So all our suffers for the past severa years since Harden dumped us, is to welcome Harden back and give him the "basketball freedom" to run our team again? And this is the much older and worse version who nobdoy else would either offer the max contract or the freedom he wants.
I mean if you could roll out Harden Jalen Tari Jabari Sengun See what you can get for KPJR and Kenyon Martin plus the 4th pick…. And if you don’t trade the 4th pick you’re adding lottery talent to grow with Udoka. Josh Christopher Tyty Tate Garuba Vets, rookie, etc. After the poverty we’ve been in the past 3 years, why not? Especially if Udoka signs off on it.
Back in 2019, Fertitta vowed to win championships with Harden. The crazy MF still thinks it's possible. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta vows to win championship with Harden https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...ertitta-vows-to-win-championship-with-harden/
My theory is Tilman wants Harden back at any cost, while Ime does not want Harden to come unless he meets a bunch of conditions most here know Harden won't meet.
I see a much better team that he is about to leave behind named Sixers and an African MVP named Embiid and great young player named Maxey, also good enough Player named Tobias.
As much as I don't love the Harden news (assuming it's accurate), I'm OK with it, but I want to see them continue to add young pieces to build for the future. Wasting your 4th overall pick on another 30-year-old vet would be infuriating. But could you add a 26-year-old Mikal Bridges without wasting all of your assets or someone in that age + talent range? Personally, I think I'd rather see them keep the pick and still take the best young player, with the acknowledgement that Harden's on the tail end of his prime and you still need to build around the young core that is all 19-20 years old. This would not be my decision if I were running the team, but I get it, and I still love James. This can work, and I really want his addition to help, not hinder the development of the kids. But if it backfires, I will not be surprised. This front office needs to be making this decision for the right reason.
With Ime being our head coach and Ben Sullivan being our new shooting coach, we will win 7 more games this year. Harden as our point guard, Amen Thompson as our backup PG and another veteran who can play interior defense we can win 7 close games. Sengun, Green Smith and Tari will get better next year and that helps with 5 more games, We have a chance to win 20 more games next year….
With Ime being our head coach and Ben Sullivan being our new shooting coach, we will win 7 more games this year. Harden as our point guard, Amen Thompson as our backup PG and another veteran who can play interior defense we can win 7 close games. Sengun, Green Smith and Tari will get better next year and that helps with 5 more games, We have a chance to win 20 more games next year….
Per the Jake Fischer report, these scenarios were discussed so Ime knew the Rockets were interested in acquiring Harden before he accepted the job.
play-in team at minimum next season or it’s a failure Harden/Amen Green/KPJr Cam Johnson/Tari Bari/KJ Sengun/backup big in FA
This team isn't even in the ballpark of title contention right now. Harden will do a great job of getting these kids to the next level on the floor with his playmaking, something that has been painfully missing. Certainly gonna be an overpay for an aging star, but that's price of playing. Most superstars are acquired via trade. If things do go well and Harden gets us back into the playoffs and we have the look of a great young core, we can always trade for another star then. People have delusions about how easy it is to acquire a superstar in free agency with cap space. We have to get good on the floor first before anybody would even consider playing here, and I don't see this current group doing that in the next 3 years. More often than not cap space gets wasted on non superstar players.
As much talk as there is about this I still am going with I find this extremely unlikely and won’t believe it until Woj or Shams report the dotted line has been signed.
People in Philly don't see him as a direct source even though he has media credentials, and has been a Philly beat writer for some time. He wouldn't be comparable to Jonathan Feigan IMO. More at the level of one our resident super fans here that also have media credentials. I do think there is truth to the rumors for sure because what we hear from the guys who do actually have relationships with the top agents, and GM's. Yes Harden to Houston is a real thing IMO. Is it for sure... I don't think it's certain because of his relationship with Morey, and the Embiid/contender factor. I find it hard to believe that he's not going to give Morey a fair shot at entertaining a "run it back."
