re: Anybody else think James Harden wont be so great as a main scorer?

quote:

---

But consider this: Durant and Harden shared the floor for 1,420 minutes last season. Harden played without him for 526 minutes. He averaged 16.6 points per 40 minutes with Durant, and a whopping 34.7 points without him. His true shooting percentage was also better without Durant, jumping from .641 to .686. Harden became much more aggressive off the dribble with Durant out, with his free throw attempts leaping from five per 40 minutes to more than 13. The difference in Harden's numbers with and without Westbrook track closely to those with and without Durant.

---

He doesn't talk about the time where Harden was on the court without Westbrook AND Durant but I think that rarely happened to draw solid of enough numbers.

I think Harden definitely has it in him, and for those asking if there is a debate on who got the better end of the deal, I think it's closer than people want to think.

Age excluded, I would much rather have Harden even in that regard. Harden is more of a team player than Martin, which isn't saying much, and is better at creating his own shot. Also, Martin plays ZERO defense while Harden at least gives you some.

Lamb can definitely swing this to OKC's side if he pans out and reaches his potential, but that is questionable when he will be behind Martin on the bench.

Not sure of what restrictions are on the Toronto pick they got, but the Dallas one is top-20 protected, which means they likely won't see this pick for a number of years as the restrictions lessen and Dirk rides off into the sunset.

I think OKC gets the slight edge in the deal, but it's tougher than people want to account for it

unless they are told the players they're targeting won't sign with them, and then they'll have to trade for talent

i can see it just b/c they weren't a destination option this year and had to just trade to get the talent

houston has money/space and wants to spend, they just don't seem to have players willing to go there. they're in a tough spot

Lin
Harden
Parsons
Montejunas
Asik

Houston's starting 5?

quote:

---

who have they tried to get to come there

---

i think they were agressive last year and only ended up with lin/asik as fallback guys

i'm about to have to go to a hearing so i'll have to go look. i know they've tried to get guys and shite just hasn't worked out (but most of those were trades). when pau gasol gets depressed b/c he may have been traded to houston, i think there's a stigma

The Houston Rockets are racists.

If players were paid for flopping ability, Harden would be a max player.

quote:

---

Harden will be the #2 option once Morey's plan happens.

---

Why pay max money if the plan is to make him the #2 option

quote:

---

Besides LeBron, who was the last true number one player to change teams in FA?

---

good question.

quote:

---

you need 3 "max" guys to win a title right now, so i have no idea what you're talking about

---

Not necessarily. There are several teams with more than 1 max money guy who didnt even make a run. Clippers, Knicks, ....