Comments on: Rockets GM Morey says Harden trade is unprecedented

By: bougin89

bougin89 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:47:40 +0000

I agree with chawbacon14. If Harden is a top 25 guy he is probably #25. He wouldn’t be the #1 or #2 and in some cases he would be the #4 or #5 on contending teams. It is saying something that he was the youngest guy on Team USA but if anything it looked like he was out of place on that team. He definitely shouldn’t have made it based on his defense and so many other guys would have made it before him if they were healthy(namely D-Wade and D-Rose). He has a long way to go to be top 10 in the NBA.

By: chawbacon14

chawbacon14 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:50:56 +0000

Does it really mean something ?

If DWade or Howard or Chris Bosh, or any other number of players had agreed to play for Team USA, then Harden does not get a snif.

And his Olympic performance was not good, his three pt shot has not been on since the WCF’s . And that was from the international three point line.

If Harden had been the starting 2 guard for Sac Town, he would not have gotten a snif of the Olympics, he got on the team because he was in the NBA Finals.

There is a lot of hyperbole surrounding James Harden.

By: getsome99

getsome99 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:58:05 +0000

Harden is overrated.

By: kvvvv2391

kvvvv2391 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:54:51 +0000

Except that he wasn’t! Anthony Davis is 19. Much younger than Harden.

By: zeedoubleyou

zeedoubleyou — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:10:20 +0000

These are all very fair points, but Harden was the youngest member of the Olympic team. I know this gets said/written a lot, but that’s because it absolutely means something.

He is currently a top 25 guy with top 10 upside if he ever commits to working on his D to become a complete player.

As a fan of a rival contender, I couldn’t be happier that OKC made this deal.

By: calmdownandthink

calmdownandthink — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:55:43 +0000

A short list of unprecedented trades for you, Morey—

1) Lebron. Yup, he was actually traded for a couple 1st and a couple 2nd round picks.
2) Garnett
3) Chamberlain
4) Kareem
These bums were all in their prime and all won titles, something Harden has yet to do.

By: echech88

echech88 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:56:54 +0000

I like Harden but I remember when everyone thought signing Trevor Ariza was a huge steal for the Rockets and a crippling blow to the Lakers (they won the title again the next year and Ariza was outed as seriously overpaid)

Harden is obviously better than Ariza but you never know how players will respond being away from elite teammates in new situations. Harden was an elite player off the bench abusing second units and taking advantage of stretched defenses when he was with the first unit…not going to have that luxury in HOU.

By: phaden27

phaden27 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:25:22 +0000

Or, you know, a lifetime supply of razors.

By: zerole00

zerole00 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:42:58 +0000

Even the Lakers will shy away from the new escalating luxury tax. The numbers are pretty staggering.

By: digitalpoo

digitalpoo — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:25:43 +0000

I hope he gets braces now that he’s rolling in the dough.

By: chawbacon14

chawbacon14 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:32:53 +0000

Its unprecedented for two reasons.

1. The new CBA

2. The drafting and development prowess of Sam Presti

Under this new CBA, there’s very few large markets who could pay the level of tax the Thunder were looking at. No one but the Lakers and Celtics can have three max and one near max player.

And its not just a matter of paying tax, there are also other penalties for being a repeat offender, i.e. can’t sign mid level exception and can do on sign and trades.

By: danielcp0303

danielcp0303 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:12:20 +0000

Love what the Rockets are doing, still a long ways to go. Too bad most fans in Texas can’t watch the Rockets because of the new tv network.