Bill Simmons: “In the whisper circles, everybody seems to think he’s going back to Houston.”

Derrick Rose has been coming off the bench for the Knicks since 2021,and has been a veteran leader that Julius Randle credited with teaching him to be a team leader. This will be their 2nd time in the playoffs in those 3 years. They had not been to the playoffs since 2013 or something before that. D-Rose was credited by his teammates as the biggest factor in their improvement. DRose an All-NBA PG and one of the hardest workers in the league can teach these guys something. And it would probably cost under 10 million.

At least 3 of our draft picks were drafted to be elite playmakers. You say Harden will help them develop because he is a 'floor general' but where is the proof. Who has Harden helped develop into a better player? House? Harden is still an ISO player and Silas will Iso him to death. There are guys like DRose, Chris Paul (recently), and Draymond who have taken a role in developing young players and they would be more effective than teaching them to be dependent on the elite PG we still won't have when Harden is done in 3-4 years.

They could have paid all 4, but the Luxury tax bill was too high especially with Morey's trickery. OKC didn't have that kind of dough. Perkins was already under contract and so was Ibaka...the Rockets will also try to avoid luxury tax if they aren't contending for a championship.

You just proved my point. Denver has 0 top 5 picks and only drafted 2 lottery picks out of 7 first round picks in the last 6 years that weren't traded on draft day. 3 late firsts are still on their rookie deals. Both lottery picks are making the Max for Denver right now, along with Jokic, a 2nd round pick from 8 years ago. Its a good thing they were all drafted different years and didn't go into free agency together. Also, a good thing there was no Max player already on the squad taking up 35% of the cap when their rookie deals came up. Even when the cap goes up 35% is 35%. If Harden is making these young guys look good, it is more chance they get extended for the max of 25% which is very common with lottery picks. If we keep 2 guys out of our lottery picks we will be at 85% of the cap to 3 players and probably not be able to sign anyone else until harden or one of those guys is gone. That will be just in time for our next lottery pick to become a free agent in 2026.

The Rockets will have 7 first round picks in 2 years with 2 Top 3 picks that weren't traded on draft day. Add another top 5 pick this year. First round salaries vary by draft position, and if a top 5 pick renews their contract with the team that drafted them it is always for the max. Denver had 100% success rate with lottery picks, you don't think the Rockets will renew all their top 5 picks? And if we aren't keeping these guys that we tanked so hard for, who is Harden making better?

 

Suns got KD because Chris Paul took less money and a deal that isn't fully guaranteed, and KD specifically said he wanted to play there (because of their young talent and Chris Paul). Also, they got a new super rich owner who was down to pay the tax. So, if Harden takes less money to play with the young guys and a top 5 player decides to request a trade here we are in business.

The deal that got CP3 to the Rockets could not be completed with the current sign and trade rules. Also, CP3 specifically said he wanted to go to Houston to play with Harden and was a free agent. The Clippers were able to get a little bit for CP3 instead of him leaving them in free agency. So, if the rules got changed back and a top 8 player decided to play with 35-year old Harden like 29-year old Harden we would be in business.

Phoenix: is using 3 max contracts for KD and 2 non all-stars in Booker (#13 2015) and Ayton (#1 2018) and missed on their 2 other lottery picks in the last 5 years now out of the league
Milwaukee: 3 max contracts for 2 all-stars Giannis (#15), Middleton (2nd round), and Jrue Holiday(mini-max)
Denver: max for Jokic plus non all-stars Murray (#7) and MPJ (#14)
GS: Steph(7) Klay(11) and Wiggins with Jordan Poole's extension starting next year (did not keep harrison barnes #7 after already champions)

There are several HOF players above, but if you compare the rookie year stats of all these max players on championship contenders to the mediocre players like Jalen, Jabari, and Sengun our young guys have them beat except for KD, Steph, and Ayton. Wiggins is borderline. Seems like a lot of 'mediocre' players making the max for contending teams. Of course, Harden is just waiting to leave Embiid to play with some mediocre young guys.

I have not seen someone say how harden is worth 200mil+ to a team that is not competing. You make those type of moves when you think they can take you over the top. Harden would make nearly impossible to keep all the players that would be difference makers in the future or acquire other assets with a max deal. He is a great player and our record would be better with him though. The biggest problem is that guys don't line up to play with Harden; especially now that he is older. There is little chance that another guy would be willing to take less to team up with him. If anything, he will need to take less.

Yes, anyone who comes would probably be for the money, except someone like Harden who could get that money elsewhere. For the money, we need guys who are going to bring veteran leadership. If harden signs, hopefully it is because he thinks he can win a championship in Houston. And we would need him to take less than the max to do it. Otherwise, we don't need him. Harden isn't teaching kids how to take care of their body and stay in shape in the offseason. He's not coaching guys on where to be on the court or letting them have the ball in their hands to try and create.

Middleton and Draymond are more like elite role players, who could help players become better role players, and also allow them to learn how to become elite play makers with by having the ball in their hands. Danny Green said he would be willing to help with veteran leadership, and championship culture but would like an extension if he was gonna do that. I assume we passed to keep the books free for next free agency. He might be back.

