hypothetically it could be the best shot at contending if we go after a top 5 post up big. imposdsible to matchup with cavs and gsw, so go another route davis, cousins, towns, and embiid aaint going anywhere without a 1-3 pick their way. all thats left is lope and gasol. gasol is old and not as much of apost up big as lopez. lopez and klay have about the same impact on the offensive end. being on a winning team lopez would rebound and defend. wouldnt be an 18-22ppg scorer, but 25-30ppg scorer. if they're going with harden its something to consider.
The funny part is that Harden's hypothetical "Robin" has to have Batman characteristics because Harden lacks them. His Robin needs to be a defensive leader or at least someone who can energize the team with his defense. He needs to be a great playmaker when James just doesn't have "it" for whatever reason **cough**strip club**cough**
the problem is the franchise only have one Batman suit and Les isn''t going to ask Harden to take it off and give it to someone else. James thinks he's the best player in the NBA.
Management has to build a championship roster whether they have Harden or not, it's their job. All of this Batman & Robin crap is cute but the Rox aren't good enough as constructed to beat Golden St, Cleveland or San Antonio. No one player can defeat those teams, you need an elite roster.
A robin pretending to be a batman... He has enough talent to be a batman though, but he's too lazy to be one.
Are you trying to say Brook Lopez, a guy who has never put up more than 20.7 ppg, on meh efficiency for a big, and who is one of the worst rebounding bigs I've ever seen that gets meaningful minutes, and is a porous defender, would all of a sudden get his coring average up to potential 30 a game at the high end of the range, and all of a sudden rebound and defend?? I'm not trying to ridicule you or your post... I just can't tell if it's serious?? I mean I don't necessarily disagree with your strategy. Just the players targeted as the conclusion of that strategy. Unfortunately, as you noted, the guys that you would want to try that strategy aren't get-able: KAT, AD, Jokic, Gobert, Cousins...
Lopez wouldn't be averaging 25-30 PPG, but he would be very effective given the way we use our big men. He has his shortcomings, no doubt, but if we could work out some sort of Anderson for Lopez based swap I would do that in a heartbeat. You get a much better player and you also both A) get out of Anderson's horrific contract and B) end up with a $22M expiring deal to barter with.
being on a winning team is motivation enough to play defense and rebound. he wont be much for defense other than shot blocking but rebounding he can def do better than 5 a game. its just effort, he doesnt wanna give it. if rockets wanna contend, they have to gamble. they cant match up with their own big 3 w/o giving up something. they do have king as gm so its always possible.
Durrant is the best player in Warriors, but Curry, Green and Thompson are their core and foundation. There is no maybe. If Morey is their GM next season, he might do that.
Harden first needs to learn how to be Batman before he gets a Robin. Best way to do this is to bring in Dwayne Wade, imo. Both he and Harden share similarities in the way they play and Wade was always the Batman for the Heat while Lebron was Robin. So, Wade has had quite a bit of experience with the whole Batman thing and could likely show Harden the way.