Ambiturner
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Unless you count defense. Then Harden was right there with them in the no shits given department
NBA 2015-2016 Season thread
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popsicledeath
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I feel bad for Harden. He went from the player-voted MVP a year ago to losing in the first round against a team missing the actual MVP. It's just not fair when easy-street has so many speed bumps.
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Harden could probably just cherry pick every possession and still be a net positive player thanks to how gifted he is offensively. I know it sucks to watch as a fan, because he proved last year with effort he can play not bottom of the league level defense, but he is that good offensively, is only 26, certainly is worthy of a max deal, and puts up all star level numbers even just playing offense.
It's not the worst position to be in to start a new rebuild centered around a still young player like harden. Lawson and Dwight's contracts off the books this year plus the salary bump lets them be a player. They do have some shitty long term deals to players like Ariza (certainly not a shitty player, but he does little good on a team not already contending), Beverley (see above) and Brewer (actual shit).
Zzen
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Wade could never get another call in his career and still have been giving too many calls after the '06 Finals.
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Which he will right? I know it's a player option I was just assuming this would be the case.
Dwight had a pretty awful year, but I still think you opt out and get a long term deal. With the crazy jump in salary cap next season contracts are just going to inflate even more. He may not get max money after this past season, but someone is still going to pay him in the high teens over multiple years.
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Uhh...Like nearly every team in the league is going to go into this offseason with 20+ mil in cap space. There's only a couple teams in luxury tax hell right now and even they will have space opened up as much as the cap is going to jump.
Ambiturner
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I mean even if Houston wants Dwight back it's happening on a new contract. There is zero reason for him to pick up that option.
I think that team has a pretty solid group of vets and a good #1 guy in Harden, but their success hinges on Dwight unless Harden has another off the charts MVP year. D12 hasn't been very good the past two years. If that team thinks he can play like he did three years ago during his first year in Houston, sure. Resign him and try and make another run, but if the decision is that he can't get to that level, then you cut ties, try and unload the old vets on the team for what you can and rebuild. Harden is young enough to do that with.
Pharazon
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Did you guys not see Howard's reaction when Harden hit the game 3 winner? He hates Harden and doesn't like playing on that team. He's gone. And since when does Howard care about winning? He's a complete clown. Howard is gone, and considering that I don't think anybody on that team likes playing with Harden, I'd consider blowing it up completely. Harden doesn't seem like a star that will lure other good players - they can see that his current teammates don't like him. Houston doesn't have a coach that can put it together or instill faith in free agents either.
If they keep Harden they probably aren't able to put a contender together around him in a timely enough manner, and his value may only continue to go down from here. He's a FA in two years - he may bolt if they aren't able to put much together around him, and the closer they get to his deal expiring, the less valuable he becomes as a trade asset because teams will worry he'd just be a rental. Now would be a good time to trade him. I'd completely blow it up by sending him to the Celtics for their hoard of picks. Tank for a couple years and you get high picks of your own along with high Nets picks by way of the Celtics. It could be a relatively quick rebuild like the Timberwolves are going through where the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter than anything you see now. Rockets fans might hate it initially, but just like Wolves fans have begrudgingly accepted that dealing Love for Wiggins was the right move, Rockets fans would see a similar change in a few years.
The alternative is trying to land a good coach that actually wants to coach Harden and try to get him to play D, along with a revamped roster of higher IQ players all in the same offseason and hoping it just works. They could do this and still obviously deal Harden next offseason for pretty good value. I just think an opportunity for a quick rebuild like this wouldn't be there then. The Celtics are in a unique situation with all those Nets picks that will likely be top 5. They need a star, and I'm pretty sure you could wring those 3 picks out of them for Harden along with some more value (Celtics have 3 first rounders this year alone). Its not often you find a team looking for a star that has all these high draft picks to trade. The Cavs were in that position only because of the return of Lebron. I think Ainge would do it because he's been looking to make a splash with all those chips for a long time, and just holding on to them risks that they don't get the star they need. I'd be confident that Stevens could help lead Harden towards better winning practices.
