Hope so. I'm not in love with the "he just needed more rest" theory. Top guys play a lot of minutes. Certainly, Harden carried a heavier load offensively in those minutes than most. But for all the load he carried, you won't convince me he was utilizing more energy that say Klay Thompson, who never stops moving and puts forth 100% on defense, as an example. In the general way that rest should help, it should help.
The dominos of this move are interesting. CP3 to Rockets. JJ not signing back with LAC. JJ maybe signing with the Nets JJ and Ryno being great friends. The Nets having the room to absorb Ryno. The Nets needing to surround D'Angelo with pure shooters. The Nets not having their draft pick next year. Ryno + VERY LITTLE sweetner to the Nets for cap space??
I'm not sure what the next step is. They are trying to be over the cap before July 1 to make the move for Paul and keep the MLE. That sort of nixes the need to move out Ryno for cap space obviously. Perhaps they are trying to move Ryno in a three team deal for Paul George.
No more hustle for that critical lose ball. Beverly could get the ball over just about anybody. He was a pint sized Rodman to the fullest and there goes the defense.
So who did we give up? I heard Bev, Dekker, a 1st round, and Williams? I don't know we had a Williams.
I get what the Rockets are doing-- they get Chris Paul, and by using the trade they actually get to preserve more assets and flexibility than they would have in a FA signing scenario. But what's Paul's thinking financially with the "opt in"? He'd get way more guaranteed money as a free agent even for just Year 1. He is sacrificing a lot of financial security to head to Houston. Also, what's the Clippers' plan? Will Griffin return to be "the man"? Will their newly acquired pieces be kept or traded for more future assets? What's their grand plan?
Yes and no. Look at Golden State. Their leaders play 33-34 MPG. Harden was 2nd, 1st, and 7th in MPG the last 3 years, all while completely carrying an offense. If you can have your stars staying under 35 MPG, that means good things are happening. I just can't stand to see another playoffs where our team basically flat runs out of gas like it did the last 2-3 years.
