In this current juncture of the NBA, the league is deep in PG talent.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets. [/quote]
While Westbrook is good the league has become bloated with athletic PGs who can score.
I would say Westbrook’s talents are much easier to replace than Harden’s. [/quote]
What? Are you serious lol. The only PGs that i can think of that can score like Westbrook is Derrick Rose and maybe John Wall… Not many PGs have the athletism and speed these two guys have(westbrook and rose). The guy can drop 40 when he’s on and not acting stupid.
If Westbrook gets his act together, OKC will be looking even scarier.
[/quote]
Rose
Wall
CP
D-Will
Brandon Jennings (at some point maybe)
Monta Ellis
Stephen Curry
Jeremy Lin (not as athletic but can potentially put big points)
Kyrie Irving
Perhaps not as athletic, but they can score just as well as Westbrook or potentially be able to in the future.
[/quote]
Most of the people you listed either cant or wouldn’t leave their teams to go to OKC and Westbrook is better than the majority of them.
I don’t think the Thunder are going to regret trading Harden after the Finals last year. He was atrocious in that series. Plus, I always thought he was a bit overrated the way some people talked about him. But I guess we’ll see, in Houston he’s probably going to be one of there go to scorer’s so I’m sure he’ll have a decent year.
[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I wonder if we will look back at this deal one day and wonder if it will be one the biggest mistakes OKC as a franchise ever makes.
Investing so heavily in Westbrook and letting Harden go. Will we wonder what a Prime years Durant and Harden would’ve done?
Odds are low, but could happen.
Not exactly analogous but I often wonder what prime VC and prime T-Mac would’ve done. Like T-Mac perhaps Harden will one day regret leaving the team that drafted him for a little more money and spotlight. How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
Im not a big fan of Westbrook , but there aren’t many PG with his potential in the league. If he learned to control his shot selection , he could easily become a great PG. I don’t think it was thatbad of a trade , although they did lose some depth giving all those pieces to the Rockets. [/quote]
While Westbrook is good the league has become bloated with athletic PGs who can score.
I would say Westbrook’s talents are much easier to replace than Harden’s. [/quote]
What? Are you serious lol. The only PGs that i can think of that can score like Westbrook is Derrick Rose and maybe John Wall… Not many PGs have the athletism and speed these two guys have(westbrook and rose). The guy can drop 40 when he’s on and not acting stupid.
If Westbrook gets his act together, OKC will be looking even scarier.
[/quote]
Rose
Wall
CP
D-Will
Brandon Jennings (at some point maybe)
Monta Ellis
Stephen Curry
Jeremy Lin (not as athletic but can potentially put big points)
Kyrie Irving
Perhaps not as athletic, but they can score just as well as Westbrook or potentially be able to in the future.
[/quote]
Most of the people you listed either cant or wouldn’t leave their teams to go to OKC and Westbrook is better than the majority of them. [/quote]
All good-to-elite players are difficult to acquire.
My point from the beginning is regarding scarcity. There are way fewer Harden type talents in the league, while the PG is well stocked. All other variables held constant, James Harden would be much harder to replace than a Russell Westbrook.
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
How much more happiness will that extra $8 million buy him especially when you’ll be on a .500 team for several years[/quote]
I also expected the money gap to be much greater than that.
[/quote]
I read an article saying that OKC was offering him 5 years $55.5 which is $4.5 less than he wanted (max contract)
LOL at being traded from a contender to a non playoff team because you wanted $60 mil instead of $55.5
Harden did not sound happy about it in his quotes lol
We haven’t factored in tax implications. Could be much larger difference than it appears to be depending on tax rates between the two states.
For instance when Bosh took a paycut to play in Miami, he didn’t lose any money since tax rates are higher here.
[quote]gregron wrote:
I read an article saying that OKC was offering him 5 years $55.5 which is $4.5 less than he wanted (max contract)
LOL at being traded from a contender to a non playoff team because you wanted $60 mil instead of $55.5
Harden did not sound happy about it in his quotes lol[/quote]
Interesting. But that just makes me think it wasn’t the money, but everything else instead.
Then again, none of us had a clue at 23 yrs old neither…
[quote]johnman18 wrote:
I don’t think the Thunder are going to regret trading Harden after the Finals last year. He was atrocious in that series. Plus, I always thought he was a bit overrated the way some people talked about him. But I guess we’ll see, in Houston he’s probably going to be one of there go to scorer’s so I’m sure he’ll have a decent year.[/quote]
He had a bad Finals no question, but he’ll be fine.
