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

Missing Dwight Howard - took himself and a bag of peanuts to the NBA finals and he's still young. Westbrook is overrated. Too inefficient to be great. Kyrie is the 2nd best PG in the game and is like 20 years old. Anthony Davis hasn't proved himself but he's gotta be up there considering how much he dominated college.
Harden could move up on my list with a deep run in the playoffs. He doesn't play defense, though, is the main issue. And it's a big considering that teams will play better defense in the playoffs - we've seen Harden struggle when they collapse hard on his drives and simply don't foul him.
1) Lebron
2) KD
3) Dwight Howard
4) CP3
5) Rose
6) Kyrie
7) Anthony Davis
8) Harden

 

I like him at #4, behind cp3, lebron, and durant. I dont think westbrook is at that level, he doesn't make his teammates better the way Harden can. Also, Westbrook is not the most efficient player in the world.

 

1 Lebron
2 Durant
3a Harden
3b Paul
4 Love ( if he can stay healthy )
5 Irving
6 Rose
7 Griffin
8 Westbrook
9 George

Would be my top 10 players i would want to build around. I am thrilled at geting Harden. He has potential to actually be in top 3 player conversation down the line.

I think the rest is basically players who have shown they can be elite. They are the best bets to be top 1 or 2 at their position for the next 7 or so years and thats what you want out of your franchise player. Lebron and Durant are obvious, so is paul. Love i really like, if he can stay healthy he can be a top 2 rebounder with an upper echelon shooting percentage from the outside.

Irving, Lebron, and Harden are all really similar players in that they just exhibit outstanding offense efficiency. I think they might be the most efficient offensive players at their position .. and they all can keep it up with high usage. The only difference is in their size and with their size goes their maximum upside. See the bigger you are , having relatively equal skill, the better you finish in the lane.

Rose if healthy is a lock top be a top 3 pg and has the potential to be a player with just explosive aestheticism which can take over a game, he also seems to have a shot too boot. If he can stay healthy he will be a smart, good shooting westbrook.

Griffin has huge potential, is still young, and has put up impressive numbers as a first and second year player. He is an otherworldly athlete and has some skills. Yes he has to develop a bit more skill game and play better D, but all the upside is there and he has a good shot at reaching it.

Westbrook has all the athletic upside of rose, but not the smarts or shots. Maybe he calms down and gets better. Either way he can already be a dominant player on a lot of nights.

George has potential to be such a mismatch playing sg and i think that he is well on his way to becoming a top 15-20 player witht he potential to someday move in the top 10

Davis and howard get honorable mentions on the list , they are potentially dominant or potentially players who do not live up to their ability. Davis could be in top 2 big discussion with Howard if Davis pans out and Howard gets healthy. At this point they are both huge risks though

 

WB one best pullup jump shooters? Sure he might go superman every now and then, but shooting number has never been good. It's been below average.

FG FGA FG%
Jump Shot 246 706 .348

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westbru01/shooting/2013/

 

I think Westbrook would be like a Melo, huge scoring numbers, some rebounds, and 7-8+ (possibly more). He will also behave like a melo too (ballstopper)

 

Nice stat but pullup jumper and jump shot stats are not the same. I doubt there is a site that has JUST pullup jumpers. I'd like to see that stat compared to some others on the list if there were.

 

westbrook my arse

 

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. D-Rose
5. Irving

 

I think 6th is a good spot for Harden. Irving is only 20 years old. The cavs suck, but their 2nd best player is out for the season.

Actually I don't know why Westbrook is #3.

 

1. James
2. Durant
3. Harden ( pcking over CP3 cuz Harden is younger)

 

really, D-Rose? he's done dude.

 

He's done cause of an ACL tear? Tell that to Adrian Petersen and RGIII (tore his ACL in college).
These days, an ACL tear isn't a big deal.

 

Adrian Peterson is an anomaly.

"I can't believe it," Andrews told Peterson's parents, according to the article. "For this guy to have played as much football as he's played his whole life, and not to have hardly any wear and tear, it's incredible. I've never seen a football player, especially one who runs and cuts as much as he does, with a knee in that condition. It's like a newborn baby."


James Andrews on AP's knee.

And I don't know if you saw but RG3 tore up his knee again this year, not exactly a ringing endorsement.

 

His play at QB was a pretty ringing endorsement. Just shouldn't have played in that playoff game with a bad sprain.

 

Remember this is 2013 and Rose is 23.


