33 replies to this topic

[Rahat Huq]

Was wondering this earlier. With OKC's situation, I think he may be the sole realistic target for this team next summer.

[ale11]

I'm not sure he has proven that he is worth the max, but close to it, definetely worth overpaying for him (we did with Lin and Asik in some point).....he really can score and he does play defense (not great, but better than Lin and Martin together).

[Cooper]

It would be worth it for us to offer him it, I don't think he is worth the max right now but with another good season he puts himself in that category.

[blakecouey]

Alone? Not to us.

Harden is a very good player, I'd love to have him on the Rockets. That being said, he alone does very little for our team. He isn't a superstar and I don't know that he could help pull in another star alongside him, and he'd be stunting the growth/development of Lamb(our most likely rookie to develop into a big name star). Now you can say that Lin/Harden/Lamb could split time at the 1 and 2, and that's true, but as I said he alone won't put us in contention. Now if we were able to get Bynum attracted also, then I would change my opinion(he'd be worth a max) as he is definitely a helpful piece(as seen in OKC).

[thejohnnygold]

I wouldn't mind seeing Harden on the Rockets. I can see a "small" line up of Lin, Lamb, Harden, Patterson/Parsons/Jones, & D-Mo being quite potent offensively....Harden can play the 1, 2, and the 3. You could go big with Harden & White as your guards, parsons, D-Mo, and asik. That could be a catastrophe....or pure awesome....regardless, I think of him as a do-it-all, high energy guy that is an asset on any team.

That being said, I would rank Bynum as the #1 free agent to chase next offseason (pending Asik's performance....he may impress beyond our expectations), then Ibaka, next Taj Gibson, then Harden, Eric Maynor, and-- for the right price-- Timofey Mozgov. No one else really excites me that much. Steph Curry is too much like K-Mart for my taste. I am not including Dwight Howard as an option--never gonna happen.

Like Blake said before, without the addition of Bynum, or a shot blocking 4 like Ibaka/Gibson Harden doesn't make us that much better and would not be worth a max contract.

[thejohnnygold]

Just wondering....what would a max contract for Harden look like?

<EDIT>

According to this article Harden implies he would take less $ to stay in OKC....Maynor too.....if Ibaka does the same......yikes!

http://aol.sportingn...ussell-westbroo

And apparently the Max would be around $14 million/year.

[thejohnnygold]

You can't put a price tag on this....

[Dan G]

 thejohnnygold, on 11 August 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

Just wondering....what would a max contract for Harden look like?

<EDIT>

According to this article Harden implies he would take less $ to stay in OKC....Maynor too.....if Ibaka does the same......yikes!

http://aol.sportingn...ussell-westbroo

And apparently the Max would be around $14 million/year.

Yikes indeed if Harden, Ibaka and Maynor all decide to take less money to stay in OKC, but after reading that article the most interesting tidbit to me is this Harden quote:

“I’m just leaving it up to my agent and Sam (Presti),” Harden said. “They’ll do a pretty good job of working it out. I’m focused on several other things right now. But when the time is (right), they’ll figure it out and it’ll be done.”

Sure that is your typical quote but as they say money talks and bullshit walks. Agents like to get paid just as much as the rest of us, so if we offer a max deal and since OKC won't be able to offer max contracts to both Ibaka and Harden, I can see his agent talking Harden into coming to Houston instead if OKC chooses Ibaka. The best case scenario for the Rockets is that Lin shows he can be Linsanity somewhat consistently, atleast two of our rookies show promise, we capitalize on our more than likely two lottery picks AND we are able to sign both Bynum and Harden, then all the the turmoil of this last decade would be worth it. Ofcourse I'm not holding my breath but it is not out of the realm of possibility.

[Stephen]

Keep in mind Harden has really bonded w/Durant.
If anyone goes it will be Westbrook.

If the CBA has the impact I think it will in the next few yrs,you only give Max contracts to true stars who can dominate a game.
Harden doesn't. His Play-Off run was not exactly inspiring and in the Olympics Westbrook has taken over as Kobe's back-up,relegating Harden to 11nth man.

His defense is actually pretty poor,relying on flopping to a large degree. If the NBA cracks down on that,Harden will be in a world of hurt.