And that he was included on Olympic squad indicates where he stacks up overall, talent-wise.
Was avoiding this thread 'cause I now truly believe that the league influences games via ref interference, but had to say something: OKC will seriously regret this trade. Aside from his statistical production, Harden provides A LOT of things that aren’t in a box score but make huge differences on games. He had a bad Finals because EVERY SINGLE CALL he’d been getting literally all season dried up and went the other once his opponent was LeBron James and the Heat. He got dejected, started missing shots he’d normally make and his efforts on D (and flopping) were for the first time being called a no-go. This move was done from above so LA can get to the Finals against Miami. OKC won’t be the same team, probably ever again.
i must be the only person who thinks harden is way overrated, a poor mans ginobli in a way. I’d still bet on OKC coming out of the west.
The league is “entertainment” tho, and it’s frustrating having to wait to watch the heat play OKC, or LAL for the title.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
i must be the only person who thinks harden is way overrated, a poor mans ginobli in a way. I’d still bet on OKC coming out of the west.
The league is “entertainment” tho, and it’s frustrating having to wait to watch the heat play OKC, or LAL for the title. [/quote]
[quote]johnman18 wrote:
I don’t think the Thunder are going to regret trading Harden after the Finals last year. He was atrocious in that series. Plus, I always thought he was a bit overrated the way some people talked about him. But I guess we’ll see, in Houston he’s probably going to be one of there go to scorer’s so I’m sure he’ll have a decent year.[/quote]
Looks like the Mavs are giving the Lakers a run for their money. Go Mavs!! lol
^^The Mavs are on fire!
Can’t wait for all the pundits to act like the world is ending b/c the lakers dont look good.
Steve nash has a ugly shot, like he can barely get the ball to the rim. (i know he’s a good shooter, but it’s an ugly shot.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
Can’t wait for all the pundits to act like the world is ending b/c the lakers dont look good.
Steve nash has a ugly shot, like he can barely get the ball to the rim. (i know he’s a good shooter, but it’s an ugly shot. [/quote]
I imagine there will be some of that but not too much considering most people knew that the Lakers were a work in progress. They hadn’t really all played together with Howard’s back, Hills back and Kobes foot… Not a lot of continuity throughout this preseason.
The Lakers just need to continue working things out and figuring out their identity. They looked lost out there quite a bit of the time but showed some flashes of what could be to come once they all figure it out.
All the missed free throws and lack of foul calls down low reminded me of the good old days when Shaq was in LA lol
did I tell you guys about oj mayo?
[quote]johnman18 wrote:
[quote]Aggv wrote:
i must be the only person who thinks harden is way overrated, a poor mans ginobli in a way. I’d still bet on OKC coming out of the west.
The league is “entertainment” tho, and it’s frustrating having to wait to watch the heat play OKC, or LAL for the title. [/quote]
[quote]johnman18 wrote:
I don’t think the Thunder are going to regret trading Harden after the Finals last year. He was atrocious in that series. Plus, I always thought he was a bit overrated the way some people talked about him. But I guess we’ll see, in Houston he’s probably going to be one of there go to scorer’s so I’m sure he’ll have a decent year.[/quote][/quote]
Simmons latest piece on the trade is a worthwhile read:
Please don’t e-mail me that Harden is NOT a franchise player. The following players are max guys: LeBron, Wade, Durant, Howard, Westbrook, Rose, Rondo, Chris Paul, Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Love, Griffin, Aldridge, Carmelo, Bynum, Harden, Bosh (yes, Chris Bosh), Gasol, and eventually, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Don’t believe me? Eric Gordon and Roy Hibbert just got max contracts and they aren’t max guys!
source: » The Harden Disaster
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
did I tell you guys about oj mayo?[/quote]
Please do tell…
that I think he’s a poor man’s Kobe Bryant. Mark Cuban recently said he thinks he can become a star in the near future. Memphis was holding this guy back…watch out for OJ Mayo.
You first heard it here folks.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So whiteflash and any other LAL fans that this applies to:
Kobe is retiring in 2 years, are you planning on going to watch an LAL home game before he retires?[/quote]
Just seeing this now, raj.
Pretty unlikely for me.