Also it was publicized in April that the Rockets organization had asked Harden to be the primary point of contact for recruiting KD. Fast forward a month and a half later and Harden and KD are hanging out together, eating together, eating in what looks like some athletic gear as if possibly playing basketball /working out together, going to clubs together. Teams and players from teams cannot actively recruit or meet to recruit players until July 1st. So of course the canned response Harden gave was "we're just hanging out, we didn't talk about next year." If the Rockets were in the "official" July 1st round of meetings it might look fishy. Plus it's only fair to give teams that made it the furthest last year the first round of "official" meetings. That doesn't mean he isn't weighing their pitches against what Harden already pitched to him and then after hearing all the teams pitches, he sits down with the Rockets for their final 2nd pitch, their "1st official" pitch. Things Harden could've said: #1) Thank you for voting for me in the player's choice MVP 14-15, because we both know Curry is weak and I was better than him that year. And wasn't it cool to see our boy Westbrook totally outplay him even though yall didn't win. And it was cool to see both Lebron and Kyrie then out MVP this year's unanimous MVP. You don't want to play for those guys. You hate those guys. #2) You want to win but you know you want to do it respectably. Making a big four in Curry-Klay-Dray-KD, people wont put respeck on that ring. Same with Kawhi-LMA-KD-Tony-Ginobli-Timmy-West. #3)You hate Dwight and we pushed him out. You gotta like that right? We're a WCF team without him, imagine what we could do in WCF this time with our starting PG, starting PF, you KD, and without a torn meniscus Howard. #4) We did that without a real coach. We got our coach issue addressed. We got D'Antoni from our Team USA. Runs a fast system which you like, the style of system that the Dubs ran to beat your OKC team. #5) We can go get another max contract to go with you and me. You choose the 3rd piece of the Big 3. You'd also be involved in selecting all the other pieces to go around us. #6) Beasley is really really good again. He'll be our 6th man no doubt and you'll win a ring with one of your tightest childhood homies. And me. Delusional fan fiction, I know. Or....is it?
According to 89.7% of the BBS, yes. Obviously the Rockets let Harden make their pitch. I think this was addressed in Marc Stein's article about KD not having interest in Houston. The paragraph in it about "tampering" was half-buried in it but to me felt like a brushback from Cuban. Obviously basketball was discussed. KD at best would have said, The money has to be right and the roster has to be right. So the Rockets would need to operate under the radar to move out some more contracts. Or KD told Harden that the Rockets' time was best spent elsewhere. If so, I hope the team doesn't Carmelo itself again.
To be fair... We may actually be seeing that/a different approach from DM. And why not. The bring the whole group pitch isn't so impressive when it's a guy he already hangs with and then Les, DM, and MDA. Hardens pitch is more than enough... Plus a couple decent phone calls. The same way KD and any of these FA's can make a list in the first place they can make a decision thereafter... Frankly without meeting. I haven't met any of these guys and can tell you what he should choose!
Very possible. KD could have been like "look man, I'm more than likely just going to cash out at OKC. I'll take some meetings because I want to send a message to the front office, but don't even waste your time." and Harden is like "just know I'm still going to try to convince you to change your mind." Man I love this idea, however unlikely. Please let me know how I can pay tribute if this comes true.
Stein: Whiteside? Lakers, Mavs, Blazers are the first 3 teams with great interest. I suspect we'll hear more but Whiteside said he wanted to make his decision day one. It'll most likely bleed into day two. Heat want to wait on Durant. Heat have a tough decision to make. They could lose Whiteside before knowing their Durant chances. Durant? It makes sense to do a two-year deal so he goes back into FA with Russ next summer. Today, I'd say GS & SA are the two most real threats to steal him away. Thunder are still the best bet to keep him. Warriors would be the favorite to steal him away. Broussard: (Durant) Signing a one year deal, no matter where he goes but wants it to be his 'final' spot for the next 6 years. (Howard) Several teams will have to spend to get to the floor. Teams he's interested in aren't interested in him: Atlanta, Orlando, New York. Watch Miami if Whiteside leaves. Woj: How many teams really have a chance at Durant? I reported outside of OKC, there were 5 teams they were setting meetings up with (GS, BOS, MIA, SAS, LAC). OKC remains a very strong favorite to keep him on a one year deal. Even if he signs elsewhere, he'd still do a one year deal. Golden State is the one team going in he has the most interest in. OKC remains a strong favorite to keep him on a one year deal. He likes the trade they made. That's a plus for him. It'll be very hard to go into a meeting and get him to leave OKC. He may not take visits to any places unless he decided he wants to go further with a particular team. There's no schedule to do any kind of tour. What are they pitching Durant? I think a lot are pitching next year. A lot of teams feel it'll be hard for him to get him to leave right now. They're pitching next year's free agency to him. First person I go to is Russ. That's where I start. Is that logical? Yes. Russ & KD have been in communication. They have a good relationship. He'll share the FA pressure next year. ... The hardest part of leaving is walking away from that place. If he goes this year, he's all alone. Next year, if Russ leaves, Kevin has an "out". They have a chance to keep both for the long term. A championship or Finals appearance wouldn't hurt. This year let them know their close. Dwight, Noah, Conley, Horford, Whiteside? Market for Dwight is mysterious. I don't get a sense there's a max contract. Dwight wants the full 4-year max. I'm not sure that's out there. Maybe a 1-2 year deal at a high number. Conley & Horford, DeRozan & Batum, those are all players getting the 5 year contract where they are, it'll be hard to get them out of their current team. Whiteside, there are max offers out there. Lakers, Portland have strong interest. Miami will have to pay. They have to pay him and then Wade and watch out for RFA Tyler Johnson. If he gets a big offer, can they match to keep him?
