I mean these are some ultra high expectations. The odds of KPJ becoming a top 25 all time player is very small. He is going to need a lot of lucky breaks and a clean bill of mental health from now on. He has talent but I just don't want to be disappointed. His next step is being a solid NBA starter. I think he can accomplish that by the end of this season hopefully. Step by step. His main improvements he needs to make now is adding some more strength, consistent shooting and keeping turnovers low though his improvement in strength would contribute to lower turnovers also.
A Lot of us have watched bball a long time - yourself included i'll presume. KPJ POPS out at you. I can see why KLOVE said the things he said, and it wasn't lip service. Yes the concerns about him being bat **** crazy are valid, but I think overblown when you take into account just how young he is and the ROX possibly have been able to unlock a medical treatment plan for him that the Cavs could not. He definitely needs to mature, but SO FAR it seems like he likes the ROX organization, he has bought into the plan of him playing PG and is flourishing. He was doing similar things in the NBA at 19. I think its great to compare KPJ to Harden and give him a franchise GOAT to try and overtake. Maybe it blows up in extravagant fashion and I'm wrong and get clowned for the fanatical support, but Im ok with that too. Im tired of being the jaded and cup half empty Houston sports fan. I'm going in with KP all the way.
every week he is more impressive. his playmaking and passing is what is leading his team to W's right now. only thing i see concerning is the lack of desire on the defensive end but harden was that way for about his first 5 years in houston lol.
It's cool how the value of mental health is changing. Especially for the fans of the team that drafted Royce White. I see the perfect scenario going something like... Porter Jr. given the time in the wake of veteran trades to lead the bench. Aim for a 6th man role next season. Keep the steps small. Also we land #1 overall, draft Cade Cunningham, sign Kawhi with the max slot open (Oladipo, Exum, Tucker, McLemore, Brown, Nwaba expiring) Wall-Cunningham-Tate-Kawhi-Wood with Porter, resigned Nwaba&Brown, House, Kurucs and Patton and whoever else they draft or develop on the bench. It's possible, so I'll expect it with all my hopes and dreams '_' The 1 year tank.
The advantage KPJ has over Harden is that Houston is accelerating his offensive role earlier in his career. Harden played a lot of 2-guard in his OKC days to accommodate Russ and Durant. Even here before MDA was the coach, Harden was playing off ball more regularly. Moving KPJ straight to PG was absolutely the right move. I hope we’ve learned the lessons of the Harden era. We need elite scoring and shooting around KPJ...not just role players that can hit open shots. CWood is a very good start.
Agree, but to turbo charge the rebuild we need to clear more PT. Better deals usually materialize closer to the deadline, but I would love to see at least one of VO, EG or PJ head out this weekend. Start the snowball Stone!
This is very true. Harden turned out to be a generational superstar with hard work and the right situation (being traded to Hou)....hoping history repeats itself for sure
One thing Harden has over KPJ is shooting. Harden is actually a really good fundementally sound shooter. When he was with OKC he hit catch and shoot 3's at a high percentage. kPJ has an okay shot, the form is a bit weird. He also misses quite a bit of freethrows
Nah. Perfect scenario is he comes in a dominates from Day 1. This is a very reasonable expectation and I’m not entertaining arguments to the contrary.
MDA made Harden a point guard - which made him one of the best players on the planet. I'm excited we plan to play KPJ at the point as well - i think the more the ball is in his hands the better. John Wall needs to go, however.
Exactly! Harden is so unique and if our expectation for him is to be the next harden then we are setting him up for failure. I don't know if people realize how lucky we got to have harden fall in our laps. If kpj can be a player that becomes a good starter then I think it's a win considering we got him for nothing. Once that happens maybe we can see if he can be an all star. One step at a time.
