Welcome James Harden!

Jay555 · Post #1881 » by **Jay555** » Thu May 18, 2023 5:02 am

How could Biid let Holford do that to him FFS. See how Bam freaking adebayor handled the twice towers..

Of course, the Heat are deadly from 3's. That makes a world of difference.

Gabe Vicent, Martin etc these third string dudes just sank big shots after big shots, each and every round.

Speaking of relible shooters, we have none. The Heat have a bunch.

the_process · Post #1882 » by **the_process** » Thu May 18, 2023 5:02 am

rocketsfan100 wrote:Beal is the king of empty stats. Has he even led a team to the second round?

He’s lost quite a few time for the Wiz in the 2nd round. At least three IIRC. Fit right in here.

You have limited assets if Harden walks. You have to try and fill the Harden TPE without trading Maxey or Harris. The most realistic shot at that is Beal. The hate dude gets is crazy, too.

That being said, I interpret Harden’s apparent desires to mean “max me and hire D’Antoni”. That means Houston is out. It’s Phoenix or he’s re-signing.

phillynative · Post #1883 » by **phillynative** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:14 am

Brick Ross wants the opportunity to be himself. Not sure what that means. He was himself and it wasn't good enough.

76thBearCub · Post #1884 » by **76thBearCub** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:22 am

Still think the best bet is punt on next year and hope somebody good wants to come play with Embiid and Maxey a year from now. Harden ain't it now and he's guna be dreadful for his cap in 3 years

76thBearCub · Post #1885 » by **76thBearCub** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:37 am

Team won't be as good of course. Probably has a 2nd round ceiling.

Jay555 · Post #1886 » by **Jay555** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:44 am

76thBearCub wrote:Still think the best bet is punt on next year and hope somebody good wants to come play with Embiid and Maxey a year from now. Harden ain't it now and he's guna be dreadful for his cap in 3 years

The thing is Morey is calling the shots so He’s gonna offer Harden that fat contract lol.

rocketsfan100 · Post #1887 » by **rocketsfan100** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:48 am

Jay555 wrote:
76thBearCub wrote:Still think the best bet is punt on next year and hope somebody good wants to come play with Embiid and Maxey a year from now. Harden ain't it now and he's guna be dreadful for his cap in 3 years

The thing is Morey is calling the shots so He’s gonna offer Harden that fat contract lol.

Nope. I’ll be shocked if Morey offers him a 4 year max. Flabbergasted. Infact I love harden but I think he will be in for a rude shock if he thinks anyone will offers him more than 40 million after the way the season ended…

Jay555 · Post #1888 » by **Jay555** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:52 am

rocketsfan100 wrote:
Jay555 wrote:
76thBearCub wrote:Still think the best bet is punt on next year and hope somebody good wants to come play with Embiid and Maxey a year from now. Harden ain't it now and he's guna be dreadful for his cap in 3 years

The thing is Morey is calling the shots so He’s gonna offer Harden that fat contract lol.

Nope. I’ll be shocked if Morey offers him a 4 year max. Flabbergasted. Infact I love harden but I think he will be in for a rude shock if anyone offers him more than 40 million after the way the season ended…

Nah I doubt he gets max. 35mil per year is what I think.

76thBearCub · Post #1889 » by **76thBearCub** » Thu May 18, 2023 10:03 am

He's looking for one last big ass contract. Hence all the Houston rumors.

Magicman125 · Post #1890 » by **Magicman125** » Thu May 18, 2023 12:59 pm

76thBearCub wrote:Team won't be as good of course. Probably has a 2nd round ceiling.

So they're just as good as the past 6 years?

FlyingArrow · Post #1891 » by **FlyingArrow** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:06 pm

76thBearCub wrote:He's looking for one last big ass contract. Hence all the Houston rumors.

He might stay here to maximize the value of the contract (5 years) even if it's less money per year.

FlyingArrow · Post #1892 » by **FlyingArrow** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:07 pm

Does anyone know exactly what is meant by Harden's "basketball freedom" quote? What exactly what he expected to do here that he didn't want to do?

Wilfried · Post #1893 » by **Wilfried** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:10 pm

FlyingArrow wrote:Does anyone know exactly what is meant by Harden's "basketball freedom" quote? What exactly what he expected to do here that he didn't want to do?

Don't want to have to give the ball to Joel all the time?

Negrodamus · Post #1894 » by **Negrodamus** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:15 pm

FlyingArrow wrote:Does anyone know exactly what is meant by Harden's "basketball freedom" quote? What exactly what he expected to do here that he didn't want to do?

I imagine he wants a more fast paced offense with a center that beats him down the court and doesn't require many touches each possession, a la Clint Capela or when RoCo was the center.

It feels like the quote is directed at Embiid and the slower style we run.

