14 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: What a game, what a night in Houston

[PKM]

When it comes to Harden's ranking, I think it comes to me in the form of tiers.

James-Durant are one level on their own, and Paul is clearly one level below. After that, you have Melo-Harden-Kobe-Wade-Parker-Westbrook-Duncan, and I think you could put all 7 of those guys in realistically any order. I would put Harden third in that group behind Melo and Parker, so 6th overall.

[Alituro]

When it comes to Harden's ranking, I think it comes to me in the form of tiers.

James-Durant are one level on their own, and Paul is clearly one level below. After that, you have Melo-Harden-Kobe-Wade-Parker-Westbrook-Duncan, and I think you could put all 7 of those guys in realistically any order. I would put Harden third in that group behind Melo and Parker, so 6th overall.

Interesting... So let's ask like this: If news were out that Harden was to be traded for any one of those players below the James/Durant level, would you be OK with it? Start with Paul, if he were the sole star on this team, would we be as successful as we are with Harden? Signs from his years in NOLA, point to no, and he still had Chandler to lob to. Parker for Harden? No. Melo? maybe. Other than that due to varying factors like age, I would say no to the rest on this list.

Anybody still iffy about losing Ppat and Morris, needs to look at how much we missed them last night against the defending WC champs... not at all is the correct answer. I don't see how Robinson could be any worse at that position, maybe worse but in a less-than-noticeable-difference type way. I do hope he could be flipped for Smith today though. Not totally sold on Smith but at least we have the rest of the season to decide if he's long-term material or not before tying any money around his neck. I wouldn't want to wait until he is a FA, too big a risk. With our current crew, athletic bigs like Robinson and Smith will almost certainly get us at least 7 games deep in the post-season if not further this year. It doesn't hurt to have a spreadable big like D-mo waiting on the bench also. With Smith and Robinson at PF, we can even play D-mo at C sometimes and really screw up some Ds. I've had a suspicion since early December that Morey was showcasing Ppat and Morris for a deal like this, which is the only justifiable reason for not giving D-mo and Jones more burn.

Anyway it's a great week so far in Rocketland. Way to go Morey! Keep it up!

[PKM]

We're not talking about tradability, we're talking about simple "who's the best player." Duncan is far better than Anthony Davis, yet there's no way the Hornets would trade Davis for Duncan. Harden may have more trade value than Tony Parker due to his youth and contract, but I think Parker's still a better player. Parker's a better finish and has led a better team. And there is absolutely no argument for Harden being better than Chris Paul, who was my pick for MVP around late December - early January.

[Alituro]

We're not talking about tradability, we're talking about simple "who's the best player." Duncan is far better than Anthony Davis, yet there's no way the Hornets would trade Davis for Duncan. Harden may have more trade value than Tony Parker due to his youth and contract, but I think Parker's still a better player. Parker's a better finish and has led a better team. And there is absolutely no argument for Harden being better than Chris Paul, who was my pick for MVP around late December - early January.

I was looking at it more as value to the (any) team, both long term and short. At this point, yes Paul is better, hands down, but I don't think we've seen the best from Harden yet. Debatable about Parker, I think, vs Harden, as I think Parker's success is largely a product of the team he plays for and the organization surrounding him, still a tremendous player though.

[thejohnnygold]

What if I said James Harden is the "sane" version of gilbert arenas with better teammate skills?

[timetodienow1234567]

What if I said James Harden is the "sane" version of gilbert arenas with better teammate skills?

That's pretty disrespectful to Harden.

[Steven]

That's pretty disrespectful to Harden.

He meant it as the Agent Zero who blew up as a second round pick in the Bay Area and became a max player with the Bullets before his legs broke down.

[timetodienow1234567]

He meant it as the Agent Zero who blew up as a second round pick in the Bay Area and became a max player with the Bullets before his legs broke down.

I watched his battles with Lebron. At his peak, he wasn't the player Harden is today. Just my opinion. He was a PG with less PG skills than Harden as a SG has. But in terms of hero-ball, then I can agree with you. But as an overall player, I still think it's disrespectful to Harden.

[Steven]

I watched his battles with Lebron. At his peak, he wasn't the player Harden is today. Just my opinion. He was a PG with less PG skills than Harden as a SG has. But in terms of hero-ball, then I can agree with you. But as an overall player, I still think it's disrespectful to Harden.

Not saying you are right or wrong, just clarifying a position.

[rockets best fan]

I wouldn't trade harden for anyone outside of lebron/durrant. sure there are other stars, but none fit what we are doing with the remainder of our roster like harden does. melo might get some consideration, but (IMO)harden is a top 5 talent. we could debate all day long on which stars deserve to be top five, but as for how our team is constructed harden is the man and I am comfortable with that. harden is a player who if surrounded with the right peices can take us to the promise land. I have no doubt about that. I could not be more pleased in the direction we are heading. this team may be on the cusp of doing something really special if we continue to add players like we did this trade deadline. after the season free agency is our next chance to upgrade and depending on who we land we could be have contender discussions this time next year...........GO ROCKETS!

[thejohnnygold]

I would call the Arenas-comparison a compliment to Harden. There was a three year window where Arenas was plain unstoppable. I never felt like he was a PG--which was his biggest flaw....he averaged about 28 pts, 4 rbs, and 6 asts for a three year window....then his legs went and he tried to become a traditional PG with 13 pts. and 10 ast avg. but ultimately, the gun in the locker room ended it all....and the crazy, the crazy was more than he could manage.

The beauty is Harden drawing a comparison to a player's best years...and he is still finding out how good he can be in his 4th year. I think his ultimate ceiling will be higher.

Watching that OKC game was like watching Arenas in his prime....he was a late game assassin inside and outside and he was fearless. I promise you, 98% of the players in the NBA would love to be as good as he was.

[Alituro]

@thejohnnygold I think we just wish the comparison you drew was with a player who didn't burn out so quickly.. Arenas, in his prime, was one of my favorite players to watch though.

[thejohnnygold]

Yeah, that's why I specified the sane version...with better people skills. I think we all lost out, as fans, when Arenas went South....the guy was great entertainment. I can't really think of a better comparison...I guess he'll just have to be the one and only James Harden.