We have a young Ish Smith in Scoot Henderson, since the Rockets have a 14% chance at Henderson and .14(Scoot Henderson) = 1(Ish Smith) DD
I don't know if we have one yet. I have no answer. Do you? I assume that signing him means giving him a 4-year max contract. Are you expecting that he will demand less? If you didn't get it, let me repeat my point. If we sign him to a max for 4 years, how much of our cap space will be occupied by him in year 3 and year 4 when our franchise guy (also on a max contract) is ready to lead us to a championship run? How much money will be left to keep or sign other good role players? I am not against signing Harden. I am questioning the timing. First we don't know if we will be making a deep playoffs run in the next couple of years, probably not. Now assuming Harden is going to get a max, his contract will almost certainly be dead weight in the last two years. So signing him pretty much is betting on being competitive for a 2-year window. To be honest, I don't really care who we sign this summer as long as the contracts are good and the vets we get are good character guys. We are not likely to be contending in the near future. Why mortgage our future cap space to get "the best PG" now?
That is kind of the point, you are entering free agency in 4 months. You won't know the answer to that question by then. Dunno? Who is our franchise player and when are they eligible for a max extension? Now is your opportunity to sign Harden....you either do it or you don't. That is the decision you have based on the information available now. And I don't agree he will be dead weight the last two years. His BBIQ will carry him likely till he is 38 or 39. Thanks for being honest.
Just answered this: we don't have to sign someone right away. We can wait 2, maybe 3 years for a better option. Harden will help us win games at first but it will be very expensive and less valuable with each passing season. He's really old, played a ton of minutes when younger took a lot of beating, and doesn't stay in shape. Plus you're talking about a player who is quitting on winning a title, so imagine what kind of mental condition he'd be in. It's just a terrible idea. I would rather wait till next summer, monitoring the market for a better player breaking loose once we've established a bit of respectability with our W/L record.
These are Segun type numbers!!! Spoiler Just being facetious.... Go Rockets!!! ....... ....... .......
So you are willing to gamble for a low probability success that we will be contending in the next two years? Did you read my posts? We don't know who our franchise player is. If he is one of the young kids we have now or draft this summer, he will be elilgible for a max contact in 3-4 years. That's when Harden is going to be very old and still occupying a large chunk of our cap space. The information available now is this: (1) It is unlikely that we will be contending in the next two years. (2) Harden's body is not getting younger. Have you forgotten how he looked in his years in Brooklyn after the injury? Even the vegan CP3 is starting to look like a dead weight in his 3rd year in Phoenix. If they didn't get Durant, they would be a mediocre team that couldn't trade CP3 for any valuable assets. It was worth it for them at the time because they already had their franchise guy and were ready to contend. We are still far from that point. I feel that a lot of "let's sign Harden" is sentimental wishes by fans who still miss him. But is it really good for the team's rebuild?
Its not sentimental. Its logical, when you consider the alternatives. Which is why I have frequently asked what the alternative view is, which no one wants to answer. Its a binary question. Biding your time is not an option. Kicking the can is not in the plans. The money is going to be spent, the decision has to be made. If you sign Harden, cool, which is my preference. If not, fine, tell me what you are doing instead. And I am sorry, but do nothing, be terrible, and then give a top ten pick to OKC is a non starter. Taking the worse team in the league, and then replacing vet minutes (Gordon) with more rookies (our picks this year) is going to leave us in the basement.
There it is. The proposed alternative is to do nothing, wait 2-3 years? lol Talk about a terrible idea. Who is this better option that is going to be available in 2-3 years that will be eager to come join a team that has been in the basement for 5 years? Two dead years, where we have a 50% chance of forfeiting our pick to OKC. Two dead years, where we ignore the roster construction issues and continue with mismatched parts. You think the fans are impatient and angry now, wow, what a disaster that would be. My god, I can't even imagine watching this team without the assurance of a consolation prize of a high draft pick. I'm sorry but that is a horrible idea.
If we had anybody on the roster that could be as productive as Harden is right now, I would be thrilled.
Harden can't throw a backward no look , between the legs passes , with Garrett Cole type spin rates, to the front row tho..
I really just couldn’t disagree with you more. You don’t have to sign James Harden to make the playoffs. You can just acquire a few well chosen vets for the same total price. Also, way more importantly, I’m sure it’s all made up by hardens agent for contract negotiations.
