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

Well I agree with you, it's part of why I don't really want Harden back. I don't think the guy will change.

I also think the ONLY way he tries to come back to Houston for real is if the Rockets win the lottery and he thinks the team has a chance of contention within the next few years with him, Wemby, KPJ, and Green.

I personally think the team would be better off not saddling themselves to a player like Harden and just continuing the youth movement. Harden is a great player, but he comes with a LOT of baggage.

 

If he's another Jrue Holiday and Wemby is the primary option and Harden is still playing matador defense? If it means we get instant offense off the bench? Absolutely. Did the Spurs deserve Manu? They don't win any of their championships without that luxury off the bench, and in my scenario, it's only for a season or two.
I don't want Luka and Kyrie the same way i wouldn't want Harden and Kyrie. Harden and Green will excite, but it'll fail because the defense is not there. As far as KPj, i'd need to see him actually defer and play and embrace a a 3 and D role before i believe he will turn off head honcho mode for even Harden and Wemby.

 

Man if you think 19 year old Wemby will deserve less bench time than Green just understand right now Wemby has below league average efficiency in a significantly lower talent league with more turnovers than assists. Wemby might have a Lebron level ceiling but his floor is much lower than Lebron and he will no where near as ready as Lebron entering the league for the first couple of years.

Green will 100% start next year and the entire year. You are seriously overstating the importance of having a defensive stud as a sg lol and also ignoring the very drastic improvement in Green's defense post all-star break.

 

I ride on Green's side since day 1, and i mention one time for him to come off the bench and i get immediately called out. That's the dilemma with Harden. All that baggage and you also have to figure out how to partner him with defenders while maintaining your scoring pace. I'm overstating what all the other contenders have? Have we not seen what doesn't work with Harden? Have we seen what did work with Harden and nearly took us all the way? Never mind that he's older and slower now and no where near the scorer he once was either. He can't get separation anymore.

The NBA is an inflated video game these days. You'd be surprised at how badly a lot of these so called superstars numbers would drop playing anywhere in Europe.

 

James come back our offense rating would go up for sure while our defense will slowly get even worse as harden gets older which can be mitigated if green, Smith gets better on defense.

Harden might average similar to kpj in pts but his ability to make his team better vs kpj is leagues apart. Harden offense game is still better than kpj. The only worry u should b wary of is potential injuries or dramatic skill decline. It's risky, for sure but banking on kpj to improve his playmaking and court vision is foolish. Our offensive rating has been basically dead last with kpj as the pg and it's not something as simple as our team needs to stop whiffing.

If our goal is to start winning now u would have to b a dummy or a huge kpj stan not to want one of the best playmaker in the league playin for us. He is the best free agent avaliable and fits a need.

 

Wemby is a legitimate two way superstar prospect, you can't compare the two.

No matter where he plays, he'll be a game changer from day one. Sure he'll be a better player 3 or 4 years from now, but his floor is pretty high.

He'll need to bulk up some and fine tune that 3 ball, but he would very likely come in being the best player on the team.

 

14% odds to likely get both Wemby and Harden(he is not coming if we don't win the lottery).
You can doubt Wemby's impact on offense all you want, but with that offensive floor, his ridiculously high defensive floor still will be giving a massive makeover to our team. At worst, it's like you got to draft both Mobley and Green. In that case and with further thought, then it's okay to keep Harden, Green and KPj on the floor together and probably switch everything which Wemby and Bari would be a force in. 3x 6'4 guys in the backcourt really undoes all that length advantage we'd have in the front court, though.

I'm probably thinking too hard on building a team around prime Harden. The NBA has changed so much in just these past few years alone. Good defense in todays NBA is just good effort basically. You're not really allowed to do much but bother shots and have active hands. It's just a matter of deciding to put in energy to that side of the game that so many of todays stars have decided to use as an opportunity to catch their breath.

 

if Harden were to come back you have todo anything to trade for Birdges because like other posters have pointed out, a Harden/Green defensive backcourt isn't good enough to outscore playoff teams...

but something like (dream scenario) : Harden/Green/Bridges/Smith/Wemby

or Harden / Green / Bridges / Smith / Sengun (with 23' Pick / Eason / Garuba) off the bench could be a contending team IMO.

Is KPJ + KMJ + All/most of BK picks + swaps for Bridges enough to get the deal done?

 

You live in a fantasy land if you think he needs any leverage. They lose him they are still in cap hell . Only way they can replace him is by trading maxey. Get real.

 

I wouldn’t mortgage the future for bridges to play with Harden. That’s not a championship team. You only do that when you have a contending team. That’s squad is a 2nd round at best team.

