Harden wants to be a star player not the third choice. He'll make way more dinero as the best player in a large market team, thinking of shoe contracts and endorsement deals as well salary in the long term. The Joe Johnson analogy is an good one.
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Raps' pick from the Lowry trade, plus two rooks Raps fans loved are now with OKC
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Hugmenot wrote: View PostI am not so certain Houston overpaid for Harden, nor do I believe that Westbrook will remain a better player than Harden is a foregone conclusion.
Harden has taken giant steps forward the past - his TS% was out of this world last season - and that with a ~20% usage rate. It remains to be seen what he will do in Houston. If he averages 35 minutes and 25-28% usage rate, he could average 23-25 PPG. As his TS% was so high last year, it's unclear to me where it will be with defenses focusing on him.
It will be interesting to see how he plays with Lin.
My opinion is that Houston is gambling on players whose ceiling is very uncertain. Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik (who I think of as much better defender than Noah), and now Harden. I doubt all three gambles will pay off but it's certainly an intriguing attempt at becoming relevant very quickly. I do hope it pays off for Houston.
As Ive said on here, its not that I think hes a bad player. In fact, I think hes a very good player. I would even stretch as far as top 30 in the league (ESPN ranks says #58).
As for him vs Westrbook, ya, I guess nothing is a foregone conclusion .. but you are talking a top 10 for sure, arguably top 5 player in the league in Westbrook. A guy who can play PG, but also score at will and is a top 3 athlete beside Rose & Lebron (and DH12). He plays hard as hell and plays great D. I would build a franchise around him in a split second. I cant say the same for Harden.
Is it possible Harden improves and Westbrook is too much of a headcase to ever fully "get it"? Ya, thats possible. But the odds are much better that Westbrook has a way better career than Harden.
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mountio wrote: View PostI agree - Harden had some very very good stats, especially on a per minute basis. However, you have to think that a) coming off the bench and b) playing with Durant / Westbrook helped those stats a lot. He regularily played against other teams bench players .. and even then often had at least one of D/W playing beside him. He wont have either luxury playing for Houston .. and defenses will be gunning for him.
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tkfu wrote: View PostEach of the last two years, Harden played significantly better when he was on the court without Durant/Westbrook.
Will be interesting to see if it translates being the first option in Houston ..
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mountio wrote: View PostThe PP36 is not suprising
(It's also why I reached a lot to grab Harden at #4 in my fantasy league.)
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stretch wrote: View PostHarden wants to be a star player not the third choice. He'll make way more dinero as the best player in a large market team, thinking of shoe contracts and endorsement deals as well salary in the long term. The Joe Johnson analogy is an good one.
2. I was under impression players want to be on contenders even if it means less money?
3. Am I missing something or did I miss Harden "disappearing" when it counted (in the finals)?
4. Hungry K Mart with less pressure to be the man (because of Westbrook & Durant) will be deadly. So, he is not a great defender - that's why you have Perkins & Ibaka. Also, K Mart in contract year. Could be interesting.
All in all IMHO incredible deal for OKC (and good for us I suppose -much less competition for Gay).
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Mapko wrote: View Post1. You really think he can make more money as a star (probably) on a lottery team (Houston) than a KEY contributor on a championship team for many years (OKC)?
2. I was under impression players want to be on contenders even if it means less money?
3. Am I missing something or did I miss Harden "disappearing" when it counted (in the finals)?
4. Hungry K Mart with less pressure to be the man (because of Westbrook & Durant) will be deadly. So, he is not a great defender - that's why you have Perkins & Ibaka. Also, K Mart in contract year. Could be interesting.
All in all IMHO incredible deal for OKC (and good for us I suppose -much less competition for Gay).
I'd much rather be an OKC fan today than a Rockets fan...
1. OKC much better in the long-term, both in terms of players (Lamb & 2 additional 1st round picks) and financial flexibility
2. After Rockets sign Harden to max contract, they'll have more than $30M per season (1/2 cap space) tied up in a 3-player core: Harden, Asik and Lin (yikes!)
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Mapko wrote: View Post1. You really think he can make more money as a star (probably) on a lottery team (Houston) than a KEY contributor on a championship team for many years (OKC)?
2. I was under impression players want to be on contenders even if it means less money?
3. Am I missing something or did I miss Harden "disappearing" when it counted (in the finals)?
4. Hungry K Mart with less pressure to be the man (because of Westbrook & Durant) will be deadly. So, he is not a great defender - that's why you have Perkins & Ibaka. Also, K Mart in contract year. Could be interesting.
All in all IMHO incredible deal for OKC (and good for us I suppose -much less competition for Gay).
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Mapko wrote: View Post1. You really think he can make more money as a star (probably) on a lottery team (Houston) than a KEY contributor on a championship team for many years (OKC)?
But more importantly, Houston's currently the second most popular basketball team in China, and with Lin they look poised to retake that undisputed top spot they had during the Yao years. Even minor Rocket players made millions more in endorsements than they would have anywhere else when Yao was around. Chuck Freaking Hayes has multi-millions in Chinese endorsements.
James Harden is hella marketable. Financially this is great for him.
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Considering Harden's stats per 36 last year (including efficiency and especially his stats without Durant and Westbrook) and considering a max contract after a rookie contract is something different than a max contract for veterans and considering the the contracts being handed out to players like Lin,DeRozan et al, I don't see why Harden wouldn't be worth a max contract.
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