Paul is a legitimate superstar, with all time great PG skills, even with his age. If we got him we would definitely restructure our offense pushing Harden off ball.
I don't see it happening, we wouldn't be his best chance to win or where he could make the most money. No real reason for him to pick the Rockets.
Rockets lineup Paul/Bev Harden/Gordon Ariza/Dekker Love/Ilyasova/Qi Harrell/Nene/Nanu #IGotSomethingUpMySleeve
He averaged 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals a game in 28 minutes. Is that supposed to be impressive? Me saying that he's the worst in the league is a little bit of a stretch, but calling him a legit 2-way force? He's not that. "One of the biggest issues with the Nuggets defense was Nikola Jokic. It is very hard to compete with the NBA powerhouses with a starting center that can’t protect the rim. In 2017, Jokic allowed opponents to shoot 63.7% at the rim. During the regular season the only centers currently in the playoffs (that get real minutes) that allowed a higher percentage were Zaza Pachulia at 66.3% and Greg Monroe at 64.7% per NBA.com." The Nuggets had a defensive rating of 110 when he was on the floor which was 29th in the NBA. He struggles to move laterally. He struggles to defend the PnR. He sucks at protecting the rim. That is not a legit 2-way force.
If you can get Paul, you get Paul. He's an all-time great, still in his late prime--you're simply not getting anyone else better or even comparable, ideal fit or not. As I said at the start of the thread, I don't think the fit is great. The point is not whether either guy can play off the ball--it's that neither are at their best playing off the ball. Ideal fits allow both stars to do what they do best, and doing what they do best complements the other. One any given possession, either Paul or Harden (when playing together) would have to play below his talent to an extent. That's not ideal. But that's still better than having just Harden, and players can adjust their game to make the fit a little smoother. Schemes can find creative ways to milk both as much as possible. Harden playing the Klay Thompson role does not maximize his skillset, but maybe a smart scheme can allow Harden to play as Klay on the primary action and then, when the catches the ball, operate as the point guard for the second action as Paul cuts through traffic and/or around a screen, leaving the defense unsure of whether the ball is going to end up back in Paul's hands for yet another action or if Harden is going to initiate. Bottom line is when you can make a huge talent upgrade, you do it and hope the players and coaches are up to making it as productive as possible.
Having just Harden isn't ever winning a championship. The chemistry is weird and might be disastrous, but if it works, it gives us two top 10 players in the league.
Agree that a Harden-Paul combination has a lot of duplicative skills, but I trust D'Antoni to run a system where both of their talents are utilized. If you get the chance to get a player of CP3's caliber, then you do it and figure out the fit later.
I am trying to think how a CP3/Harden backcourt would work regardless of what offensive system is in place. Both are ball dominant guards and generational talents. Paul is one of the smartest decision makers with the ball, but I have always felt Paul runs the offense in his head the way he wants to. I am not saying he isnt coachable but he wants more control of the style run vs running the style that the coaching staff puts in place. (just my opinion) But going back to this there are other talented back courts but if you look at the other two - Curry/Klay, Wall and Beal - one player is more the ball dominant guard and playmaker while the other is more of a knock down off the ball shooter. Neither Paul or Harden are like Klay/Beal though they are great shooters they are more of the playmaking guard. I do believe that Harden and Paul would make it work because they are both that talented I just don't know how all that would fit necessarily because lets say Paul is on the team. As much as a flopper he is, I want the ball in Paul's hand running the offense because of his decision making and historically amazing AST/TO ratio. How well would Harden fare off the ball though? I am not sure. Even in OKC he ran the offense in the stretches where he came in off the bench. I will say this I think MDA would be able to find a way to get something going surround them, but we'll see I feel if anything this is more Paul just seeing options out there but I do not think he would seriously leave LA and all that money. Given Paul's age and recent injury issues I dont see him winning a ring especially with the team GS has. Knowing that I dont see how he leaves that much money on the table. Unless of course a "super team" is formed somewhere else where guys take paycuts to take out GS
Clutchfans - "how do you even compete against a team with 2 MVP caliber players and 2 more all stars. Morey has a lot of work to do, he better get to work." Morey - "let me see if I can't somehow convince cp3 to come and pair another superstar MVP caliber player next to our own MVP candidate and close the gap between us and gsw" Woj - "Chris Paul plans to meet with Houston among others" Clutchfans - "Morey is an idiot. Why is he wasting his time? They play the same position. Morey once again going for the strikeout. Double chin go eat a double cheeseburger instead"
According to Clutchfans Harden can only play with catch & shoot/dunk players. Anybody who can create will destroy Hardens game.
Chris Paul at 32 is not a 5 year $205 million supermax player, so he needs a free agent tour with multiple stops to drive up his price. The Clips have to be heavy favorites to retain him.
Gut feeling.. I think Morey will try to convince Paul to take a cheaper contract, rid our self of lou Williams and RA for free, and scooping up LeBron Paul Harden LeBron it's a start..
don't forget that he also won't be willing to lessen his ball handling and play making duties because because he didn't for phenomenal PG's like Jeremy Lin and Ty Lawson...Harden will have CP3 standing in the corner all game
San Antonio is not the best option for CP3. Manu, Parker, Gasol and too old Aldridge is clearly declining Kawhi is great, but he is alone We have Harden EG and Beverly in his prime Good youth with Capela and Dekker. MDA will be great for Paul, he can shine. Big market China
Harden will have to play more like he did during the 13-14 season...just a 28% usage rate (lowest since he's been in Houston), 59% of his threes were assisted (by far the highest percentage since he's been in Houston), and he took 16.5 shots per game (2nd lowest since he's been in Houston is 17.1) in OKC, over 80% of his threes were assisted...he did a lot of spotting up Harden is usually 1 of the better spot up shooters in the NBA, it's the off the dribble, heavily contested looks that he's been constantly jacking up the last few years that tank his FG%.
It's not revisionist history at all. I said it repeatedly at the time, and it's documented on my show, Twitter, etc. Discussed it with quite a few who felt similarly. If you disagree, I respect it and that's your prerogative, but it's not revisionist history on my part in the least. As far as Game 6, if you think it's some major black mark on the organization, then there's quite a few you could say the exact same thing about. If you're going to get on me for discounting some of the importance of Game 6, you can't turn around and then do the exact same thing (4 of 5!) by discounting Game 1. You're using an arbitrary start/end point, moments after telling me I shouldn't do the same. When I don't have a dog in the fight, I consider most playoff series that go 6+ games fairly competitive. Add to that two teams that were No. 2 and No. 3 in the standings all season long, and then factor in that the route to cap room for the No. 2 team requires giving up significantly more talent? Yes, those profiles seem fairly close to me. To me, roster balance doesn't really matter that much in today's NBA. Not with GSW. Yes, in a vacuum, adding Hayward to the current team might do as much or even more than Paul. But neither team, in my view, can compete with the Warriors. The difference, in my eyes, is that Paul's upside as an elite, All-Star level player puts you in striking distance to where you could be one future move away from actually having a shot. Maybe it's a future trade for a disgruntled star up front, or who knows -- maybe you get lucky with the continued development of Capela/Dekker, or the incredibly unlikely scenario of finding a Draymond in the rough. But a star core of Harden/CP3 -- with a supporting cast of Beverley, EG, Capela, Ariza, etc. -- at least gives you a window. I don't feel the same way about Harden/Hayward. As always, I could be wrong... and if not for the completely unprecedented nature of GSW's dominance, I might well agree with you.
