Suffered from the "grass is greener" syndrome. Let's take Curry, Drummond and Millsap out of the argument, since they were included in the trade package. (So Harden wouldn't have gotten to play with Curry, for example). When Harden was on the Nets, KD was injured and Kyrie was a part-time player, while the Nets roster looked like the Lakers roster minus LeBron - players who were either old, past their prime or inexperienced. Then you look across the way at MVP candidate Embiid, a Tobias Harris who was averaging 18 a game and a young player who was on the come up, in Maxey. And, at Rivers who, even if overrated, was a better coach than Nash. Flash forward to the trade happening. Now you're on the 76ers. You have Embiid, but your bench is absolutely horrible. Harris hasn't gelled with you yet, so his production has dropped. And Maxey, after his hot start in those first 2-3 games with you on the roster, has also started to cool down. Meanwhile, KD is back and dominating. Kyrie, when playing, is dominating. The Nets' bench suddenly seems rejuvenated. Even though your team is up in the win column on the Nets, everyone is talking about how the Nets are the best team in the East when everyone is available. I get that you wanted out and the trade deadline pretty much forced your hand...but Harden really should have just waited until KD got healthy. If KD was projected to be out for the rest of the season or projected to be like Jamal Murray ("will he be back in time for the playoffs?") then I can understand you wanting out. But KD came back like, a week and a half after the ASG. Harden and part-time Kyrie could have easily just kept their team afloat until KD came back. But, the grass was greener in Philly at the time. Now, it looks like the grass is dead in Philly while it's flourishing in BKN.
I want harden to look bad bc he left us but I need bkn to be worse off bc we need their pick. If they win the championship our pick goes from like 17 to last. Boo to that Also what a terrible comparison. Comparing the best 2 starters on one team to the other teams bench.
What? No, I'm saying that if you're Harden: Embiid and Harris (the two best players on the 76ers) looked good in comparison to the two best players on the Nets (KD, Kyrie) because KD and Kyrie weren't always available, while Embiid and Harris usually were. Hence, the grass was greener in Philly if you're looking at it from Nets' Harden's perspective. You'd want to play with a healthy Embiid and Harris, versus an injured KD and inconsistent Kyrie. But now that KD is back and Kyrie, when available, is also very very good, suddenly the grass is greener in BKN.
No need to worry about that. Playoffs don’t impact draft order. It’s all based upon regular season record.
Honestly Harden and Kyrie looked bad together when they did play when KD was out. I mean at the end of the day Kyrie is still a part time player and Harden was just sick of his shet. It's hard to build cohesion and chemistry when someone comes in and out of the lineup like that. KD and Kyrie are buddies they don't really care and they both have rings.
harden is a much better shooter than russ, which kills any comparison between the two.. also harden led the league in free-throws and attmepts for like 7 straight years which is unhead of for any guard besides jordan and jerry west check basketball reference and look at their similarity scores.. harden is a top 20-25 atg, while russ is at 45-50 James Harden's similarity scores through 12 years of NBA service time https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01.html#all_sims ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Russell Westbrook's similarity scores through 13 years of NBA service time https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westbru01.html#all_sims
Sorry I was commenting about the tweet that was saying harden passed on playing with KD and kyrie to play with these players and had the list of 76ers bench
I think Harden just didn't get along with Kyrie, and his relationship with Durant has soured for whoever's fault.
I'm thinking Harden does not get a ring in Philly (no surprise) but the Harden nut squad will forever say- He would have totally won one if he had not left Brooklyn.....
He left us in flames. Kind of enjoying watching harden get crapped on by media and by the situations he has been in. Screw you harden (unless you want to come back maybe )
Man come on. When he crapped on the team a year after forcing a terrible trade, how many options were left? Would you really much rather have Simmons who can't shoot and hasn't played for almost a year ? I am not defending the trade but when a superstar is getting traded in a ideal situation, you still are not going to get same value (unless you luck out in the draft). To make matters worse everyone knew he had to be traded during the season so that limits who you can trade with salary wise and teams know they don't have to give you their best offer
Same old song and dance, just a different team. He and Howard were buds....then they weren't. He and Paul were buds....then they weren't. He and Westbrook were buds....then they weren't. Seems like a pattern with Harden.
