Would the Thunder be even better if they had Harden?

[anish23]

how many times will this get discussed?

seriously.

[ferk]

Maybe

[branny]

Of course they would

[Durant 35]

Harden is better than Martin but Martin is a perfect fit and has allowed Westbrook and Durant to grow more and take on more of a balling handling role. Ibaka has improved alot too offensively so it's all had it's positives.

[Dupp]

I say no. Unless Harden could be satisfied being a 3rd option, I don't see how he would really make them better. It seems Westbrook has finally relinquished control to Durant. End game, he gives the ball to Durant and gets out of the way. It seems the Thunder are even better this year than last.

Anyone think differently?

This doesnt make any sense. He was perfectly fine with his role there. Of course they'd be better.

[reapaman]

Well all I care about is who would be better against the heat, Martin or Harden? I'm still going Martin because for all of hardens strengths (and yes he's a better player overall than martin), his lack of mid range shot can be a major liability. The heat are a unique team and have the ability to greatly reduce even the best basket attackers from getting easy shots when driving (although indiana did a good job of it last night against harden). So thats why you saw the number of three point and mid range attempts for him greatly increase while his attacks on the basket greatly decreased from previous rounds and the regular season. You also saw this when houston played miami early this year. For all of Martin's flaws, he can score anyway you want him to including the mid range shot.

I still won't trust harden versus the heat or any team that can find a way to stop him from getting to the paint. Its a huge deal.

[Durant 35]

Well yeah if Harden plays to a good normal level in the finals we likely win that series but we will never truely know...but considering how close all the games were but one..you can make a case.