Did you watch that series? Davis put up 28 pts, 15 boards, 2 steals and 2+ blocks a game while hitting just under half his shots against a defense game planning largely for him alone. NO didn't have a chance against a historically great team, but putting that all on AD is about as ridiculous as the trolls who call Harden a loser for never beating the Warriors.
Harden is not a loser. Thats what you are by default if you dont win. Besides not even Lebron could beat the Warriors by himself. It would be pointless to swap Harden for Davis. Both star players just at different positions. Hardens more valuable for the Rockets because of his ability to literally create something out of nothing. Plus Hardens just a stud, efficient, and stays healthy . Which is the most important.
James Harden averaged 35 pts, 7 rebs, 6 assists, and 2 steals in the series against the Warriors while shooting 44% from the field and 35% from the three... .....against a defense planning largely for him alone. ...against the same historically great team .... with better results against them than Davis. Harden also had to facilitate the team offense. Davis has tough enough time carrying his team in the regular season to get them to playoffs. Harden has done that on multiple occasions and landed his team with high seeds. Harden also has a better playoff resume than Davis does. So back to the question, what makes Davis the superior player than Harden?
It's certainly not clear that Davis is better today. My point was that it was absurd to look at the Dubs dispatching the Pelicans and conclude it means Davis isn't a great player. Davis is a much stronger defender and rebounder, and clearly not the scorer or creator Harden is. He's also close to four years younger. Trades aren't just for today - if the talent level is close, a 26 year old star (likely just coming into his peak years) is significantly more valuable than a 30 yr old star (in his peak, likely to decline soon). And in Houston's more immediate future, putting CP3 back on the ball full time is a better use of his remaining skill set than paying him $40M to stand in the corner and watch Harden dribble. This swap would also go a long way to addressing the rebounding issues many here have bemoaned.
But I never said that. The reason I brought that up was to show that Davis hasnt done anything that would show him to be the superior player compared to Harden.
Harden gains the advantage over Davis I think because he's able to impact the game more offensively and has shown to be DURABLE over the course of multiple NBA seasons/playoffs. Davis is a better two way player IF he's healthy, but what's the point of having all that talent if he's not able to play in a game? I'd rate Harden as a better overall player because he can win games alone by contributing more offensively that his lack of lock down defense (what Davis is able to bring, WHEN HEALTHY) significantly edges what Davis is able to bring to a basketball team. If Chris Paul was slightly younger and less injury prone, I would definitely agree that we would be a much better off if we could swap Harden for Davis but as we've seen in New Orleans Davis hasn't been successful in carrying his team to the playoffs alone. I can't bear to imagine having an injury prone CP3 and AD on the same team either but that's just me
Ok. Sure. Like I said, it's far from clear that he's better right now. Harden is more accomplished, part of which is due to being older. Which is part of why any evaluation of his future value needs to consider inevitable decline.
