The Rockets traded Elvin Hayes. They traded Moses Malone. They traded Ralph Sampson. They traded Hakeem Olajuwon. They traded Scottie Pippen. They traded Steve Francis. They traded Tracey McGrady. So, it's not impossible to imagine the Rockets trading Harden. There were various reasons why the Rockets traded all those other star players. And, I think you can come up with a couple of reasons why you might trade Harden. He has certainly shown a tendency to fail at the biggest moments. It all comes down to Les. Does Les believe in Harden? He probably has doubts. But, this doesn't seem like the time to make a trade. Let's see if we can improve the team this summer. But, if Les wanted to make a big move, the Lakers seem like a logical landing spot for Harden. They have multiple assets to offer the Rockets. Magic may view Harden as the perfect bait to lure other star players to the Lakers. No need to rush into anything, but it wouldn't hurt to answer the phone and listen to offers.
Ha! We overachieve, get 55 wins, 3rd best record in the west, an MVP season from Harden, narrowly lose a game 5 on some spotty officiating near the end of regulation, and Harden should be traded. Laugh riot.
The Lakers #1 or Celtics #1 + a few young studs or Ben Simmons and Okafor from the 76ers But, in reality you give it one more summer of trying to get another superstar to pair with Harden. We won't succeed, and instead sign Ibaka and Gallinari type players who make us only slightly better but still just a pretender and we will be angry next year that we didn't trade harden when we had the chance. Eventually he demands a trade and we trade him to the Lakers for a future 2nd round pick and Corey Brewer and Tarik Black.
I agree with most of this. The Rockets are likely going to have to A) Diversify their offense in some form or fashion. Maybe that comes with adding more talented offensive threats, but also they probably need to be less extreme in their shooting. That's largely what did them in. Is the offense a "gimmick"? No. It's not. But it has notable weaknesses that the Spurs exploited. It'll be up to Harden and D'Antoni to evolve in the future. It's very important to remember that this was the first year of D'Antoni, and the first year of Harden at point guard, and the first year of the rebuild. Let them grow into things before jumping ship. Don't agree with those saying Harden was better in 2014-15. Harden was brilliant this year, and any objective person would tell you that. He might of been slightly better by a hair, but I'm seeing many of the same reactionary takes today that were said in 2015. Lotta revisionist stuff going on today. Many wanted him traded after that season too, which is why today is so silly. Dudes are just emotional and reactionary right now. It will pass.
I don't think we should trade Harden, as today at least. But let's say this is going to happen, i'd try to get back Ingram and the Lakers pick. Ingram is going to be a great player imo, he would be my n.1 target in a situation like this.
It goes to show the mindset of many around here. Being mad is fine. Being irrational is even fine. But like...some of the stuff I'm seeing...lmao
Man, god forbid we actually played to the level of expectations that ESPN and the media had for us this season. People might be killing themselves then.
The truth is that we basically ended up believing ESPN about the fact that we have a contender tier roster so, this season has been a disappointment lol
Wait, when did ESPN ever say we were a contender for anything? ESPN doubted us all season long. They put the Blazers in front of us before the season began. Contenders get knocked out by other contenders all the time. Do you think the Spurs are not a contender? The spurs will probably lose to GS next round, but that doesn't undo the fact they had the #2 record this year and were contenders. We got beaten out by a better contender, much like SA will most likely be in the next round.
Please, Lillard makes Harden look like a lock down defender...but if you want to play the stats game, show me a game where Lillard had a 50+ point triple double, show me a season where Lillard had at least one triple double, show me any single conference finals game that Lillard has played. Harden has played in 88 playoff games - there was A LOT more opportunity for him to have bad games than Lillard's modest 30 games. Agree that Harden has had some epic stinker games but then so has Lebron early in his career(remember the 15 point game on the Cavs? or his passive play against the Mavs during his first Heat run?). I'm not saying Harden is anywhere in Lebron's orbit of greatness, but if Lebron freaking James couldn't will a team to a title until his 8th year and only AFTER joining two other All Stars in Miami - what does that say about our expectations for Harden? Harden has two less All Stars to work with, and is in only his 5th season as a starter. ...there was a good article on SBNation that I think hits the nail on the head which is - there are times when the "smart" play is not necessarily the best play. James Harden is wired to make the smart play much like Lebron was in his first run with the Cavs or in his first season with the Heat. Smart coaches, took advantage of Lebron for that and Dallas got a title out of that. Pops just did the same thing to Harden with his genius coaching and disciplined team - took him out of the game knowing that Harden would make the smart play rather than taking over. Harden has to learn when to impose his will just like Lebron did but it didn't happen overnight for Lebron and certainly Harden is still learning as well. The important part is James Harden has all the tools to lead a team to a title - you bet on him figuring out the mental stuff because the number of players who literally have all the tools to lead a team to playoff contention can be counted on one hand and only come along a handful of times a decade.
Yeah, i was kinda joking about the argument "the Rockets have so many weapons" etc they started saying when the MVP argument was the most talked **** around, some analysts did say we were a contender, some also said Ariza is an all star but yeah...lol
