Amick: Harden expands his list of preferred destinations to include Blazers

[Norm2953]

Financially, McCollum, Simons, and Little is enough to trade for Harden. Include two future picks and reduce the protection on next years pick and you've got a deal. IF Houston wants to trade Harden bad enough, that offer may just be enough. Look at the list of teams Harden is "willing" to go to:

Milwaukee - Reportedly, Giannis has no interest in Harden.
Miami - Reportedly is not interested and is holding out until next offseason to do anything.
Boston - I can't imagine they would move Brown or Tatum so who do they have left to offer... Walker? Maybe???
Philadelphia - I would think if Philly were willing to trade Simmons, a deal would have been made during the offseason. Who's left... Harris?
Brooklyn - They've got the players to acquire Harden and another player ... LeVert, Dinwiddie, Harris, and Allen
Portland - McCollum may potentially be the best overall player Houston could acquire in a trade for Harden. Add in some young prospects in Simons, Little, Trent Jr, or Collins, but that still does not equal what Brooklynn "could" do if they chose to do so.

Does Brooklyn have any interest in CJ? What about CJ to Brooklyn and Dinwiddle & LeVert to Houston from Brooklyn with Simons & Little and 2 picks from Portland, and Harden to Portland. Houston gets younger guys, Brooklyn gets a talented guard to pair with Durant/Irving, and Portland gets the best player.

I've got the Harden trade as CJ, ZC, GTJ, Little + unprotected 2021, pick swaps in 23,25. I continue to wonder how Simmons
and Wall could play together and wonder how many basketballs would be needed with Kyrie, KD and Harden. Boston has never
made an all in trade like the Harden trade would be in their team's history and have always been tough negotiators.

[ungin_74]

harden would be too disruptive to the culture in Portland,, i don't know if the salaries would match but i think he is going to the 76ers

[BNM]

Nets not happening. Kyrie forced his way out of CLE because he didn't like playing second fiddle to LeBron. You think he'd be happy playing third fiddle to KD and Harden? They have enough "star power" already, and they have great depth with quality players at the 3 - 9 spots in the rotation. Adding Harden will take touches from KD and Kyrie and kill their depth. Whenever 3 stars form a super team, one of them has to sacrifice his numbers for the benefit of the team. Which of KD, Kryie or Harden seems like a player that would be happy making that sacrifice?

Both BOS and PHI would be stupid to sacrifice their future to enter win now mode while LeBron and AD are still together in LA and (to a lesser extent) KD and Kyrie are together in BRK. Both organizations have spent close to a decade trying to acquire two young stars to build around, trading one of those stars now would be insanely short sighted. Let those young guys continue to improve, grow and gain experience while the two teams in front of you see their star players grow older and older and eventually retire. The time for PHI or BOS to win it all is when Embiid/Simmons and Tatum/Brown are in their primes. None of them are there, yet. Trading one of them before they reach their prime would be just plain stupid and would undo the sacrifices those organizations made to position them for a bright future.

[monopoman]

I'm not sure how reliable this source is but apparently the Blazers FO refuses to break up CJ+Lillard. So this makes a trade for Harden seem like an almost impossibility. Since matching his salary would require trading away 7 or more players if CJ was not included.

Supposed article was taken out of context and was not accurate so it was removed.

[DusterBuster]

As I was saying, if the Blazers have any chance at Harden, it’s 100% going to have to include Trent.

[DusterBuster]

I'm not sure how reliable this source is but apparently the Blazers FO refuses to break up CJ+Lillard. So this makes a trade for Harden seem like an almost impossibility. Since matching his salary would require trading away 7 or more players if CJ was not included.

It’s not at all. Quick has even refuted this and complained on Twitter that this line from his article is being taken out of context and spread as news from other sources.

[monopoman]

Okay I removed the pic from my post, since it was deemed fake news.

[DusterBuster]

Okay I removed the pic from my post, since it was deemed fake news.

Here was Quick’s tweet in question...

