ESPN Insider: Rockets are considering offering a "monster deal" to James Harden?

And he was upset about not getting touches. He wants to be a first option but it's hard when you play with two top 10 players in the NBA who have been around longer than you.

 

I-D-I-O-T

 

Westbrick had a better series? You cant be serious. The only "good game" West brick had was game 4, which took him 32 shots to get 40 points. Did you know how many shots KD took? 19. James? 8. The last game he was 4/20. You were right about James didn't have a good series, but Westbrick played as bad as anybody else but Durant.

BTW, before lebron got his ring, one thing people criticized him most was the 'killer instinct' you mentioned. That didn't stop him from becoming the champion he is today. If he was like you and lots nay sayers believed, he would have been still chasing his ring.

I don't know if Harden is gonna turn into a superstar like Manu, but using a series performance to overlook a players potential is absolutely ridiculous.

 

Well, need to get used to it, the Lin got more form a Miami game, and that was hilarious. This is what happens to young talent players, they get criticized for everything, there never will be an end.

Look on the bright side, when your criticized, your being cared by the public, when noone criticize you, your done.

 

Westbrook had the better series. The fact that you are calling him 'Westbrick' says everything about what you may think about him though. I mean really, he shot over 60% and scored 43 points, explain to me how this wasn't a 'Good game' ?

That's cool, I never questioned Lebron's killer instinct so I'm not sure why everyone's else opinion about it is bought up here.....although he did have a tendency to miss key free throws.

Nope, never said the series made him who he was. Obviously I said he'd be a multi-time all-star the thing that always concerned me the most was his mentality and I'm not the first person to think that James was cool with just being a role player and nothing else.

 

I have said it before, and I will say it again: I feel pretty strongly that no team which has Westbrook as a major component will ever win a championship. He just does not have what it takes between the ears. The Rockets game last year proved it. Ironically, had the Thunder allowed Harden to continue running the offense late in the game, instead of putting things back in Westbrook's hands, OKC would have won that game easily. Westbrook lost that game as much as Houston won it.

 

I'm not a big fan of Westbrook either, I don't think it is that far-fetched to suggest that the Thunder traded the wrong guy. I guess we'll just see.

I don't think it's clear cut either way, Westbrook has the edge but he had the opportunity to take as many shots as he want.

Honestly I think Harden understands the game of basketball a lot more than Westbrook did...and Durant did...he just has great Bball I.Q.

 

Agree with 100%! I'm so sick of reading everyone on this site who says that 1 player isn't worth the max because of a stretch of 4 games in the NBA Finals. It was his 1st NBA Finals appearance and he was only 23 years old! I guess after he got swept by San Antonio in the finals in 2007, LeBron wasn't worth the max either.....

 

this +1

 

i used to get frustrated with everyone on this site too, until i realized that most of the people on this site are idiots. once you realize that you will be free to be amused by a bunch of "grown" men get emotional about the weirdest things.

stay strong.

 

Exactly, because they were both leaders of their teams. Wait...

 

who cares....

its about harden... Westbrook isn’t as good as its ppg make him appear...if you watch basketball you can see how awesome plays are balanced by his bonehead shot selection...he’s the guy that has too much confidence. Kick the the pass to the open man running behind you or in the corner...or....take on lebron, wade and bosh 1 on 3........1 on 3 here I come.

Anyways...anyone reading this that says this isn’t a good move is pure and simple incompetent when it comes to basketball.
Harden is one of the best offensive players in the game DEFINITELY TOP TEN...

Harden per 36 min avgs would be 20 points on 50% fg, 40% 3pt% , almost 5 rebounds and 4 assits

His production doubled when one of durant and westbrook were off the court ... his points went up but so did his fg%...

The guy actually shoots higher percentages when is given more ball handling and shot opportunities.

The thunder were out scored by 1 point per game with harden off the court and outscored their oppenets by 7 when he was on the court.

He is top 5 in True Fg %, I believe top 5 in PER ... I saw 4 statistics where he wsa top 5 in nba...but I couldnt find it to post the link if anyone has it.

 

:grin:

This thread is a goldmine.

 

What's even more crazy is that he was actually only 22. He is now 23 this whole season with tons of big game and Olympic experience playing with the best. Considering how he played in the Western Conference Finals, which is still pretty pressure packed, I will give Harden the benefit of the doubt for not performing at his best. Lebron looked cowardly in the Finals against the Mavs but came out swinging these past playoffs. I don't know if I can ever forgive Lebron for letting the Mavs win a championship!

 

I dont understand people on this board...I mean it almost insane how illogical these people are.

There is not 20 players better than james harden.

There are 30 teams. That means hes in the top 2/3 of of max level player on each roster considering that each team had one superstar level player. Which they dont...several teams have multiple...aka heat/lakers...

So it prob puts them at one of 10-12 teams with a player of this quality. Rosters are built with cap space to take on 1 to 2 max players easy if you have value contracts and well managed cap.

Rockets do. James harden by definition is max level player. Rudy gay makes like twice as much as harden and harden is twice as good statically as rudy.

I am just not sure how people cant comprehend this...Hardens play alone warrants the contract...but this is multiplied by the fact of the NBAs economy... supply and demand... There is not 30 super star max worthy players in the nba and every nba team does not have 1.

Rockets Can make harden a max...and another player a max while keeping 90% of their current roster intact.

Please stop puking your ignornat rants about the money... I have not heard one NBA insider, GM...analyst or anyone remotely logically person agree to this.

HARDEN is a MAX LEVEL PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry I am so annoyed by hearing this from the masses on here and even worse on the radio. Most these people couldnt site hardens fg% but are quick to say we are over paying. Give me a break.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8566897/a-look-oklahoma-city-trade-james-harden-houston-rockets

If you care enough please take a read of the breakdown of trade from NBA advanced statistics guru Zach Lowe.

I am not arguing with you whether Westbrick is better than Harden or vice versa. Simply stating if a player like Westbrick gets called a TOP 10 player of the league and gets a max contract, Harden definitely deserves to get paid and recognized just as much for what he did.

I ain't the only one calls Westbrook "Westbrick". Magic Johnson even called him "the worst PG of all time in finals". AND, Westbrick did NOT have a better series. He and Harden played equally bad. He was 4 for 20 in the last final game. The best game he had he took 32 shots!? Please. Not even Michael or Kobe took 32 shots in the finals.

And, sir, you asked me how is 43 points in 32 shots defines a bad game. /smh
There's many reasons Thunder lost the series. Westbrick was a big one.

And people use one series to criticize Harden's worth...

Harden has a lot to prove. Period. Especially to Debbie Downers.

 

i believe he will make more than Martin does per year. so maybe 14-17 per year.

 

Huh? Please explain your sarcastic comment (seriously). I have no idea what you're saying.

 

It absolutely is! It's full of people who are sure that Jeremy Lamb and our picks were all going to turn into hall of famers and that James Harden will be the next bust. There's going to be so much egg on people's face from this one thread that I can't wait for it to get bumped next year when the Rockets are going to the Western Conference finals with their leading scorer James "Fear the Beard" Harden.

 

Coach just has a sort of quasi-'little man's syndrome' where (intentionally or not) he always favors the underdog/little guy/unproven guy no matter what the circumstances may be.

He truly believes that all our rookies will be stars, at least in some capacity, and henceforth will be worth some kind of maximum contract. But in the same breadth says that Harden, a proven player and star, is neither such or worth a max contract.

This is truly delusion and homerism at it's finest. I suppose at least he's eternally positive, which is better than being an eternal negative nancy ala DD, but some of the stuff he and other people frequently say on this board is beyond me.