James Harden had interest in getting traded back to Houston, but they showed little interest, per @ramonashelburne
As a non rockets follower why would Houston not even try to get this done? Is it bad blood or do they not have the assets.
The rockets have legit no contracts that would have worked for that trade, unless you want to send Jabari I just don’t see the point
Fred would’ve been perfect but he would’ve had to agree
I feel like he may have? Getting traded to LA isn’t exactly a terrible fate
Fred has made it pretty clear he wasn’t going to waive his NTC. Unfortunately there was no trade where Fred was going to be involved, so makes it hard for the rockets to really do anything trade wise.
If not then fair enough, that would’ve been the only real way
Unless you wanted to get crazy and trade sengun for harden and zubac lol
Even if Fred did waive it, the Cavs had a better offer anyway clippers are looking to get younger they don’t want a 33 year old point guard coming off an acl injury lol
That only matters to a certain extent because Harden could have vetoed any trade he wanted to
The Clippers gave Harden a NTC?
15% trade kicker
He had an actual no-trade because he would’ve lost his Bird Rights in a trade. Not something he negotiated but something that the CBA gives you in those situations.
In which case the Clips would just keep him, since trading for Fred makes little sense. And we know Harden preferred the Cavs over that. So it probably still plays out the same way.
Well Houston has some pretty damn good picks to throw if they wanted
They’d rather have a 26 year old point guard actively dealing with turf toe on both feet. Got it
How the hell did he even get a NTC lol
Very lucky timing, coming of his all star season and the rockets had tons of cap space and really wanted vet leadership
I guess, but like, it’s still just Fred Vanvleet though lol. He was coming off a season where he shot 39% from the field, I just don’t get why they threw a random NTC in there
The ntc rules must’ve changed on the last cba- he was only with you guys for 3 years? Didn’t know that was enough nowadays
He would’ve had to agree to waive his bird rights which means LA wouldn’t have been able to re-sign him
Do you think KD, Harden, APS, and still like a million wing players is enough? I kind of think it would be bad to lose Jabari, but man that sounds like opening a window IMO.
It’s more than what they currently have and he solves a fair amount of their obvious issues.
That’s about as much as you can ask for, especially since this wouldn’t have been some situation where the team is mortgaging a lot of their future to get him
Who knows man, I don’t think Harden is the answer for this team but obviously he’d improve the terrible offence, just seems like a risk for a 36 year old that hasn’t done much in the post season so far.
Post season concern is legit for sure.
But man on paper that would give OKC hell
post season concern is wack. Harden had generational bad luck in post seasons
How was bad luck involved in his game 7 performance last year?
He wasn’t really that terrible. The scoring was ugly (7 points on 2⁄8) but he had 13 assists and 3 stocks to 2 turnovers. That’s not a stat line that singlehandedly loses your team the game.
And game 6 was also an elim game and he showed up in that one. Not going to bother to look up the stats since I just remember watching the game, but like the narrative is a bit lazy.
I mean, there were definitely some circumstances that impacted it….but no, Harden is not consistent enough in the postseason, and he often seems too passive to be your #1 option. Love Harden though, but we gotta call a spade a spade here.
Jabari is a bum, I would deffo trade harden for Jabari
Especially when they need a pg bad
If he’s a bum why would the clippers rake him over the Garland deal they got?
Idk harden coulda forced his way to Houston 🤷♂️
Let’s be real though a 6’10 player shooting 43% from the field and 35% from 3 is a$$
You can say swears kid
That’s your opinion bro I disagree, he’s the least of the worries on this rockets team
he’s a top 3 pick, if he wasn’t a bust that probably solves a lot of your issues
I think it’s pretty clear at this point the Rockets don’t view him as a star but more of a souped up role player, similar to Keegan Murray. There’s still upside but we don’t run plays for him or feature him in the offense in any way. Looking back at the draft, we’d have to go to JDub/Duren at the back lottery to find a clearly better player. Luckily he also re-signed on a trade-able reasonable contract as well.
Tbh with you Jabari is a big problem whenever I watch the rockets play
You haven’t been watching enough then my bro lol, he’s the only other starter that can actually hit the 3 ball, plays good defence, far from the issues with the rockets.