 

The Suns original team was among the crowded 4-6 seeds group before the trade, definitely not considered a contender. They wanted to trade CP3 but couldn't because nobody wanted his contract.

 

Uh, $200,000,000? Ain't no one saying we're paying Harden $200,000,000. 3 years at an average, MAYBE, of $45,000,000, perhaps. Maybe have the 2nd year with a balloon payment so when the young hosses' rookie deals expire Tilman isn't looking at a grotesque luxury tax bill (which he won't pay anyway).

 

there's a reason for that. booker and cp3 both missed significant time. of course the suns are going to lose when their best players are out. You know the suns record when they're both playing though? pretty good still. and no they did not want to trade cp3. an assumption you literally just plucked from the air

btw his contract for the remaining 2 years of his deal aren't even fully guaranteed. yeah far from this silly untradeable deadweight you claim

and its ironic to know the teams in that crowded 4-6 crowd have actually more credibility to being actual contenders than the pretenders of the current top 3

 

I expect Harden at 36 to be at about the level of the current CP3 at 37. They are both skilled players so yes they should age better than Wall and Westbrook. But 6 years is still a lot for skills to compensate the lost of physical abilities.

 

welcome back to houston then Harden

 

About a season and a half iirc. I personally think it's worth the risk.

 

Derrick Rose is not playing.

Knicks made the playoffs 1 year because Julius Randle severely overachieved, then he came crashing back down the earth next season. They are making the playoffs this year because they added Brunson, not because of Derrick Rose who’s not even playing…

that’s just ridiculous

Rose was an All-NBA PG almost a decade ago…

man, u can’t be serious right now with some of these posts

Who was drafted to be an elite playmaker? It damn sure wasn’t Jalen Green since playmaking and defense were his biggest weaknesses. It damn sure wasn’t Jabari. What are u talking about?

no, I didn’t make your point…my point was that not every young player is kept or paid like u keep going on about

KJ, Garuba, Tari, and whoever else u mentioned will need to get paid soon. Ok? Who says the Rockets will want to keep or pay every player they’ve drafted, or they’ll be worth keeping to begin with?

 

matter of fact, u got it bro…I can’t keep replying to these long posts

Rockets will continue to be a laughingstock signing a bunch of no-impact mediocre role players…but hey, maybe they’d win 25 games next year as the great D-Rose or Reggie Jackson spread all their knowledge and wisdom

 

Declining

 

Harden broke pretty much every nets record in his first season there and is now destroying all the Sixers records.

 

I view it like this, if the 76ers are willing to pay harden a fat contract b/c they still believe in him why should we b wary to do the same sht?

Harden play making ability alone is worth $.

 

Actually, unless I misunderstood @YOLO and @Reeko people here were saying that Harden on a MAX deal 4 years 200+ million is still good. Maybe they were just caught up with the fact that VanVleet is a horrible idea even worse than Harden. I came in about page 21 so I'm not sure...

I personally think a deal with Harden should be at most 3 years to end when JGreen and his rookie class become free agents, because it would prevent us from keeping some key pieces due to the salary cap (unless he is taking less than the max). I think that there are better much cheaper options for guys to train up the youth, but if we get Wemby especially, we should be trying to win it all and Harden is the best chance of that. But, if we aren't signing Harden with the intent to try to win a championship it is a waste of money and development opportunities for our young players

 

Harden is averaging 26 points 12.8 assists 6 rebounds on 47 percent shooting and 43 percent from the three point line since the all star break Since he came back he came back from the strained tendon in his foot he has orchestrated the best offense in the nba and the Sixers have gone league best 34-10 since December 2 .


Not bad for a has been…

 

Y would we need the beard to come back, booby and the kpj fan club keeps singing praise to how great kpj has been at pg.

 

What do you mean by we need the cap to rebuild the team? No other players/free agents worth paying anything significant are going to want to come to Houston for at least the next few years regardless. If they give Harden a 2 year deal where he's making $45M+ million each year it doesn't impact anything...

 

There are cheaper options but I don't buy that any of them are "Better".

Harden is a difference maker, the only one potentially available. If Jabari & Green make any kinda jump next year, Harden can drag this roster to 45+ wins and into the playoffs where anything can happen.

No reason to be concerned about the cap hit either - by the time those 3rd and 4th years roll around, the cap will be $200m and his current contract is the equivalent of a rookie extension - 25% and the team has bird rights and restricted FA on their potential free agents they may want to retain .... not going to lose anyone important unless Tilman goes cheap and considering what he's done with dead money the past two years to set this up, I'm not all that worried about that. He won't make that mistake again,

 

There is no good chance of that imo, Harden has absorbed 4-5 times more fouls than Paul in his career and Harden has not taken care of his body well and still struggles with it.

Harden's physical condition will age poorly. I love him, but objectively speaking if you put all the "skilled" superstars on a piece of paper, Harden is most likely of all to physically and/or defensively deteriorate further. Most people who play well late in their careers are in much better shape than he is even right now.

 

I see the issues with him, but on whom would you spend all that cap space money?