Sam Amick: James Harden might be in Houston for a while

wtf does he mean "unless the Rockets lower their asking price" as if that's the only possibility

just as likely that other teams up their offers

fuking media w**** b****es

 

As it should... Ben Simmons + 3 first round picks is the minimum we should get back for Harden and even then we should probably be able to get more

 

The media trying to stir the pot so James will act out and lowers his trade value. As usual, trying to screw Houston and prop up one of their media darlings.

 

I hope the asking price is way up there. Perhaps the biggest ask in NBA history.

 

Basically saying teams are worried Harden will make them worse, awful article.

 

Rockets are asking for the farm and at this point no one is willing to sell the farm. The most realistic option is that the Rockets either bring their asking price down or Harden stays long term.


Given they just offerd him a huge extension,the Rockets are just fine with Harden being around because they feel once on the court he usually performs.

 

Brooklyn Nets
Harden’s widely-reported dream of joining former teammate Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn seemed to make perfect Superteam sense when it was first revealed, but some rival executives who are tracking this situation closely have grown extremely skeptical of the Nets scenario ever transpiring. Irving, like Durant before him, downplayed the prospect of this happening during his media session on Monday.

“That part of our business is going to be what it is,” he said. “You know there’s no control that we have as players to at least manage what’s being said in terms of rumor mills and what’s being reported. Let’s just leave it at that. James is a great player, and we wish him well. I just want him to be happy … but we’re focused on us.”

The Nets, of course, also employ the coach whose departure from Houston was the first domino to fall in this messy Rockets stretch and who Harden is known to love: Mike D’Antoni, who is now an assistant under first-year Nets coach Steve Nash. And just a programming reminder that always comes in handy when these types of scenarios are being explored: NBA games are still played with just one ball.

Philadelphia 76ers
There’s no official metric for this, but a quick declaration here before we look at the Sixers’ situation: Former Rockets GM/current Philly president of basketball operations Daryl Morey loves Harden as much — and maybe more — as any front office executive has ever loved a player. Morey’s trade for Harden with Oklahoma City in 2012 is the defining moment of his career, and he spent these past eight seasons doing everything humanly possible to get Harden to the NBA’s mountaintop. For that reason alone, it remains entirely possible that Harden might wind up in Philly later this season.

This clip of Morey discussing why he sees Harden as a better scorer than Michael Jordan is as good a reminder as any that this is a basketball romance of the highest order…

What’s more, Harden’s curt response on Monday to a question about Morey’s replacement, Stone, spoke volumes about how he viewed the Rockets’ front office shakeup (Morey left the organization on Oct. 15, citing family reasons, and signed with Philadelphia 13 days later; Stone, who was with Morey and Harden during the bubble playoffs in Orlando, was promoted from his previous general counsel post.)

When asked if he trusted Stone with this Rockets roster just as he had trusted Morey before him, Harden said, “Uh, we haven’t had a conversation, so — um…”

The session then came to an awkward end.

Yet even with all that relevant history, this is what matters even more in the moment on this front: Sources say the Sixers want to see what new coach Doc Rivers can do with this new roster and have no urgency to pay anything more than a discount-aisle price for Harden anytime soon. Translation: Two-time All-Star and third-team All-NBA selection Ben Simmons remains off-limits, and these next few weeks will be spent evaluating this revamped group.

They’re legitimately excited and optimistic about what these changes might bring. And while nothing could match the Morey-Harden affection levels, it’s clear the Sixers have not fallen out of love with Simmons. The patience in Philly on the Harden front is born out of that fact.

With shooters like Seth Curry and Danny Green part of the program now, the hope in Sixers circles is that Simmons and Joel Embiid can flourish like never before. For all the focus on Simmons’ shortcomings as a shooter, the Sixers aren’t taking his unique skill-set for granted: The defense, the playmaking and the one-of-a-kind way he attacks the rim.

