All this trade reminds me of is how dumb it is for us as fans to criticize players for lack of "loyalty" and for looking out for themselves first and then just as easily praise and celebrate the FO for trading a player and essentially being disloyal. I've felt this way before, which is why I don't take any criticism of a player being disloyal or doing what is best for them seriously. To do that is just to understand how the league works and to be a smart player.
esqtvd wrote:Clemenza wrote:esqtvd wrote:
At 6-foot-nothing, Little Big Man can't dominate. That's the whole point. As a mobile 6'10", Blake should.
Harden does. 60 points. If I'm CP, I'd rather play second fiddle to Harden. That was that.
I get all that but I can't elevate CP3 because he finally got to lean/latch onto a MVP candidate and a guy that's down to go for 40 a game. I guess in today's society we do elevate the guy who dumps his old chick for a new hotter girlfriend. And I'm not mad at Paul for the move cause he's stumbled upon a great situation. Let me see if this manifest itself out come playoff time if not CP3 will dump Harder for a newer chick in Lebron James next season
I think if CP loved his team and mostly, if they loved him back, he'd have been a Clipper to the bitter end. After all, it was "his" team.
But Blake is overpaid dogsh*t, DJ eats too much of the cap, and nobody really liked Chris, who is a pr*ck, let's face it. So ended our Golden Age.
A little bit excessive on the Blake analysis there, man we're quick to turn on guys as soon as they are no longer on the team. What would you say about Austin if the team was to trade him? Just ruthless.
It's not about love, it's about if the team is good enough. Players have their goals: money, winning, a mixture of both, location, etc. Paul wanted to win, and not everyone is Durant who just goes to the previous team that won, but he looked around and found the best possible and realistic situation for him to have a chance to win and went there. That's really all it is. If the Clippers were the best situation, he would have stayed, it had nothing to do with being disliked.
Paul and Crawford are boys, him and DJ are boys now, Mbah followed him to the Rockets, Redick loves his style of leadership according to Redick himself and almost followed him to Houston if not for contract and stability (felt Houston could trade him if they needed to improved b/c they have Gordon). Heck, even freaking Ballmer and Paul were close, so if he wanted love, well he could have just said he wanted to stay without Blake and he could get all his love while not being on a contender. It had nothing to do with being liked or loved or any of that. It was about wanting to win, and if the Clippers looked like the situation that gave him the best chance, he would have stayed. Paul like us knew that the same Clippers roster would not be able to beat GS, and he didn't see what moves the team was going to make that would change that, and that's just being a smart free agent, but all this gushy I want to be loved stuff was not relevant.
Paul has missed games with Houston, and they are still on pace for 63 wins and are fighting for the league's best record. They are 29-3 with Paul/Harden playing, Harden has scored 30+ 19 times, 40+ 8 times and 50+ 4 times, Houston has been one of the best closing teams in the league. Paul's on-court Ortg is 119.8 Ortg, only slightly better than his 118.8 Ortg when on the court with the Clippers last season, but the teams Ortg, when he is off, is 113.2 Ortg. With the Clippers, it was 107.3 Ortg last season, 99.5 Ortg in 15-16 and 98.4 Ortg in 14-15. Those things, that's why he left, not love.