Read on Twitter

?s=21

[PDXKnight]

Clutchfans isn’t even mentioning the blazers in its trade ideas page. Probably means on paper that we aren’t the best potential suitor for them which I suppose makes sense since Simmons May become available (I think philly will offer him ultimately given the harden-morey connection and the fact that morey isn’t the guy who drafted anyone in philly). That being said man I hope the rockets are in love with gtj enough to consider here. Would be a nice way out of paying him a major extension while adding a huge star

[Waynearchetype]

Clutchfans isn’t even mentioning the blazers in its trade ideas page. Probably means on paper that we aren’t the best potential suitor for them which I suppose makes sense since Simmons May become available (I think philly will offer him ultimately given the harden-morey connection and the fact that morey isn’t the guy who drafted anyone in philly). That being said man I hope the rockets are in love with gtj enough to consider here. Would be a nice way out of paying him a major extension while adding a huge star

Philly is in a weird spot. Its one thing to publicly deny rumors, and its another thing to tell a player privately you won't trade them but then go back on that. Its entirely different to publicly say you won't trade a player.

As for Blazers not being mentioned... We aren't the flashy partner. I mentioned this in the trade thread in this forum, but HOU fans are expecting a Paul George/AD level return for Harden, and right now they aren't going to be getting that. The problem with comparing those scenarios is the Paul George trade was a contingent factor in signing Kawhi, OKC had leverage. In the AD trade, Lebrons extension was up and he wasn't going to miss the playoffs to play for LA again unless they did something, NO had leverage. For Harden, no team is going to suffer repercussions from not signing him other than opportunity cost. That means you aren't going to be getting equal value. You're looking at a less balanced trade more similar to the Kawhi/Melo to knicks deal.

[PDXKnight]

Clutchfans isn’t even mentioning the blazers in its trade ideas page. Probably means on paper that we aren’t the best potential suitor for them which I suppose makes sense since Simmons May become available (I think philly will offer him ultimately given the harden-morey connection and the fact that morey isn’t the guy who drafted anyone in philly). That being said man I hope the rockets are in love with gtj enough to consider here. Would be a nice way out of paying him a major extension while adding a huge star

Philly is in a weird spot. Its one thing to publicly deny rumors, and its another thing to tell a player privately you won't trade them but then go back on that. Its entirely different to publicly say you won't trade a player.

As for Blazers not being mentioned... We aren't the flashy partner. I mentioned this in the trade thread in this forum, but HOU fans are expecting a Paul George/AD level return for Harden, and right now they aren't going to be getting that. The problem with comparing those scenarios is the Paul George trade was a contingent factor in signing Kawhi, OKC had leverage. In the AD trade, Lebrons extension was up and he wasn't going to miss the playoffs to play for LA again unless they did something, NO had leverage. For Harden, no team is going to suffer repercussions from not signing him other than opportunity cost. That means you aren't going to be getting equal value. You're looking at a less balanced trade more similar to the Kawhi/Melo to knicks deal.

The kawhi deal was different, kawhi was expiring so he was known as a likely one year rental. Even after winning a title he bolted. Harden has at least 2 years under contract which makes him more lucrative to a contender. That’s 2 shots to pull together a winning squad and take the title. Makes a huge difference from a management perspective when deciding whether to do a trade.

Now I do think you’re accurate in saying the rockets fans likely expect too much here but maybe rightfully so. Houston has no reason to rush into dealing harden and he’s an all nba caliber player. Just like Portland would handle a dame trade request (they might honor it but they’d hold out for the best deal because of the security of his contract) Houston could easily wait until the deadline if there aren’t any solid offers. And honestly I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they tried to convince him to stay for 2-3 more years either given how hard it is to replace a guy who’s pretty much still at the same level as when he won the mvp. The big thing that would force Houston hands is 1) if Houston is just awful this year or 2) Harden refuses to play but I think the second scenario is already out of the question (he’s playing) and the first is tbd

[Waynearchetype]

The kawhi deal was different, kawhi was expiring so he was known as a likely one year rental. Even after winning a title he bolted. Harden has at least 2 years under contract which makes him more lucrative to a contender. That’s 2 shots to pull together a winning squad and take the title. Makes a huge difference from a management perspective when deciding whether to do a trade.

Now I do think you’re accurate in saying the rockets fans likely expect too much here but maybe rightfully so. Houston has no reason to rush into dealing harden and he’s an all nba caliber player. Just like Portland would handle a dame trade request (they might honor it but they’d hold out for the best deal because of the security of his contract) Houston could easily wait until the deadline if there aren’t any solid offers. And honestly I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they tried to convince him to stay for 2-3 more years either given how hard it is to replace a guy who’s pretty much still at the same level as when he won the mvp. The big thing that would force Houston hands is 1) if Houston is just awful this year or 2) Harden refuses to play but I think the second scenario is already out of the question (he’s playing) and the first is tbd

You're saying conflicting things. You're saying Kawhi was worth less because he was on his last year, but also HOU has no reason to rush despite the fact that if they don't, Harden will be on his last year.

