Welcome James Harden!

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #1741 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 12:16 pm

I love what James Harden has done for us. He's been a model of consistency since he's been here. Leading the league in assists, one of the best playmakers in the game. I'd hate to see him go.

Bum Adebayo · Post #1742 » by **Bum Adebayo** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 12:30 pm

James Harden is just not a dependable scorer anymore, yeah he will put an amazing scoring performance once in a while, but in a playoffs series you need some consistency, and he ain't that.
Problem is, Maxey sucks against Celtics, so Harden being able to score would be really important.
Still, he is an elite playmaker and passer and that helps us way more than what Bum Simmons did, so I'm not complaining about his tenure here, overall it's obviously a positive.

mjkvol · Post #1743 » by **mjkvol** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 12:36 pm

ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:I love what James Harden has done for us. He's been a model of consistency since he's been here. Leading the league in assists, one of the best playmakers in the game. I'd hate to see him go.

Agree. At this point it makes little sense to pivot if it's possible to run this back with a new coach and some adjustments around the edges, like a legit PG and a wing to replace Harris. But if the intention is to run it back and keep Rivers, then I might side with the idea of a complete retool.

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #1744 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 1:24 pm

mjkvol wrote:
ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:I love what James Harden has done for us. He's been a model of consistency since he's been here. Leading the league in assists, one of the best playmakers in the game. I'd hate to see him go.

Agree. At this point it makes little sense to pivot if it's possible to run this back with a new coach and some adjustments around the edges, like a legit PG and a wing to replace Harris. But if the intention is to run it back and keep Rivers, then I might side with the idea of a complete retool.

My question is this...Is Harden angling for one more supermax contract? He's not worth that anymore from what I've seen. He's played it smart though, he's talked about how he leads the league in assists, and how he's basically deferring to Embiid and Maxey on offense and letting them score. Thing is, he may be the only person in the basketball world that thinks he can do what he was able to do offensively five years ago. How he performs in this series against Boston is going to determine a lot about him and what he has to offer and what he deserves to be paid. I hope he stays in Philly, but it's going to have to be with the idea that he's part of the team and not the team. He's just not that guy anymore. I really hope he balls out in this Boston series because we absolutely need him in the worst way. Hopefully the Vegas trip helped reset his spirits. I mean...Whatever you gotta do right?

mjkvol · Post #1745 » by **mjkvol** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:11 pm

ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:
mjkvol wrote:
ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:I love what James Harden has done for us. He's been a model of consistency since he's been here. Leading the league in assists, one of the best playmakers in the game. I'd hate to see him go.

Agree. At this point it makes little sense to pivot if it's possible to run this back with a new coach and some adjustments around the edges, like a legit PG and a wing to replace Harris. But if the intention is to run it back and keep Rivers, then I might side with the idea of a complete retool.

My question is this...Is Harden angling for one more supermax contract? He's not worth that anymore from what I've seen. He's played it smart though, he's talked about how he leads the league in assists, and how he's basically deferring to Embiid and Maxey on offense and letting them score. Thing is, he may be the only person in the basketball world that thinks he can do what he was able to do offensively five years ago. How he performs in this series against Boston is going to determine a lot about him and what he has to offer and what he deserves to be paid. I hope he stays in Philly, but it's going to have to be with the idea that he's part of the team and not the team. He's just not that guy anymore. I really hope he balls out in this Boston series because we absolutely need him in the worst way. Hopefully the Vegas trip helped reset his spirits. I mean...Whatever you gotta do right?

I don't pay attention to what goes on other than the games - any 'news' I get is here, as I don't do other social media and haven't watched non-game stuff or listened to sports radio in about 20 years. I don't care what they do between games, just show up and play, that's all.

If the Sixers schiit the bed against Boston, then it's clear that changes have to be made, but they've roped themselves into this group with little room to maneuver. If Harden really does walk, it's going to be a really interesting off-season.

HardenGoat · Post #1746 » by **HardenGoat** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:55 pm

How the team ultimately plays and wins games is going to be a reflection on Harden. The key here is wins. I think he knows what has to be done to achieve this. He’s one of the best players in the league in that position if not the best right now. The rest we have had should pay huge dividends. I think he needed it, certainly Embiid did.

Negrodamus · Post #1747 » by **Negrodamus** » Sat Apr 29, 2023 5:24 pm

zaz102 wrote:
Negrodamus wrote:
zaz102 wrote:I don't see Philly and Boston taking back Green at this point. I could see him being involved in a trade, but going somewhere for a team that decides to rebuild like maybe a Portland (not that they would be my target).

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I could see Boston doing that trade for Green. Brown is prob going to leave at the end of his contract and he is close with Udoka. Boston might want to make a proactive move before he leaves and Houston might want to lock him up before he hits the open market.
I'm not on top of Celtics news at all so its surprising to me as I feel their the favorites to win it this year and no reason they couldnt next year either.

Why does Brown want out? And why wouldn't they try to go for another player that's more polished to stay a favorite?

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Brown probably wants to be the main guy on a team and not defer to Tatum anymore. I also think Brown holds the cards as he's going to be entering his last year of his contract. He's big enough to force his way into a different situation. Could be a three way deal, but I could see him forcing his way to Houston. This is also based off nothing, just my opinion.

