Harden may be coming here?

[MartinToVaught]

Those are once in a generational players you mentioned. But how many cornerstone players are even coming into the league these days? Luka, Anthony Edwards, Wemby(maybe?). Blake was "that cornerstone guy" but we took the ball out of his hands, slowed the offense down, and everything became a half court affair when we got CP3. Half of these kids are f*ckups now coming into the league. How's the Zion, Ja Morant situation going? The league was literally theirs for the taking. Charlotte is still struggling to turn somebody into a star if they can even keep them on the roster. These hyped up G League players aren't panning out. OKC has 30+ picks over the next six years and is still rolling and getting by with SGA, the guy that we gave them. After all these drafts, newcomers, and hype the league is still promoting Bron, Curry, Lillard, Kawhi, Giannis, etc.

Trust I love the draft and getting new young players but this league isn't even what you think it is anymore. Its 2023-24. This kids want to whil out and be NBA Youngboy not LeBron James.

Imagine if the Chiefs had talked themselves out of drafting Mahomes because of all the busts like Bortles, Manziel, and Paxton Lynch in the years leading up to that draft. They'd be a laughingstock right now and no rants about how "kids these days don't really love the game" would make them look better.

Yes, not every player who gets drafted is going to be a generational prospect, but giving up on the draft entirely for a decade is not a tenable solution. Having no patience and chasing after every declining veteran in their mid-to-late '30s to win now is the antiquated way of running a team. We're like 20+ years behind the rest of the league at this point.

I don't know how anyone can watch us get run out of the gym every night by young athletic teams and think that getting older and slower is the wave of the future. You're writing off Zion and Ja, and I understand why, but their teams still whoop the Clippers' ass virtually every time we play them because they're so much younger and more athletic.

[MartinToVaught]

But for you to even say something like this means that we currently have a pretty good team on paper right?

Well, no, it's a sign of how precarious this team's position now is. I don't believe this roster is anywhere near good enough to win a title, but winning a title is still the only outcome that can redeem all the moves this front office has made at this point.

[esqtvd]

Harden is an elite passer with great vision, and he can still score. On this team he's a co-third option with Westbrook, not a first, not a second, so I'm a lot less worried about playoff Harden when Kawhi is there to take the big shots.

Yeah, I think part of Harden's desire to leave Philly and join the Clippers in particular was to escape the playoff pressure. Embiid is not prime time either.

[Clemenza]

Those are once in a generational players you mentioned. But how many cornerstone players are even coming into the league these days? Luka, Anthony Edwards, Wemby(maybe?). Blake was "that cornerstone guy" but we took the ball out of his hands, slowed the offense down, and everything became a half court affair when we got CP3. Half of these kids are f*ckups now coming into the league. How's the Zion, Ja Morant situation going? The league was literally theirs for the taking. Charlotte is still struggling to turn somebody into a star if they can even keep them on the roster. These hyped up G League players aren't panning out. OKC has 30+ picks over the next six years and is still rolling and getting by with SGA, the guy that we gave them. After all these drafts, newcomers, and hype the league is still promoting Bron, Curry, Lillard, Kawhi, Giannis, etc.

Trust I love the draft and getting new young players but this league isn't even what you think it is anymore. Its 2023-24. This kids want to whil out and be NBA Youngboy not LeBron James.

Imagine if the Chiefs had talked themselves out of drafting Mahomes because of all the busts like Bortles, Manziel, and Paxton Lynch in the years leading up to that draft. They'd be a laughingstock right now and no rants about how "kids these days don't really love the game" would make them look better.

Yes, not every player who gets drafted is going to be a generational prospect, but giving up on the draft entirely for a decade is not a tenable solution. Having no patience and chasing after every declining veteran in their mid-to-late '30s to win now is the antiquated way of running a team. We're like 20+ years behind the rest of the league at this point.

I don't know how anyone can watch us get run out of the gym every night by young athletic teams and think that getting older and slower is the wave of the future. You're writing off Zion and Ja, and I understand why, but their teams still whoop the Clippers' ass virtually every time we play them because they're so much younger and more athletic.

Man football is a completely different animal. I don't even know why you're even making that example, with Mahomes no doubt who's go down as one of the best players in the history of the sport. Come on man. I don't even see us giving up on the draft at all. And I'm all for the youth movement as I've been hollering for the kids to play each and every season. We're not 20 years behind the league if we're in title contention, period! Yes I too wanted the team to roll with SGA and the team that took the Warriors to six games and build from there but it didn't happen and now we pivoted to something else. I'm technically not a Harden fan or a PJ Tucker fan but there's way more upside with them as opposed to the players we just sent off. Beyond Russ, PG, Kawhi, Harden, and PJ there's Mann, Bones, Boston, Kobe, Primo, Miller, and Diabate. No superstars but not bad either. We'll get more pics and more youth. Hell we might can flip Norm for a future 1st rounder for all I know. That 2028 first rounder will be nearly five years after Intuit Dome's opening. A lot is going to happen from now until then.