That said, I don't think having him for one and a half years is going to increase his value that much over one year. And the teams he has listed aren't exactly flush with young assets they're willing to trade either. And on the back end... the drama surrounding Harden is far greater than either Kawhi, PG or AD.

[PDXKnight]

The kawhi deal was different, kawhi was expiring so he was known as a likely one year rental. Even after winning a title he bolted. Harden has at least 2 years under contract which makes him more lucrative to a contender. That’s 2 shots to pull together a winning squad and take the title. Makes a huge difference from a management perspective when deciding whether to do a trade.

Now I do think you’re accurate in saying the rockets fans likely expect too much here but maybe rightfully so. Houston has no reason to rush into dealing harden and he’s an all nba caliber player. Just like Portland would handle a dame trade request (they might honor it but they’d hold out for the best deal because of the security of his contract) Houston could easily wait until the deadline if there aren’t any solid offers. And honestly I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they tried to convince him to stay for 2-3 more years either given how hard it is to replace a guy who’s pretty much still at the same level as when he won the mvp. The big thing that would force Houston hands is 1) if Houston is just awful this year or 2) Harden refuses to play but I think the second scenario is already out of the question (he’s playing) and the first is tbd

You're saying conflicting things. You're saying Kawhi was worth less because he was on his last year, but also HOU has no reason to rush despite the fact that if they don't, Harden will be on his last year.

That said, I don't think having him for one and a half years is going to increase his value that much over one year. And the teams he has listed aren't exactly flush with young assets they're willing to trade either. And on the back end... the drama surrounding Harden is far greater than either Kawhi, PG or AD.

No I’m saying Houston needs to deal him by the end of the deadline this year but at this moment there is no rush. After the deadline then it becomes like kawhi but having a superstar for 2 playoff runs is significantly different than for just 1 potentially for the receiving team

[Norm2953]

The discussion in the other thread about math will likely come into play at some point but one gets to think
any Harden deal needs Dame's approval which is why the team is so staunchly against any deal. Dame isn't
there yet but could get there eventually when the math is explained to him.

[Sinobas]

I'm pretty sure Olshey would do anything short of trading Lillard to get Harden. Why would you not upgrade CJ to Harden? Harden is better in every facet.

[d-train]

I'm pretty sure Olshey would do anything short of trading Lillard to get Harden. Why would you not upgrade CJ to Harden? Harden is better in every facet.

Lillard might be the player Olshey would trade. Since Harden is an upgrade to either Lillard or CJ, the argument to get an upgrade works for either player. Making a trade comes down to resolving the obstacles. The most difficult obstacle would be if Olshey is unwilling to part ways with any of the nucleus of Lillard, CJ, Nurk, or Zach. The next biggest obstacle is financial. Trading Lillard achieves an upgrade and is the easiest to satisfy the financial hurdles. Other than the current season, trading Lillard would provide Blazers a financial benefit. Another obstacle might be Rockets don't want Lillard because of the financial impact it would have on them.

[BlazersBroncos]

Lillard might be the player Olshey would trade

There is a financial side to this game. Moving a player as mature and committed, not to mention loyal, as Dame for a strip club guru would cause a riot in Portland. Its moments like this that make me think your being contrarian just for the hell of it.

[d-train]

Lillard might be the player Olshey would trade

There is a financial side to this game. Moving a player as mature and committed, not to mention loyal, as Dame for a strip club guru would cause a riot in Portland. Its moments like this that make me think your being contrarian just for the hell of it.

Nobody in Portland would riot if Lillard was traded for a better player. People would celebrate any trade if the team got better. The team would get better if Harden replaced CJ or Lillard, I believe. I just don't know if we would improve enough to make an outcome difference. I suppose there is no way to actually predetermine the outcome. Financial impact is a lot easier to determine and it's significant.

[d-train]

More trade scenarios are possible on Feb 5, when DCC can be traded, and Mar 5, when Hood can be traded. Harden might still be on the block. The trade deadline is Mar 25. Blazers might make a trade that doesn't involve Harden. Injuries could be a factor.

[DusterBuster]

I see d-train is playing is favorite game of “what’s the most wrong a human being can be?” again tonight.