M2J · Post #1748 » by **M2J** » Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:59 pm

Negrodamus wrote:
zaz102 wrote:
Negrodamus wrote:
I could see Boston doing that trade for Green. Brown is prob going to leave at the end of his contract and he is close with Udoka. Boston might want to make a proactive move before he leaves and Houston might want to lock him up before he hits the open market.
I'm not on top of Celtics news at all so its surprising to me as I feel their the favorites to win it this year and no reason they couldnt next year either.

Why does Brown want out? And why wouldn't they try to go for another player that's more polished to stay a favorite?

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Brown probably wants to be the main guy on a team and not defer to Tatum anymore. I also think Brown holds the cards as he's going to be entering his last year of his contract. He's big enough to force his way into a different situation. Could be a three way deal, but I could see him forcing his way to Houston. This is also based off nothing, just my opinion.

I don't think he wants to be the guy. He's pretty much 1B now. Any winning situation will require a similar deal.

I'd say he's had some negative interactions with the fan base based on his personal beliefs not matching theirs. Bigger deal is it seems he has some negative feels with the leadership, not Tatum. It was floated around and they were going to try to trade him before they turn the season around last year. Then they literally tried to trade him twice for Kevin Durant in the offseason and before the trade deadline. However because he's probably going to be eligible for the supermax now, I don't think he's going anywhere.

Murray_17 · Post #1749 » by **Murray_17** » Sun Apr 30, 2023 6:14 pm

The problem for Boston is not if Brown want or not to be on the team, it's if they can pay him.

If he gets an all NBA nod in this season or the next he's do for a supermax extension and that would put Boston heavily on the tax, which means they are not gonna be able to keep the team together anyways

M2J · Post #1750 » by **M2J** » Sun Apr 30, 2023 6:42 pm

Murray_17 wrote:The problem for Boston is not if Brown want or not to be on the team, it's if they can pay him.

If he gets an all NBA nod in this season or the next he's do for a supermax extension and that would put Boston heavily on the tax, which means they are not gonna be able to keep the team together anyways

I think they're actually happy that he's going to be all NBA so that they will have that advantage to keep him according to their fan base.

But yes they're going to be a lot thinner soon

phillynative · Post #1751 » by **phillynative** » Tue May 2, 2023 3:21 am

Was pleasantly mistaken. Didn't think he could do it but he did.

Negrodamus · Post #1752 » by **Negrodamus** » Tue May 2, 2023 3:24 am

Hope he's on a private jet to Las Vegas right now.

Jay555 · Post #1753 » by **Jay555** » Tue May 2, 2023 4:06 am

Watch Jim pull a stinker in G2 and everyone starts to call him washed and we should let this dude walk.

Ferry Avenue · Post #1754 » by **Ferry Avenue** » Tue May 2, 2023 4:18 pm

If James Harden can continue to function as a player who helps spearhead wins AND as a team leader all at the same time -- a la last night -- this team will take a MAJOR stride forward in its potential to win a championship this year.

Couple that with a healthy Embiid who is in "enthusiastic mode" and the addition of PJ Tucker and his leadership and effect on the team's mentality, and this team all of a sudden has the mettle to beat anybody in the league in a seven-game series. That amount of "charge" in the team's energy will be like nothing we've seen for many years here.

The Harden performance last night, both physically and in terms of leadership, is an absolutely huge stride forward for this team if it continues. He doesn't have to get 40+ every night for that to continue -- he just has to be aggressive and inspirational as he was last night and give the same kind of effort night in night out.

elchengue20 · Post #1755 » by **elchengue20** » Tue May 2, 2023 7:37 pm

He really surprised me and i think most NBA followers feel the same.

I didn't believe he still could pull a game like that against a great team in the Playoffs while being the clear cut 1st option.

Still, i still think it's very unlikely he can do it again. At least we have a series now if Biid can return somewhat healthy for Game 3. Before last night i feared this series was already over.

mjkvol · Post #1756 » by **mjkvol** » Tue May 2, 2023 8:01 pm

For whatever reason that game didn't surprise me at all. I loved seeing it, but he's played like that often since he's been here, the difference being that he was looking for his own shot more, hitting that step-back three more consistently, and the Celtics did a bad job protecting the rim on many of his drives. He is clearly laser focused like we've never seen, that's for sure.

elchengue20 · Post #1757 » by **elchengue20** » Thu May 4, 2023 8:41 pm

Eyetest hes looking better, its the most explosive hes been here. 10 free throws in 32 min also show this. Also i like he has embraced the pull up midrange to make his offense less predictable.

Still, last night he cameback to his 2-14 shooting nights. We aint beating any contender with this level of inconsistency.

elchengue20 · Post #1758 » by **elchengue20** » Sat May 6, 2023 7:12 pm

The Houston talk it's starting to have some sense now.

He can go there without many pressure/expectations, get a Max contract for multiple years, have some RS success/numbers while being the hometown hero.

Also he would have the best strip clubs in the country, of course.

Bum Adebayo · Post #1759 » by **Bum Adebayo** » Sat May 6, 2023 7:35 pm

Yeah he has always been a career loser, he just wants to chill out in Houston with no expectations.

Jhawk03 · Post #1760 » by **Jhawk03** » Sun May 7, 2023 8:59 am

Bum Adebayo wrote:Yeah he has always been a career loser, he just wants to chill out in Houston with no expectations.

As much as I want to agree with you, if you're wrong then you'll be the first one to break my rule on not blocking trolls in 20 years.