Lmao dwert can't even get a max from the worst teams since 76ers have 3 centers already and Lakers hate him
I'm sorry but if a team is going to possibly give Noah the Max then Howard is getting the max from someone. For Durant, if he picks GSW then it's clear what his intentions are. That's the easiest way to a championship possible. To join the team that barely beat you is pretty lame.
I've heard Dwight is the Blazers' plan B if they miss out on Whiteside. Spurs would be a good fit for him but who knows if D12 can handle Pop.
He wants to win, win right away & be happy. "It's a basketball decision." Just as he and the media 'insiders' have said. Basketball decision where he'll win, win right away & be happy? Incumbent Thunder, Warriors, Spurs & Cavs. LOL Boston. Not going there. But at least they got a meeting? Miami - Maybe 5 years ago. Would still be very good though. LA Clippers - Good team; no guarantee to be better than his current team.
I also think part of the reason why KD is taking all these meetings (and who he is meeting with) even though he has so many incentives go back is a big brand thing. Free agency is a huge brand opportunity for him that he loses by not playing the game. He's getting so much free media coverage right now. He's the biggest story of the summer. And he loses if he were to say he's going back, early. And being chased by the best teams in basketball is a reminder that KD is one of the biggest brands in basketball.
Lol gotta give you props, you took homer-ism to a whole new level. You could be right, but here is something to think about, that I haven't seen brought up in any thread: What if Harden doesn't really want KD on this team? Why would he not want a Top 2-3 player on his team? Because this is his team. He likes the spotlight. When he was in OKC, he was the 3rd option there. That was Durant's team. Then he came to Rockets and found out what it felt like to be a superstar, the perks/glamour that comes with it. Remember his rant when he lost to Curry in MVP race? And playoff performance right after, where at times he looked like he had lost interest. Maybe he likes attention/spotlight. If KD were to come here he could kiss any chance he has at that MVP trophy goodbye. Plus KD is a better player, so he would be playing second fiddle to him again. Maybe he doesn't want that. And to your point about "tampering", remember when Lebron, Wade, and Bosh met in 2010 before free-agency began? That was not considered tampering as there were no agents/team mgmt present. Just some friends "hanging out". Couldn't Harden have done the same if he really wanted Durant? Couldn't he have invited a guy like say Horford to show Durant they can form a Big 3 just like Miami did and be instant championship contenders? Maybe its just me thinking too much. But it doesnt make any sense why Harden wouldn't pursue Durant harder instead of just a "meh, ill try".
Face it Houston had a bad season last year but was in the west finals the year before so the team is not far away from going all the way Yall so quick to down your home team because of one bad season til it's sad. **** happens we add Durant the team will change instantly and u add players like horford and now we stalking talking finals wake up and stop riding the warriors and the spurs jock
Basketball decisions or no bball decisions if Durant joins a team that went 73-9 and back to back finals then, I dont care what he says, every single non Warrior fan will hate him.
I'll believe the media insiders when I see it. When most of the sources are "The agents" and not the player himself I'm still skeptical. Even still, they are reporting on what is happening now and not on the future. As for Houston and how it relates to Durant. I think the biggest difference is that some fans think he can win here and some fans think this organization is just incapable of winning anything at all. They have given up on the 2016-17 season completely. I think he can win a championship here, him + Harden + Horford is a core that could do it and I think it's a strong case over a lot of these other teams like Boston or Miami. But as I've always said it's not about what I think or anyone else, it's about what Durant thinks so that's a moot point. I think he's pretty unsure about what to do and as such can be swayed this way or that way. Unless Harden told him about how we plan to use our cap space I doubt he knows about it. Most people covering the NBA don't even know about it.... If he joins GSW though IMO I don't think he's going to ever get that GOAT respect that he claimed he always wanted. In fact it's even going to hurt Curry because it's just going to look like he needed even more help to win. Lebron can put a team on his back and win a championship and these two guys can't. I'm certain this will forever be the narrative if he goes there and if they happen to fail to win a championship for whatever reason it'll be even worse.
Despite what all of us might think about the Warriors, how impressive is it that they would even be in position to take on a contract like Durant (even for a year) with the team they have?
