I agree that Harden thinks his exit was not fine and that he feels he had to reimburse the franchise. I am thinking that his first stint was a net positive though and that he could only tarnish it with a second stint and his aging body. He is no Lebron James and he got no son named Bronny to guide him here. Give him a minimum contract when he is ready to hang up his shoes when the time comes, but him signing his last big contract here, is not really necessary.
Oh man I'm shattered for Harden. That was his best chance at a title since 2018 and sadly maybe the last where he can be a top 2 player on a championship team. He's talked about his depression before and I worry for him after this series. I hope he's in therapy because that's why he's getting fatter than his peers and partying more than them. I REALLY don't want him back now though. Please let someone else pay him and let's see if we can bring him home when we reach the point where the only thing we're lacking is the difference between a very good and an elite floor general. Till then we can totally get by with a pretty good floor general who plays defense. We'll load up at other positions/functions.
True but if silas bench the 6th best player of the league dont give him enough attempts. Silas gave kpj and green freedom to take all the shoots how sengun can take houston to playoffs then?
He sure did. To be honest though I don't care about that because he's not the Tatum or Embiid of his team. His team SHOULD win even if you knew before the game that this is the performance he'd have. Mostly I blame it on Doc, Sixers should have finished it in 6 when Mazulla raised the white flag and agreed to run Udoka's system. He should have been prepared to deal with that - see how the Warriors annihilated Udoka's defense in the Finals without a talent advantage. As far as our Rockets though the team me and you care about: we just need to add guys who are pretty sure to earn their whole contracts. We need to add guys who demand off ball movement defensively and offensively. We need guys with championship experience. We need guys who give effort when the team is slumping. We need guys who are still in love with practice. All the elite passing in the world won't make up for the things we need that Harden doesn't have. We need to wait a year.
They need at least two guys that are smart, can shoot, defend, hustle and are true team players. One of them needs to have proven that he can run a team. Should be going after guys like Reaves, C Johnson, H Barnes, B Lopez and maybe a FVV. A lot depends on the lottery. But no way in hell should they bring in any questionable characters, dudes that have injury history and a big no to broken down Harden for obvious reasons.
It's funny how a player is really who they are no matter what age and which team they are on. the body language on Harden in game 7 is just lol... literally triggers my PTSD as a Rockets fan. How many times have we seen this in crucial games in the playoffs. Some things just never change. Joel and Harden is a bad pairing when the game is on the line, both shrink like little b*tches. I think about all the most important games we have had in Houston, it's always someone else that made up for Harden when he starts sulking, whether it was CP, JSmith, even Dwight Howard during the Portland series, Ariza at times, PJ at times.
Harden is the most frustrating player alive. Only he would manage to win Philly 2 games by himself in the most clutch fashion only to erase all of that by putting up consistent piss poor games in elimination games. If there was ever a player who needed to see a shrink about pressure etc, it would be James. There is no denying it that he feels it in pressure moments. You could see it in the first quarter when he started trying to bait fouls and turn the ball over. I wanted him to win a ring so bad, so yesterday was heartbreaking to watch.
You first reported back on Christmas of Harden-Houston reunion. Where does all of that stand? Woj: It was a real possibility back on Christmas and remains so now. Houston is a very real possibility in free agency. They have upwards of $60M in cap space. They want to be much better next season. Harden pushed his way out of Houston when he felt he reached the end of the line there as a contender and got to Brooklyn. That obviously did not last long. Morey had always targeted Harden to bring him to Philly. He got him there and now with free agency upon him, the Sixers have to decide how much they want to invest long term in Harden. There’s a comfort level in Houston. He has family there. He’s very comfortable in that environment. This is an organization where he knows ownership, he knows the front office. Regardless for the Rockets, If they win the lottery tomorrow night, my sense is that would not change the Rockets intentions to pursue Harden. It may be a leverage play. Houston may be his way to get his long term money he wants in Philly but I wouldn’t underestimate it as just a leverage play. I think he’s very serious about returning. Philly has strong relationships in that organization, starting with Morey.
just seems like too much smoke of him coming back. His contract shouldn’t really hurt too much since most of our guys are on their rookie deals for a couple more years.
I've been saying to those who keep asking for "alternative" options. Just because you and I do not know of an alternative option does not mean there is none and it certainly does not mean their plan (getting Harden) isn't a bad idea.
Holy sh*t, the lottery is tomorrow?!? I had no idea damn, time to start preparing my mind, body, and soul
I rebuke this post in the name of basketball jesus only #6 I acknowledge is a 6 piece order of wings half honey BBQ, half lemon pepper
Honestly, it might be in Harden's best interest to take his player option. After him cementing his legacy as a bum, I don't think those large offers are coming. The 35 mil he could get from Philly next year by simply picking up his player option would be more than I'd be willing to offer him in a 2 year deal with the second year being a team option.
