i have no words. Rus is the better overall player and harden isnt exactly a deadeye shooter . If he had more variety to his scoring he could be compared but he plays the game at a slower pace than westbook. No comparison and two different playstyles.
There is a case that Harden is the better fit alongside Durant though. When watching OKC crumble during the series with the Warriors, you could see Durant and Westbrick being pissed off at each other and fighting over the ball. When Westbrick had to pass it to Durant, he was angry and he just went to stand in the corner and sulk. There were times he was doing that where he didn't even start to move after the ball was shot. He made no effort to get back on defense or get the rebound. Westbrook wants to be the guy more than he wants to win and I don't think that's the case with Harden. We've seen time and time again Harden will defer to players doing well when he has confidence in them. He was fine at times letting Beasley try to be the guy when he was on a roll. I just think Harden and Durant work a lot better than Durant and Westbrick so it's less about who is better and more about who makes a better team.
The chance of KD resigning with OKC on a short term contract is high. His best chance at ring is with OKC or the Warriors and possibly the Spurs.
Yeah, that happened sometimes and it just hammers home the point that Harden is a much better teammate than Westbrook. I mean, Dwight would disagree possibly, but we all know he's just butt hurt that he didn't get to screw up more post opportunities. I don't blame ANYONE for not trying to force the ball into the post in Dwight's hands.
I strongly disagree. I think harden is the better player. It's easy to look at this season and just rip James but that's pretty short sighted. Westbrook was worse down the stretch last year playing without KD trying to get them into the playoffs, than harden was this year getting us into the playoffs. And are you kidding me about shooting? Harden is like 37% from three over the last 5 seasons. Westbrook is 28% litterlly the worst shooters in the league from deep, That's brewer level. If you don't think that's a big difference in shooting then im not sure I can really debate with You because your mind is made up.
Harden is the better player still. People get so caught up in highlights its ridiculous. Russ plays an exciting brand of ball, and he is very good, but he isn't as good as harden is. People watch a few bad highlights of James and think he never plays defense, while they watch a few highlights of russ playing all out and thinks all he does is dominate. They are pretty close talents, but if I were kd being completely subjective I would rather play with harden. He's much more durable, much more efficient and his style meshes better. That being said if I was still being Durant and subjective I would rather play with okc for a 1+1 than in Houston based on rosters. All that being said I could see Durant seriously contemplating Houston, especially if we could team him with horford as well. But I'm much more worried about San Antonio. I think they could move green or parker(although I don't think they would) and even diaw and pair Durant kawhi and Aldridge together where he gets to be the alpha dog and has a serious coach that he has mad respect for. It will be interesting to see but if I were to bet it would be okc 1+1
What it comes down to IMO is that if it's a pure money decision, it'll be OKC, if it's a basketball decision it'll be him leaving OKC.
I'm convinced now that the Rockets will absolutely get several meetings with Kevin Durant. Unfortunately, him coming will probably come down to being able to also get another all star to form a big 3. Probably not likely and Morey will be left trying to pitch Dwight as the 3rd option. Not so sure how Durant would feel about Dwight in a D'Antoni offense. Not so sure he even likes him at all as a human being. What i think is being looked over are the small market teams. Bucks, Wolves and Pacers. Milwaukee Bucks have incredible length at every position. They would be an incredibly hard team to match with. C: Greg Monroe (currently on the block) PF: Jabari Parker/John Henson SF:Kevin Durant SG: Khris Middelton/ OJ Mayo (Kidd says Giannis will be PG next year) PG: Giannis Antetokounmpo/Michael-Carter Williams/Bayless #10 in the draft This Bucks team will be in the ECF battling the CAVS every year and they are so young, they have the potential to outlast and surpass the CAVS eventually. Minnesota Timberwolves have straight up superstar potential. C: Karl Anthony Towns is 100% a franchise superstar. PF: Kevin Durant SF: Andrew Wiggins (still potential franchise star) SG: LaVine(high potential) PG: Rubio #5 pick. Trade Rubio and the #5 for #3 and select Buddy Heild to play SG and let LaVine learn the PG on the go. A lot they can do with Rubio, the pick and Pek and Dieng and Shabazz. If they keep the pick, Kris Dunn or Jamall Murray will both have great potential. The only bad thing is this team will be in the west. You'd need KAT and Wiggins and LaVine to all come into their own very fast. You can see the potential for this team to be very versatile defensively under Thibs. Also not sure if Kevin Durant would be down to be full time PF and not sure Wiggins can play SG. Indiana Pacers Paul George. Enough said. Decent amount of trade chips. Don't know their CAP situation and how hard it will be to clear enough space.
Hmmm... 1. Draymond Green and Kevin Durant reportedly are both going to the Olympics this summer. 2. The Warriors are probably looking for an upgrade over free agent Harrison Barnes.
Welp. Welcome Kevin Durant to Houston, Tx. Can someone photoshop KD in the championship uniforms? Got a feeling he'd look perfect in those. Or maybe photoshop using this modern concept Spoiler
All you have to do is to look at how GS defended the Thunder in the playoffs. They kept Bogut and Green in the paint to prevent Westbrook from driving. That allowed them to double Durant on every touch and to give Westbrook anything that he wanted from the perimeter. As long as Westbrook remains a bad perimeter shooter then teams will continue to play that way and Durant will continue to see constant double teams. If you pair Durant with Harden then teams wouldn't be able to constantly double Durant like that. It's a similar situation to the Miami Big Three where teams couldn't consistently double Lebron or Wade because that would turn the other guy loose.
I just keep thinking: "well Houston has harden and Beasley and we could sign another max guy to go along with Durant, and it's a stable organization with a history of winning and..." then I begin to feel like I'm swallowing my own bull****. Why would this guy say, "yeah I can go anywhere in the league, but Houston is my best chance to win a championship and I want to go into battle with those guys"? I mean, watching golden state and the cavs, can anyone doubt that we aren't far away from being true contenders. We are just so far behind those teams from a roster standpoint, no? To play devil's advocate to my own post (and to make myself less bummed out): 1). Houston always plays OKC tough and that has to have sunk into Durant's mind over the years 2). He's got close friends on the team, and there's the Texas connection 3). Pringles offense could maximize Durant and he probably knows this
No, at this point OKC has more talent especially with Russ surpassing Harden and Adams developing nice. They were up 3-1 to the warriors, would be dumb to leave unless he goes to the Spurs or Warriors, which would be super team scenarios
Again hardens bball iq is light years ahead russ Only time okc went to the finals was with harden Kd and wb took okc to wcfs But harden did it by himself last year 20M deadweight d12 will be gone and be replaced
That's fine, he has higher iq (putting aside the turnovers and defense), but no one should argue Harden was better this past year. Russ made first all NBA team and harden made no all NBA team
What it would come down to is that in Houston he'd have a chance to be "the guy" on a team with more talent than he'd have in OKC and on a team that would fit better. There are some other destinations that might make for better basketball but he might not be considered "the guy" on those teams and that's why I think Houston has such a good shot. Honestly, one of his worst options when it comes to everything but money would be staying in OKC for one more season. He just doesn't have very good chemistry with Westbrook even after all this time.
Your fanboyism is blindingly your judgement. Rus is a walking triple double and second best finisher at the rim in the league behind lebron