Keep what assets you have and just sign Middleton

 

Sign Harden
Trade the #2, #3 or #4 pick and capspace for Jaylen Brown (26 years old)
Trade KPJ, Tate, and Sengun for Pascal Siakim (28 years old)

Harden / TyTy
Green / JC
Brown / KMJ
Jabari / Eason
Siakim / Lively

Compete for three years until Doncic requests his trade. Package whatever you need too (Jabari / Green / Nets picks) with Harden's expiring to land Doncic and compete for years to come.

 

Acting like this is 2k.

 

Gotta think big.

 

So there was thinking involved in that?

 

I mean you obviously don't agree to trade away blue chip prospects in any discussions with Harden. If he comes back he has to do it without those kinds of conditions. Unless he can magic Embiid away from the 76ers with him, lol. As long as the front office doesn't agree to anything like that, the worst that can happen is Harden finds out he's unhappy with playing on a mediocre team and demands another trade and we get to collect even more assets for trading Harden away a second time.

 

That's ridiculous. They will 100% consider other options if the Sixers are bounced out of the playoffs and Harden is just going to walk to Houston. They can send him to his favorite destination and get something back in return.

I really don't understand you guys. You're saying it's rational that the man will give up on winning a title for the comfort of being at home, and that we should still sign him for the max. We're far better off acquiring him when we're over the cap using whichever contracts of young players that don't make the cut.

James Harden wants to win a title, he's on an amazing team and he'll only leave it for another amazing team. Him going to the Heat or Lakers for example is best for him and best for the Sixers (rather than creating an untradable max contract during Embiid's prime).

The most likely scenario is he will stay and it looks like they're going to do well in the playoffs. I'm done talking about this. I can't believe I've spent so much time on a made up story with flimsy evidence, if that.

 

I love how everyone is talking like we all know what is going through James Harden's mind. How about let's focus on the facts.

• Sixers salary cap situation is really, really bad with no real way to significantly improve with or without Harden.
  • A large part of this is due to Harris's behemoth of a contract.
  • If Harden leaves, they lack the ability to replace anywhere near his production.
  • Even if Harden stays, they do not have the ability to add anyone of note.
• Harden has stated he does not feel like he has gotten proper credit in taking a pay cut to help with their team's success.
• Harden openly stated he loves the following:
  • The city H-Town
  • Our current roster, specifically Jalen Green, and even practiced with them during the offseason.
  • Subjective, but we also knows he loves the strip clubs in Houston
• When leaving H-Town, Harden stated "It’s far from a good bye as I pay all my debts."
  • Argue all you want about how he left, but Harden stuck with us until it was obvious we didn't have the ability to contend.
• We have a huge amount of cap space going into next season.
  • From a free agency perspective, there is literally no one as effective as Harden has been.
• We do not control our pick next season and won't until 2027, so tanking is no longer an option after this season for us.

 

You're not really Mortaging anything you're just giving the Nets's picks back to them. I guess you really don't think a core of Bridges/Green/Jabari/top 5 pick can do anything in the next 5-7 years and that's fair to think that... but if that's the case then we are in for a disastrous season next year unless we finish as the worst team again (we don't own our first round pick next year).

 

Technically, it should be trivially easy for the Rockets to maintain their pick in 2025, which is protected 1-10, and is also tied to pick swaps with the Clippers and the Nets.

Pretty much all of the following have to happen in order for that swap to matter:

1. The Rockets need to have a pick worse than #10 (Which means they are likely at least in the play-in games. If they finish #10, then they can even win a play-in game and still have their pick fall in the protected range).
2. The Rockets have a worse record than both OKC and the Clippers (who will be led by a 34-year old Paul George, and a 33-year old Kawhi Leonard, both of whom have player options and may leave). If the Clippers are worse than the Rockets, then OKC will swap with them instead.
3. The Rockets and OKC need to have a worse record than Brooklyn. The Rockets can swap whatever pick they get from OKC for Brooklyn's, with no protection, so if they're better

So in a world where the teams finish:

8. Brooklyn
11. Houston
15. LA Clippers
20. OKC

OKC would exercise its swap rights with Houston, and then Houston would swap OKC's pick with Brooklyn. So the final order would be:

8. Houston
11. OKC
15. LA Clippers
20. Brooklyn

Regardless, they're never losing anything worse that the #11 in 2025. Which hurts somewhat, but the odds of getting a huge difference maker there drastically go down.

Your point is valid for 2024 and 2026 though. I feel like we're going to be sweating bullets praying to win the lottery and protect the pick once again next year.

 

Looks like he has re-injured the same foot he injured a few months back. That’s something the Rockets have to be weary of not to over play him if he were to comeback. He just can’t play 40 plus minutes every night anymore. Doc Rivers dosent seem to understand that.