and we have a young PG future superstar that cant get PT and the ball aready in Sengun....already a better player...
To be fair it said his agency was contemplating. Every human being is contemplating, our thoughts are not worth a Woj bomb.
I don’t mind this if it means signing another veteran. The big question in my mind is who do you spend the cap space on? I’m not seeing anyone significant becoming UFA in the next couple years. Middleton? Van vleet? Who are we throwing money at to come here and play with the young core? My guess is you’d have to either 1) overpay to get borderline star players max money to get them here in their prime here, 2) sign a few aging former stars to help us compete while passing the torch and developing the young guys, 3) or hold onto the cap space and hope a couple stars think Houston’s a great place to team up. I’m okay with option 2. Not so much with option 1. And just don’t think option 3 is realistic. I’d be okay with a fourth option which would be using the cap space to acquire more assets to find and develop young players in the time line.
In case you were wondering: his outfit cost more than your car. As far as playing in Houston. Yawn. Let's see how the lottery turns out. Our future is set if we're fortunate enough to land #1 or #2. If we land something else, we'll see if our front office can evaluate talent. If Harden was serious, and there is any trade market for KPJ, you have to make that move.
I do not want his horrible mindset to basketball influencing these young players. Let his loser, quitting, dumb crunch time decision, cares more about himself and partying with nasty asshoes go back to where he came from. Perfect fit in LA FAKER land. Besides it is a ploy for more Money
James Harden may be interested in returning to the Rockets, but a reunion makes no sense for Houston It's becoming an almost annual occurrence at this point. James Harden forces his way somewhere. James Harden doesn't like that somewhere. He tries to find a new somewhere. The cycle began anew on Christmas Day, when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Harden is seriously considering a return to Houston as a free agent this summer. It's quickly becoming Harden's defining trait as he ages out of the megastardom that made him worth all of this in the first place. He's always been unreliable in big moments. Now he can't make it through a regular season without destabilizing a team. The Nets and 76ers were willing to roll those dice because they thought he was good enough to help them win a championship. He wasn't in Brooklyn. He might in Philadelphia, but it's not looking especially likely. There's no reason that the third time needs to be the charm. The Rockets, after all, have little in common with the Nets and 76ers. They aren't pushing to contend for a championship right now. They're rebuilding slowly and methodically. Their roster is so young at the moment that eight of their nine players who have racked up at least 400 minutes this season are 22 or younger. By the time that group is ready to win, the already-declining Harden will by 35 or 36, and given his conditioning habits, likely not aging as well as contemporaries such as Chris Paul and LeBron James have. From that perspective, a Harden-to-Houston reunion makes almost no sense. Frankly, it probably wouldn't even if Harden was going to age well. Houston's two most prominent young players are Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. Both are extremely high-usage guards. The Rockets have encouraged that in the hopes that it would foster development. Porter ranks 20th in the NBA in touches per game at 79 per game, just behind LeBron James. Green isn't handling the ball quite as often, but he's attempting more shots. The 17.6 field goal attempts he takes each game ranks 31st in the league between Zach LaVine and Anthony Davis. This is, again, according to Houston's plan. The idea is to let Green and Porter figure things out now so that in a few years, they've worked through their mistakes and are ready to win. Both could stand to grow the rest of their games. Watching Harden dribble doesn't sound like a great way to do that. The NBA tracks the total distance every player moves on both offense and defense in every game. Houston's offense ranked dead last in movement in each of Harden's last five seasons as a Rocket. His teammates aren't moving and cutting and engaging with the offense. They're standing in designated positions behind the 3-point line waiting for him to make a decision. His presence would hinder Green and Porter. It might derail Alperen Sengun, the antithesis of Harden's preferred lob-catching center. Sengun's gift is his ability to act as an offensive fulcrum at the center spot. Harden isn't giving him that kind of freedom. Jabari Smith, the No. 3 overall pick, came into the NBA needing to develop his ability to create his own shot in order to reach his All-Star potential. He's having a hard enough time doing that with all of the mouths the Rockets already need to feed. There's another one coming in June when the Rockets will presumably have yet another high lottery pick. Nobody benefits from Harden pounding the rock. Except maybe Harden, who seemingly left money on the table this offseason by declining his player option and allowing the 76ers the flexibility to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House. Houston is looking at just under $60 million in cap space this summer, according to Keith Smith. At a minimum, it makes sense for Harden to use Houston as leverage against Philadelphia if he wants to maximize his next payday. If he's really interested? That cap space is probably a big reason why. Don't expect Harden to go anywhere for the minimum. But there are significantly more constructive ways for Houston to use that cap space. Players who are likely to retain their value for the duration of a multi-year contract is probably a good place to start. They could use that space to absorb bad contracts in exchange for draft capital, as many rebuilding teams have in the past. They could even use it to avert longer-term costs by front-loading extensions for existing players using the league's renegotiation-and-extension