[Alituro]

My magic 8-ball says "Ask Again Later"... Seriously though, I think his elevation to being a borderline star had everything to do with his particular skill set coupled with coming off the bench on a strong, title contending roster, he's a slasher and a shooter which is visually appealing when being viewed on TV, but how does it translate to his viability as part of a team? He reminds me of a slightly more polished and infinitely more lucky Von Wafer. I'd rather wait to see how our Rookies pan out before I back a decision to pursue Harden, it's no stretch at all to believe that any one of White, Jones or Lamb could 100% be the player Harden is. Especially since his value is so elevated at the moment, IMO, someone will foolishly pay him max, just hope it's not us. If we could chip away a little at our logjam at PF, I'd much rather be after Ibaka, his defense is game changing and especially paired with Asik in the post, nothing would get through. Ibaka's hustle and fortitude at PF is a much rarer commodity in this league versus Harden's skills.

[6ft.]

yes, joe johnson(bad contract) but he got the max and I think james is better than joe was when he got his contract. Harden is 22.I would feel very comfortable with getting him the ball down the stretch in big games. i think he would compliment lin too

[thejohnnygold]

OK, I think we all agree here, more or less.....what would you pay for Harden then? He is a proven scorer that provides high energy, can play three positions, run the offense, and brings instant credibility and swagger to the table....oh, and he's young and likely still improving.......I'd say definitely good enough to play Robin to someone else's Batman.

$9 million?

[Cooper]

6ft., on 13 August 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

yes, joe johnson(bad contract) but he got the max and I think james is better than joe was when he got his contract. Harden is 22.I would feel very comfortable with getting him the ball down the stretch in big games. i think he would compliment lin too

JJ got the old max, the max under the new CBA is considerably less I believe

[blakecouey]

thejohnnygold, on 13 August 2012 - 06:29 PM, said:

OK, I think we all agree here, more or less.....what would you pay for Harden then? He is a proven scorer that provides high energy, can play three positions, run the offense, and brings instant credibility and swagger to the table....oh, and he's young and likely still improving.......I'd say definitely good enough to play Robin to someone else's Batman.

$9 million?

A Robin is worth a max if you have the Batman. Nobody wins with only one star anymore, and usually to keep the inferior player of the two/three stars you pretty much pigeon hole yourself into paying all of them max to keep from having diva problems.

So if it's Harden alone...9-10m isnt a bad contract(for the team)-although I guarantee he will be offered max by someone.
If it's Harden AND batman you offer max to give yourself the best opportunity of having that second star.

[ale11]

100% agreed with blake: 9-10 million for Harden alone, the max if someone else is coming over (Westbrook isn't worth the max either, but since Durant is Durant, he doesn't complain and Westbrook doesn't feel underrated).

Of course, someone is going to offer the max (if someone offered the max for Batum, it would definitely offer it for Harden, and of course, if we are paying Lin and Asik 8 million, Harden would be worth the max). Bottom teams will be desperate to sign him, so it's 95% sure he'll be getting a max offer next offseason.

[Cooper]

Westbrook is definatly worth the max he's a top 5 point guard.

[ale11]

No, he might be a top 5 shooting guard, but there are some points who are better than him: Paul, Williams, Nash, Rose, Irving....come on, even Rubio and Wall are better points than him. He is an excellent slasher, over 20 ppg, but careless with the ball and selfish most of the time. To me, that's not a top 5 point guard. Sorry to defer with you Cooper, but I think he COULD worth the max playing the 2, but not as a point guard.

[bballguy]

I think Harden should get the max from Houston. He is only getting better and he could pair up well with Lin. Also, he will attract free agents to Houston which is a big plus because we have not been able to do that. Players will want to play with Lin and Harden.

[Alituro]

Ibaka > Harden... c'mon guys, you only know his (Harden's) name because he was on the WC champs. Seriously, would you be considering max, for, lets say... Rodney Stuckey? He's a good player, but Harden is only realistically at about the same level. If Harden was on the Pistons, Bobcats or Warriors, this would not even be a topic up for discussion. Hell Harden played 20 minutes in the USA vs Nigeria game and only rang in 7 points in a 83 point blowout! Coach K barely let him sniff the floor in the tighter games, and I trust his judgment. Once some 3rd rate team pays this guy the max, he will quickly fade away into obscurity... please don't let the Rockets be that team.

[thejohnnygold]

I'm not convinced he deserves a max contract, but if we were to make a "batman and robin" play and offer two max deals--one to harden and one to player X--who do you think pairs best with harden? Take into account the rest of our roster....

Oh, and Dwight doesn't count....no way he leaves LA....except to change unis to the clippers.

Well, after revisiting the FA list nothing really makes sense. Only Dwight, Bynum, and Paul deserve a max deal. I wouldn't give one to Ibaka or Taj Gibson. Since I don't see Dwight or Paul heading to Houston Bynum is the only option. Would bynum and harden win a championship along with the rest of our roster?

Edited by thejohnnygold, 14 August 2012 - 04:35 PM.