[Woj] Harden continues to push for trade despite Wall’s arrival

lol, it’s crazy that people are giddy over Pascal Siakam

his scoring numbers were better last season because he increased his field goal attempts by almost 7 a game, but in the process, his efficiency cratered to barely league average, and then in the playoffs he averaged 17, 8, and 4 on 40/19/72 shooting splits and 46% TS

gross

Pascal would be great next to Harden

 

Klay is going to be coming back from an torn Achilles and a busted knee at 32 next season with a multi year max deal. Noway wiseman is enough to compensate for that horrible deal

 

and I like Siakim as a player. But there's a difference here. We're talking about the future not him playing with Harden.

Future w/Siakim at 27 w/o Harden = non existent

 

the Miami offer is better just based on the difference in age between Herro and Siakam alone

Siakam is the “we just want to guarantee the ability to fight for the 8th seed for a few years post-Harden” option

 

tbh it seems like a significant number of folks around here haven't accepted the rebuild scenario that is absolutely the case when harden is gone. They're looking for the most safe player right now that only gives you a ceiling of fighting for a playoff spot for a few years. People complained about mediocrity for years and not having a top draft pick to give yourself a chance at some form of development. Now that gets thrown out the window apparently. make up your mind

 

I think it's a legit case to be made to remain competitive for at least this year, since OKC owns our soul for 2021. Then the Rockets have a brief 2 years to breathe a sigh of relief and hope we get our **** together, to not give anything significant to OKC in 2024 or 2026.

 

the hope is harden remains with the team this year in which case they will still be competitive. at least for most of the season. Giannis being off the table helps houston be more selective at this point and ability to hold off a bit longer. that was a terrible trade to begin with. tilman will suffer from it regardless

 

Problem is that OKC has our picks covered for a while. So being bad to draft is hard because they can swap or steal every other year.

Might as well develop talent and try to make the playoffs every year until those obligations are done. Keep accumulating picks and hope to flip picks/ talent for a star.

 

I disagree. That shouldn't stop you from acquiring what you can and think about the future down the line as the main priority. remaining competitive just for the sake of trying to make the playoffs as a bottom feeder has 0 interest from me. OKC having houstons picks is a direct result of tilman's dumbass. To save that, i couldn't careless about sacrificing just to not make him look worse by the day. You're not developing talent with guys who have already set their standard in the league. All this is doing is providing a product that gives people a fake sense of being competitive

 

Keep in mind those obligations are for this season and then they start again from 2024, we can keep two picks in the middle (2022-2023), and technically also the current one (2021) if it ends up in the top 4, i know it could be somewhat risky, but i'd still try, the next one is projected to be a great draft, i think if we trade Harden we should try to take advantage of the situation, if it doesn't happen whatever, another 1st round exit isn't making our rebuild better anyway, getting a top 4 pick in the next draft would be an incredible start, totally worth a try imo.

 

That's been the biggest factor of what makes me nervous about Ben. His lack of improvement in his shooting is extremely hard to overlook. It really does make me think he is a lazy player. I've come around, but I do have a bunch of red flags when I see him. I'd feel always limited in the grand scheme of things if we didn't surround him with great offensive talent.

 

Tillman propaganda. Sure James we will consult u on who u can play with as long as it doesn't make me pay luxury tax.

 

Woj spinning his disinformation again.

Yawn.

He's become a hack, never thought that day would come.

 

ESPN has him on like 20 times a day so he has to come up with some content and this is what he's become...

 

NBA news has been pretty sluggish this season thus far. James just happens to be the drama point so the media is milking it for as long as possible. It's too bad Giannis did not forgo his supermax and stir more drama for the Bucks.

 

It is actually possible to be a team that tries to make the playoffs while at the same time develops talent and then turns into a contender.

Drafting a franchise changing superstar at 1 is nice, but doesn't always happen. Better if you have assets and a supporting cast ready to go, and then convince such a player to join you.
(E.g. Brooklyn)

Just being bad and getting a high pick doesn't get you off the mediocrity treadmill. It usually just sets mediocrity at 25-30 wins. No stars want to go to those places...

 

In the scenarios being discussed with Simmons that isn’t the case. You’re going to be in mediocrity while fighting for a playoff spot with one of the highest payrolls and on top of that you have 0 cap for flexibility

 

You noticed how long Walls deal lasts?

Cap is screwed till then.

But

Accumation of picks via trades makes moving salary possible. And big salaries get moved foe big salaries...