[M2J]

PJ will fit much better on the Clips than he did in Philly, especially under Nurse. Your team has enough scorers that he can park himself out in the corner and hit one or two threes now and again, plus he is really valuable against guys like Jokic if you can play a rim protector behind him. With us PJ left the team playing 4 on 5 on offense (he can't make a layup from the dunker spot with a defensive player anywhere near him) and he isn't the long defender that plays well in a Nick Nurse system, but still excels at positional and strength/smarts based defense. The Sixers also wanted to get off his guaranteed deal for next year, which won't bother your owner a bit to pay.

Harden is Harden and he fits the timeline with Kawhi and PG13 better than he did with Embiid and Maxey. We wanted the picks and expiring mid-sized deals here most of all, Mann was never a fanbase want here.

Good trade for both teams and where they are right now and through to next summer. Good luck out west!

Right on. PJ is the same player he was with the Bucks IMO. He is still efficient shooting 3s, but unless he's on your team you don't realize he doesn't take enough. Defense is still good though, just helped Giannis struggle last week.

Between PJ and others, your pf situation isn't that bad. Offensively, where you should shine. He can hit a three, but his reluctance to take them sucks. Philly had a great offense around him last year though. But if you play him and Russ together, it gets tricky.

However during the regular season it should be fine if it's a problem in playoffs, just use Kawhi, PG, Harden (who is strong), and even Mann there depending on matchups.

Where Russell fits is the only thing to consider. But ultimately on his deal, that'll work itself out.

[Clemenza]

But for you to even say something like this means that we currently have a pretty good team on paper right?

Well, no, it's a sign of how precarious this team's position now is. I don't believe this roster is anywhere near good enough to win a title, but winning a title is still the only outcome that can redeem all the moves this front office has made at this point.

Man outside of Denver, ever contending team looks iffy in certain areas. The Suns are pure sh*t outside of their Big Three imo. All the Lakers new acquisitions don't look like they'll pan out and Bron at 40 has to play 30+ minutes a game. etc.etc. We about to rock n roll bro. You think this galactic spaceship building being built right here won't have any players playing inside of it? Let it play out

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[esqtvd]

Man football is a completely different animal. I don't even know why you're even making that example, with Mahomes no doubt who's go down as one of the best players in the history of the sport. Come on man. I don't even see us giving up on the draft at all. And I'm all for the youth movement as I've been hollering for the kids to play each and every season. We're not 20 years behind the league if we're in title contention, period! Yes I too wanted the team to roll with SGA and the team that took the Warriors to six games and build from there but it didn't happen and now we pivoted to something else. I'm technically not a Harden fan or a PJ Tucker fan but there's way more upside with them as opposed to the players we just sent off. Beyond Russ, PG, Kawhi, Harden, and PJ there's Mann, Bones, Boston, Kobe, Primo, Miller, and Diabate. No superstars but not bad either. We'll get more pics and more youth. Hell we might can flip Norm for a future 1st rounder for all I know. That 2028 first rounder will be nearly five years after Intuit Dome's opening. A lot is going to happen from now until then.

It's fruitless to get caught up in the trap of "look at HOF Player X, therefore the draft is sacred."

SGA is STILL Oklahoma City's best player, and they got him in a TRADE for Paul George, who was acquired in a S&T for two pretty good players, Sabonis and Oladipo. And Mahomes slipped to #10 [Bears stupidly took Trubisky at #3] to the 12-4 Chiefs, who had acquired the pick in trade with the Bills for two FRPs and a 3rd. Not cheap.

And we don't even have to do Tom Brady, who was selected 199th overall, or Jokic, selected 41st, a stash pick who didn't even come over to the NBA until the next year. [Denver also drafted the legendary Doug McDermott at #11. ]


As for the pick in 2028, Russ, PG, Kawhi, Harden, and PJ will all be gone, many FAs signed in their place, and the guy probably won't be ready to contribute until 2030. We should all live so long.

[esqtvd]

Look at Keon Johnson--our 2021 FRP is already kicked to the curb to the team [Portland] we traded him to.* And the player we WISHED we drafted instead of him [Bones Hyland] was kicked to the curb by HIS drafting team.

Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht.

__________________________
*Keon Johnson just got waived by the team who picked him up, the Suns. And we actually traded up to acquire him from the Knicks @ #22.

LATE ADD: Keon Johnson is now on his FIFTH team.

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[KL2]

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Not a lot of time to waste to upgrade when you look at this depth.

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[Scoundreldays]

How does Petrusev look?

