Woj: Inside look at James Harden's trade to Rockets

Woj is good for his sources, but most of his opinion pieces are atrocious. Extreme bias and slanted view. He's big because he has the best sources, not for his good writing.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but anyone dumb enough to leave a championship caliber team for $4.5 mil over four years doesn't have the brain capacity to lead us to the promised land.

 

it's 52-54 mil offer vs. close to 80 mil (5 guaranteed years) and no state tax.
that's a bit more than 4.5 mil.

and i'm not even counting potential endorsement opportunities as the #1 guy, and next to Jeremy Lin at that.

 

and in fact, it may be as high as 5 years / 84 mil. That's if the max contract size takes a similar leap as it did last year.

 

You dont know what you are talking about

 

I would actually argue the opposite. If Harden was dumb enough to believe Presti would be "loyal" to him after signing a below-market contract, then I'd question his brain capacity to lead a team to the promised land.

Because make no mistake, Presti would ship him out in a nanosecond the moment OKC owner gets into luxury tax land, and he becomes the most dispensable player after Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka. And if he somehow play better than Westbrook, then he'd be waving goodbye to Westbrook when that moment come. No matter what, that team would have broken up sooner or later, most likely next year.

 

Think about it... this entire time Harden's been told that he's the third best player on that team. That may be completely true but how would they truly know when he's coming off of the bench. A guy with talents like he has DESERVES starters minutes. Sure, he crumbled in the finals. But you have to remember that he's only 23. I honestly think that Harden might have actually been the second best player on that team behind Durant. Either way, the three couldn't all co-exist on the court together. They all need the ball to thrive. I love seeing Harden get in Kobe's grill and get into a one on one game with him. That's what stars do. They take things personal... They get pissed when they don't feel needed. It might look stupid and selfish to us but it's a pretty common characteristic.

 

It's like this.

A plant can only grow so much when there are other trees hogging the sunlight. The other trees can prevent younger trees from growing because they get all the sunlight.

Remove those other trees or plant that tree in a spot where he has little competition and that tree could reach his full potential.

Whatever Harden was going to be he'll reach it now. He was never going to get out of Durant's and WBs shadow and always be a 3rd guy there. So now we'll see what he's really about.

 

While I like the trade, there are some ramifications to be noted. Harden definitely makes us better, but with the present make up of the team, probably a 7-10 seed. So now, basically, we are back to a talent level overall of being a fringe playoff team. The very predicament that we only just managed to get out of, mediocrity. 14th pick anyone?

But, there is one significant difference. We have a guy to build around and someone who may attract another high tier player. That IS significant. But incomplete until this 2nd guy arrives. Having exhausted all our near term picks, the avenue available to get this 2nd guy narrows some. Seemingly we can get the cap room for next summer, so now we have to hope a 1st tier FA becomes available and decides he wants to play with Harden. I think accomplishing this in a trade is unlikely due to the competitors having picks available and us not. Anyone unloaded a super star is going to want picks. And if we were to try to make up that difference by overwhelming this potential trade partner with high upside players, we could very easily end up gutting the team and losing all our depth.

So I think its fair to say that monitoring 1st tier FA's becoming available next summer should be our focal point. Especially those who may have ties to Harden or Houston or both.

 

Exactly my point. He's worth more to us than he is to them. And part of me thinks that one day they'll (Presti) look back and regret it.

 

My thoughts exactly, couldn't agree more.

 

Well, Morey obviously finally came through. The Lin/Harden back court looks like a top 5 in the NBA for years to come. We are all pretty much unanimous about Parsons current value and his future in the NBA. Asik gives the Rockets a large defensive presence in the paint, something they they have not had for years, and his offense and passing skills are just icing on the cake. I would be surprised if one of PPat, D-Mo or Jones did not end up as a top 50 player in the NBA. And there is the ability to offer a max contract next summer. The bench is looking like the Bulls bench from last year. The Rockets are in an enviable situation.

OKC's situation is more confusing. I believe they are probably driven by the owner's edict to stay out of the luxury tax. The chance of them getting equal value from this trade is slim to none.

 

Do we even have our own first round pick? Dont the nets still own it from the Twil trade since it got protected last year?

 

Yes and in reference to the perception of attractive destinations (for free agents), OKC takes a hit here. If you're going to be a ring chaser it's going to be LA or Miami. OKC just confirmed, via their owner, that they aren't willing to go over the top versus those teams.

Houston gets a big boost with Lin and Harden. Recruiting was such a challenge since Yao left, but now I think free agents will start coming to their senses and taking this team seriously.

Only now can we judge Morey's ability as GM. He's just getting started. You had to know that a move was going to happen based on the current makeup of the roster, but I don't think anyone expected this so soon.

Overall, good trade for both teams, but I do think OKC took the bigger risk here.

 

CBA backfire in full effect. Once again, Murray's taking full advantage of it.

 

Their regret will most likely be that they didn't make a move earlier in the summer to get more 'return' on the asset!

I'm sure they could've got a young big out of us had they talked turkey 2 weeks ago. By leaving it to the last minute they screwed themselves in the hope that Morey would blink. He didn't, and we ended up keeping Parsons and a pick out of the deal.

 

No - you're incorrect.

We didn't give up that pick. Had we given it up, we would've still owed the non-lotto pick as well.

As far as getting a top young player in the draft, tell me, are we more chance of getting a top young player with the Toronto pick, or by trading Harden (or by Harden himself BEING that top young player?)

But thanks for your emotional outburst.

 

I disagree! It made sense for OKC a month ago because of the cash factor. Had they maxxed Harden, he'd be there right now. But after they gave the large contract to Ibaka, the writing was on the wall for Harden - he wouldn't get the max there.

However I do wonder why they pulled the trigger so early! They certainly could've dealt at the END of this season. I suppose they want to contend, and want no distractions? KevMart will give them scoring punch and 3 point shooting, I suppose...

 

Good thing you aren't Harden's agent. Where's Harden's guarantee that OKC wouldn't trade him when it all got too expensive? By taking a lower offer, he would have made himself easier to ship out too.

 

Yeah, I wasn't aware of the 5th year. Last I heard, they offered $55.5 over 4 years, with $60 over 4 being the max. Anyway, I was sincere when I said I hoped to be wrong. I have been a big Harden fan, and I am excited to have him, but nervous as well.