Are we gonna keep on living in a fantasy world in which Harden isn't > Evans?

I don't see how Steph Curry couldn't have filled the same role. Last night, the Thunder won with : 1) Maynor 2) Cook 3)Harden 4)Durant 5)Collison. Many times they have Maynor and Cook out with Westbrook and Thabo in. So Curry is a 2/1 instead of a 2/3...that's still okay. Curry can run PnR and is as good as a knock-down shooter as Harden is. Actually, after viewing the stats, Curry is a much better shooter than Harden. OKC could be doing just as well with Curry in there, possibly better.

 

On offense, yes it would work. However, defensively they would be much worse. Curry is a bad defender at this stage of his career and he's undersized.

 

Harden reminds me a lot of Stephen Jackson

 

Harden is NOTHING like Jason Terry.

Has anybody seen his court vision? He might just be the best passer on the team. He also definitely appears to be very willing to share the ball, and he always looks to pass first (though in the future he should definitely look for his own shot).

Not to mention, he has very solid defense, definitely one of the better defensive players on OKC.

Westbrook would serve the sparkplug function much better if he continues to look for his own shot instead of deferring to his teammates and playing the offense (which he has shown he is capable of doing, but isn't). With Harden in the starting lineup he would definitely complement Durant more so than Westbrook.

 

Harden reminds me of Ginobili but he doesn't hustle as much as Manu and isn't that creativer of a finisher at the rim. But he's young so im sure he'll improve

 

Ouch! LOL

If I have to rank them:

Curry > Harden > Evans

 

Doubtful imo. Harden has limited potential, his athleticism isn't elite and his fundamentals are sound. He's about as good as he will be imo.

 

Harden outplaying Terry will be one of the reasons why the Thunder pull this out. *keeping fingers crossed

 

You think Manu was more athletic than Harden is now?

To the other poster, Harden (at least right now) isn't as creative a finisher as Manu but he's stronger and is more of a power finisher. They both use that left-handed deception.

 

That's a fair point, but I would still make the trade. And being bad on D is okay when you have guys like Thabo, Ibaka, Perk, and Collison on the team. I'm sure part of it has do to with coaching and team culture. Who goes to GS and becomes a defensive stud? I knew Curry was good, but didn't realize he was beast. The dude shoots on a different level. And he's not just some spot up guy either.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/stephen_curry/index.html
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/james_harden/index.html

 

LMAO...if Mayo had had the first two seasons of James Harden, people would be calling him a bust.

 

He reminds me of a bigger Baron Davis when he played for the Warriors, has nothing to do with the beard.

 

Unfortunately, Mayo was overhyped since his high school days as if he was some kind special player. The expectations on him were ridiculous. When I watched him play at USC, he sure didn't look like he would be a special NBA player.

 

Do you remember Manu back when he just got into the league? He was crazy athletic. He used to eurostep AND THEN dunk on people

 

"Crazy athletic"? Are you serious? Manu was different, could jump fairly well and played like the Energizer Bunny. But he wasn't "crazy athletic" by anyone's imagination. What he did better than any player I remember was use being left-handed to his advantage when he attacked the rim.

 

I disagree with the Ginobili comparison. At his best, Manu's game is based on driving to the rim and initiating contact. And as far as I can see, that's not part of Harden's game. Not yet at least. IIRC they rarely if ever call iso or pick-and-roll plays for Harden.

Harden's strength right now (and seeing as he's only 21, it can change) is being the perfect jack-of-all-trades on the offensive end. He is a great passer and is able to be the primary playmaker. He has an excellent jumpshot and thrives in the off-the-ball role. He has a great instinct for the fast break.

Defensively he seems solid, nothing remarkable, but offensively, he's hard to stop because he can do so many things right. He's like an offensive version of Shane Battier, on a buttload of steroids.

And I seem to write this in every post about Harden, but it's hard to believe that the guy is only 21. Damn.

 

He could slice through a defence with long steps in different directions and then dunk the finish. The only relevant people i can think of that can do that in the league now are Wade and LeBron.

His max vertical was not off the charts, but with his 2nd and 3rd jumps he got ridiculous elevation.

 

Harden will never be as good as Manu, not even close

 

I don't think Lebron can do the Euro-step Manu perfected.

Wade is pretty good too. But the Euro-step is defined by Manu.

 

Mentioning Manu in the same athletic class and LeBron and Wade is just silly. Totally ridiculous.