WOJ - Harden wanted Wall over WB

need for him to be a better fit than Westbrook next to Wall

don’t start quoting me nonsense like I think we’re championship bound because of John Wall

let me know when the offers for Harden are better than Caris levert and the guys

 

i find it curious boston cant keep heyward yet ainge and brad stevens are god.

harden isnt gm yet always a bash fest against harden. its curious how the narratives and sportscenter works on the masses

 

Ever had a situation in your circle of friends, when two friends get into a major argument and those two friends end up trying to alienate the other within the group. This is what I actually think occurred behind the scenes and how the reported trade demands came to be.

My random theory of how it all went down from the beginning:

-Russ and Harden have a falling out after losing to LA. Convo friendly banter at first but then gets into specifics of who did what wrong and it gets heated. Both formed MVP’s, Egos get hurt in the end and don’t talk in depth about it again hence no resolve.

-Russ blames JH for lack of effort and accountability, JH blames Russ on his piss poor playoff showing. Publicly they like to say they are friends first and foremost over basketball but this causes things to at least get very awkward between them.

-Russ demands a trade with the narrative that it was the culture of accountability within the org. and the politics of Fertitta. (Some questioned this and saw it more as a slight to Harden since he mentioned accountability. Also there was a new GM and coaching staff, a possible culture refresh)

-Harden is still emotional about WB, goes to LA and works out with KD. Harden vents to KD. KD agrees with Harden that WB is tough to play with and that’s why he left OKC and why they didn’t win a chip there. Though both claim WB is a friend, they find him a common enemy too.

-This is when the idea of teaming up in Brooklyn is brought into existence. Both agree and try to facilitate something through their respective FO’s. Harden cools off after some time and backs off on the demand which is why the rumor went from hot to cold.

-JH goes to the Miami runs with his close circle, Ariza, Bobby Brown, Tuck with the purpose to recruit. Invites Boogie and Wall to see how they’re playing after injury. Both look good. Talks to Boogie and Wall about teaming up.(since he wanted out of WAS). Wall and JH push their GMs to trade.

WB and JH trade demands were in close proximity which IMO signaled WB and JH had a conversation about it. Also I think Harden successfully alienated WB from some NBA circles: Last two off seasons JH/WB played in summer runs/workouts together but this off season WB was not present in the Miami runs, WB has only been seen working out by himself, and was angry enough to not even show up to training camp.

Just my off the wall theory. I got too much time on my hands.

 

Absolutely - they would have beat Lebron that year. That being said - you are right, they didn't have a ROSTER that was as good as other rosters. My point was that it's not necessarily a sign that Harden can't win a title just because he couldn't overcome a lesser roster AND playing against historically great teams. Lebron and Jordan are really the only two who have ever been able to do that level of carrying a team and I don't think Harden is somehow a bum because he isn't a top 5 player of all time. Neither Curry, Durant, Klay, or Kawai would have carried Houston to a title if they somehow replaced Harden - context matters and Houston frankly overachieved because of Harden.

 

when your value is so low that even the Knicks wouldn’t take u unless picks are attached, then holy sh*t...yikes

Wall was probably the only player with lower value than Russ because he hadn’t played in 2 years...Russ was actually on the court, and still, nobody wanted him

but this is the dude who thinks he can just not show up to training camp...

 

but the casuals on cf's said hes great. he has plenty of value. mvp! oh wait

 

It's the guy who thinks he's too good to share the ball with Harden.....Beal is gonna love it this year.

 

That makes sense. Not his wanting out (MDA and Morey were gone so you'd think he'd have seen the opportunity for a shift), but the sequencing.

 

people were talking about how they want Mitchell Robinson, the 8th pick, etc for Westbrook...turns out the Knicks were only interested in Westbrook and a 1st round pick for whatever scraps they could cobble together

talk of Russ for the 3rd pick from Charlotte was also insane to me

 

Harden is our gm

 

Build the wall!!!

 

as usual a significant amount of casual cf's massively overrate players and don't understand how to correctly evaluate the true value of a player.

 

Strip Club Champs!!! Let's have some fun before we blow this thing up!!! We have the talent to scare some teams!

 

I love Harden, and I hate to speak ill of him.

But how many times now has he insisted that we go out and get a specific star in order to be more competitive, then turned around 1-2 seasons later, pinned blame on that very same star, and said he can’t play with that star anymore?

Three. The answer is three times.

 

It's really a shame that Harden couldn't get along with Paul

 

Where there's smoke there's fire. Too many reports over the years now about how difficult Harden is to play alongside, how much he's been coddled, and how bad a teammate he is in the locker room. It was easy to dismiss a few of these, but by now it's impossible to deny.

 

Or Howard. Or Westbrook. After being vocal about wanting each of them here only 1-2 seasons prior. There is a common denominator here.

 

No, those two are terrible. Showing them the door quickly was for the best.

 

Winning a championship isn’t easy. Having a top-5 player in the NBA means you are subject to their whims and neither of those players was a good idea. I like what Stone has done thus far.

 

Yeah, but Howard was never the right fit. Nor was Westbrook. The one that hurt - the one that could have led to a different outcome was Paul. It was working so well.