If Harden isn't willing to return then there is no choice but to look elsewhere. The team has been rejected by big name free agents in the past. The discussion was whether we should even entertain Harden's return at all. If Harden isn't available we should set target Jaylen Brown for 2024, in the unlikely scenario that he doesn't want to extend with Boston. Maybe sign a player that serves a dual purpose: mentor our current young players for the next few years and can be packaged with the Brooklyn picks in case Brown forces his way out via trade. Khris Middleton or Jerami Grant maybe? Just sign someone that would be easy to unload should we need cap space in 2024. I personally think Brown will stay in Boston, but if the Celtics are forced to trade him they'll still want to be able to compete in the short term in addition to future draft picks.
Man can still hoop. Folks gotta stop acting like harden is dead weight. Players have lasted in the league in their late 30s. Ah yes the spend FA money on younger FA stance, who are u even suggesting? GIVE ME NAMES. Folks wanting to run it back with KPJ either are kpj stans or folks that didn't watch the sht performance our offense has for 3 years. It was stupid back then when we have dumbasses outright say they prefer watching team ball and b sht than have harden play winning basketball, and its stupid now refusing to sign the best playmaker and running it back with kpj. It's one thing to miss out signing on harden, it's another to refuse signing him and offer sht alternatives like kpj at pg I swear if harden has no history with us, we would have the same folks on here previously rejecting harden salivating to grab a hof pg.
That literally defeats the purpose of signing someone who impacts winning and teaches these kids how to win. You're already getting another kid in a month that will grow with the club. someone who is hopefully one of the main pieces down the line. Your scenario is just let all the kids out and play and good things will happen. That's not how it works. It isn't time to move on. It's time for Harden return and leave this team in good hands with his influence and impact so that they can lead on their own without him when hes done.
We have a bunch of folks on here: no to harden, but when u ask them for an actual plan, they just ramble on with terms like flexibility. At least responses like yours could b a solid plan if we don't get or go for harden. If we go for middleton, reaves, is it safe to assume they are taking the starting pg position with either green/kpj being demoted? I don't understand why we should go for lowry/hayward, would b nice for u enlighten me about that aspect of your plan.
If Harden wants to come back we need to hold the line at 4yrs/$35mil per. This team’s future success does not rise and fall with Harden. He would help us, but given our time window im not sure we can justify maxing out a 33yr old who doesn’t play much defense and doesn’t take his conditioning seriously. I want him at a home-town discount. Otherwise, with a bit more patience, there are other ways we could go.
I view positions as defensive, with offensive roles being completely malleable based on the personnel you have. With Reaves, I'd want Porter to come off the bench, and Middleton you could do the same, or you could start him with Porter and Green, and you'd just want to stagnate Porter/Middleton throughout the game to have a playmaker for 48 minutes. rotation examples PG - Green (32) / Porter (16) SG - Reaves (32) / Porter (16) SF - Eason (24) / Martin (24) PG - Green (32) / Porter (16) SG - Porter (16) / Eason (32) SF - Middleton (32) / Martin (16) 48 minutes of a backcourt playmaker on the floor in both scenarios. So if we miss out on all our hypothetical key FA targets (Harden/Middleton/Reaves), what are we to do with our cap space? And what are we to do with our on-court needs? Should we blow our cap space on random players who don't fit our needs? I hope not. Kyle Lowry and Hayward are both on 1 year 30 million dollar expiring contracts, both are high-IQ vets who can shoot and facilitate. They aren't long term fits, just one-year stop gaps. (Chris Paul and Mike Conley are in similar boats, but if feels like they are more important to their current teams). You can trade for one of these guys, and instead of blowing our money on players we don't love this off-season, we would instead be able to hit the next free agency in 2024 with a large chunk of cap space to try again for big name FA's.
Thanks for taking the time to put out a well thought response thats reasonable if we whiff out on harden Did u flip pg/sg? Is Green really good enough to b our starting pg after we wasted two years on the kpj pg experiment Eason getting more mins as a sg than kpj?
I didn't, as I said in my post I view positions as defensive, with offensive roles being positionless. I know most see it as the opposite. Jalen is 180 pounds and should always be guarding the smallest player on the court, so I list him at the PG position, and since KPJ is 200 and has a broader frame, he guards SG's and I list him at the SG position. Another example is Jokic, he's 280 pounds, so despite him being his teams playmaker, I see him as positionally a center, and not a PG.
No to Harden “at any cost”…. Yes to Harden in other scenarios. Nuance and context aren’t your strong suits. Why am I under any obligation to provide some plan to you? I’m not going to consolidate a bunch of posts from different threads for you. I’ve already mentioned Brown and Murray as targets.
It's like some people here never saw Harden throw a lob pass, and don't realise we have a roster full of kids who can jump out of the gym.
