2020-2021 Season News and Notes

[macdaddy]

Someone posted about a big dust up between Harden and the owner.  I'll have to find that.   It was not very believable to be honest

 

[bleachkit]

Having a star player is almost a curse in today's NBA. They tell you who to trade, who to sign, what coach to get, and for all that in the end they request a trade if their own, and what team they want to go to.

[Gray Mule]

COMING SOON.  The NBA exhibition (Pre season) games.  Will any / all / some of the Hawk games be on TV?  Hoping we get to watch all the new Hawks in action.  

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, Gray Mule said:

COMING SOON.  The NBA exhibition (Pre season) games.  Will any / all / some of the Hawk games be on TV?  Hoping we get to watch all the new Hawks in action.  

Who knows. Sinclair is playing hardball. 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, bleachkit said:

Having a star player is almost a curse in today's NBA. They tell you who to trade, who to sign, what coach to get, and for all that in the end they request a trade if their own, and what team they want to go to.

Yep.  Houston has been thru the following 3 $40+ million dollar pgs:  CP3, Russel and now Wall.   They keep repeating the same mistake over and over.  Insanity I call it.

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Yep.  Houston has been thru the following 3 $40+ million dollar pgs:  CP3, Russel and now Wall.   They keep repeating the same mistake over and over.  Insanity I call it.

I'm all for player empowerment. But you can't run a team or a league this way. 

[lethalweapon3]

Down in H-Town, the icy star-versus-team relations won't seem to Soften.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

How the heck did things go downhill so fast....CP3 traded for Westbrook, Capela traded for Covington, D'Antoni left, Morey Left, Harden declines 2yr/$100 million extension, Covington traded for 2 picks, Westbrook traded for Wall, Harden still wants to be traded to a contender.

[macdaddy]

No idea why it took stars so long to see that if they come to the east they have semi-easy path to the finals.   

Sixers should be eagar to send Simmons out in a Harden trade.  Simmons/Harris/Embiid is $95/million a year and aint' going to get you a ring.   Embiid's prime isn't going to last long.  Go for it now. 

[NBASupes]

The Rockets knew this relationship wasn't redeemable. They knew that already. The issue is, no one is willing to just give Harden away. There is some rental interest but not for major assets.

[JayBirdHawk]

25 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

The Rockets knew this relationship wasn't redeemable. They knew that already. The issue is, no one is willing to just give Harden away. There is some rental interest but not for major assets.

He has 2 years guaranteed left, then a 3rd player option year.

[NBASupes]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

He has 2 years guaranteed left, then a 3rd player option year.

You know he's not opting into that 

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

You know he's not opting into that 

Unlikely he opts into year 3, but that still leaves a team trading for him with 2 years, not the typical 1 year rental.

[NBASupes]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Unlikely he opts into year 3, but that still leaves a team trading for him with 2 years, no not the typical 1 year rental.

That's not how teams see it. His trade market has only gotten worse not better in the last month. 

[JayBirdHawk]

20 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

That's not how teams see it. His trade market has only gotten worse not better in the last month. 

All I'm doing is stating a fact -  he has 2 years guaranteed on his deal.  Not like Dipo and Jrue who are on 1 year deals.

[JeffS17]

26 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

That's not how teams see it. His trade market has only gotten worse not better in the last month. 

I don't think his trade value has changed at all, realistically.  The guy is a MVP candidate every single year and one of the handful of players in the league that can get a bucket in any circumstance -- probably 2nd to only KD (at least pre-injury).  Running Harden in Philly is an instant contender and likely favorite out of the east.  Philly is likely trying to trade tobias instead of simmons which is the holdup, but I personally think shipping simmons out would be a good move.  They need Embiid to do more than pump fake at the 3 point line all game but if he doesn't do that they have absolutely no spacing with him and simmons on the floor.

 

And like Jaybird said, you have 2 years with real championship possibility at a minimum.  And you get his bird rights for a potential sign and trade at the end of year 2 even if he wants to leave.

[RedDawg#8]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

No idea why it took stars so long to see that if they come to the east they have semi-easy path to the finals.   

Sixers should be eagar to send Simmons out in a Harden trade.  Simmons/Harris/Embiid is $95/million a year and aint' going to get you a ring.   Embiid's prime isn't going to last long.  Go for it now. 

Tobias Harris contract alone makes it a do-able trade.

They need to attach some draft assets and a filler to make it worth Houstons while maybe.

Talk about a shooting upgrade in one off season.

You could "Play" Simmons at the 4 now safely and still let him run point in lineup of:

Curry

Harden

Green

Simmons

Embiid

That's 3 snipers on the wing with a Simmons-Embiid high pick and roll.

That's 2 offensive initiators who constantly attack the rim and get fouled.

That gives Embiid much more space to do his thing.

Me likey

 

[JeffS17]

16 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Tobias Harris contract alone makes it a do-able trade.

They need to attach some draft assets and a filler to make it worth Houstons while maybe

 

This sounds like fanfic from Philly supporters lol there's no way they will ship Harden if the primary piece returning is Tobias Harris on a negative contract

[NBASupes]

12 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

All I'm doing is stating a fact -  he has 2 years guaranteed on his deal.  Not like Dipo and Jrue who are on 1 year deals.

That's not what currently going on behind the scenes. The biggest issue is teams don't want to give him premium assets for a player doesn't want to play for them and Philly wants to play Ben, Joel, and James together. That's the issue, people want James with their team in tact. You know, that's kinda hard to do. 

James current trade market is 10 cents on a dollar right now is what my guy stating. I asked what it is, a lot of draft assets from great teams. But no young star. Not even a James Wiseman. 

11 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Tobias Harris contract alone makes it a do-able trade.

They need to attach some draft assets and a filler to make it worth Houstons while maybe.

Talk about a shooting upgrade in one off season.

You could "Play" Simmons at the 4 now safely and still let him run point in lineup of:

Curry

Harden

Green

Simmons

Embiid

That's 3 snipers on the wing with a Simmons-Embiid high pick and roll.

That's 2 offensive initiators who constantly attack the rim and get fouled.

That gives Embiid much more space to do his thing.

Me likey

 

The thing is Houston wants a Ben Simmons or Jayson Tatum plus unlimited picks with no protections. They want a lot. They want 1.50 on a dollar. They are getting offered 10 cents on a dollars. Basically this illustration:

 

[kg01]

33 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

I don't think his trade value has changed at all, realistically.  The guy is a MVP candidate every single year and one of the handful of players in the league that can get a bucket in any circumstance -- probably 2nd to only KD (at least pre-injury).  Running Harden in Philly is an instant contender and likely favorite out of the east.  Philly is likely trying to trade tobias instead of simmons which is the holdup, but I personally think shipping simmons out would be a good move.  They need Embiid to do more than pump fake at the 3 point line all game but if he doesn't do that they have absolutely no spacing with him and simmons on the floor.

 

And like Jaybird said, you have 2 years with real championship possibility at a minimum.  And you get his bird rights for a potential sign and trade at the end of year 2 even if he wants to leave.

Harden produces numbers, not wins.  That's the problem and why, as @NBASupes suggests, his value is much lower than expected.