[What if?] How do you build the team to compete if Harden agrees to come back this summer?

Throw all of our money at Cam Johnson and Grant Williams. Shooting and defense people!

 

If Harden returns, it's mostly for a mega contract before declining.

Make no mistake it will not be for mentoring kids or strictly about the Playoffs.

If Durant, Kyrie and Joel couldn't keep him in one place....

 

With The cap space sign Harden and Cameron Johnson.

Harden
Green
Johnson
Jabari
Sengun

+ Our 2023 1st + KPJ , Eason, Tate, KMJ, Garuba, Cristopher, PJ and all the picks.
We look how it works and
We wait for the right trade.

 

Does anyone else want to see how Harden performs in the playoffs this year before considering bringing him back to Houston? He’s always tended to underperform and has often been outright bad. If that happens again this year, I don’t really see the point of making him our highest paid player. And if he has a great playoff run, I don’t see Philadelphia letting him walk.

 

Fair point.

 

It's a lie. His efficiency drops from about 61% true shooting to 58%. Durant has a worse drop-off.

 

If our only choice was Harden or Durant, ok.

But that’s not the case, and it’s not a lie that he’s a playoff underperformer:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/amp...history-rockets-nets/nngcbjxmh7rhcrcsgepqdln9

Obviously Harden would make us better - a lot better. But if he is going to be the first $60m/yr Rocket player, he better be the key to a championship. And given his age, his history and the teammates he’ll be inheriting, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation and thus it would be a poor investment of the team’s cap space.

I get it - the travesty that is this current Rockets team makes us nostalgic for the mostly successful Harden years. We are tired of losing and are willing to grasp at anything that seems like a sure way to win again. But adding a fading Harden to the current mix is a recipe for 1st round washouts and trying to build a championship around him in a narrow 2-3 year window is a sure way to find ourselves right back where we are now in 4 years but with even fewer future assets.

 

Why are people talking about championships? That’s not what we’d be signing him for.

he is what would get us to consistent playoff status while making all these developing young guys much better and giving them the top tier playmaker and floor general they so desperately need

u have to crawl before u can walk

 

I have no idea. The whole purpose of bringing him here would be to allow him to shift into a new era of his career, and model it after the Kidd/2nd Mavs era where he was the coach on the floor. The fact is you don't sign Harden unless he's perfectly clear with that as well as making his signing contingent on another move or two to have a few other veterans in the rotation. His role is to facilitate the offense, get us into our offense, make the right passes, and move the ball for open shots.

Whoever else we trade for is needing to be clear on their role as well. Ideally a perfect fit would be Stephen Adams or Valanciunas. Maybe Zubak. An enforcer type who can shore up the defense so it makes everyones life easier. The guy who I think would really shine and develop in this ideal Harden signing would be Jabari Smith who I think this would have the most value for in developing him as more of a scoring 4.

Also people forget how good Harden as a facilitator made D-Mo look when he was healthy with Harden during that one season. I wouldn't be so certain that Sengun absolutely needs to be traded. If D-Mo can thrive playing off of Harden, then I'm 100% certain that Sengun could really hit that next level if the team is bought in on moving the ball, and not playing iso step back 3 offense.

But yeah... no idea why people are talking about championships. The Rockets aren't a contender until AT LEAST one of their young prospects turns into a superstar. Harden changes very little other than to POTENTIALLY unlock their potential a bit more and make their life easier. If the plays hero ball for 40 minutes a night then yeah.. it's a bad signing. But watching Harden in Brooklyn especially gives me some hope. I think he really showed maturity into that next phase of his career when he was playing really well in Brooklyn before it went south. Claxton owes Harden half of his next paycheck.

 

Gogi is likely available now that the Bulls pick up Bev.

 

Agree

And to that extent , I'm not sure how much healthy we have to "build" around him .

However , I'm also not sure what hardens angle is besides getting a max deal ...which , I think he can get wherever he wants.

I think what pick we get matters.

Is the west weak tho ? I could see moving off of a pick and one of green / kpj if it netted us another star

Would you move green and say the #4 pick for one of OG or siakam ?

Maybe we move sengun if we get Victor. Victor , Jabari, and Tari are 3 pretty good frontcourt bets . I like sengun. But maybe he gets you someone excellent

I think harden coming back isn't likely . IKO said 70 percent , I think more like 25

Also harden would be a brilliant offensive teacher, but he's not exactly who i want teaching defense and encouraging guys there.

We will see how he does this playoffs, but I think he's definitely past his defensive peak. And while he still has a lot to offer on offense, I'm not sure you want a sieve like him for your developing bigs . They gonna be getting hammered on all game

 

Need to get some dogs and shooting. Dillon Brooks is a good vet piece to have. Grant Williams is another. And trent jr for shooting.

 

Harden is arguably the best playmaker at the guard position currently. He will make life easier for Green by the fact he will get him shots in better flow of offense instead of all the contested shots he currently takes because there is no real playmaker who can get him better looks.

 

I too am skeptical that Harden would actually come back here…if we were having a season like last year’s Pelicans, Green was on the verge of being a breakout star, and Jabari was already showing the shooting prowess he was drafted for, then I’d think it’s very likely he could leave Philly and return to Houston

definitely not for OG, and Siakam wouldn’t be enough

Green and the 4th pick should be the foundation of a trade that’s bringing u back a legit star in return

I’m not concerned about Harden’s defense because at the end of the day, he is by far the best option for us in free agency and would really help the kids develop their game

 

No no no please not Brooks. Probably the most annoying player in the NBA. Good defense but somehow needs to put up 15 bricks a game to get into that mindset. Rodman and Draymond were intense but they never had to ballhog to get in the mood to play defense. If he just stood in the corner like PJ Tucker on offense he'd be 50x the player he is.

 

I wish there were a way to get Middleton away from the Bucks

Harden
Green
Middleton
Wemby/Jabari/Walker/Thug Miller
Sengun

 

trade Sengun for Mikal Bridges

 

Middleton is a FA. We could probably wrangle enough money to give Harden 4 year 120 and nearly max Middleton.

Then trade Scoot,Tate and picks for Bridges and Claxton. #3-#5 still works to add a good prospect. Ausar Thompson does look to have high potential as a POA defender.

Sengun/Claxton
Smith/Garuba
Bridges/Eason
Green/Ausar
Harden

 

Delusional fanbois at it again. You don’t win a championship with or build around a 34 year old bum ass loser.

A prime Harden that that had teammates such as Dwight, CP3, Westbrook, KD, Irving, and Embiid couldn’t even a sniff Finals appearance since since his 3rd year. He’s been second round fodder the last 4 years in a row. Yet you want to pay him the max and try to build a Championship roster surrounding him with a bunch of clueless 22 and under kids.