rules. Paying a player like Harden means trying to win right away. Maybe the Rockets could do that. After all, trading him helped give them a war chest of draft picks that could be flipped to get him new support. Just remember that Harden wasn't satisfied with Kevin Durant, and if he leaves Philadelphia, it means he wasn't satisfied with Joel Embiid either. Who could the Rockets trade for that are better than them? Would it even matter? If Harden keeps declining, there's not going to be any superstar capable of carrying him to a title on a max contract soon enough. The theoretical blueprint for Harden returning to Houston was drawn by LeBron in 2014. When he left the Cavaliers in 2010, they had almost nothing. His four-year absence gave them time to accumulate the picks and assets they needed to rebuild a winner around him the second time around. Perhaps Harden is hoping for something similar, a title push fueled by a combination of Houston's incumbent young players and the assets it could use to get him some older ones. There are a number of differences. LeBron is a significantly better player, for example, and having won two championships already, he had proven himself on the playoff stage in ways Harden simply hasn't. He was also younger, rejoining the Cavs at the age of 29. Harden will be 34 before next season begins. But the biggest difference is that, despite the notorious reaction to The Decision, the Cavaliers had reason to trust James. He explained himself eloquently in his return essay to Cleveland. He'd made it clear early in his career that his goal was to bring a championship to his hometown, and that he was returning to finally do that. He staked his legacy on that move. Harden doesn't really have a legacy to stake here. If he does, it's one of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Harden forced his way to Brooklyn and failed. A year later, he forced his way to Philadelphia, and if he's gone this offseason, it means he failed yet again there. For all of his individual gifts and justified regular-season acclaim, there's just no reason to believe that he wouldn't fail again in Houston. Nothing for him has materially changed. Quite a bit has for a Rockets team that's looking pretty promising without him. The last two teams that gave Harden what he wanted for quickly met with buyer's remorse. The third time wouldn't be the charm. It would be a potentially catastrophic blow to an up-and-coming team that, unlike the 76ers and Nets, owes its optimism largely to what happened as a result of him wanting to leave their team.
Since we throwing sheet out there trade KJ /Tate/sengun//1 st round pick for Turner. sign harden. Sign vet Pg harden / vet Pg Green/ KPJ Tari/ ?? Bari ?? Turner/Bruno back to the playoffs we go. Bounced in the 2nd round tho lol. That or keep sucking for 3-4 years
Lol "up and coming"team that manages to get worse this year and has the worst PG play in the NBA getting the guy with the highest assists in the NBA and the most creative offensive player of his generation is "potentially catastrophic" Have you seen the Rockets play? Thinking Sengun, Green, Smith KPJ are possible franchise players at all on their own who would be hindered by actual real creative NBA talent that, for all his faults, is really good at all rhe things they're bad at is way more catastrophic. I mean KPJ, just ****in LOL man. Green has the rest of the season to recover but he's not even at all star level and trending well below it now. Sengun i don't need to say anything more about thats not been said Smith doesn't have the athletic ability to create his own shot, when you're 6-11 and the worst shooter from 0-3 Feet on the team, there's something wrong. He's always going to be a complementary player. I don't know who Sam Quinn is in the NBA writer landscape but is this a "hey Rockets I'll be a team friendly source" article? Eh whatever. @J.R. don't forget Austin Rivers and Dennis Schroder are still out there for the taking
Sure. But, this is like telling your ugly broke friend that lives with his parents to pass up the 7 that thinks he's funny and save himself for all the 9s and 10s you see at the gym. He's never getting a 10 and with where he's at in life he should be grateful a 7 ever looked his way. I'm not even saying it's the best idea to get Harden it's just the arguments I've seen not to get him seem really weak. Let's be honest, the reason most people don't want him back is just that they're heart broken that a) he never got us over the hump against the warriors and b) he forced his way out. It has nothing to do with his ability vs other free agents.
When "veteran stop gap" is below John Wall Westbrick Dragic Kemba Walker Austin Rivers Corey Joseph???? I think @J.R. is confusing the Rockets with the Shanghai Sharks
Sign harden. 2 years 90. trade kpj and Sengun for Middleton. draft Wemby Harden Green Middleton Bari Wemby
this is why tanking never works... so easy to slip, then tear it all up and start 5 years cycle of trash again... technically tanking may even work but being dumb never works in nba...and only dumb people tank to begin with...
If there's a better option than Harden in the free agency, im all for not wanting harden back. Give me a name. If we draft the best pg in the draft, theres no need for harden since it will interfere with his developmental process. If there's going to b a trade for a pg, is it worth all the assets or is harden a better alternative? This could b harden's way of getting a bigger contract from the sixers, but if he reallys wants to play for the rockets, folks should get over his past behaviors. Harden is a veteran pg who has plenty in the tank who fills in a spot we sorely need. We need a guard who actually knows how to control the offense. If there is no solution offered from posters on here, rejecting just harden b/c he isn't a "winner" is the same as saying they are down to watching another season of KPJ. Harden isn't the same dude who averages 30 pts a season, but he's still b good enough for our team.
Ok so if true - it actually helps the Rockets to do this and Tilltitta hates Morey so they should be all in then. Offer him the max to spite them. Costs you nothing.
