LeBron and Durant are the only ones that I'd rank clearly ahead of him. So, Harden is at best 3rd in my mental ranking at this point. Kawhi is just out of the picture due to his injuries. After that I think you have a group of players -- Curry, Harden, Giannis, Westbrook -- who I can see being ranked in any which order. That's the order I put them in right now.
Clearly everyone inside the Top 5, maybe Top 8 thinks they are the best. Rightfully so. I get that fans and the media needs a Top ranking on a weekly, monthly, yearly basis. Personally I do not care if the No 1 and No 8 player wins the ship or the No 2 or No. 10 as long as they play hard and well in the postseason.
Yes that one. He did choke in that game 6 but he's still better than Harden. And he is the best player on GSW lol, he won finals MVP.
you think harden wouldn't have won chip already if he was on the warriors last year? you think durant would have a better RS record with hardens last year squad? durant as the only superstar almost lost to 2013 rockets in the first round, and he would have lost if there were not westbrook for the first couple of games and the refs to help him out
Obviously lol, freaking Barnes won a chip in Durant's spot in 2015. And yea I think he would. You can't judge a guy's performance with a significant element of his team missing. He still won games 3 and 6 on our floor in 2013 without Westbrook. It's not like I think there's this wide chasm between the two, Durant is just a more efficient scorer and a very good defender. Harden is a better facilitator.
yeah KD is in a lot better team - superteam put harden instead of KD on gsw in 17 and GSW still champs while the rockets with KD won't win 55 games
As I said they were champs with freaking Harrison Barnes in KD's place, obviously they'd still be champs with Harden. And I disagree, I think they'd win the same amount of games roughly.
yeah problem is Barnes was behind Green and Klay in importance to that team.. but true MVP Harden on that 17 GSW will be the best player or co equal with Curry what's KD record on OKC without WB? what's KD's record on GSW without Steph? how many games did KD miss in 17.. while 73 win GSW actually won even less with KD
Hard to argue that he hasn’t been the best this year.... thus far. But we’re only in February. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Harden will ultimately be judged on how he plays in the post season. Being the best player before the playoffs even start is only important for MVP voting. Being considered the best player when the reg season is complete and the playoffs are all over is what’s really important. Let’s see if he can demonstrate “best player” activities when the playoffs come around this summer. Will he dominate and take over multiple games in the playoffs. Will we finally have a signature series from Harden where he imposes his will and leads us to the next round? Seems like a tall order considering his playoff history but “the best” of the past delivered.
I think he will but players like Duncan have dominated multiple series within just 1 or 2 years. Over multiple postseasons.
I legit don't think KD is better than Harden right now. Durant might be a more efficient scorer due to being a better shooter than Harden, but Harden has been incredibly efficient this year as well in terms of generating points. I definitely agree that KD is a much better defender due to his length and athleticism, but I feel that people really underestimate Harden's post D and ability to generate steals. Finally, I don't think the areas that KD has the advantage over Harden outweighs the fact that Harden is a significantly superior facilitator compared to KD. KD simply cannot dream of making the same plays as Harden while Harden can easily hit the same shots as KD.
You make some good points. I just ask myself: Is the difference between Harden's and KD's impact on a team's offense greater than the difference between KD's and Harden's impact on a team's defense? I don't think it is. And how a team is constructed around those two players makes a difference. For example, I don't think swapping Harden with KD on the Rockets necessarily makes us a better team. Similarly, I don't think swapping KD with Harden on the Warriors makes them a better team. But if I'm starting from scratch and I can have one or the other, I'd take KD.
KD on the Thunder without Westbrook does not equal just Harden on the Rockets. Westbrook is a max guy and a top 10 player. A more accurate comparison would have been Harden without both Gordon and Capela last year or something.
is KD's OKC cast without WB <<<<< Harden's last year cast what was KD's % winshare compared to Harden??
This is the part that we disagree I suppose. To me, KD's impact on D is only because he carries a much lesser burden on O. He's played with the likes of Harden, WB, and now GSW's prime core during his career. When Harden was on OKC and didn't have to carry the offensive load, he was actually known for good D. Until we got CP3 (and he's been injured for a lot of games here), Harden simply did not have the energy to do everything on O and still keep up on D. If we talk about KD's impact on D vs Harden's impact on O, we have to consider things like usage and team system, specifically the question of how KD would look on D if he was the sole offense generator of his team. If he was counted on to contribute as much on O, could he realistically still keep up his D? KD fits GSW's scheme very well IMO, but I think Harden would have fit great as well. Could you imagine screen plays between Harden and Green or Harden and Curry? I envision a system around KD as the focal point would be similar to the screen system for Reggie Miller that used screen after screen after screen to let him find an open shot off curls.
If harden can win it all this season. He will go down as one of the best player of all time beating a team with 4 all-stars....and a snake. Seriously when has a player go against a roster full of all stars and a snake...noone ever.