[playaloc916]

Just watched the Gilbert Arenas podcast. They made a good point that Harden could handle the ball less, focus on short dribbles and scoring, and when the other team is in foul trouble, go full Maggette mode. I can see a role kind of similar to EJ when he was on the team.

Maybe Mann will get more minutes at the 4 now, while the team looks for a more permanent solution.

[esqtvd]

How does Petrusev look?

Looked OK to me. Dunno why he was in the deal if the Clips don't keep him, but I think the Sixers got some sort of trade/veteran salary exception by including him.

Petrusev was selected by Philadelphia with the 50th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, but the Sixers elected to stash the Serbia native overseas the last two seasons, giving him a chance to play against high-level European competition before making a full-fledged transition to the NBA.

During his third Las Vegas Summer League stint with the Sixers, Petrusev averaged 12.5 points while shooting 61% from the field. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds in two appearances.

Petrusev also had a solid showing in three games at Salt Lake Summer League, averaging 9.0 points and 7.3 rebounds.

[TrueLAfan]

Harden is an elite passer with great vision, and he can still score. On this team he's a co-third option with Westbrook, not a first, not a second, so I'm a lot less worried about playoff Harden when Kawhi is there to take the big shots.

Yeah, I think part of Harden's desire to leave Philly and join the Clippers in particular was to escape the playoff pressure. Embiid is not prime time either.

You know, I absolutely believe that Morey had a handshake deal with Harden, and Morey reneged. 100% believe it. It’s just that—deals go both ways. Part of that deal, whether it’s spoken or not, is that James Harden would play like James Harden or a reasonable facsimile thereof. When did Morey decide to go back on his deal and his word? Probably at about 6:00 p.m. on May 14, 2023, when Harden was wrapping up going 7-27 in two games that could have closed things out for his team. Did Morey go back on his word? Yup. Did Harden break his part of the bargain? Sure. Newsflash; Nobody’s giving big extensions to guys that fold up like wet tortillas in back to back closeout games after a history of subpar playoff performances. Neither side held up their side of the bargain, IMO.

Anyway, I’m bummed about this trade. Could it help us? Well, yeah. We didn’t give much up; I’m sad about Batum, but he’s pretty far down on the career trajectory path. Same with RoCo. KMJ had upside … but not enough to keep this from technically being an okay deal. But I dislike everything about the way Harden has handled things and refused to take responsibility for his own f---ups.

We’re much better on paper. We gained rebounding and scoring and passing. What a shame games aren’t played on paper.

[esqtvd]

You know, I absolutely believe that Morey had a handshake deal with Harden, and Morey reneged. 100% believe it. It’s just that—deals go both ways. Part of that deal, whether it’s spoken or not, is that James Harden would play like James Harden or a reasonable facsimile thereof. When did Morey decide to go back on his deal and his word? Probably at about 6:00 p.m. on May 14, 2023, when Harden was wrapping up going 7-27 in two games that could have closed things out for his team. Did Morey go back on his word? Yup. Did Harden break his part of the bargain? Sure. Newsflash; Nobody’s giving big extensions to guys that fold up like wet tortillas in back to back closeout games after a history of subpar playoff performances. Neither side held up their side of the bargain, IMO.

Timeline doesn't fit--Harden opted in at the June 30 deadline.

https://www.nba.com/news/james-harden-opts-in-76ers-explore-trades

Harden informed the 76ers of his choice Thursday ahead of the midnight deadline to pick up the option, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision was not made public.

The 33-year-old Harden could have declined the option and decided to try for free agency. The Sixers had the right to offer him a $210 million, four-year deal, $8 million more overall than any other team.

But the person who talked to the AP on anonymity Thursday said it was not definite Harden would be traded but that the player nicknamed The Beard expressed a desire to win a championship — which he has yet to do in his career — in Philadelphia or with another contender.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers and New York Knicks are among the teams expected to show interest in landing Harden.

Unclear if Harden is lying that Morey promised him a trade if he opted in. But I see nothing in the timeline of Beard's subsequent behavior that contradicts it. In fact, he was scheduled to report to Sixers practice Tuesday. It was the team that had locked him out.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/76ers-james-harden-denied-entry-onto-team-plane-ahead-of-season-opening-road-trip-per-report/

[ejftw]

I remember wanting Petrusev on draft night, hope they keep him, at least until the roster spot is needed

[KL2]

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[esqtvd]

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L-Frank too. Ballmer might even have sent his private jet. I presume that's Tucker along with Beard.

No Petrusev.

[KL2]

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[esqtvd]

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Petrosev either on a bus to Ontario or a plane back to Serbia

[Scoundreldays]

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Harden making a statement on what option he is going to be on the team with his jersey number lol jk