James Harden: One of the top 6 players to build around

I might also add that James is playoff proven. Besides his terrible finals his play was the reason the thunder beat the spurs and mavericks.

His old man game transitions very well for the more defensive game present in the post season.

 

No.... Kyrie is not a better bet than Harden going forward. If Harden levels off and Kyrie makes another jump next year, you can make the case. As it is, Kyrie is smaller than Harden, not as efficient and is not a better playmaker.

 

VAT? Love maybe, but Lee?? As for Lillard its just too early to be having this conversation about him.

 

im not a fan of shoot first, superstar, point guards in the mold of irving, rose, westbrook.. i dont believe these guys win championships. so i wouldnt ever want to build around a PG. when your PG is the best player on your team, youre going to have trouble in the playoffs..

 

Uhhh Irving is not going to reach "best point guard ever status", for one thing he is a mediocre facilitator.... you may want to brush up on NBA history.

 

yea umm give me a traditional pass first, run the offense pg, over irving.. star PGs are fools gold..

 

I'm a Cavs fan. You're crazy if you'd even consider having the Cavs starting lineup and just switch out Kyrie for Harden in Houston. Actually I'd love that personally but for the opposite reason.

And one game doesn't prove anything. I wish it did though. But then the Rockets would be worse than the Wizards.

 

He is 2nd behind Jeremy Lin

 

To those of you saying CP3: I get where you're coming from, but don't agree. He's already 27 and I'm very worried about his knees moving forward. He might only have a few elite seasons left in him. Harden, I could see being good for a decade or more.

 

But he is. He's just younger than (slightly less than KD) the top 3. But more time will prove the Beard is THE piece.
You have an SG who can shoot, drive, pass and rebound. His on ball def isnt great but he gets steals of passing lanes.
The second superstar to him, can very well become CParsons. or whoever we get off of free agency may it be Howard/Smith/Bynum. They will rely on Harden for PnR passes.

 

Well if he gets to Iverson status which his play is similar to, that would still be pretty darn good. But yea agree with josephnicks, shoot first PG usually don't win championships. Can't remember the last time a team won the champions with a shoot first PG?

 

This sudden love for Irving since he crossed over Knight (yes, I understand he has been playing amazing as of late -- but so has Harden) is just crazy.

I love Irving's abilities just as much as the next guy, but even Harden's matador defense is superior to Irving's attempt at defense.

 

Coaching and culture have a lot to do with our success. Besides harden and asik I'd say the talent level on both rosters is equal.

The cavs are just underachieving.

 

He will always be a worse rebounder and defender than Harden due to his size, and it's difficult to see his offensive game ever making up the difference.

 

I'd say Lebron and Durant and 1 & 2.

After that it's a toss-up. Paul, Rose, Westbroke, Harden. You can't be upset to get any of those as your number one option.

 

It could also be the 30 points he put on us which was pretty phenomenal. Some of the baskets he made in that was He shot quite a bit but I didn't feel he was jacking up shots like crazy, it was within the flow of the game.

Anyways, he will end up being a great scorer no doubt, bigger question is can he become a great player.

 

I agree.

But I guess that makes me a homer.

 

CP3: 27, moderate-to-severe injury concerns
Rose: Severe injury concerns
Westbrook: Third season as a starter, hasn't shown any signs of improving since 2010, while Harden seems to get better game by game

/\ That's my argument for Harden as #3.

 

Oh, WB has actually been starting for 5 seasons. Don't know why I wrote third, but my point stands.