The more I think about the Westbrook vs Harden I don't see how it's that shocking for some people that there is a debate. I understand Harden has far more strengths than Westbrook and I would choose Harden 10 times out of 10 times; however there is something to really consider in this:

What made OKC choose Westbrook over Harden?

They traded Harden. Was Westbrook also available? Is it Westbrook's salary?

OKC wants to win a championship, no doubt. But, somewhere in their decision making, they chose Westbrook over Harden. OKC is one of the most well-run organizations in the whole NBA (at a minimum a top 5). If they felt that the Westbrook vs Harden debate was that shocking, I don't think it would have been Harden that got traded, but Westbrook. Sure, it's unlikely anyone predicted with certainty Harden was going to explode the way he did. But, OKC got a unique insight as to who had more value day in and day out.

If Westbrook were given a chance like Harden, would he excel or would he crumble with the pressure?

It's all hypothetical, and I stand firmly on my stance on choosing Harden, but it's worth considering and is a very important variable in this argument.

 

^^^^ Two different thoughts. Meant to format some separation in the two thoughts.

 

I believe snergy should have it, but I don't have an account. If anyone does, could you compare Harden, Durant and Westbrook off dribble shots?

long's 2' - only 6.3% assisted so 94% unassisted which should mean pullup jumpers.
16 ft to <3-pt 79 210 .376

 

Right, but right now he's looking like a guy who is going to have chronic knee problems. Not exactly someone who is going to help your argument that Derrick Rose will return to 100%. The only person who does is Adrian Peterson, and expecting anyone to do what AP did is utterly ridiculous.

 

Actually, I can't think of an athlete in the last few years who had ACL surgery who hasn't come back and played at his prior level.

 

And people wonder why Stephen A Smith, And Bayless, and ESPN don't give us enough credit? It's cause of idiotic thoughts and posts like this one

1) Lebron
2) KD
3) Dwight Howard
4) CP3
5) Rose
6) Kyrie
7) Anthony Davis
8) Harden

Notice I didn't call the poster an idiot, but I'm sorry, this is ****ing idiotic. And if someone truly believes this...then...well yeah

Lebron, no doubting that. KD, I can see that. Now we start getting into the heat of things. Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard? You want me to believe a guy who is coming off Back surgery, who is playing very poorly for the Lakers who acted like a baby to get out of Orlando is more valuable than Harden?

CP3. A lot of people have him before Harden, so I won't fault the poster there. I, however, don't. It's not because I feel Harden or CP3 is better, its because the gap between CP3 and the next 3-5 PGs are really really close. The gap between Harden,Kobe, Wade and the next group of SG is pretty massive. Also, name the last team to win a NBA title with an elite PG.

Rose.....coming off an ACL tear....who relies on his quickness...ACL tear...You take damaged goods, no matter how good they were before, over a young guy with no injuries? No...you don't.

Kyrie. I actually have Kyrie above Paul, because the kid is only 20. I could MAYBE see him before Harden, but again...last time an elite PG won a title.

Now we come to Anthony Davis. A player who we THINK we will be great, even though Harden is ALREADY great. Harden is 23 folks. 23 years young. Teams draft players out of college HOPING they are as good as Harden, Wade, Lebron, Kobe, Paul, Rose, Dwight. So while Davis MIGHT be a legit 22-11-3 guy in a few years, Harden is already dominating the league.

1)Lebron
2)KD
3)Harden
4)Irving.

Some of you want to put Harden 8th or 6th, or 7th, be my guest. However, I've been a fan of the Rockets a long....long time. I've had to watch Dickerson fizzle out due to injury, I've seen Bowen as a PF, Weatherspoon as our starting PF, I've seen 6'6 Center (love ya Chuck), I've seen Mobley and Francis throw up bricks like they're building for the homeless...Not to mention the whole Eddie Griffin debacle. I've witnessed bad trades, horrible contracts...I've seen Maloney, Bryce Drew, I've seen the late 80s potential dynasty team fizzle out because of cocaine. I've seen our twin towers demolished into a single sky scraper.

I've also had the honor to watch Akeem...adapt and transform into Hakeem. I knew then I was watchin greatness. And I knew eventually he would lead us to a title, to which he did.

Harden will lead us to a title, I have no doubt of that. We have went through SO much, injuries, terrible draft pics...we have suffered through so much, that when we finally get a Superstar we tend to not get excited as much as we should for fear he will let us down.

Not me, I'm excited we have a top 5 player in the league. I'm excited that a team filled with draft picks and slick FA moves are making a run at the playoffs. And the scary part is, we are all doing this on instinct. We haven't even had a full training camp together yet. We are blessed...lucky to have James Harden.