Sigh, when can we stop these kind of threads in the mid of do-or-die playoffs? BTW, Blazers won't trade DL, and Rockets are not going to trade JH.
James Harden has not had a very good playoff series so far. He didn't have a great series last year. He didn't have a great Finals against Miami when he was playing with OKC. I think it is too early and he is too young to say that he chokes or he shrinks under the bright lights of the playoffs or anything, but it is a least a little bit concerning right now. Even so, I would not trade Harden for Lillard. Not straight up. No way.
Playoffs is where the spotlight is. It is where you are put under a microscope and dissected to the Nth degree for EVERYONE to watch. If your weaknesses are exploited, they are exploited over and over again for the world to see. For 5 straight games in a row Harden has not lived up to his name and title, and for 5 straight games in a row Lillard has exceeded his name and title (Sophomore PG otw to becoming top PG in the league) If anything, Portland gets the shorter end of this deal.
Very sad day in ClutchFans when this crap becomes a popular topic... Lets enjoy this win and move on and focus to Game 6 where Harden will get outta his slump! #RedNation
no. but i would trade Parsons for Batum. Parsons can shoot and facilitate. Batum can shoot and play defense. we need a defender more than a facilitator.
I am going to say no for a few reasons. This team is not built to stop good shooting at all so Lillard, Mathews and Batum are all tradeable for Harden in this series. Obviously Lillard is a really good player but I would not do that trade because Harden is the best at his position in the NBA which makes him harder to replace. Also as much as I like Daniels not sure if he's my James Harden replacement or starting 2 guard period. Kinda like the Paul George and Kyre Irving questions when at the top of their games of course you would at the very least consider those trades, but night in night out it's too close to a lateral move at best to consider.
Harden's game relies heavily on bullying for contact and drawing fouls. When he doesn't get them he usually folds.
This fan base..... Lillard is nice, but PnR PGs are as common as water right now. You could swap him with like 5 other western conference guards and the Blazers would be fine. Harden is really the only throwback 2 guard even close to comparable to the Kobe, TMac, Vince, Dwade days. All Harden needs is a real coach and a PG to keep him honest.
Harden is without question the better player but I wish we could put Lillard's heart in Harden's body.
Geez, I can't believe there are 70 people this short sighted. Damian Lillard is not in the same zip code as James Harden. Take LaMarcus off the Blazers and lets see how different his numbers look. Harden performed as a superstar without Howard. He will likely be 1st team All NBA and at worst 2nd team. Lillard is equally awful on the defensive end but harder to hide because there are more offensive minded PG's than SG's in the NBA right now. Among PG's Damian Lillard was 13th in PER this year and 7th in wins added among PG's. Yes I know those are only two statistical metrics, but it's a pretty good one. James Harden was the number 1 SG in PER and EWA. Yes SG is a weaker position. If you would like to look at the entire league, James Harden was 14th in PER and Lillard was 51st. In effective wins added, Harden was 6th in the league and Lillard was 24th. There isn't a GM on the planet Earth that would trade Damian Lillard for James Harden. I think it also fair to say that a player like Dwight Howard or Carmelo Anthony is not coming to sign with a team because they have Damian Lillard playing PG. He has ZERO cache at this point of his career.
