Hay-ellll no to Dirk. He's done. I don't think 'washed-up star' is the right answer. I would settle for "rotation guy with a type-A, lead-by-example personality".
"The Houston Rockets’ star is ordinary by many physical metrics. But his deceleration is superhuman—and that explains how he dominates the NBA." Ben Cohen, Wall Street Journal article
lol the award is meaningless? Tell Hakeem that. No one thinks Westbrook is the best player but he's certainly one of the best. Consistently being a top MVP candidate means you are a ****ing good basketball player.
I think that Harden's performance in game 6, banged up somehow, or not, has put a ton of pressure on his shoulders. If he has any pride at all, and I believe he does, the debacle ending the series in Houston should provide all the motivation James needs to improve his game in the off-season. I have a difficult time imagining that that humiliation won't eat at him this summer. There's also a ton of pressure on Morey to make the moves that can both take some of the burden off Harden and give the team more weapons at both ends of the court. MDA also has to show that he can improve his system. I'm someone else who wondered why he used such a short rotation. People have said before that Harden needs to trust his teammates, and I think he's worked on it, a lot. Well, MDA needs to develop more trust in the players he has on the roster. If that proves impossible, you either give him a better team to work with, or you get a new coach, in my humble opinion.
Let's take your pessimistic scenario: He never ever improves on his current playoff resume, and he averages somewhere between his best and worst seasons as a Rocket > so roughly 25+ points (on historically elite points per shot), 8+ assists, 6+ rebounds, 2 steals, porous defense, inconsistent leadership... His market value to 29 other teams is still the max. If there was no cap, he would get a dozen offers of $40m+. To answer your second question, he does not have to improve AT ALL to be worth the NBA maximum allowed contract. In every season he's been a Rocket, he has been worth the max. It is beyond debate that there are players worth more than the max, and Harden is embedded solidly in that group. Again, no one can win it all in these circumstances. Not Michael Jordan, not Kobe Bryant, not Steph Curry and not Lebron James. None of these people have carried a roster of this calibre to a championship, and James Harden is not the best player in the history of the game. How else can I put it? Even if you were drafting #1 the past 10 years, the chances that you'd land a James Harden are very low. The worst James Harden season is worth the max to any NBA team. If there were an NBA draft, James Harden would be gone before 20 teams could pick. We are not the ones in position to question the $200m. That's earned, it's done, either we give it to him or another contender will. The question Harden has for us is: where's my f'ing all star sidekick? If you think Harden is going to sit around taking **** for an average roster not winning a championship you are sorely mistaken. We have an all-time talent on our hands, we need to go above and beyond to deliver him a worthy roster.
But my question is, will Harden respond at all? The reason I ask is in response to what happened. You would think that an elimination game, ON HOME COURT, would be enough motivation to perform, but Harden just disappeared. After I saw that, it made me question if he is in the right mind state to win, if he really wants to win in Houston. I hope the pressure does push him, but not everyone has the mentality of MJ or Kobe.
I realized I don't like the question I asked. I think you are right, his market value is going to stay where it is and the Rockets will sign him because no better options will exist. New question: If my "pessimistic" scenario continues to be proven correct, and you could guarantee a realistic trade offer was available, what would it be and would you do it? Before you get upset at the hypothetical, you should know it's a question about the level of confidence YOU will have in Harden assuming the pessimistic scenario continues, taking the restrictions of competent team management out of the equation.
For me to trade Harden, I would have to be getting Giannis. Other than that it would have to be a top 10 player + a top 5 pick. There are players in the top 10 who could replace Harden's 5 year pessimistic projected production, but it would be a wash, none would fix the fact that we can't win a ring without other additions so unless there's a top 5 pick thrown in I'm not shuffling for the sake of shuffling. I would possibly take Westbrook and a top 10 only because Westbrook is younger than most of the top tier players. I would consider trading Harden for 2 top 5 picks in the same draft if the team receiving Harden also took Anderson and the salary we get in return would have to be TPE or expiring or a value contract and Les was on board for 1 season of prioritizing player development/training over anything else. Harden, btw, is the youngest among Lebron, Curry, Durant, Westbrook, George, Isaiah Thomas, Chris Paul. Basically, only Wall/Leonard/Giannis are worth mentioning and younger than Harden. We have a 27 year old guy who can win you 40 games single handedly and we're having this conversation lol. The Rockets will sign him because almost no better options exist in the world for the Rockets btw, not because no better options exist for the Rockets. We have the coach who can win it all, we have a player who can win it all, now we need a good enough roster to win it all.
