I feel embarrassed for Harden. Dude should ask himself what makes him be in such embarrassed situation. It seems there are not many choices for him this summer.
Sam has zero faith in any of the kids. So all he wants now is to get a retirement bound guy so that he can watch 10 more Rockets wins the next two seasons.
2019 James Harden x CP3 = 2nd round exit 2020 James Harden x WB = 2nd round exit 2021 James Harden x KD x Kyrie = 2nd round exit 2022 James Harden x Embiid = 2nd round exit 2023 James Harden x Embiid = 2nd round exit And all those teams had borderline 3rd stars in addition to quality depth/role players as well. Now the Harden fanbois want to pay him 40m+ a year over 4-5 years cause they think he’s going to help lead us to the playoffs being the ball dominant ISO hero ball player he used to be? He’s not that guy anymore. He’s not a mentor, he’s not a role model, despite popular fanboi belief he doesn’t actually make his teammates better and despite his inflated assist numbers he’s not some genius high IQ bball orchestrator like some delusionals believe him to be. This is a dude that needs the ball in his hands to be ‘successful’. Always has been. The dummies believe he’s gonna change at age 34? Ha! That’s a good one! The story with Harden has always been finding players that fit around him from another superstar all the way down to the role players. Why? Cause he’s not a guy that fits in naturally because he’s so ball dominant and doesn’t know how to play off the ball on offense and there’s almost zero resistance on defense. So if we sign Harden that means it’s his team again by default cause we’ll be paying him a ridiculous contract and he needs the ball to be ‘effective’. His game is more predictable than ever before now that he’s lost a step and can’t consistently get by guys like he used to and when he does he can’t elevate to finish like four, five plus years ago. His delusional fanbois say he changed his game in Philly but did he really? NO! Its the same bullshiiit. Walk the ball up the floor at a snails pace… break out the same dribble dribble dribble crossover bs when the shot clock comes down to 5 he finally decides to make a move. It’s either pull-up and jack a contested 3, try to get by his man and if he’s successful it’s either a sorry ass floater which he was never good at, get to the rim and attempt an unsuccessful finish cause he has no lift or it’s pass to the corner for either Tucker or Harris for a last second corner 3. Or the all too common turnover. He had the luxury of getting bailed out by Embiid where over 40% of his assists came from in Philly. He won’t have that here. We don’t need some slow old bald ass bum loser holding up this team with his selfish hero ball style on offense and an absolute sieve on defense cause his fanbois reminisce of the “glory days” which was a long ass time ago and actually weren’t so glorious if we’re gonna keep it real and be objective.
So disgraceful he was sought out by SEVERAL other teams? And almost all his former assistants are coming back to play for him? What a smuck he must be
They are winning more than 20 wins with even the current lineup in the next season, Udoka is going to unlock the team
I’m kind of surprised Harden hasn’t been mentioned in connection with the Lakers. They have been linked to Kyrie, who is eligible for the same max contract as Harden. If they can make a play for Kyrie, they could make the same offer to Harden. And with Harden being from LA, it seems like a possibility the media push. I haven’t even seen any clickbait articles mentioning it.
It's a step by step game. You first have to convince the Rockets to make you an offer (hasn't achieved this yet). Then he takes that offer to Philly and says they at least match it or sign/trade him wherever he wants or lose him for nothing. If he gets an offer from the Rockets (really the only team that might make him a big offer), then we'll start hearing stories about potential SnT opportunities. Other SnT opportunities have not been mentioned in general. I'm sure he'd consider the Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Mavs, maybe even Spurs.
I don’t mind the Rockets playing along in order to get Harden paid more by Philly and hindering their ability to add other players. In reality, Philly has no choice but to sign him to pretty much whatever he requests. Otherwise, you are trying to replace him with about $12m of space. Then you risk losing Embiid, too. The team doesn’t really have much leverage. They will ultimately pay him.
