Around The NBA

[TheStig]

Houston's got to get more than Rozier to keep Harden happy.

Maybe, but they aren’t likely to get more back for an over 30 year old guy due over 120M over the next 3 seasons.

What they get in FA with the cap savings is the biggest win.

They won't have cap space.

[TheStig]

The Ringer says Mavericks are seeking to add Lavine.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/11/oconnors-latest-bucks-mavs-lavine-gordon-more.html

The Mavs don't really have anything to offer. Tim Hardaway JR and a late 1st doesn't move the needle.

No they don’t. Brunson THJ and 1sts. Not enough.

Maybe a Herro and Robinson and 1st for Lavine type trade with a western Conf team.

MPJ Barton Morris and 1sts?

It's a shame Minny doesn't want him back. James Johnson and #1 for Lavine would help both teams.

[chitownsalesmen]

How bad does this make James Harden look? I think Harden will spend the rest of his basketball career in NBA purgatory, not unlike Carmelo with the Knicks.

What? How does this make Harden look bad? Not his fault his owner over ruled Morey one of the savviest GM's in the league to trade CP3 who was a better fit next to Harden for Westbrick who can't play in a modern offense unless every other guy on the floor can shoot from 3 because hes a bad shooting guard in the modern NBA, then to further accommodate Westbrook they traded Harden's pick-n-roll/lob threat(the bread and butter of his game) Capela for a 3+D stretch 4 in Covington. It was very clear after Morey made his HK comments he wasn't a long term part of HOU and I believe they froze him out of most of last season.

If anything this entire situation is showing how bad of an owner Fertitta is looking like he will be, Harden may luck out and get to pick his landing spot in a potential trade. I think figuring out a way to get Harden on the Sixers and Ben Simmons on the Rockets could be the best case scenario for both teams. Harden/Embiid are a dream pairing on Offense an Simmons is young enough for the Rockets to build around, its not a question if their blowing it up but when.

Perception wise, it looks bad on Harden because it appears he recruits guys, clashes with them and then they get traded.
Happened with Howard, CP3 and now potentially Russ.

It’s not his fault, just looks bad optics wise.

I don't know how you can come to that conclusion, Im going to preface everything I'm about to say by stating I'm not a James Harden fan at all, kinda dislike him.

But by that logic LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, D. Wade, Anthony Davis Khawi Leonard and more should all be embarrassed to show their faces in public. I would include Paul George in that list but he should be embarrassed to show his face because of his repeated play-off failures.

I'm not super familiar with how much of a role Harden played in acquiring all of those guys, but point is this is the new NBA, the star players have realized that from the time they get out of their 2nd contract until they remain elite players they have the power and they are moving around as they see fit, as a free market guy I love it.

I'll say this the Rockets were a Western conference play-off team without any of those guys, Harden in his first year as a #1 option took a team with Jeremy Lin, Omar Asik and Chandler Parson to the playoffs, then went to multiple WCFs and only took a major step back once Westbrick showed up in town.

Westbrick has drove away Durant, Paul George and has now alienated himself and requested a trade from Houston because he can't adjust his game to co-exist with another star, because he couldn't produce better next to James Harden then a 33 year old CP3 could. Houston has never missed the play-offs with Harden something LeBron couldn't do his first season in LA and he had a far better roster then a couple of the Rockets teams Harden carried to the playoffs. If anyone should have egg on their face beside Ferttita its Westbrick.

Remember Harden + a 32 year old CP3 had a 3-2 lead over the KD/Steph Warriors, Harden has an MVP and multiple top 5 and top 3 MVP finishes, if he does end up leaving Houston he should feel very good about his time in Houston.

[Jeffster81]

The optics says nobody wants to play with Harden. I'm not saying it's true, I'm saying the optics looks bad.

[the ultimates]

The optics says nobody wants to play with Harden. I'm not saying it's true, I'm saying the optics looks bad.

How? Chris Paul got traded. Paul and Harden may have butted heads but Paul never demanded a trade and Harden didn't force the Rockets to deal Chris. Westbrook seemingly wants to leave because he wants to be the number one guy on a team again. That reflects badly on Westbrook, not Harden. Russell is the player who once again can't temper or change his game to mesh with another superstar.

[StunnerKO]

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[StunnerKO]

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[StunnerKO]

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[MrFortune3]

What? How does this make Harden look bad? Not his fault his owner over ruled Morey one of the savviest GM's in the league to trade CP3 who was a better fit next to Harden for Westbrick who can't play in a modern offense unless every other guy on the floor can shoot from 3 because hes a bad shooting guard in the modern NBA, then to further accommodate Westbrook they traded Harden's pick-n-roll/lob threat(the bread and butter of his game) Capela for a 3+D stretch 4 in Covington. It was very clear after Morey made his HK comments he wasn't a long term part of HOU and I believe they froze him out of most of last season.

If anything this entire situation is showing how bad of an owner Fertitta is looking like he will be, Harden may luck out and get to pick his landing spot in a potential trade. I think figuring out a way to get Harden on the Sixers and Ben Simmons on the Rockets could be the best case scenario for both teams. Harden/Embiid are a dream pairing on Offense an Simmons is young enough for the Rockets to build around, its not a question if their blowing it up but when.

