Zach Lowe's brilliant conspiracy theory about the Harden trade to the Nets.

Ouch…detective Reeko out here exposing closet gsw fanboys.

 

It doesn’t make sense to use Tilman and Hardens hatred to increase trade value, that would decrease it if anything.

I think after the Westbrook playoff exit, every single member of this organization knew they could not win a title with Tilman. Stone moved quickly to secure Patrick’s ear.

Harden knew he was out, so he and WB faked an argument so that Westbrook wouldn’t get stuck in a rebuild with Tilman (good judgement, see: John Wall). Evacuate Russ.

Here’s an important part of the puzzle: Morey must know Harden’s plan already at this particular point. Because if not, he’s getting duped into a horrendous forced trade. I’m going to say, if that had happened, I don’t think Harden would be a Sixer today. It will have been discussed sometime between the playoff exit and a few days before WB trade demands.

I think that MDA’s eerie behavior and vagueness was a symptom of him keeping that secret. Morey surely keeps MDA in the loop, certain that MDA won’t want to rebuild either. Evacuate Mike.

Morey knows it’s over. He knew Tilman had gotten in the way of a title and after this WB trade return he’s being pushed into, the team would be locked into a bad place. He knows extreme resistance to LUxury Tax and amateur meddling in team affairs is toxic. So he’s out too. Willing to lie to get it done. I think he has a verbal offer from the Sixers at this point.

Morey must bolt before Harden because negotiating Harden’s trade to the team he’s joining would be a major scandal. Morey switched sides fast enough to get into negotiation with Stone. Didn’t work out initially.

Harden was willing to win in Brooklyn but I don’t think he liked the coach or Kyrie. I think he just told Durant he doesn’t believe in this team and that having Kyrie occupying a max slot and holding organizational clout is not a great future. He felt the effects of that first hand when he found himself carrying a bunch of gleaguers and old guys again. Understandable imo. He would not have walked out on a team that had shown it can get its **** together.

Sixers may win it this season.

 

…but the nets trading for Simmons screwed up our picks though.

 

Well lots of question marks. Still a lot up in the air at this point.

 

Maybe, he could quit again

 

Not sure how that is the case, Harden would not be leaving FA if the Nets are doing well. The only reason the Nets are where they are now is specifically because of Irving and his refusal to get vaccinated, this will still be a problem even with Simmons.

On a short term basis, the least valuable projected pick that the Rockets got from the Nets (2022) is now looking like a potential mid-first rounder.

On a long term basis, Durant's health is questionable, and so is Irving's availability. Both Simmons and Irving have serious character issues, and Simmons will find himself in Harden's shoes before long. Harden's ability to carry teams when healthy is unquestionable, and Simmons isn't on that same tier if he's left alone without Durant and Irving. Not to mention, Simmons and Irving's character issues is almost a ticking time bomb.

Furthermore, Harden will always be a valued asset in the trade market, whereas Simmons is difficult to move. This trade ensures Brooklyn is now stuck with two very expensive long term contracts, both of which have very questionable value on the market and is almost untradeable. If they do not work out, the Nets are guaranteed to be surrendering high quality picks to the Rockets for a long while.

 

zach lowe fell off

 

Back when I was a Morey shill, I would have leaned into this theory heavily.

 

Get this motherf*cker!

 

I envy you. As my Houston sports fandom has grown, the more I tune out of sports if the Houston teams aren't at least alight.

I have a lot of time on my hands now that 2/3rds of the big 3 Houston sports teams are in the gutter.

 

Too bad he couldn’t sway them to give us a FRP for Wall. This story would take yet another interesting twist.

 

Maybe. It remains to be seen what his impact will be. You have to continue to expect KD will miss large portions of seasons to come. That means your leaders are Simmons and Irving who aren’t exactly the most mentally tough/stable guys you want leading your franchise. I suppose you could argue the same for Harden…

 

i mean it's weird that no one knows what Philly offer to Houston really was...

 

Except for the part where the Nets were 2 inches from the finals.

 

Bro, Tilman was in cahoots with Bill Gates to create the corona virus and unleash it on the world. All to increase the value of those picks. It goes deep.

 

76ers must have a room full of psychics and
mind ops personnel that are pretty good.

Wonder if they could tell me which cryptocurrency will be the last one standing when we go global digital economy/currency?

 

Ah, the dumbass pretending to be a genius strategy.

I see it a lot on CF.