No. He has a player option and is due $35.6M next season. Harden would be doing a major favor to Morey if he left and whoever signs him would be doing themselves a major disservice considering he’s looking for 1 final big long term bag. It’s looking like he’s gonna suck his way to being forced to stay in in Philly and wasting another Prime year of Embiid.
For all of y'all who don't want Harden back, you really should be hoping that we land #2 in the draft so we end up with Scoot Henderson (or another path opens up to get him, like a trade up). I can see the organization saying "Y'know what? Nevermind" if that happens. Otherwise, it's hard to see them passing up a chance to bring Harden back. Tilman is too impatient of an owner to put up with missing the chance to instantly add a bunch of wins unless there's a very clear and obvious reason to do so.
Porter is a virtual lock to have more value over the next few years than Harden. There are a few exceptions though in location IMO Harden may not be the #2 guy on a title team. Hell, Embiid may not be a #1. Body language-wise Harden doesn’t seem to like Embiid of the team overall. The point to me though is that I dont think we are going to confuse Harden for Jimmy Butler if he comes home BUT he still may be a net positive on phase 2 if he is accepting of and serious about his role. Harden may be a better point for phase 2 than the other options. Personally, Ive come to love Amen Thompson. Thompson as a prospect could be complimentary enough to Green and Porter to start along side them. Maybe not in the long run but over a 2-3 year vision. If Ime wants Harden, then Im all about it. Ill trust him there. Mostly I’m just enamored though at what I see with Thompson. I think he is a generational athlete and creator who will learn to shoot.
And you’re basing this off what? He’s been willing to tank multiple years now. It’s the fans who aren’t patient. This thread is like the Budlight memes. It just keeps on giving
I didn't downplay his tenure, I said for majority since arriving he carried teams, outside of the short Howard/CP3 stints it was usually Harden or bust, it was him scoring or assisting large share He had a massive part in this said rebuild because he was the foundation franchise piece that kept the Rockets relevant and in playoffs, he was like 4x in a row MVP finalist, so of course once he demanded out it was going to destroy the Rockets feelings and make them instant bottom feeders, he was basically the Bron Cavaliers version when he left for Heat Tilman had the biggest part by far because he could have kept his ego and mouth in check talking about CP3 had the worst contact in sports(that he gave him) and then traded him for worst deal/contract, then traded that contract to Wizards for even worse contract Also how Tilman nitpicked with Mike D and stepped on Morey toes who didn't want it o do that OKC trade Had they ran it back for few more years and added a solid piece or two CP3/Harden would have been facing the Bucks instead of Suns, and they probably would have went to WCF annually with great chance to reach Finals each time
That is precisely why this will be Harden‘s last gig (playing not coaching) here and it will be a predictable one. Harden helps out young guys until he grows impatient, either leaves, threatens to leave or just rides out his immense contract. Udoka would have no problems benching him eventually for the good of the team. It becomes sort of the same CP3 problem, Carmelo getting old problem, Barkley problem, Westbrook problem and sort of John Wall problem. Basically a bigger problem because Harden was the better player than all of the players mentioned above. Old and injured player who has still something left in the tank trying to stay relevant.
Rooting for him to turn it around. He hasn't looked in good enough shape to get by his man or get any lift for most of this postseason, but he always surprises you. Going down 3-1 would be a nightmare for him I think he's going to come with a strong game to tie it up and build momentum back up with Embiid. His defense has not been great either so essentially if his 3pter is not falling at a high% then he's not producing enough as the second most important player. He MUST be better at scoring in the paint and getting to the line in the playoffs. He's definitely better than he's been. Next game is going to be interesting, another opportunity for Harden to shed this label as a guy who doesn't show up for big games (which was always undeserved imo). Could be his last chance at a title so I expect him to show up.
After this post season it’ll be universally agreed that Harden is no longer a Max player. Im not sure what his value will be but a team would be foolish to max him for any number of years.
I mean the opinion on Harden changes the moment he has a 30 pt or 40 pt game lmao. We all knew that he could still score from time to time.
The problem is, it shouldn't. People shouldn't forget that if they are buying Harden they are buying the bad along with the good. With Harden, any given night you could be getting the MVP or a guy that barely belongs on the court....and there's no way of knowing which one you'll get.