The age factor is certainly being weighed here as well, as Harden is 31 while Simmons (24) is a better fit with Embiid (26) in terms of career timeline. Now could this all change if Philadelphia gets off to an awful start, Harden is playing at an MVP-caliber level in Houston and Morey is itching for a reunion? Of course. But the motivation does not appear to be there right now.

Milwaukee Bucks
There was a time not so long ago when Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t comfortable recruiting other talents to come to town. But then, as we chronicled this week in our piece looking at his decision to sign the five-year supermax extension on Tuesday, that all changed.

In this mini-offseason that just passed, he played a part in the Bucks’ pursuit of everyone from Jrue Holiday to Victor Oladipo to Bogdan Bogdanovic. So, is Harden now on that proverbial list? Bucks sources say no.

Harden, it seems, is not seen as a good fit for this Bucks culture that has been so carefully curated by Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, general manager Jon Horst, coach Mike Budenholzer and so many others. They are not expected to pursue him. And while no one can speak for Giannis in terms of his private view of Harden, there was plenty to ponder in the public domain already that suggested this would be a friction-filled superstar pairing…

• It was only 10 months ago when Antetokounmpo was forced to answer questions about his own MVP worthiness because of Harden, who had declared himself “the best player” and inferred that Antetokounmpo’s achievements were less impressive because of his size.
• During the All-Star draft on TNT that same month, Antetokounmpo joked that he didn’t want to take Harden for his team because “I want somebody that’s gonna pass the ball.” (The lighthearted jab came with Antetokounmpo smiling and after Charles Barkley had said of Harden, “You don’t want the dribbler?”)

As if that wasn’t evidence enough of how improbable this would be, our plugged-in Bucks beat writer, Eric Nehm, detailed the on-court and off-court complexities here.

Miami Heat
History has shown us that no one ever really knows what Pat Riley is up to. That’s part of his genius, right? And as one interested executive put it, you can never put anything past him.

But if you thought the Bucks culture was picky, the Heat ecosystem is on a different level altogether.

So when it comes to this question of whether Riles, longtime general manager Andy Elisburg and coach Erik Spoelstra might want to convert Harden into their world of discipline and dirty work, it’s safe to say there’s serious skepticism here from sources close to the situation. Especially considering Harden’s recent antics.

Jimmy Butler was one thing. But this — especially if it came at the cost of Tyler Herro — would be quite another.

 

No, it is saying the Rockets want a massive haul and rightly so

 

Then James Harden may well be around for a while indeed.

 

Duh. F*** the media for trying to destroy Harden. Didnt see all this hate when LBJ had half his squad traded or when Kobe demanded to leave.

 

Championship for us it is then.

 

we are seeing a media campaign dedicated towards driving down Harden’s value...then when the Rockets trade him for garbage, they’ll laugh at how we got such a low return for an MVP/generational scorer

 

Take a gander at these hypothetical trade offers and comments.

What BlazersEdge says: This offer is going to be a very big no from me. While James Harden is an incredibly talented player, arguably one of the best in the league, he’s just not a fit in Portland. Giving up CJ McCollum, Zach Collins, and picks is a big ask from Portland’s perspective. As things stand, I wouldn’t give up a single player from the roster in exchange for Harden, let alone two key players and two first round picks. Harden’s style of play and how he conducts himself wouldn’t be a fit for Portland—a team that prides itself on chemistry and team culture. Adding another “superstar” to the Trail Blazers roster might be a good idea, but Harden just isn’t it.

 

Everyone loves their team until games start happening. Danny Green and Seth Curry are unmitigated successful additions until they have to play defense.

 

Let me get this straight. There is a media conspiracy to start drama to screw Houston over in trade value.... not because they want cheap clicks?

 

Go bigly or go home.

 

@Plowman faints

 

the media will do whatever they can to create static with the Rockets

 

He also said executives are saying Hardens style of play, lack of defense, and attitude might hurt teams culture.