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Raps' pick from the Lowry trade, plus two rooks Raps fans loved are now with OKC

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  • #31
    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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    • #32
      Hugmenot wrote: View Post
      I 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.
      I 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. Will be interesting to see what happens. I think this is a great example of how advanced stats dont tell it all. On a larger level its a similar argument to the Amir / AB argument .. where Amir appears to be efficient .. but thats based much more on his role and what he is / isnt asked to do that his skillset.

      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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      • #33
        ESPN says that Harden ranks #26.

        http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/84...rankings-26-30

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        • #34
          stretch wrote: View Post
          My bad .. had somehow got linked to last years. 26 seems about right to me

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          • #35
            mountio wrote: View Post
            My bad .. had somehow got linked to last years. 26 seems about right to me
            I would rank JH higher. I like his game, one of the most creative.

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            • #36
              mountio wrote: View Post
              I 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.
              Each of the last two years, Harden played significantly better when he was on the court without Durant/Westbrook.

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              • #37
                tkfu wrote: View Post
                Each of the last two years, Harden played significantly better when he was on the court without Durant/Westbrook.

                thanks - very interesting. The PP36 is not suprising, but the increased FG% is a very promising stat. I still think coming off the bench has a lot to do with this .. but I certainly stand corrected (at least with respect to Durant / Westbrook getting him easier hoops) according to these stats.

                Will be interesting to see if it translates being the first option in Houston ..

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                • #38
                  mountio wrote: View Post
                  The PP36 is not suprising
                  I don't find it surprising that his point production went up, but I do find it surprising just how much it went up by. KD led the league in per-36 scoring last year at 26.2 PP36. Harden scored 31.2 without KD and 29.0 without Westbrook. That's frigging amazing.

                  (It's also why I reached a lot to grab Harden at #4 in my fantasy league.)

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                  • #39
                    stretch wrote: View Post
                    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.
                    1. 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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                    • #40
                      Mapko wrote: View Post
                      1. 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 agree that KMart will be great for OKC. If he's playing the bulk of his time with OKC's 2nd unit, he won't have to defend the elite stars anyway, so his greatest weakness is minimized.

                      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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                      • #41
                        Mapko wrote: View Post
                        1. 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).
                        Why assume that all players think the same way?

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                        • #42
                          Mapko wrote: View Post
                          1. 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)?
                          Waaaaay more money, yeah. Houston can give him an extra max year that OKC couldn't, so that's about $18-20 million guaranteed right there.

                          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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                          • #43
                            Way too early to tell but Harden looked pretty darn good in his first game.

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                            • #44
                              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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                              • #45
                                Now that OKC and Toronto love eachother. Maybe OKC should give us a gift of friend ship? how bout Landry fields for Kevin Durant? hahaha

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