(Another Harden thread) Stephen A says the Rockets aren’t giving Harden a Max deal.

Stephen A. is a entertainment genius, and a true talent in his field. However as an NBA insider, he's full of sh$t.

Every interview he ever does, big or small, he does this thing were goes on a rant, and then minutes into his rant, he conveniently comes up with "insider info" that supports his rant. The odds of him going on air with a big breaking piece of news, holding onto it for that long, not warning the producers, etc. and then just randomly remembering as he's going on a rant, are very very low.

More than likely... he's making up insider information ALL THE TIME.

......

Now, does that mean the Rockets were always planning to give Harden a max contract??... No. Logic would dictate that the Rockets wouldn't be a team that would be interested in locking up their cap for more than 2 years given the fact that they'll have to pay Jalen Green at least in 2 years. Maybe Sengun, and the year after that Jabari & Tari. Stone was likely never looking to give Harden the full max for more than 2 years if he even does get Harden in a room in free agency to offer him a contract.

Will he offer him less for more years to ensure that he retires a Rocket??... I think that's fairly likely... again... if they even get in a room with Harden to give him offers. I think most likely Stone and Tillman will make a pitch to Harden that they believe he'll be a good fit in a veteran star role, and cement a long legacy in Houston as a veteran leader, as well as break a bunch of Rocket records... but for less money along with more years. I think it would be a good situation for Harden IF he can transition to a type of point guard who can not muck up the offense if he's having a bad night like he has done in the past in the postseason.

 

They won't have to pay Green much unless he gets A LOT better by then on both sides of the ball.

 

It was never about getting a max deal. It’s about a multi year deal that will see him retire a Rocket.

$160 mil for 5 years and I bet Harden will bite.

 

@J.R. you are on fire

 

Give Harden max contract? lol.
I don't want him even for free.

Choking artist.

 

Him being a "choker" is irrelevant to the Rockets. By the time this team is ready to contend we are hoping it's one of the young guys we recently drafted or drafted this year that is our "closer". When this team is ready to contend, it won't be Harden closing. It will be someone like Green or Wemby if we draft him.

 

Really? I don't think he will necessarily be better than Sengun next season. On one half of the court Sengun will give you more efficient scoring and Harden will get you a few more assists (both around 20ppg). On the other half of the court under Udoka I think Sengun will be a better defender than 34 year old Harden. Harden likely to be the better player, but it's close and I wouldn't be surprised if Sengun takes a big leap in year 3 under a great new coach.

 

I would love Bones on the roster

 

His losing mentality would be taught to the young players.

 

honestly , in the playoffs … prolly not

green would go 2/18
Smith 1/15
Kpj might go 3/15 but he isn’t gonna have a positive assist to TO ratio

harden may come up small in big moments . He may not play great defense
He’s still better than anyone in our team .

I love how the green sucks crowd fights the kpj sucks crowd . Imo they both suck . The only guy on our roster that actually could play better than harden is Tate

 

Your dedication to Tate is funny. Do you watch how NBA defenses guard him when one of these kids like Green is on the floor?

Maybe he can see the floor well because there ain't a defender in front of him blocking his view.


NBA defenses play off him

 

He'll get the max cause teams desperately overspend for relevance... We're one em

 

Stephen A doesn’t know sh#t about the rockets or Harden. He’s just shooting his mouth off so he can hear himself talk.

 

Wait……are you saying the team would be worse next season if harden is the pg then if kpj is the pg?

 

3/$90M

Would.

 

Ya that's frankly absurd. People don't understand how much experience matters in the NBA. Harden just being vet pg by itself helps this team a lot.

 

Yeah, lol. Talking about how our kids would perform in game 7 in the playoffs? Our team can barely win *a* regular season game, and we’re sitting here talking about the playoffs?

 

Correction. He shoots his mouth off, because it makes him millions. Anybody that takes anything he says seriously is an idiot.

 

I'm saying that it would harm the team long term by completely neutering the new coach before he even gets a chance AND having a cancerous locker room presence like Harden around the young players.

There's no question that KPJ would benefit the most from having another competent ball handler on the team....but that small short term benefit isn't worth the future of the franchise taking a nose dive.

 

Doubtful.

Green is a chucker, but he'll always keep chucking till he pads his raw numbers. So if anything he'd have 20 points on 30 shots.

KPJ in a bad game probably does as well or better than what we saw from Harden in game 7.

It's impossible to overstate just what a pathetic quitter Harden is any time things get tough.