It was the enigma of his whole career and his essential being. When he was here the first time, he made a team sport his own playing field. When his body mass began to grow, you could see him transitioning to passing and almost radically decreased his scoring prowess. It is a radical approach and Doncic would likely have the same problem. Here is to figuring things out before they decline.
he’s just not the same anymore, but he still manages to be incredibly effective with his reduced speed and explosiveness I’ve been enjoying the more pure PG role Harden has embraced…it’s how he’ll extend his career
He doesn't blow by people anymore - doesn't get separation, but he's still getting double teamed based off reputation. It's these double teams that are leading to his increased assist rate - although kudos to him for lowering his turnover rate significantly. He will always be an alltime great but his legacy will be along the lines of Chuck, Karla, Tracy and the many great players who just couldn't get over the hump in the playoffs. I'm not being a hater, just a realist when I say I expect his newfound success to come to a screeching halt in the playoffs when he starts getting defended one on one and teams live with him hitting a few extra buckets vs assisting on numerous wide open layups.
Other than him hooking arms with the defender, his moves were entertaining. Bark at teammates, bark. Can't wait for the playoffs.
And people still wouldn't bring him back for a couple years to lead the offense? Mental. The main thing stopping Harden from coming back is he wants a ring and we suck, if he actually wants to come here and play point for our youngsters then give him whatever money he needs as long as it doesn't affect us in the future (a 1+1 would hardly do that.) We're not getting MVP Harden with the clout to force the organisation to trade all our youth and picks for other fading stars (and even if we were, that's still better than the bullshit we have now as long as we kept Green, Sengun and Smith, who'd all play better on a team of actual vets/NBA players.)
Wemby, and cap space used on Harden and another good vet plus a vet or 2 on a minimum deal would be a dream offseason Rockets actually trying to win with a mix of vets and high potential young players
I would give Harden a 3 year deal without hesitation, especially if we got Wemby the difference he would make for guys like Green and Bari would be astronomical
With Harden back we would go from being the worst regular season team to being the best regular season team... Crazy
My hope would him to win a ring and come home. And teach KPJ how to have better court vision. Ans also make Stone send Nix to the Shanghai Sharks.
We need a PG desperately and have a lot of money to play with this offseason. Why should we not look into bringing him back? There's no better free agent on the market who fits what we need.
