People b**** when their team isn't a contender and people b**** when their team tanks. A core of LeVert, Allen and Wood isn't even going to contend for a WCF. Why would we pay LeVert more than Wood to do that? What's the point in that? What's the point of building a mediocre team? Its the goal to find Superstars and compete for Championships? You find Superstars in two ways. You draft them or you trade for them with draft picks.
It's truly astonishing what one bad owner can do to the direction of a franchise in just a few years. I mean, wow. What a disaster.
A toxic player really. At some point you can't pay these people all this money for not producing. Especially if your star player has been disinterested for almost 2 and a half seasons. This man wanted out as soon as CP3 went down. Probably sooner messing with Harden. He thought he wanted to play with Westbrook until he found out what KD left for. He couldn't have asked or talked to KD before strong arming Rockets into the Westbrook trade? Tilman is some what to blame too but not all.
Tilman has ruined this franchise in three years. Only way the team is ever decent again is if he sells. He has no intentions of selling. I'm fine with tanking... next year. Not owning draft picks this year means the Rockets are going for the 8th - 12th seed. Not getting MPJ or Herro out of this deal (a young player with big upside) is the biggest issue I have. I wanted Brown (probably not on the table) or Simmons but I'm fine with the team going with the Brooklyn package if that's what they wanted. The Miami deal was too complex to realistically complete mid season. LeVert, Allen and Prince are worth more significantly more than they got. It was an objectively bad trade. People around the organization are saying that Oladipo was just an all NBA type talent and the picks will all be very good. They have no ****ing clue what they are doing. They think they got 4 elite picks and an MVP. Oladipo doesn't want to be here. They got an expiring guy and 4 early - mid 20s picks. The organization rushed this deal. LeVert , Allen + 1 or 2 FRP should have gotten you MPJ. The team still has eyes for MPJ so we'll see if they pull it off somehow. They will be lucky to draft 1 player as good as LeVert with those picks. It's a painfully bad trade.
National media is praising the Rockets for basically getting their draft back after giving it up to OKC. One problem, OKC's Rockets picks are now looking extremely juicy with "walking playoff birth" James Harden out of the picture. On the other hand, we have the Nets picks, and that team now has said walking playoff birth in the Eastern Conference. By no means is this comparable. I cannot believe the lack of good players we received. Why not just keep LeVert? Oladipo is a good player but he doesn't even want to be here so this is a rental. This is just another cap saving move by Tilman Fertitta. Thanks Tilman. I don't know why he doesn't just sell the team to get money back but now the value of the franchise just tanked with no stars on the roster.
This isn't as bad as the DeAndre Hopkins trade, but this is surprisingly close to it. But this trade probably has a clear intention to it, and it's not to win games. This is to save money and start from scratch.
What do you think the trade was going for? Build a team that can beat the Lakers? You folks really don't get it. What's the point of paying money to not compete?
I think they might surprise people...they'll do better than people think. If they don't...well, then Harden was right, wasn't he? If they do only win, say, 30 games, then wasn't this team not really very good? But, I think it was better than that, and they'll rally around being thrown under the bus. If they don't...then they don't have the right mental makeup, and we need to purge.
Yea cause why wouldn't he lol. Come on you know better. Its actually doing himself a disservice but signing longterm.
Now, even the fans who adored Harden most—the Rockets loyalists who defended all the flailing and ball-pounding, who talked themselves into the Paul-Westbrook swap, who amplified Harden’s grievances over MVP awards lost to Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo—are left with only dismay and a patchwork team that might not make the playoffs. [...] If the Rockets looked feeble in the early weeks of this season, it’s mostly because Harden destabilized them with his trade demand and his pouting—to say nothing of Westbrook’s forcing his way out first, after one unsatisfying season of sacrificing his game for Harden’s. So now it’s Harden on the move, inviting all the scorn that comes with his heel turn, though he will be mercifully shielded from the backlash until fans return to NBA arenas. LeBron James used to hold the villain’s mantle, after spurning his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 to form a superteam in Miami. But after winning a pair of championships and opening up with media and fans, James made a storybook return to Cleveland and delivered the Cavs a title, and along the way sparked a new age of player activism. His Q rating is just fine now. Durant was cast as a villain in 2016, for ditching the Thunder to join their rival, the Warriors. But then Durant won a pair of titles and Finals MVP awards, and was widely praised for integrating his skills with the übertalented Warriors. Outside of Oklahoma, no one scorns him much. Curry remains one of the most popular athletes on earth, even if the Warriors were momentarily cast as villains for the Durant signing. Westbrook’s game is polarizing, but few view him as a villainous figure. Just 16 months ago, Harden insisted he had no interest in leaving the Rockets or in glamour markets or superteams, saying, “I'm going to find a way to win a championship, at least one. I'll figure it out in Houston.” Now he’s heading to Brooklyn. To a glamour market. To join a superteam. To chase a championship. And to certify himself, however unintentionally, as the NBA’s reigning villain.
If Harden playing "disinterested" for 2 years gets 2x first team all-nba and 2 trips to the Conference Semis, what does that say about every other "superstar" we have had since Hakeem?
You're an *******. Honestly not sure why I'm even responding to your disrespect. This wasn't even my idea. It has been floated by Simmons for months. Also, MPJ is still a target and the organization thinks they can still get him. Not sure why they think this, but they do.