you either pony up or deal with the consequences.

IMO OKC is not going to win it before Durant's contract is up unless they hit the jackpot with their late first rounders or unless they decide to spend the same kind of money they could have spent on Harden anyway.

 

If I was in win now mode I would still take Wade over Harden. Wade has a
higher bb IQ than Harden and has proved himself as a pretty good defender on a consistent basis through his career. I'm not willing to call Harden the best SG in the league after one year averaging 25+.

Plus with the way the league is these days having the best center in the league means nothing. The last team to with the best center in the league on their team was Shaq with Miami and he wasn't even arguably the best player on that team and we can argue they didn't even deserve to win that series.

Although he was MVP I still don't think Durant is near Lebron's level. We've seen Durant be taken out of the offense by teams (including his own). Lebron's intangibles are game changing. So I'd say overall


Wade > Harden
Lebron > Durant
Bosh < Dwight

 

Enough with the Harden vs whatever threads that try to put people to terms with the Harden as the "Rox Savior" 2012 signing. This is what is really about. Coping with Harden's shortcomings that drastically take away with his pluses. It's okay folks... Before the Rox should trade pieces of this team away, they should consider coaching changes.

 

Wade being better than Harden is debatable, but if you look at win shares, Wade hasn't been on Harden's level for about 2 years now. I think at best we could call this a tie if we were feeling like being diplomatic based on what Wade used to be.

I agree that Lebron is better than Durant, but it's pretty close, they are #1 and #2 in the league.

The Dwight vs Bosh matchup is where the tables really turn. The gap between where Dwight Howard is at and where Chris Bosh is at is just about the same gap between Patrick Beverly and Rajon Rondo

 

Wade is currently, even with the glitchy knee, a sg/sf/pf combo. Wade can play the 4 at a consistency no guy 6'4 should be able to. Barkley is and was always a legit 6'6 or taller so don't try using that angle.

 

You mean....
Reggie Jackson
James Harden
Kevin Durant
Serge Ibaka
Dwight Howard


That lineup makes me wet.

....instead they downgrade to KMart, maintain a glaring weakness in Perkins, and leave a great upside player in Jackson on the bench.