Perception wise, it looks bad on Harden because it appears he recruits guys, clashes with them and then they get traded.
Happened with Howard, CP3 and now potentially Russ.

It’s not his fault, just looks bad optics wise.

I don't know how you can come to that conclusion, Im going to preface everything I'm about to say by stating I'm not a James Harden fan at all, kinda dislike him.

But by that logic LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, D. Wade, Anthony Davis Khawi Leonard and more should all be embarrassed to show their faces in public. I would include Paul George in that list but he should be embarrassed to show his face because of his repeated play-off failures.

I'm not super familiar with how much of a role Harden played in acquiring all of those guys, but point is this is the new NBA, the star players have realized that from the time they get out of their 2nd contract until they remain elite players they have the power and they are moving around as they see fit, as a free market guy I love it.

I'll say this the Rockets were a Western conference play-off team without any of those guys, Harden in his first year as a #1 option took a team with Jeremy Lin, Omar Asik and Chandler Parson to the playoffs, then went to multiple WCFs and only took a major step back once Westbrick showed up in town.

Westbrick has drove away Durant, Paul George and has now alienated himself and requested a trade from Houston because he can't adjust his game to co-exist with another star, because he couldn't produce better next to James Harden then a 33 year old CP3 could. Houston has never missed the play-offs with Harden something LeBron couldn't do his first season in LA and he had a far better roster then a couple of the Rockets teams Harden carried to the playoffs. If anyone should have egg on their face beside Ferttita its Westbrick.

Remember Harden + a 32 year old CP3 had a 3-2 lead over the KD/Steph Warriors, Harden has an MVP and multiple top 5 and top 3 MVP finishes, if he does end up leaving Houston he should feel very good about his time in Houston.

Harden recruited Dwight Howard to the Rockets. They reportedly had a falling out and Howard was broomed away. But Dwight wears thin on his teammates so it's not really a Harden issue. But it looks that way.

Harden recruited CP3 to the Rockets. They had a lot of success and should have stayed together, they reportedly had a falling out and CP3 was traded away to make room for Westbrook. CP3 grates on the nerves of his teammates and it's not Harden's fault but this is the 2nd teammate that is also a star player that leaves Houston under rumors of friction.

Now with Russ, I am not sure how much input Harden had into acquiring him. We know that Russ ok'd it to re-unite with Harden so him being there was a factor in accepting the trade to Houston.
Now there are rumors of he and Harden being concerned with the Rockets future but Russ wants out right now and Harden is committed to Houston for the moment. None of that is actually Harden's fault but once again, you have a 3rd consecutive star teammate potentially exiting the Rockets.

Optics and reality rarely match. The optics appear to show Harden as a diva who gets who he wants and then cannot live with it.
The reality is, no matter who comes on board, the Rockets are Harden's team and other stars seem to chafe at accepting the Robin role.

[MrFortune3]

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I won't lie, I kinda want one of those jerseys.

[samwana]

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I won't lie, I kinda want one of those jerseys.

I'm no jersey girl, but this one looks good. Way better than all this bad blue stuff we had the last few years

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[MrFortune3]

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I won't lie, I kinda want one of those jerseys.

I'm no jersey girl, but this one looks good. Way better than all this bad blue stuff we had the last few years

Sent from my POT-LX1 using RealGM mobile app

I don't mind the Blue's since it's a nod to the Chicago flag. But this is much better.

[MrFortune3]

The Wizards are on record as building around Beal, Westbrook wants out of Houston or changes(no one wants him at his contract) and now Oladipo has come out publicly saying he wants to stay with Indiana. This is going to be one hell of an interesting 20-21 NBA season.

[Chi town]

Looks like tomorrow or Monday trades will open up before the draft and then we should see lots of movement.

[Andi Obst]

Looks like tomorrow or Monday trades will open up before the draft and then we should see lots of movement.

It's weird that they haven't specified when exactly trades will be possible yet. We're basically in the 2 to 3 days before the draft range which was reported like a week ago.

[Ice Man]

Optics and reality rarely match. The optics appear to show Harden as a diva who gets who he wants and then cannot live with it. The reality is, no matter who comes on board, the Rockets are Harden's team and other stars seem to chafe at accepting the Robin role.

Jeremy Lin, although not a star, also felt unwelcome in Houston. That was the only NBA stop where he was said to be unhappy. I agree with you, there has been enough smoke in Houston to assume that there's a small fire.

[Chi town]

Per WT... What’s going to take to keep Giannis in MIL?

CP3 Trade?

[Chi town]

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Would be so KD.

[Southpaw]

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Would be so KD.

That's such a weak trade for HOU, we can probably easily top that. But if Harden is forcing his way to BKN, makes more sense.

The next couple of week could be crazy with the draft, FA period and trades. Can't wait haha.

[kodo]

Houston trading Harden is a total rebuild, and they don't even get a bad 1st rounder of it?
I can't believe that would happen, even with a new owner.

Harden's contract runs to 2023 with option, he can't force his way anywhere.