So if we don’t get Harden then we are tanking? Who else skyrocketed besides Maxey? How’s Shake Milton doing?
If you pass on Harden and choose from any of the other significantly inferior FAs available or worse, a pu pu platter of support vets, then you are doing something even worse than tanking, which is getting on the mediocrity treadmill until our young talent develop themselves. I rather skip all of that BS and get Harden (IF he is willing to come) and at the very least make the play-in and get them playoffs experience. Embiid is having his best season ever next to Harden for one, though he was already great so the difference wasn't as noticeable to casuals. It's funny that you mention Milton as his shooting averages have actually improved across the board, as has Melton. We all know Harden generates wide open looks and this was even before he started focusing on playmaking.
I don’t really view CP3 and Harden as the same type of player mindset. The former has taken care of his body and it’s failing him and the latter hasn’t and it’s increasingly failing him. CP3 has a history of mentoring younger players. I’m only against getting Harden at any cost…. You ASSume that no matter what Harden will be viewed as a positive asset worth a superstar/star trade. It’s possible his body breaks down and he’s at 50% of games played in two season with 2 more years left. There are scenarios where Harden becomes a negative asset. Harden was an Ironman for the Rockets and he hasn’t been since.
I can think of one guy who is an obvious beneficiary, he started playing basketball at Luc Mbah a Moute Basketball Camp, his name escapes me at the moment....?
You said “skyrocketed” not marginally improve shooting. I just don’t agree that it’s Harden or tanking or “worse”
I said their only other player of worth skyrocketed, not their entire team. YOU are the one that asked about the others to which I told you they improved across the board. Embiid just won the MVP playing next to Harden. As for whether or not you disagree, how about walking us through YOUR vision and how things are expected to turn out.
I don't assume Harden is a positive asset no matter what. I said the benefits outweigh the risks. There are much worse things than having an overpaid player. Like I said, CP3's leg could have fallen off and the only risk would be that Phoenix ended up right back where they started. From day one CP3 wasn't worth the $40M/yr he was earning. The risk was worth it. Harden could play zero games in his last two years and it would realistically have zero impact on our cap space. Tell me the downside to Harden's huge contract other than the mental anguish of knowing Fertita paid too much money. You are singularly focused on the possibility that he won't live up to it. "Harden will drastically improve our offense and take pressure of our players." "Don't care." "The kids would benefit greatly from play in/playoff experience." "Don't care. "We can't tank for the three years anyway." "Don't care." "Harden's contract won't matter to our cap space once we extend our draft picks." "Don't care." "Harden's salary might actually be a trade asset that can be packaged with the Brooklyn picks." "Don't care." "What do you care about?!" "Being able to say I never took a chance."
Not initially, this is the first time you brought up Maxey. You made it seem like Maxey was Harden's crowning jewel : I am very much aware of the Sixers and the year they have had. I am very much aware of Harden..... I watched him in Houston, but yet somehow folks are typecasting as the CP3 type of vet. My issue is handing Harden a blank check and just assuming the benefits outweigh the risk when his body is catching up with him with all these soft tissue injuries. I don't view next season as playoff or bust so I am fine not using all of our cap space. I don't view the team as a "coach and PG away". I view the OKC picks as a sunk cost. My vision is flexibility. If Harden will take a discount then get him, but I am not handing a Harden a blank check.
I am singularly focused on the possibility that the blank check you give Harden will become a ball and chain that sets the Rockets back when they are a consistent playoff team. The bolded is also realistically the opposite too. Not at all. It's the blank check part that I am stuck on. But Wemby + a blank check is something else. However, you seem to be on the position that no matter what. Let me ask you this, what if Scoot Henderson ends up being the pick?
I literally said flexibility at the bottom. There is so much unknown at this point. The Rockets should make an offer/talk to Harden this offseason, never said or suggested otherwise. But what if we draft Scoot? What if Ime pushes for Brown?
The big thing is......... Harden must not expect to get the very big money. He needs to give the Rockets a chance of a deal for the home Team. Y
Flexibility i interpret as another season of kpj comedy trust the process, save Tilman money. Scoot is an option but...a 15% option. That seems like it ****in sucks unless you like 20 win **** shows that are over before they begin.
The Rockets struggling to win games had literally nothing to do with KPJ, he was the most consistently good player on the entire roster this season....but oddly he always catches the most heat from certain types of fans. If the Rockets want to take a step forward, they need their last 2 top 3 picks to stop being an anchor dragging the team down with poor performances for most of the season.
What difference would that make? Harden starts next to Maxey and Melton currently and could start next to Green and Scoot. You dusting off the "there's only one basketball" argument?
