Sam Amick Sources: Rockets surprised Harden didn't report to camp on Sunday

Bingo. It's frustrating to see all the people justifying this just because he wants out. That's fine and understandable if he wants out, but this is NOT how you handle it.

 

Love the post. But, to play devils advocate, you go into the new job expecting your rainmakers to make rain no matter the situation. They are the stone cold reliables that, as long as the results are there, you don't have to babysit. You give them the freedom to do what they do and stay out of the way. Especially if the rest of your team is broken, you gotta fix what needs fixing.

Stone saw the flaws and worked to correct them. Add size and reduce the effort your stars have to give every night. Keep Harden from having to guard bigs. Keep PJ fresh. Oh, and throw in the fact that your #2 complained about his situation even though he didn't perform well the previous year.

Assuming that Stone at least reached out and told Harden "I got you. I'll get you some help", which appears TBD...then its on James to give it a try. At a bare minimum, show up like a grown man and do your job. Bare minimum. How much rain is he making of he's not at work? Zero.

All of that said...I agree with your assessment. The team doesn't win games without James. But James doesn't win if he doesn't show up. His value sinks, the Rockets hold firm, and he and the team waste away. No one wins. The only way anyone wins if he shows up and shows he's ready to go. He's not doing that.

In my company, you either get along and do your job or you can bounce. I'm good either way. The last thing I'll do is disrespect those putting in the work by catering to those that don't.

Not saying your take is wrong at all. Just a different perspective.

 

What's the whole reason for him being upset? Is it really about Trump?

 

A week ago you idiots on here were talking about this team being a upgrade . Yall refused to accept the fact that harden DOESNT WANT TO PLAY IN H TOWN. Lol Rockets will be hoping for a top 3 pick once this season is over

 

Its pretty obvious WHY he's doing what he's doing. He is making the situation "uncomfortable". He is trying to force Tilman to trade him.

Both Harden and Westbrook demanded a trade during the offseason. Only ONE of them got their wish. The only reason we didn't trade Harden is because he is "too good, too valuable". So i imagine he's pretty pissed. Partying in Vegas during training camp is his way of making himself less valuable in the hope of getting traded.

 

Some people talked themselves into accepting CP3 and a million picks for Westbrook. And then they eventually learned to like Westbrook for John "i'm westbrick with no Achilles" Wall. I have no doubt they will love Dimwittle and Levert when we trade Harden for them.

 

HOU - ORL - PHI

ORL: Harris (PHI) + 2023 PHI FRP

PHI: Harden (HOU) + Tucker (HOU) + E. Gordon (HOU) + Ross (ORL) + Clemons (HOU)

HOU: Simmons (PHI) + A. Gordon (ORL) + Thybulle (PHI) + Milton (PHI) + 2021 PHI FRP + 2025 PHI FRP + 3 PHI SRP (2023, 2024, 2025)

Sign Dedmon (or Henson) to VetMin

Wall - Milton - GGreen
Thybulle - BMac - Brown
Simmons - Nwaba - Tate
Gordon - Dedmon - KMart Jr
Wood - Cousins - Caboclo

 

That's not really obvious, it might be it, but why tell everyone that he's staying here and that he wants to play with them then do this? It really could just be him going on a bender because he can. There's really nothing at all clear about the situation. Why tell them he's going to be there on Sunday if he's sending the message you think is "obvious"?

Harden is all about the party life, so a birthday party can sometimes end up being a weekend long thing without there being any "message" to it whatsoever.

 

In all my years as a basketball fan, I’ve only seen anything like what Harden is doing once before.

back when ol’ Jimmy Chitwood left the Huskers hanging for damn near half the season.

That ended well, and this will, too.

 

Lol

 

Just let him sit at home if that's what he wants to do. They said they were willing to let it get uncomfortable. Let it get uncomfortable. Its not like they were favored to win it all if he showed up on the first day of camp. If Harden is determined to burn the whole thing down, there really isn't any urgency to trade - you won't be competing for a championship either way.

 

Exactly on point. In perfect world, you dont have to babysit anyone let alone the studs on your team. But when walking into a crisis situation (MDA, Morey leaving and your rainmakers LOVE and are loyal to these executives) then you must glad hand and babysit. If everything is dependent on rainmakers for company to be successful then it is imperative that you address any issues in the group immediately. Building relationships with the stone cold reliable is even more important to me than anything else.

I am successful because I identified and surrounded myself with successful people and these successful people need to be happy AND loyal to ME.

This is the foundation being laid. So once I have a stable foundation then I will focus on the operational issues, fix what needs fixing. Of course this is not linear, managers/executives need to be skilled multi taskers.

Ra-fel could have killed 2 birds with 1 "stone" by including Harden and Russ in addressing the size issues via draft and/or FA. I doubt this happened because neither Russ or Harden were at the presser with Stone. Morey was a genius with using Harden to help recruit and welcome new players.

That is a big assumption but let's give Stone benefit of the doubt he did. Considering the present circumstances, Stone did not do a very good job convincing Harden that he was sincere. Or Harden needed more than a wink and a pat on the back. Every manager depends on his team to do the actual work, so if the effort is half hearted then the manager is just as accountable.

The more perspectives equals more ideas, cannot get enough of that. But you are right, when rubber meets the road, entire team need to be committed and pulling their weight.

Good thing it's still training camp.

 

The time to move on is now I’m sad to say.

Harden has been here 8/9 years or so and we came really close to a championship we just always ran into one the best teams ever in NBA history.

We turned rosters over and over we tried innovative things to win we just couldn’t achieve the ultimate goal.

It’s not James fault
It’s not moreys
It’s not MDA
And it’s not Tilmans

James is 32 and time is ticking and unless a another “Star” becomes available it’s not looking good to upgrade the roster at the moment.

So let’s trade for Simmons who is super young get draft picks and soon Walls contract will come off the books and let’s get some financial flexibility and be able to pair Simmons with a max FA in a year or 2.

 

Did he really tell "everyone" he is staying here? Just going by his action, his message has been pretty cut and dry. He want out.

James Harden has never missed training camp due to clubbing before. He has never been an irresponsible person when it comes to basketball. Infact, the Rockets under Harden's leadership has always organized pre-training camp for the entire team. Every year those Bahama trip with the entire team before training camp were meant to give the Rockets a headstart. He's a big believer in building chemistry early off the court. Why doesn't he do it anymore? He doesn't care. He want out.

The only person who claimed Harden is committed to the team and wanted to be here is John Wall. I dont know John Wall. Maybe he did have a chat with Harden, maybe Harden did commit to him, i dont know. Or maybe its just politically correct PR talk meant to calm down all those trade rumors. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Anyhow, action speaks louder than words.

 

Fantasy football isn't relevant to this situation.

 

I find it funny that people keep saying Simmons, when Simmons is not available and Morey has no plans on dealing with Houston.

 

Then I must graciously recuse myself.

LOL

 

Its called a negotiation. I believe Morey would trade Simmons for Harden but he is reluctant to mortgage the future with draft picks.(we've seen how THAT TURNED OUT!!) WE'll probably eventually settle in the middle and deal Harden +PJ for Simmons + filler and like one or 2 future picks.

 

Per McMahon (you know this is coming straight from TF), Rockets were completely blindsided by Harden's no show.

Rockets were oblivious that Harden wants a trade, official statement is that Harden has never made this request to FO or ownership.