Woj: Rockets want to trade Harden "sooner rather than later"

if harden wanted to get traded, why would he try to increase his trade value. Wouldnt he be pouting to keep his value down and make himself easier to move. Also who cares about images, images fluctuate in the nba daily.. one minute kawhi is the most hated player in the league because of how he did the spurs, then it was ad who was seen as a villan. kobe beat a rape case and was still one of the most popular athletes in the world. Hardens situation is blown up bigger than it is, because the nba media has nothing else to talk about. Notice how now the media is saying harden should give the rockets a chance and stay. Also no journalist has mentioned anything about teams trading for harden in a week and a half now. Its already dying down. Lets see how practice goes today and move on from there

 

Stay away from Michael Porter Jr hr is not the answer AT ALL

 

I don't have a crystal ball in my head nor am I going to speculate this situation as it's very fluid. If a "contender" struggles early they might be willing to give up the farm for Harden, who knows. But it was mainly me trolling dude since I know he's so in love with James Harden. If Harden stays then great, but if he goes he goes. I like Wood, but I'm not sure he is enough to keep Harden here, he is still a little raw and very light in the ass to me. But we will see...

 

1986- Rockets had powerhouse team that beat the showtime Lakers in Magic Johnson's prime.
1987- Team destroyed via multiple drug scandals where key components of that Rockets roster
1992- After years of the Rockets doing a laughable, crappy job of building a championship roster and getting accused of faking an injury Dream34 asks for a trade.
1992- Owner Charlie Thomas & Olajuwon talk like men on a 14 hour flight to Tokoyo and mend the relationship.
1994-95- Rockets win back-to-back Titles.

 

Maybe they won't.

 

Jaylen brown + a young high upside player that Boston sends marcus smart for. Aaron gordon was a good idea. Any chance marcus smart and a couple picks could get mpj sent to houston with brown?

Atlanta is interesting. They seem to be going for it with all their free agent signings, plus they have a surplus of young talent. Maybe smart can get cam reddish sent our way?

 

he doesn’t do anything outside of shoot and some interesting inside work, but let’s be clear...dude is an elite shooter.

Looks like a PF version of Curry right now, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating. He’s hitting from everywhere on the court. And it’s not that he’s just hot...he hit 42% from 3 last year. He’s hitting the same % this year, but has tripled his attempts. Elite from the midrange too.

Again, I’m not convinced he’s a centerpiece for Harden, but he could become one. Needs to show he can create for others. Most of his scoring opportunities are created by others.

 

imo the 3rd team is so Boston can find a way to keep smart but that’s just my take

 

I believe you're right.

 

having a defensive minded guard next to harden is important as is smart for the locker room

 

They're most definently trying I just dont see them being able to get anything the rockets would want without the value of smart.

 

Think about what you asked here for a second my guy. Isn't the rumor here that we have been trying to trade EG since last trade deadline but his trade value around the league is so low that we had to keep him? If Harden or any player's value is too low, the assets received for said player are going to obviously be low as well. Pretty common knowledge here. I think teams want Harden, but the question is how much are they willing to give to get him. With Harden the narrative that the media has portrayed is that Harden is a selfish, iso dominant player that is not good at moving without the ball (some of which we know as Rockets fans is not true). And I think that narrative has hurt the package that teams might be willing to offer in a package for James.

 

This 100%.

Playing Harden right now isn't hurting his trade value, it is driving it up for the time being.

This gives the Rockets every opportunity to work it out, and yes Harden is a generational talent...... look no further than what Morey published in the Houston paper on the way out the door about Harden.

 

Love MPJ’s jumper...it’s beautiful and pure, but I’m concerned that you very rarely see him beat his defender off the dribble and get all the way to the basket and finish. This makes him limited in terms of upside in shot creation for other people if he can’t collapse defenses off the dribble. It’s mostly spot up shots and dribble pull ups. Can he expand his game?

 

Bill Simmons is a dumbass.

 

the rockets should exhaust every option trying to keep harden and hopefully for rockets fan he does change his mind. The problem is when a star player has his mind made up that it’s over for them or they want to move on it’s usually the end all be all.

I know there’s the dream in 92 and Kobe but this era is a bit different imo being the player movement/empowerment era and the dynamic with tilllman and hardens relationship.

 

True, but his value will go up if he keeps on playing better. Houston should look to trade Tucker, Eric and add Tate or House along with a FRP for a secondary star, first.

 

To see the perception of player empowerment you mustn't look further than Curt Flood in the MLB to see how the narrative about player's gaining more power has been portrayed.

Every era calls it player empowerment. The fact of the matter is sports are progressive, unlike a lot of society. They are constantly going to move more in favor of the talent. We see this with film, music and more recently in the gaming industry. They are fields that rely on the talent and this talent is of a level that is not necessarily interchangeable. GQ had a good book recommendation about NBA player empowerment in the late 80s.

https://www.gq.com/story/the-cultural-objects-that-helped-us-survive-2020

 

You are crazy.

Are you really trying put Tatum on the same level as Harden?

Tatum is a good young player but let him start getting some 1st team all nba before putting him on that level.

 

Most likely James Harden will finish the season somewhere else other than the Rockets.

My guess is that the Rockets "big piece" in the deal will end up being Michael Porter Jr. who is ready to explode and both the Rockets and Nuggets know that.

I could even see Boston or the Sixers being involved with either Brown or Simmons going to Denver.

I have watched all of the Nuggets games this year and many last year. The guy that is going to score 25 points a night very soon isn't going to be Murray or Jokic, it will be Porter who can score inside, outside, off screens, on drives and he can shoot at an elite level.