DeMarcus Cousins contract vs. James Harden contract

Harden isn't being traded.

Stop being a terrible fan and support your guys.

 

Look it's a mutual thing. Stop being a terrible player and win support from fans if you want respect from the fans.

 

Definitely should make this move. Despite Harden's obvious greater individual and team success, this is a no-brainer.

Get it done Murlay

 

I still don't get all the love Cousins gets. He can put up numbers yet doesn't translate to W's. On top of that he has one of the worse attitudes in the league. a huge crybaby. Hasn't changed since he got in the league

 

this.

but i'll say no to the trade. for one harden is not being traded, and cousins aint look like a franchise player either.

 

guys like rudy gay, tyreke evans, collison, isaiah thomas are not without talent. that's no excuse if Cousins is as really good as people want to think he is. he's really not that good to me to the point where he makes his teammates better and translates into wins. Harden made the playoffs with lin, parsons, asik. enough said

 

Cousins' teams have always sucked.

 

Wow... just wow. You want to trade a guy that's take his team to the playoffs 3 years in a row as a no.1 option, for a guy that has never taken his team to the playoffs as a no.1 option. And to make it worse you also stated that why he may be available is because he is always fighting with management and his coaches... There is not an emoticon with a big enough eye roll to display how I feel about this thread.

 

we don't get better by swapping out a top player who hasn't even hit his best years yet, for a malcontent. I like Boogie and think he's the next big thing, but if we are looking for leadership...he's not it.

Anything we do going forward has to include Harden; he's a top 5 player. remember how hard it is to get one; even if he's not perfect.

 

sp i guess guys like lin, parsons, asik aren't mediocre and are stars huh.

funny how all those guys have been in the playoffs on other teams but sac. People want to overrate a player but don't want to hold that player accountable for the failures and want to go to the flawed "no talent around" claim

 

This might be the dumbest post I've seen in a while. Why can't I support my team to get better players??? Harden got paid a ton of money, got some fame and got lazy(er). He needs to decide if he wants to be a better Monta Ellis or be a champion.

 

why not? he led the wolves consecutively to the playoffs and has alot on his resume in terms of success.

what has cousins done? Exactly. Next

So again lin, parsons, asik are not mediocre right?

 

I completely disagree about the talent. He's had it, but for whatever reason Sacramento (since the Adelman years) has had nothing but dysfunction from the top down.

Does DeMarcus get the blame... well certainly not all of it, but he's been the best player and should have been the leader for several years now.

So the major question is.... will DeMarcus be a much better player in a better situation???... IMO yes of course.

But are the Rockets that "better situation"... I don't think so in this particular case because if you swap Harden for Cousins you are trading one flawed star for another. Both with their share of shortcomings in the personality and leadership department. Either way you are rebuilding a culture around your flawed star. Why not try to rebuild culture around your current star first... you know the one who was the much better player the best couple of seasons.

However if you move Cousins to say... Miami with a theoretical Cousins for Whiteside swap (if it was possible under the cap rules), I think he would excel and be a difference maker for that organization with the leadership and support system they have ingrained in their culture.

The Rockets, IMO, don't currently have that culture to support a Harden for Cousins swap an expect better results. However I do think they could get it back to where it was previously, or better. I believe in Les & Morey, and think its only time before either Harden gets his act together & Morey puts a better complementary roster around him, or they reshuffle the decks in the future to rebuild that culture that he previously had in the Yao/Battier/Scola days.

I think your best bet if you are Morey is to stick with Harden as your guy now, and if the season continues to look bleak you rebuild a stronger character driven & complementary unit around Harden for his next act as a Rocket. Right now we are in wait and see mode with this current unit. They've shown some signs of life, but they need more time this season to either sink or swim.

 

It's weird to see fans clamoring for certain players, or certain moves.

If 3 decades of watching basketball, and the transformation of basketball has taught me anything, it's taught me the following:

1. Great players win.
2. There are lots of great players.
3. The difference between the great, great players and just great players, generally, are leadership, defense, bball IQ hustle and energy
4. Great systems tend to bring out the traits in #3 in great players, and further sets the stage for the rest of the team to have success.
5. Because of all of the above, you can't just trade for or expect to win with random great player after random great player.

Harden is such a boarderline case. And Dwight used to be as well, but is now clearly not "great, great". Harden has taken a step back... whereas last year he was moving in the right direction on both leadership and bball IQ, he's done a complete 180.

Cousins does not appear to tick the boxes in #3.

The Rockets don't have #4.

The Rockets would be better off trading for more Trevor Ariza's than getting Cousins, even if it was a deal where the Rockets seem to clearly "win".