Yes, Harden and Rox can win a championship. Harden can win a championship without the Rox. Rox can win one without Harden. It would be for the best if both could win a championship, just not necessarily together. /Took all my emotions out of this.
That is the danger, send EG and Capela plus two first rounders and Clark for anyone who can fit in well with Harden for 2-3 years. I know the chances of that are remote, but there is no other way.
I could stand running it one more season if GSW falls apart. But, this team gets worse with time, not better. We can shuffle some deck chairs and hope for serendipity, but Chris Paul is only going to become more limited, and our salary situation leaves us no space but lateral moves. I think if we traded Harden now in an opportunistic way (instead of waiting until it is obvious that we must trade him), we could get some significant young assets while at the same time putting Harden in a better position to win a championship. If we keep him, we can stay relevant for a few more years, be a perennial playoff team, but I'm not really interested in that if we're not really contenders.
You can't make the trade now because then you get all your young assets at the same time you have a 40 mil CP3 contract . If you want to maximize on Hardens return the best time will likely be in a year or two . That way you get a combo of young developing players and picks that are under control / coming after you've cleared up space .... that way you can put a current star around them . But beyond that , I don't think that "having" to trade him will lower the package . Look what min got for Jimmy butler , we were offering 4 1sts and were handidly turned down . Look what LA and everyone else offers for AD ....those are situations where guys publicly demand out and create a bad lockeroom .... and they still got huge offers . James will be worth a lot . My ultimate hope is that we can follow the mavs path (barf) and if we don't win next year , will retool and give harden a later career run like dirk .... but for that to work harden has to take a pay cut Maybe after this mega deal he will sign a 4 year MLE and retire a rocket .... one can dream right ?
