harden would teaching young sheppard how to attack defenses better like he did for maxey and to lesser extent cam thomas
We couldn't win with Harden when he was much younger and much better and surrounded with much more talent. Yes, we were up against the GSW buzzsaw, but now we're up against the OKC buzzsaw, so I don't see much difference in that regard. I don't see what the point is in rehashing all of this. Stone is not a good GM and Udoka is not a good coach, but they were right that a 36-year-old James Harden isn't taking us over the hump in a brutal Western Conference. If only they'd realized a 37-year-old KD wasn't the ticket either and just stayed focused on building organically, the way OKC did.
I don't understand how we would even be able to trade for Harden's very large salary without gutting the team. We don't have enough depth as is with Fred and Steve being injured and Dorian Finna-Miss being a waste of a roster spot.
Who are you TOP 10 Players He has played with in Houston (please assess where they were when they were here) Rocket River
I don't think Ime could deal with Harden. Harden would get burned defensively but then also put up 30 and 10 assists, so he would be stuck in an impossible situation (based on how Ime is). Ime appears very bull headed and for him, nothing matters other than defense.
Harden and KD would have had the same issues as KD and Sengun with the double/blitzing. Harden has struggled in the playoffs every year of his career because of this. It is no surprise that Harden's best years, and playoff runs were the short lived season when Harden had Kyrie before the injuries took them out in 2021, and when Harden had CP3, and CP3 went out with the infamous hamstring tear. -Harden is a great iso lead guard, but does not handle ball pressure and blitzing during the postseason -KD is a great shooter when he gets to his spots, but cannot handle the ball with pressure, and is a turnover machine if asked to facilitate Harden is a clear upgrade from what Sengun is doing to be clear, but the issue still would present itself. Harden would have been shut down like he is every post season, and KD would continue to be a turnover machine when Harden would have to pass off the ball to him near half court at the top of the key. Rockets would have actually been better off if they could have made a deal for a Coby White type ALONG WITH getting FVV back healthy, or getting another veteran guard or elite shooter as well to build a team you couldn't load up on like you can now because we have no ball handlers, and shooters to break the blitz that is coming at KD and Sengun, or the blitz that would have been coming at Harden and KD.
They needed to DO SOMETHING I don't think getting him would have cost Sengun Harden on a bum leg and KD - Took the Bucks to 7 I think Even with Kyrie out and Joe Harris forgetting his 3 pt shot Rocket River
Wouldn't Harden and KD be on the same team in this situation? So just like when we had CP3 that would be a non issue. You wont be able to double or trap harden or KD when the other one will be either open or 1v1 and will find the open man.
Our number one problem is ball handling. None of our players can handle the ball and protect it and dish out dimes. OKC has multiple. Harden would have fixed everything if he actually did want to come back this season to Houston before making his decision to go to Cleveland and signing there.
Not saying it wouldn't have helped. Harden is a waaaayyyyy better facilitator than Sengun especially from freaking half court. I'm just pointing out that Harden is no silver bullet in the playoffs. The dude year after year after year gets shut down by teams blitzing him early on, and his team's not being able to adjust.
That's the gameplan Ime keeps trying with Sengun and KD obviously. Yes Harden is better than Sengun by a mile as I just noted, but I'm just saying in the past Harden has struggled mightily in the playoffs when defenses do this, and the issue with KD playing off Harden when he's getting blitzed is KD is not getting the ball in his spots, and would be getting the ball from Harden again near half court where the team could do what they are doing now. Again I think it would be an vast improvement on what is happening now especially because Harden is a shooter where Sengun is not, but Harden still has a very long track record of being bothered in the playoffs and we cannot just assume he's a completely different player now. CP3, and Kyrie really were the key's to making a Harden centric offense work, and KD obviously had success when he had the abundance of shooting he had in GS along with not 1 but 2 elite playmakers on the perimeter. Maybe KD, Harden, and FVV could have worked to run your offense, but without FVV healthy I'm skeptical to say the least. Still... If you are asking me if I would have done the deal for Harden though... yes as long as the Rockets could have gotten it done with LAC for dead contracts, and maybe 1 pick. I wouldn't have done the deal if it meant mortgaging the future because of Harden's track record of being bothered in the playoffs with blitz defenses.
Yeah. Getting Harden is like getting KD. They are Band-Aid to stop minor bleeding but don't really cure your sickness.
We should be building by skillsets and not names THAT SAID Harden has a skillset that would have definitely gotten us to the 2nd round Probably the third round with KD and Sengun The Nets . .. they only played like 18 games together . .. wild stuff Rocket River
Can you provide an example other than game 7 vs Denver (year after year after year after year) where teams chose to trap/double/blitz w/e every possession...in the playoffs, not a random game against a Nick Nurse team, because the coach wanted to play 2-3 non-shooters? It's his fault that the opponent would rather play 3 on 4 or the coach's/GM's poor strategy/flawed roster?
It would have "fixed" a lot of short term problems, however I give Stone credit for not doing it. That being said: my preferred offseason path would be to replace Stone with a different GM. Reasoning: Stone has had more than 5 years, generally the litmus test for GM success, plus he was given full carte blanche for a rebuild Stone's drafting didn't pan out. Whether his fault or not, he got to shoot his shot. Development completely stalled at an early stage. Stone does not draft shooters or value shooters appropriately Stone is responsible for Ime and his staff and didn't make any notable coaching changes this offseason after the Warriors implosion Stone hired Silas Stone's rebuilding team is relying on veterans (FVV, KD and Adams) for a disproportionate amount of box stats. Stone appears to overvalue "his guys", and while he negotiates decent contracts, it's not clear that he can identify when to sell at or near peak value I consider the KPJ experiment indicative of the last point, and was concerned that Stone would have doubled down on him if he didn't sabotage himself. Has Stone found any gems in the rough with free agency or trades? Any journeyman player outplaying their contract? He has some old blue chip acquisitions (Adams, Durant), and has found at least one bomb (DFS). Publicly throwing in the towel midseason is unacceptable sports leadership, full stop. You can lose a locker room that way. King Cheetah falls in a faint.
Looking out over the horizon. What is that? Is that a ship sailing away? I don't think there is anything left to be said about advocating for/against Harden. Every possible argument has already been made (about 100 times). Either you are a hater or an apologist.
