He could do it more no doubt but he does sometimes. Like that dunk against the warriors early this year
I don't think he was comparing directly to Carmelo but lets say it was Allen Iverson instead if it makes you feel better. His point is still the same.
Who cares? Why get so hung up something so minuscule in the grand scheme? The Rockets offense, by in large, is dominant every single time he's on the court. The offense isn't designed around James Harden having tons of off-ball movement at the time. That's obvious. Maybe that will change with more skilled offensive players brought in. I don't know. But what we do know is the results are almost always elite. And my response to his point would still be...okay, I guess? It's myopic to compare anybody to anybody because of being eliminated in the playoffs if you aren't going to factor the opponents and the supporting cast. It's a silly comparison and ignores a whole lot of context just for the sake of being sad.
B/c it's extremely important. All-stars won't come to Houston if they don't like our offensive philosophy, and no all-star wants to be reduced to being a spot-up shooter. For instance, Durant specifically cited the Warriors' style of play as the main reason he went there. From my recollection, after Harden passes the ball, he stands around doing nothing. However, people are now telling me that he's actually been moving without the ball and making backdoor cuts. So the logical question is "how often?" Except in the playoffs...
Everyone knows that the two biggest contenders for the foreseeable future got it through free agency by having a talented player (Steph, Kyrie) and have another supremely talented player choose to sign with that team right? Go look at the Timberwolves, Lakers and Suns that get draft pick after draft pick with nothing to show for it. I swear everyone thinks that getting Top 5 picks is going to produce KD, Westbrook and Harden. Trade Harden for a really high pick? LOL. Let's trade Toyota Center for a big tract of land on the Grand Parkway because that could be *anything*.
You can take the boat... or what's in the mystery box... A boat is just a boat, but the mystery box could be anything - it could even be A BOAT! lol
Harden moves without the ball more than many people give him credit for, but probably not enough. I still don't find it a huge deal at the moment given our offensive talent. Yeah, MDA's system probably needs to evolve more, and the Spurs showed that we need some more diversity. But by in large, the offense was elite, largely because of Harden. I'm not worried about it. Talent is the issue right now. And I don't think us having a historically good offensive season will be a deterrent for free agents who are interested in Houston.
A lot of people in this thread are comparing the pre Harden era to now. You can't compare pre Harden to now. It's not a contest. We have Harden. He has value. The question is are the Rockets better off trading him for something that possibly could take us further. I don't know.
Does anyone remember what McGrady's value was when he was traded? it happened too late. end of story.
It's a good analogy. If you add some other parts. Like the goal is to reach an island. And you get multiple shots. And every time so far the boat you have doesn't make it. Not sure if it ever will. You can try to fix it up a bunch and it might get close. Alternatively you can trade that boat in for a younger boat with lots of potential. But just that potential. It might fulfill that potential or might crash and burn early. It all depends on what you think of that original boat
The GSW are contenders because they drafted Steph, Dray and Klay. Draft. They were contenders before KD. The Cavs didn't just have Kyrie. They had the rights to Wiggins which they used to get KLove... who certainly is important. He had a better CF game 1 than any Rocket big has had in a decade. Lebron returned to Cleveland specifically because of those multiple assets. To the extent I'm for trading Harden it's for a haul in return (Boston pick this year and next year - Nets) plus a player (Jaylen). Rockets would also suck next year and have another high pick. That'd be 3 very very high picks in two good/great drafts plus a player. And then hope all of them "hit". Cause I can't see anything more than maybe picking up a Millsap. How does the team improve enough?
This is pretty much the trade Harden for picks logic. Let's trade him for picks so one of the picks could eventually get us.......someone like James Harden. There are teams that have been picking high for YEARS and still haven't sniffed the playoffs. I'll ride with an imperfect superstar (so was Lebron for a while) and hope Morey can make some moves than go back to purgatory. You draft dudes are freaking nuts.
Hope all of them hit? How many players total have hit in the last 10 years? And by hit, I mean a player capable of building a team around and contending for a title because of it. Lebron, Russ, KD, Steph, Harden. That's it. That's all of them right now. Guys that can single handedly drag your scrub ass team to the playoffs. Sorry Kawhi but that's Pop pulling strings not your individual brilliance.
Tmac played with prime yao and never got the rockets past the first round This year harden is at the same level as lebron and kawhi. By year 6 tmac was more like brewer. really? francis who got traded with mobley and cato for tmac? Lebron was not traded. He left the Cavs because he never got enough help.
Lol at just casually dismissing Kawhi. The guy plays basketball brilliantly at both ends of the floor. Pop gets an otherwise ho hum team To 60 wins consistently. Thunder = KD, Russ, Harden, Ibaka, Adams, Jeff Green, Reggie Jackson GSW = Steph, Klay, Dray, Barnes Clippers = Blake, DJ ... then EG basically led to the CP3 trade Cavs = Kyrie, Thomson, Wiggins leading to Love Jazz = Hayward, Gobert, Favors (Jazz made it just as far as Rockets) TWolves = KAT, Wiggins, LaVine (TWolves will be good. In 3 years really good). Clearly not everyone drafted will be an MVP candidate. But there's plenty of examples where the "process" is working including the best teams in the league. The equal part of this equation Is that were now done with year 5 of Harden. When we get done with year 8 and it still hasn't worked (as it won't have... ultimately... if we're talking rings) they'll then have to get stuck with another 5+ years of mediocre ball.
So just to be clear...you are of the belief that the Houston Rockets will be closer to a championship if they trade James Harden for draft picks? I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly. You also seem to imply that the Wolves are closer to a championship than the Rockets because they drafted some folks who might be decent in the future.
Yes. I'm comparing franchise players. Clearly not everyone will follow the exact same path. And I don't care if traded or leaving in FA. The end result is the same... not working. Lebron and Kawhi started with their org earlier. Kawhis of course already a Finals MVP. Points being just because someone is crazily crazy good .... it doesn't my always work for whatever reason. Hardens behind the 8 ball even more because of the superteam era.
Maybe. Depends on the exact trade. If I wasn't betting on whether Harden wins a ring or some combination in minny is put money down on minny. There's no path here. That's the issue. Look at the cap. Look at their assets. They have no tradeable assets that will turn into something magical. They have to hope for Paul Millsap and some magical way to get even more cap space the following year.
@JayZ750 You can probably see that I understand you logic better than most posters who are arguing against you. But my problem with your proposal is that Morey has not had a great track record in drafting great players from high picks. Of course he never had a top 3 pick to work with. But high potential players usually come out early with only one year of college level play. That's not enough data for Morey's analytics. If he had a top 3 pick, he'd probably do better trading that pick for a proven star than drafting a young guy himself. But then that comes back to the same spot. None of the proven stars who are on Harden's level is on the market. Besides, you are basically going the tank route, albeit a short tank. Les is never going to let Morey do that.
