Woj: Harden Return?

He would have no chance at a title here before retiring, so essentially you're signing a player who didn't win a title and doesn't care. In this scenario, he'd rather go back to the comfort of his home and play a lot of minutes for a team that will barely win a playoff series or two.

Why would you want that player? What kind of winning culture does that bring?

 

Show me another free agent willing to come here and is capable of turning this team into a championship squad who is currently better then James?

 

because anyone the Rockets sign this offseason will have championships as their #1 goal right…

the reasons to not sign James Harden really aren’t that strong if that’s the counterarguments being brought up

 

There is no single FA who would turn this squad into a championship squad. Nikola Jokic would not turn this into a championship team. Certainly won't happen with an over the hill fat James Harden who has given up on winning a championship. Think about it, he'd be leaving a top 3 team in the East to join a team that barely has a chance of making the playoffs with him.

The point is we don't need that mindset if that's where he's at. It would be better to sign some veteran role player who has actually won a title, keep our money for better trade and FA targets that will come up between now and end of summer 2024.

 

As far as close to a chip, Philly is a decent situation. If he leaves a contender to come here, it's actually more ammo for national media critics.

There's the leverage play but as others stated, Morey would already throw good money at him, so I don't think that is entirely it.

Joking aside... on the clubs, it seems there is some personal reasons of him wanting to return. Something the general public is not aware of. If it's that personal, maybe we don't need to know.

As patient as Gordon was after three years he reached his limit. Harden's patience will be tested, that or the entire team gets overhauled. Goes back to the discussion earlier, is Harden's return as a bridge with young pieces or will Rockets try to build around Harden again.

This losing Rocket team is not the playoff team Harden remembered, so hopefully his Rockets nostalgia is not clouding his judgement.

If Harden is serious this summer, he should have several sit downs; some heart to heart to chat with Tillman and Stone, to see if their thoughts and feelings align. It's not worth opening up old feelings if both sides just end up regretting.

 

I would want to see Harden as a coach even if it means entertainment.

 

Coach Harden would be very entertaining.

 

Anything less than the sixers reaching the eastern conference championship- he bounces for Max Contract.

 

Washed up? Have you watched him this season?

 

Yes he's doing really well but next season he's a year older and he's still not in good enough shape.

There is no correlation between having a high assist point guard and winning a championship. He's a good offensive player now but still a 0 on defense in the regular season. He's going to be done by the time our core has a few years experience. He's the kind of player you add to an MVP player. He's not the guy you start a team with and commit 4 years to. it's really not worth the money.

 

Tired of hearing this.

Tell me who we should sign in his place, and how that makes it better.

 

James still has it. His playstyle is not based on athleticism.

 

My opinion is not any better than any other but I think that he just loves Houston.


Obviously, there will be a strategy if he comes back here. I don’t know if he will be content to play with the young guys or if he will want to turn mostly everything into veterans and make a run at it.

I look back at some of the blemishes and the way he left and I don’t really hold any ill will. He basically gave everything that he could have given.

there is always something to me that is strange about the whole Philadelphia thing. Obviously it is Houston East but he doesnt seem emotionally involved. I could be wrong.. He plays well with Embid but the dont seem connected.

I don’t know what sort of trade value he holds if he sign some giant max for Philly. Not Durant-like or anything like it.

As a fan, Ive learned that we had it good good for a long time. No title but he was an absolute joy to watch most of the time. I loved watching Yao the most but Harden is a virtual tie. I think, even in the pre-Fertitta eras, there were times that we could’ve made better trades to support him.

My gut tells me that he comes back for good money (but not quite the max). We assemble a team around him with a few vets and s few if the young players. I think that he will want to win a championship, but I don’t think that he is willing to forgo the comforts of home any longer to chase that.

Bring him home.

 

I'm not even gonna lie, if by some miracle he comes back I'll be buying a brand new #13 Jersey to go alongside the rest and bouncing with joy.

 

Anyone rejecting the notion of bringing harden back if possible truly deserves watching this team lose repeatedly for years to come. One of the best to grace the court and is the current number 1 target in this class fa list, u b a dumba$$ to not entertain the idea of signing harden

We are not getting anybody of hardens caliber via fa anytime soon.

 

Its funny how a number of folks have asked for the alternative.

not one person has posted any other player signing instead of harden, because yeah its obvious they can't impact the game nearly as as much he can and are pretty much scrubs. the championship or bust logic doesn't apply at all and just stupid because even signing the worse player gets you even farther away

 

it’s obvious the people that don’t want us to sign Harden have got nothing

all the arguments are weak and make little sense

it would be better if they just came out and said “I’m still bitter that he left and don’t want him back” rather than attempting all these weak basketball reasons for why it would be a bad move

 

If Harden is committed to staying this time around and not ruining the whole franchise because he want's to try something new then I'm all for it. I know he won't be leading any team to a chip but he is a veteran that could still bring tons to the table for our future stars. He should have never left, Rockets could have still tanked with his fake injuries.

 

The problem is that veteran role player who has actually won a title will have the exact same mentality as Harden if he decided to come here.

They would only be coming to the worst team in the NBA for a fat paycheck and would have turned down lower offers from better teams (confirming a championship isn't their top priority, at least not amymore).

Any free agent we get will come here for the money.

The only way around this is to either not sign any free agents that aren't young prospects or only use the cap space in trades.

 

It depends on whether we have a franchise player among our young players. If we do, then we expect to go to war with this guy plus some very good pieces around him in about 3 or 4 years. What will a guy like Harden be in 3 or 4 years? Do you want to pay him max money at that time leaving scraps for your other role players?

If we do not have anyone who can be the alpha on a championship team, then it really doesn't matter what you sign this summer. There is not hope unless you can trade most of our assets for a franchise guy.

In short, if you project to contend in a couple of years, Harden can be a good piece. Anything beyond a 2-year window is not worth it. You might as well bide your time, sign some good contracts as assets and hope to pounce on a trade for some disgruntled superstar.