FlyingArrow · Post #1895 » by **FlyingArrow** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:22 pm

Negrodamus wrote:
FlyingArrow wrote:Does anyone know exactly what is meant by Harden's "basketball freedom" quote? What exactly what he expected to do here that he didn't want to do?

I imagine he wants a more fast paced offense with a center that beats him down the court and doesn't require many touches each possession, a la Clint Capela or when RoCo was the center.

It feels like the quote is directed at Embiid and the slower style we run.

Then let's get Obi Toppin to pair with Harden.

Kova · Post #1896 » by **Kova** » Thu May 18, 2023 3:58 pm

I still don't understand why Rockets would bring back a 34yo Harden who will:
1) not make them competitive
2) doesn't fit with their young core as they are clearly rebuilding
3) take a lot of their cap space as he is looking for a longterm 35m+ per year

It just doesn't make sense for me. I think it's just leverage play. If he gets that contract from the Rockets, let him go.

rocketsfan100 · Post #1897 » by **rocketsfan100** » Fri May 19, 2023 12:37 am

Simon stiles on twitter says Houston is going to offer him 4 years 140 million dollars. That’s about 35 million a year. I can’t see Morey matching that. Certainly not the years

TheBallsDeeper · Post #1898 » by **TheBallsDeeper** » Fri May 19, 2023 12:51 am

Kova wrote:I still don't understand why Rockets would bring back a 34yo Harden who will:
1) not make them competitive
2) doesn't fit with their young core as they are clearly rebuilding
3) take a lot of their cap space as he is looking for a longterm 35m+ per year

It just doesn't make sense for me. I think it's just leverage play. If he gets that contract from the Rockets, let him go.

This is what I don't get about NBA/American Culture

Harden has earned over $300m, and set yo make $50 nect year. What difference is an extra $100m really going to make? NBA players that have hundreds of millions of dollars haggle over their next contract and go to **** teams to get a few extra million.

In Australia players take pay cuts to play in championship teams, and sacrifice for their teammates. In the US it seems it's celebrated when a player gets such a big contract that it forces other teammates out of the organisation, or the lowest paid have to sacrifice for the highest paid.

I just don't get it.

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #1899 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Fri May 19, 2023 1:02 am

I hope Houston goes after him. I think Harden is a big time bull$hit artist who used words like "sacrifice" to mask the unarguable fact that he is rapidly declining as a basketball player. There is not way in Hell that I personally would sign him to a 4 year 140 million dollar contract knowing that he's only going to get worse as he gets older.

I appreciate everything that he did for us while he was here. James Harden was an absolute pro for us during his time here. He helped Embiid win an MVP, he led the league in assists, he hit some big time shots for us, but at the end of the day, James Harden is happy just hooping and being in the NBA getting paid great money. Winning is not his top priority nor is a legacy. He's already a lock for the Hall of Fame, I honestly don't blame the guy. Quality of life over expectations...Who wouldn't be cool with that? Harden is one of the most outwardly selfish players in the entire league and again...That's fine. I can't knock another person for doing what's best for them. I just think that Morey should do what's best for the Philadelphia 76ers long term.

What I don't like about this situation is that he's basically backed us into a corner of perplexity. Not bringing him back to Philly only hurts us from a win now perspective. He also was a big reason why we fired Doc and I'm totally fine with that, but how does it look on our part if we fail to bring back the guy that basically got Doc fired? Again, I don't really care about that part, but I wonder if the team does.

Obviously him leaving would create a massive void at the point guard position. What exactly do we do about that? Do we bring back Shake Milton to take his place? Do we use our MLE to sing a point guard free agent? It would be nice to recoup something from him leaving be it a trade or trade exception of some kind. Morey is going to have to find a way to create some cap space or recover some assets should Harden sign elsewhere. There are people saying that a S&T would be beneficial to both teams involved so we should really try and make that happen I think. Harden just opting out and going back to Houston would be a hell of a hit to take. At that point we'd basically be punting on the next season to an extent. I mean, the team would probably be in the mix for the play in and that's about it.

Jay555 · Post #1900 » by **Jay555** » Fri May 19, 2023 1:06 am

Kova wrote:I still don't understand why Rockets would bring back a 34yo Harden who will:
1) not make them competitive
2) doesn't fit with their young core as they are clearly rebuilding
3) take a lot of their cap space as he is looking for a longterm 35m+ per year

It just doesn't make sense for me. I think it's just leverage play. If he gets that contract from the Rockets, let him go.

Rockets have been tanking for 3 seasons and their young core still suck lol. What did they have? around 20 wins in each of those seasons. Their young core is a bit of a bust if you ask me. If they get a Maxey caliber player, sure, but they do not. That 4 th pick they have just landed makes them even more anxious now as they were hoping for the 1st pick.

Harden would take that garbege team to the playoffs for sure. Another thing is it's not a place that would attract big names so they'd be pretty stocked if Harden goes back.

The thing is Harden will not because that team is going nowhere and Harden knows it.