Lol please don't. I don't care what is going with him and Morey, but to go out publicly and act like a baby towards someone you claim to be close to you for the past decade is a bad look Don't ever bring him back even if he wanted to. The history itself of quitting on teams should be enough.
Morey made it clear that re-signing Harden to a new contract was the team's top priority. But there was real debate internally about how much and how long of a contract they should offer him, sources said. Was he worth as much as the three years and up to $126 million that 31-year-old Irving ultimately received from the Dallas Mavericks? Harden was eligible for a four-year, $210 million contract if he declined his $35.6 million player option and became a free agent. And he was expecting a contract in that range, sources said, having taken less the previous summer and having left a $161 million extension on the table from Brooklyn in August 2021 and turned down a two-year, $100 million extension from the Rockets in February 2021. But Harden had little leverage to extract that kind of offer from Philadelphia. The Rockets' interest in reacquiring him as a free agent cooled after they hired Ime Udoka as their head coach in late April, sources said. Udoka was trying to set a new culture in Houston, not bring back the past. He wanted to target defensive-minded players like Memphis' Dillon Brooks and Milwaukee's Brook Lopez. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38335993/inside-feud-james-harden-philadelphia-76ers
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38568078/why-jalen-green-player-lead-houston-rockets-ascension VanVleet's ability to work off the ball is one reason Houston's decision-makers, including new head coach Ime Udoka, preferred VanVleet over a free agency reunion with Harden. "Nothing against James," Udoka told ESPN, "but Fred is just a better fit. I coached James in Brooklyn. He's one of the smartest players I've ever been around. The words 'Ime doesn't want James' never came out of my mouth. It was, 'Let's look at the best fit.' If we want Jalen and the young guys to take the next steps, we need them to have the ball. As for me saying I don't want James, that was never the case. It was about fit."
Any chance that Ime can train Stone how not to be a b**** and confront the questions directly? I love it that he is a straight shooter.
Ime really is selling me early on. I love how direct this is, and comes across as a business first type of guy. It's not personal... it's about the business of basketball, and he's right. He could have ducked the question, or just done the whole Fake News thing, but he addressed it head on, and I love it. If the Rockets are going to be a contender anytime in the next 8 years it'll be because a young player, or players take a huge leap. They need the ball in their hands if they are going to take that leap. It's a simple situation, and the right solution was made. FVV is the best PG out there we could have gotten for this team hands down.
This was a great article by the way. I need to go back and read it again and watch the videos. I enjoyed this quote: "You're supposed to lead by example," Jalen Green, then a 19-year-old rookie and No. 2 overall draft pick, chastised one of the few veterans on the team -- a player Green and others present won't identify today. Other players and coaches had noticed that veteran playing with a halfhearted selfishness. Only Green spoke up. "We need you to be better," Green continued. "You're supposed to show us how to do this." I'm sure this was Eric Gordon they were talking about. The insight @Nook has provided in the past, plus EG being the only real veteran on the team Jalen's first year , it definitely make sense.
Nah, it was Christian Wood. The story at the time (in the right panel below) is just too similar, and it is about Wood. The year prior when Harden, Morey, and D’Antoni (plus PJ) left is when Ego was reported not having fun. But by Green’s first year, he was saying in interviews that he has now come to terms with the rebuild and his role as mentor.
Like others said, this looks very much like Wood. But I like how Green called him out. Plus the way he seems to attach himself to FVV this offseason shows that he is hungry to learn from the veterans.