If they keep Harden they probably aren't able to put a contender together around him in a timely enough manner, and his value may only continue to go down from here. He's a FA in two years - he may bolt if they aren't able to put much together around him, and the closer they get to his deal expiring, the less valuable he becomes as a trade asset because teams will worry he'd just be a rental. Now would be a good time to trade him. I'd completely blow it up by sending him to the Celtics for their hoard of picks. Tank for a couple years and you get high picks of your own along with high Nets picks by way of the Celtics. It could be a relatively quick rebuild like the Timberwolves are going through where the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter than anything you see now. Rockets fans might hate it initially, but just like Wolves fans have begrudgingly accepted that dealing Love for Wiggins was the right move, Rockets fans would see a similar change in a few years.
The alternative is trying to land a good coach that actually wants to coach Harden and try to get him to play D, along with a revamped roster of higher IQ players all in the same offseason and hoping it just works. They could do this and still obviously deal Harden next offseason for pretty good value. I just think an opportunity for a quick rebuild like this wouldn't be there then. The Celtics are in a unique situation with all those Nets picks that will likely be top 5. They need a star, and I'm pretty sure you could wring those 3 picks out of them for Harden along with some more value (Celtics have 3 first rounders this year alone). Its not often you find a team looking for a star that has all these high draft picks to trade. The Cavs were in that position only because of the return of Lebron. I think Ainge would do it because he's been looking to make a splash with all those chips for a long time, and just holding on to them risks that they don't get the star they need. I'd be confident that Stevens could help lead Harden towards better winning practices.
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I agree with your analysis there pretty much completely. It's just asking a lot from an NBA front office to pull the trigger at the ideal time. A rebuild (with or without harden, IMO) right now makes more sense than a rebuild two years down the road, but Harden puts fans in the seats and he's more than likely still an all star through that whole stretch. It's really hard to see a franchise turn their back on the money involved there, which like or not means just as much as winning for a lot of teams.
Muurloen
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Pharazon
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Haha NBA officiating report on the Wade call:
Zeller (CHA) comes towards Wade (MIA) from across the restricted area, planting his foot and jumping vertically to defend Wade's shot. Zeller absorbs contact when it occurs and, while his arms are not completely vertical, multiple angles confirm they do not make contact with Wade. Therefore, Zeller maintains a legal guarding position as he attempts to defend the shot.
Lee (CHA) makes contact with the ball during Wade's (MIA) upward shooting motion, which makes his subsequent, minor arm contact with Wade incidental. Lee then makes contact with Wade's arm again at about 00:04.9, however, Wade has already lost possession of the ball.
Followed a tweet directed at Wade's wife who had been whining on twitter about that call:
NBA Referees
? ??@OfficialNBARefs
The referees are not always right, but on this call we were. #NBA confirms the non-call in the L2Mhttp://ow.ly/4ndAcf@itsgabrielleu
3:08 PM - 28 Apr 2016
Zeller (CHA) comes towards Wade (MIA) from across the restricted area, planting his foot and jumping vertically to defend Wade's shot. Zeller absorbs contact when it occurs and, while his arms are not completely vertical, multiple angles confirm they do not make contact with Wade. Therefore, Zeller maintains a legal guarding position as he attempts to defend the shot.
Lee (CHA) makes contact with the ball during Wade's (MIA) upward shooting motion, which makes his subsequent, minor arm contact with Wade incidental. Lee then makes contact with Wade's arm again at about 00:04.9, however, Wade has already lost possession of the ball.
Followed a tweet directed at Wade's wife who had been whining on twitter about that call:
NBA Referees
? ??@OfficialNBARefs
The referees are not always right, but on this call we were. #NBA confirms the non-call in the L2Mhttp://ow.ly/4ndAcf@itsgabrielleu
3:08 PM - 28 Apr 2016
Ambiturner
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Drakurii
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