Bill Simmons: “In the whisper circles, everybody seems to think he’s going back to Houston.”

$50 mil cheaper for a worse player and also injury prone?

Folks b suggesting we sign anybody but harden.

Who's next Kyrie Irving?

 

why in the world is anyone worried about cap space on a team that is no where near contending. The next step to adding a top pick this year, is clearly showing they are the next phases of towards learning how to win. Thanks to Tilman, draft pick control goes down the drain. Folks want to act like the next signing needs to go from worst team in the league to a contender. newsflash, that doesn't exist here. Half this roster won't even be here by the time one day the rockets are lucky enough to get back to what it was just a few years ago. You need someone exactly like Harden to be the bridge for the next few years so that in those few years guys like Bari/JG/Sengun etc are 23-24 continue to develop and by then they have a good idea of what it takes to win in this league and by then they have a much better understanding to take the reigns and be the actual faces of the rockets.

Oh the Tilman LTS effect. worrying about cap space even when it doesn't matter. Save money for what. what exactly are you saving for.

Lets be cheap when the rockets are a 65 win team and perennial contender. Also, lets be cheap when the rockets struggle to even get to 20 wins. Awesome Tilman logic.

 

I’ve been praying daily to all deities



now if Harden doesn’t come and we have to settle for throwing buckets of cash at Freddie, then it is what it is…not like there’s an abundance of great choices out there this summer

he would make the team better, but not nearly to the level that Harden would

and I see people say that Harden would only come here for the money so we shouldn’t want him, but that will be the case with Fredrick and any other free agent we sign as well so it’s a moot point to me…at least Harden’s way better than the rest of em, fulfills our needs, and has a proven track record of making players better

 

that's a proper stance to take.

I been hearing all these nonsense, oh signing harden won't win us a ring, broskis we haven't won a ring since 1995.


All i know is if our goal is to go for play-in or playoffs next season, harden is our best bet. Man is way too talented to not make it into the playoffs.

 

Harden is not going to lead this team to contend anyway. If none of our young guys (including the one we will pick this draft) turns out to be franchise level player, having Harden accomplishes nothing other than winning more regular season games. And then we are looking at a 36 year old dude making 50 million a year.

 

cp3 was able to guide the young thunders to the playoff, the idea or stance that harden isn't even able to do the same is just wild.

 

You don't turn out to be a franchise level player on your own. You need guys like harden to help bridge that.

A franchise level player also isn't being decided in the next few years either in that same time frame

Harden is clearly capable of having this team play meaningful games for the next few years. that's exactly what this team needs as part of development. that's part of the process actually if someone is trying to rebuild the right way

 

This is exactly what I've been arguing--time frame. We are not going to be a contending team for at least two more years. I am not against having Harden, just that the time is not right. By the time we are getting good, Harden will be going down hill with a huge contract still owed to him.

If the goal is to help the young guys achieve franchise level, then you don't need a Harden. You just need a good vet for now who will be a complementary player when the kids reach their potentials.

 

pretty much this

 

so why are you even worried about how much hes paid when in that time frame it actually doesn't matter. that doesn't make sense. The bridge part gets extremely overlooked on your part. It's a necessary part of development. I can't help but laugh at folks worrying about money now when they can't even win 20 games. and still worry about money when this team is a 65 win perennial contender. Just stay not spending forever. save cap space forever. that's not how the business of the nba works when you want to win.

No you do need someone like Harden. Otherwise you're just settling for nobodies like EG Theis who have 0 impact. While being vets, they don't have close to the impact of a Harden. So nobody cares. lets be that team that signs overpaid limited impact players that don't lead to actual wins.

no thanks. but I guess when Tilman is your owner this franchise doesn't have much of a choice

 

A good vet like who? Y’all just say “sign a vet” and name no alternatives. Who is this good vet, and why would he be a better addition than Harden?

 

and if the Rockets just overpay some random vet who doesn’t impact winning or make guys better, then next year will be just more of the same huge amount of losses and playing stupid basketball

u don’t go from worst in the league 3 straight years to contending 2 years from now

 

Honestly it’s not that complicated.

In the NBA, if you can sign a currently max quality player to a max contract as a free agent, you do it and then you celebrate.

No GM wouldn’t, no matter what situation their team is in.

All the other stuff (the importance of fit, opportunity cost, team timeline, future trade value) is baked into to that accepted wisdom. You do it 100 times out of 100.

 

Harden has moved to fourth on the latest basketball reference MVP power rankings only behind Embiid, Jokic and Gianni's.He is also 9th in the of NBA .com power rankings but let’s go after Freddy flint stone Van fleet.

 

when Morey re-signs Harden let us know what the backup plan is

 

The problem is that Philly has no way to realistically improve their team. That Harris contract is absolutely toxic. He is stuck on their team for another year at almost $40M.

 

The backup plan should never been Fred flint stone. . I would rather sign Russell and shore up the auxiliary pieces.

 

Overpaying Max money to guys who don't deserve it is not the path to a great team. That being said a lot of assumptions are being made about how much salary people will be offered and accept. Maybe Harden gets 50 mil/year on his next deal or maybe it is less. Currently he is making less than Tobias Harris though. I don't know how it got to Harden vs Van Fleet, but Van Fleet is probably not worth 30 mil + and Harden not worth 40 mil+ (for more than 3 years).

I would take 2 or 3 of Seth Curry, Dillon Brooks, Derick Rose, Reggie Jackson, Otto Porter, Rui Hachimura, Kelly Oubre, etc on a good deal vs Van Fleet or Harden on a bad one.

 

Either way they are screwed. If Harden leaves they are still so far over the cap that they have no room to improve unless they trade Harris and Maxey for an albatross contract and far inferior players like Beal Or lavine to replace harden. They will lose harden and depth to take on a bad deal



Losing Harden will also will not make Joel Embiid happy.