Woj: Rockets want to trade Harden "sooner rather than later"

Context is important.

 

What a lot of people don't know is that Wilt used to rotate his point games and his rebound heavy games back in his day. Like if you look at the stats he was getting like 90 points one game and 9 rebounds. Then he'd get 75 rebounds and only 8 points. He really had more trouble getting double doubles in those days then the stats would have you believe. He once scored 100 points and only got 2 rebounds in a game. Crazy, right?

Do me a favor though. Don't look at the stats please.

 

I don't understand what you mean by this which makes me start thinking about you being a genius

Go Rockets!

 

Didn't Denver start 0-2 as well, so did the Mavs.

 

He still ain’t happy

 

I completely disagree. Wood is obviously a budding star. You don't "tank" when you have a star. Further, when/if we trade Harden, we should land a second young star. You absolutely do not tank when you have two stars. Wall + Wood + Harden's Trade Target will keep us competitive and attractive to free agents.

 

This is the reason that the Rockets really do not want to trade James Harden. He is certainly one of the 25 best players in NBA history, and the last 4-5 years he has played like one of the 10 best to ever play basketball. The likelihood of the Rockets replacing Harden with someone as good in trade is near zero and the chance of the Rockets getting a player that good over the next decade is very remote.

 

But again “HE DOSENT WANT TO BE HERE”

This isn’t the rockets decision or choice harden forced their hand.

He is the one who requested a trade
He is the one who is unhappy
He is the one who feels like he can’t win a ring in Houston.

People are getting it confused by thinking the rockets are the one who put harden on the trade block.

I’ll say it again harden “DOES NOT WANT TO BE IN HOUSTON” and nothing will change his mind sorry.

 

Maybe, I honestly have no idea what Harden's current opinion is or will be in two weeks.

The owner really botched a lot of things that have lead to where we are now, but no point in dwelling on it.

If (when) Harden is dealt I will be fine as long as it is for a good return and the organization is wise with the rebuild.

 

This is also why I’m surprised that most of the offers we’ve heard aren’t even close - maybe it’s all just posturing. Perhaps it’s just a strange year in general, but it seems like teams are hesitant to give up their 2nd (and in some cases 3rd) fiddle types.

 

Any possibility of Tilman going to Harden with an apology and an olive branch, or is he THAT much of an egomaniacal ******* that he's willing to destroy his crown jewel in order to maintain some semblance of control??

 

Well part of it is that teams are waiting to see if Harden will sabotage his trade value.

 

I cannot see that happening.

 

It’s too early to say imo, harden is a generational talent with a selfish and immature attitude. If you want to get back to a contender status it’s going to have to be through the draft. With Tillman nobody is going to want to sign here in FA..

 

I understand what you're saying, but I disagree with the notion that they don't have a choice. They absolutely do, and they've proven that by holding firm on their trade demands and forcing him to suit up. He's under contract for at least two seasons, and if Houston doesn't trade him, he can either play or sit out and start getting fined/missing game checks. He's chosen the former, and he's played damn well in the two games despite the two losses.

As much as I loathe Fertitta and hate almost everything he's done in his three years as owner, management (mainly Stone) has handled this as well as they possibly could have. They've made their demands clear, didn't panic when Harden's value tanked during all the media drama, and forced him to suit up and play like a boss, which is only going to improve his value.

 

I think this is two-fold:

1. The old adage of not putting your best offer out with your first offer
2. There's a few things that make Harden unattractive to trade for than, say, AD was a few years ago. Harden's age and his high usage really forces any GM to try and determine if putting him with [insert name of young star on said GM's team] would mesh.

In the case of Boston for instance Ainge has always shown to be a miser. He didn't pull the trigger for AD (I wouldn't have cared about AD's family's pseudo-thread of not wanting to play or sign an extension). There are a couple of other examples of ole Danny just loving his assets too much to pull the trigger.

The Sixers...pretty self explanatory given who is running the ship over there. Morey isn't going to do Tilman any favors and Tilman, in return, won't take anything less than a king's ransom.

Honestly, the best maneuver IF we have to trade Harden is to do a three team deal that can net us a couple of young 2nd/3rd tier talents by using whatever picks we get to make it work. Then you're just going to have to hope that either or both of those talents can make the leap.

 

I don't know how you can guarantee ANYTHING regarding back surgery and the kid has already missed 2 years because of back surgery. He really doesn't drive the basketball at this point and I'm not sure if it will ever be a big part of his game. He's a good shooter but he's not elite at that either. And I don't know why you guys keep throwing Kevin Durant's name out there when talking about this guy because I think it's a pipedream. By the time that Durant was MPJ's age he had averaged 30 ppg the previous year, working on his 2nd scoring title and had zero back surgeries. Kevin Durant at MPJ's age would be their best player by a mile and not be available for trade. Not even for Harden.

 

If $50M a year isn’t enough of an ‘apology’ nothing is.

 

I know what his current opinion is and will be in two weeks and it’s the same since before the season started...he wants out of Houston.

 

I think him sabotaging would actually lower his chances of being traded this season. If Stone trades Harden for 25 cents on the dollar, that's his lasting legacy. Harden's best bet is to play well, maintain his value, and hope a team makes a fair(ish) offer for him when they realize their best-laid plans for the season aren't going to amount to contending without a trade. I think a months' worth of data is going to show teams like the Sixers, Celtics and others that they desperately need the skills Harden provides.

And of course, a short window gives the Rockets a chance to try to change their star's mind on the future of this particular roster. All he wants is a roster that he thinks can contend. Be that here or elsewhere.