I think this is a little unfair to Harden .... His leaving here left the team in shambles for certain .... but this team was going nowhere with or without him. It was time for a reset. At least he played nice long enough for the team to get a good return. As for his time in Brooklyn, I don't at all blame him for wanting out of that shitshow. KD couldn't play and Kyrie was off the rails with his flat earth vaccination crap unable to play. Can't blame him for that. Now with Philly, they are in the conference semi's playing against a team who is favored to knock them off down 2-1 while Embiid has been bad / injured.
I'm not sure that's true, they kept running into the Warriors....but they were a CP3 injury away from winning it all. At that point, Harden demanded the team be dismantled and Westbrook be brought in and that destroyed the team and made it to where the Rockets no longer had a chance. So after doing what Harden demanded, the result was him demanding a trade and sabotaging the team until he got his way. In Brooklyn, he pulled the same BS. he threw a tantrum that things weren't going well, demanded a trade and sabotaged the team until he got his way. There's a trend here. If Harden gets upset, he makes demands and sabotages the team. Does anyone really think that's the kind of person we should be handicapping our new coach with? It just doesn't make sense. Sure Harden would make the team better....till he didn't get his way about something or Udoka said something to him to make him mad, then he'd sabotage the team. IMO it's just not worth it.
yeah, that’s what decline looks like. It’s not the ability that goes away first, it’s the consistency. Aging great players can still have unbelievable games, just less and less frequently. I remember watching an MJ game with the Wizards where he went for 50, and looked like peak MJ. It just didn’t happen on regular basis…
Agree, but i would take him in a second for a 3 year contract at 35 which is what he is being paid now. He is still a great distributor of the basketball and a good 3 pt shooter. His defense has been fine in the playoffs. I’ve watched him closely and like every guard in the league he gets beat off the dribble from time to time, but his defense has been really good for the most part. Not sure that continues into the regular season, but it’s no worse than KPJ’s. Of course, Ime could have the positive impact on KPJ that everybody hopes for, but it doesn’t really matter. A 3 guard rotation of KPJ, Green, and Harden is an absolute dream for a couple of years while KPJ, Green, and our 1st round pick develops.
Are we really blaming Harden for what happened in Brooklyn? That whole team and organization was a hot mess, and I don't think he caused that based on what was going on before and after he was there. I don't buy into the narrative that he's a malcontent or somebody who has a repeated pattern of creating organizational/locker room problems. He's mostly done things the right way in terms of his dealings with the media and basketball organizations from what I can tell, with the one frustrating exception of the whole CP3/Westbrook thing, but one mistake does not a pattern make.
For sure KPJ would benefit from someone competent enough to set him up with catch and shoot 3's AND someone that defenses had to respect so that he doesn't get double teamed so much, but when you consider that having Green on the court alone makes the defense terrible....having Green, KPJ, and Harden on the court together could be a disaster.....and that's just glossing over the main problem, that Harden is awful for the team's culture and would effectively neuter the new coach before he even begins.
Whether the "nagging injury" is real or just an excuse for his declining production, the fact is, he has missed about 1/3 of games since he left Houston and his superstar level games are getting less and less frequent. Some people are still in denial that Harden will age well because his game is skilled and not athletic. I agree that Harden will age better than guys like Westbrook who rely heavily on speed and hop. But you do need certain level of physical ability to use your basketball skills. Otherwise "skilled" players could play till they were eligible for their SS checks. One thing is clear. Harden's ability to get to the rim has sharply declined. His FT attempts have dropped significantly from his prime days. That in itself is limiting his effectiveness. People say that he is scoring less because he doesn't have to. With more competent scorers around him, he can concentrate on being the facilitator. That is true but only to a certain extent. His at rim shot frequency has dropped a lot this season. That means he just can't penetrate at will like he used to. That's also probably why he is shooting more middies. Simply put, his scoring is relying mostly on jumpshots. He is still crafty enough to get separation for his shot. But even that skill can be eroded when his speed further declines. When that happens, his playmaking will decline too because defenders will not need to worry too much about his dribble penetration.
