That's not the best way of looking at it though. The Rockets chose the complete rebuild direction. If they got a player like Simmons back, it would have really hurt their tanking meaning they couldn't have drafted God King Jalen Green and they wouldn't be in a position to get another top pick in the next draft. If the goal was to stay mediocre and maybe eek into the playoffs, then those other deals make more sense. The goal was to eventually build a championship team. I'd argue that this time next year the Rockets will be closer to contention than either OKC or New Orleans.....and they'll be receiving picks for many more years to come.
I don’t know what all this Nets/Philly/Simmons talk is about Basketballholic clearly said yesterday that was over Spoiler: ‘Holic’s burner
No offense but this isn't 2017 anymore. Have you watched Harden play this season. He sure as hell isn't carrying the team to any wins without Durant since the latter tore his MCL. Kyrie is not a bonus with how bad the role players are, he is absolutely needed for them to be a contender this year. The chance of them winning it all is getting slimmer. Harden the former iron man, has had nagging injuries for the past 1.5 years and was basically useless against the Bucks. Durant has missed significant amount of time in both seasons. They can be all time great on paper, but the reality is that they barely get to play together, due to health and Kyrie being Kyrie.
Sorry, I click the wrong post. I meant to reply to @ThatBoyNick who seemed to imply that they would be shot back up to the top when both Durant and Harden are healthy again. Anyway, I agree that they will do better and hurt our pick when Durant comes back. But the season is in the last third already. Durant's rehab is looking to have another 2 weeks to go. That's about 6 more games. They are running out of time to make up grounds. Good thing for us is that the draft order is by regular season standings. So it doesn't matter how well they do in the playoffs.
I highly doubt the Nets don't get Maxey and or Curry back in a trade for Harden. So they send let's say, Simmons, Maxey, Danny Green, Seth Curry, Tobias Harris(either to OKC or another team with cap space) for Harden. Maybe they do get to keep one of Curry/Maxey and send out Matisse. I wouldn't say that's cheap for Morey; with that trade that starting lineup for the 6ers would be Harden, Embiid, and .....Curry/Maxey and Kormaz?
They were prepared to offer Simmons, Thybulle, Maxey and 2FRP and Stone didn't call them one last time because they hadn't put Maxey on the table and Harden chose Brooklyn. Let's see what he pays this time. No matter what happens, Harden to the 76ers hurts the Rockets. Morey wins again.
I hope the Harden/Simmons trade doesn't happen. Simmons is, at the very least, a great regular season player. He'll help them win games for a lot more years than Harden would, hurting the value of the draft picks we're owed by them for years to come.
I don't care what happens to the sixers. Rockets still have Brooklyn's picks. Brooklyn looks like the definite loser of the trade between Rockets and Brooklyn even if Brooklyn get Simmons.
Harden to the 76ers hurts the Rockets because Ben Simmons is the better player 3 years from now. the Nets will not win a championship as constructed with Simmons but they aren't going to implode. Harden walking in FA opened the door to implosion. They prevent worst case scenario by making a trade now.
Morey isn’t winning. He would be overpaying for Harden. It’s typical Morey fashion if anything and I supported Morey while he was here.
Dreaming of a Nets Raptors first round matchup where Kyrie is forced to miss the entire series given mandates
Morey winning by getting his guy and screwing the Rockets is what I mean. I think Harden on a max extension is a terrible idea. Unless he changes his lifestyle drastically, he's going to age like milk.
Neither Harden nor Durant are playing right now. Harden could be out a while with a hamstring injury. In his last game he was hot garbage scoring 4 points in 37 minutes. He's obviously damaged goods. He's also mentally checked out of that situation and may be shipped out before the deadline for a dude that can't shoot. Ben Simmons isn't a floor raiser .... Durant has an MCL injury. He won't be back before the allstar break and could be out much longer than that. He'll miss 6 more games minimum. Kyrie won't play at all in 5 of the next 10 ....
Again though, Harden has won more than 70% of his games overall. I have no doubt Harden can dominate the Eastern conference, the problem is I don't think he's willing to carry a team alone anymore. However when Durant is back, Harden is going to be better and Durant is going to be Durant. As long as Nash doesn't overplay them again, they should be top 4 in the East. Hey listen it sucks for our pick but if you were actually betting, would you bet against Harden and Durant winning more than 70% of the games they play in to end the season? I wouldn't put any money on that. Let's see how it goes I guess.
Preventing a worse case scenario is a sign of losing the trade. Sure, I'd rather Harden leave to Portland in the offseason, but I think odds are very good that years of not having more than the bad half of a swap of FRPs is going to take its toll. Right now, I'm glad Stone choose Brooklyn. There is an argument he should have kept JA and Levert, but even losing those, the Rockets likely come out better than the Nets.
I just don't buy that. Harden checked out that game, I don't think he is willing to carry a team alone. He doesn't like that Kyrie isn't playing when he hitched his championship aspiration to the Nets, probably where he thought he'd win a few. Instead he's back in the same situation, he has to be all time good at everything for the team to win. It's frustrating I'm sure, and he is not getting back in shape as fast as he should. I'm sure that's pissing him off too. I don't think he's all that injured. Acting out. He's 2nd in the league in assists, 22 points on 16 shots, 8 rebounds after a horrendous start. When they return, they're going to be great. Without them, obviously they suck.
