Woj: Rockets want to trade Harden "sooner rather than later"

I don't think Harden turned down the money because it wasn't enough. He turned it down on principle because Tilman tried to buy his way out of a mess and he, more or less, tried to treat Harden like one of this kids. "What's the problem? Ah who cares. Here, have some money. This will make you feel better".

 

Porter can be a solid player in the league but he shouldn't be the centerpiece in any trade for Harden.

 

Or maybe just maybe he doesn’t want to be here.

 

There are no guarantees, especially with young players that are still developing. I certainly am not guaranteeing Porter will become a super star. What I am saying is that he has a better chance of being a super star that the other options available to the Rockets in trade and that is taking into account his prior back issues.

Concerning missing two seasons with his back post surgery, he had an infection post surgery and it also typically takes athletes two full years to recover from the type of surgery he had.

Porter's game is the most like Kevin Durant. They both are long and shoot well and can put the ball on the floor when needed. Players with those type of skill sets have the potential to be elite players. I never said that Porter was as good as Durant either.

Also I would say that Porter is pretty close to an elite shooter at this point and is capable of becoming a very high volume scorer.

 

Agreed.

 

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Saying you don't understand genius talk is a sign of genius in itself...


Go Rockets!!!
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Right but the money, again, was just a feeble attempt at Tilman to try and buy his way out of this mess. Instead of looking at the entire situation ("Why does James want to leave?" "Where did we go wrong?" "What can we do to salvage this situation?") he went the "I'll give you more money to stay" route.

 

In this scenario are we getting back Jamal Murray or Jokic? This is a half sarcastic, half inquisitive question because, for cap purposes, we're going to need to take back more salary and if it's Porter Jr, Gary Harris and and Will Barton that's basically two expiring contracts at the end of the season. So then it becomes Porter and picks for Harden. That doesn't seem like an even trade.

 

I think the first two games have given the indication that he's not going to do that. He's not stupid and I think he's self aware of the lack of offers the Rockets are receiving.

 

I don’t care how mad I am at my boss or how shitty I think he is. If he’s offering me $50M I can’t hate him that much. Especially for a cheap ass like a Tilman if that’s not the ultimate apology or sign of respect I don’t know what is.

 

We can agree to disagree my friend. I'll admit I'm not a fan of some of Porter's body language, lack of self awareness and disinterested defense either. The offensive potential is fine but their are a ton of red flags with this kid that turns me off. If we trade for him and he balls out I'll tip my hat to you because I will have been proven wrong. But I will be thrilled to be wrong, but for now I don't look at him and think franchise guy.

 

After watching the last two games I’ve come to the conclusion unless I’m getting Anthony Davis and 3 first rounders you have to do all you can to keep him.

 

No, I don't think the Rockets would get back Murray although I don't think it as far fetched as people believe. Murray had a great playoff run but other than that he hasn't been especially special.

My guess is that the Rockets would have a third team involved with Harris, Porter, Hampton and multiple draft picks going out.

It really hinges on how the Rockets view Michael Porter

 

The problem for Tilman is that he's not the only one that can pay Harden. Any team that Harden ends up on can pay him X amount of money via an extension. Would it be the same $50 million? That i'm not 100% certain on but I would think it would be possible given the fact that they are trading for a player with 2 years left on his contract so, in essence, the "new" team would have his bird rights. Barring any catastrophic injury or regression in productivity on the court, Harden will get paid regardless of where he ends up. So, yea, that $50 million Tilman threw out isn't an apology or "sign of respect"--it's a weakass attempt to try and fix things with money with someone that actually has a pretty good amount of.

 

Understood.

I am not guaranteeing anything, my position is that among the players available to the Rockets in trade, Porter is the guy with the highest upside.

For all I know Porter could be a mess off the court. As for his defense, so far he really isn't that interested in playing any.

 

I agree with you......... Harden has acted like a professional so far. I was simply saying that I don't think the offers have been great so far because I think teams were waiting to see if he sabotaged the Rockets.

 

Keep in mind that Harden has a worth of close to a half billion dollars.

So while a hundred million dollars guaranteed is huge money, it means a lot less to Harden than most people.

 

That's fair though I think it also hinges on Harris' trade value across the league because Harris plus picks will probably not get you much in return the end game is to keep Porter and Hampton. You might be able to pluck one of Orlando's bigs with Harris and picks but then you're rolling the dice on a couple of bigs (Bamba, Isaac?) that have injury history and are still pretty raw.

 

It seems Lavine has had enough in Chicago. Does Lavine and Patrick Williams form the basis for a trade?

 

Exactly. Which is why it's comical for Tilman to have ever even thought putting out an extension would work. Either he's smart to have done that so that fans and the city turn on Harden because he didn't sign the extension or Tilman's so out of touch with reality that he thought this tactic was an ace he had. I'm leaning heavily towards the latter.