I don't think they can. In 11 NBA seasons, he's only cracked 70 games three times. He played 29, 54 and 20 games over the last three seasons. And then, with the exception of game 1 this year, he didn't even bother showing up to the playoffs. Nike has just ended their signature shoe deal with Kyrie due to "uncertainties about his NBA future". And there are recent reports that he told a family member that he views basketball as "just a job". And it seems to me that he also views it as the kind of job that you call in sick for as much as you can get away with. So what would you give up for him? Because I honestly think the only guys they could get for him at anything approaching a max deal would be John Wall or Russell Westbrook. The only other guy on that list is already on their team in Ben Simmons. I honestly think their best option will be to let him walk for nothing if they don't want to give him that contract. And, in that case, Durant will likely demand to be traded. They'd then be in the same place the Rockets were when Harden demanded a trade. They just wouldn't be adding John Wall's salary. They'd likely do exactly what we did and trade Durant for as many first round picks as they could get. Would likely put Simmons back on the block too, but I don't think anybody will consider him until they see him play well again.
If we had no blue chip prospect and and still lost our pick to OKC what would it have been, a double catastrophe? You can still tank with a blue chip prospect, just sit that player down. Philly did it for years, OKC has done it for the past two years. I'm not even sure our strategy was to maximize our chances for tanking. We went on a six game winning streak immediately following the Harden trade and started our losing streak when Wood went down with his ankle injury. We still had EGo, Wood, and even played a rehabbing Wall and Cousins. We offered Oladipo a two year extension, which he thankfully declined. We've been exceptionally fortunate.
They (mgmt and players) probably know that if/when they sign Irving that they can’t win it all regardless. They will only get older and worse every day. The margin for error decreases as that time goes by. So they have to make that futile choice or go with what you wrote. It is also not if they lose 2 of their picks outright anyways they will get the Rockets pick twice as well. Hopefully it is pick 25-30 but I don’t know how likely that is either. If the rockets can add a top 4 pick at some point to an already good team it will be pretty awesome though.
It won't be the Rockets pick though, right? OKC has all of those from the Westbrook trade for quite some time.
To be fair, the Rockets did get a young all-star back in the Harden package along with all the picks. And having Harden make his trade demand two weeks into the season really put the Rockets into a tough spot; they could have shut him down for the year and waited to the offseason like Simmons or Anthony Davis, but I really do believe they wanted to do right by him after all he gave to the franchise. The man is probably the second or third greatest Rocket of all time. I'm glad that the divorce was quick and preserved many of the good memories I have of him, rather than be long and drawn out. At the end of the day, I wish they had gotten more. Process is important, and it has felt a bit that the Rockets have been settling light on their transactions under Stone, when before it always felt like Morey was extracting an extra second or the rights to a foreign player. But I don't know how anyone can be upset with the current return and the way it's trending. Arguably, #17 is a higher pick than nearly anyone thought the Rockets would ever get from the Nets throughout the lifetime of the deal, and its year 1 of 6 straight drafts where the Rockets have full control of the Nets picks. You have to really like the odds of the return based on what's happened since they made the deal.
The years the rockets get the Nets pick outright are the same years the Thunder get the rockets pick. The years with swaps are the same years with swaps for Thunder. I think haha
i think it would have been less likely to have the worst record in the league if we had an extra blue chip prospect, yes. Also, who would/could that have even been?
Warriors should had drafted Melo, the next gen of warrior guards would had been Melo and Poole, but they drafted for fit and Wiseman can't get any development. and Wiseman has not played in a year don't think you can sell someone on his value.
Could have done that AND got added value, but eh. I'd take Haliburton in a heartbeat and the Pacers are garbage.
Likely. But, as the other poster said on this page if they didn’t and traded Durant they would be somewhat like the Rockets position. Still worse off though because they no years of control. The rockets had 2 years of control and lucked into keeping their pick last offseason.
The jury is out and the Harden trade won't be able to be properly judged until 2026. So I'm pumping the brakes on calling him a Stone Cold Genius.