35% from 3 is awful bro
Edit: for someone who’s job is to hit catch and shoot corner 3s it’s trash
I mean that’s league average so not really awful at all no
When the shots are open on 95% of the time thats a bad percentage
league avg for someone that’s supposed to be a good shooter and takes zero self created shots is really bad
That isn’t why they don’t want him
Even if they did want him there is no realistic way they could have got him anyway, so not sure what you’re trying to say?
you don’t see the point because you don’t have a point- guard. That’s why you needed Harden, actually
is jabari good?
I’d do harden for Jabari yesterday
Rockets really going to waste a great individual season from KD man. Feels like the basketball gods have been against him for his move to the Warriors or something lol.
KD Warriors were an abomination against nature, of course the basketball gods smited him for it lmfao
The idea that KD is ‘generationally unlucky’ just doesn’t work for me. He deliberately chose to leave ~3.5 contenders, twice forcing his way out. (or was it 3x?)
For me it’s more like ‘live as a mercenary, die as a mercenary,’ and the grass is always greener…
/u/msf97
I’ll never feel sorry for KD. Stacked the deck and kept running whenever he could post-OKC. Karma’s a bitch.
Smited with a title?
As they should.
KD sold his soul for this spineless rings.
For all he accomplished, he should have just stayed in Brooklyn after Kyrie left. Players would have still been drawn there to play with him
See this would make sense if KD wasn’t one of the reasons we are underperforming. He is being paid 55 million dollars so he should literally he in MVP convos to justify that contract. Instead he is playing on the same level as Sengun who is being paid 20 million dollars less. That’s an entire Dillion Brooks or Alex Caruso level salary
KD is not playing at the level in which he is being paid
Bro wtf are you on? I’ve been watching plenty of rockets games and KD is the only player yall can consistently rely on night in and night out. No hes not at the level he once was but he’s absolutely brought a reliable #1 option to your team. Really disappointed in Thompson/Sengun/Ime
I’m not saying KD isn’t the best player on the team..he is. But he is also the most overpaid.
KD is being paid 5x what Thompason is this year. Is he playing better than Thompson? Yes but not 5x better. He is being paid almost twice as much as Sengun. He is not twice the player Sengun is
Also Amen has statistically been the best defensive player in the league this year btw
Id rather have 1 KD than x5 Amen Thompsons
Amen has literally been the best defensive player in the league over the past 2 seasons btw
If the current Lakers added 5 Amens to the team they would be one of the greatest teams ever and win the championship. If the Lakers added KD they would still lose in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.
Something tells me team wouldn’t buy a bucket vs OKC. Give me easy money sniper baby
You have Luka, Reeves, and Lebron…and you think another scorer is what will get you over OKC? nah give me 2 more Amen Thompsons starting and 3 more Amens on the bench…that team going undefeated 16-0 in the playoffs.
I’m talking in general. Lakers are doomed either way
I mean, KD chose the Rockets. He had other options and didn’t want to go to them.
Was it not before their starting PG got hurt for the season?
Yes I think so. Still the Rockets had sooo many roster issues before FVV got injured anyway.
They had issues without FVV but before Adams got hurt they still had like the #1 offense cause despite how ugly the offense looked at times they were able to just get the offensive rebound and try again… now without him their offense has really dropped
Fucking good lol
KD Warriors genuinely ruined the NBA for 2 seasons other than the one series against Houston in 2018. 2019 sucked too just ended differently
His entire post-Warriors career has been wasted. Best shot he had was in Brooklyn and various factors wasted that shot too but outside of that he’s been the one in charge of constantly changing teams and never accomplishing much
Durant has always been generationally unlucky outside of his Warriors stint
Heat role players going off in the 2012 finals while the Thunder got nothing from Ibaka and below in the rotation
The global pandemic affecting the Nets, and then even when they were close in 2021 , injuries ro virtually the whole rotation
Hold up nah KD is legit one of the luckiest players of all time when it comes to being surrounded by talent. KD has literally had one of if not the best and most consistent level of great supporting casts out of any all time great player.
There are many elite players throughout history that would have killed to have the talent KD had even with the Nets, Suns, and this Rockets team. Devin Booker is better than anyone Jokic has ever played with
If kyrie stayed healthy the nets win in 2021
You mean if that Greek thug didn’t undercut Kyrie while “going for a rebound” after getting his ass beat by 50 points. FTFY.
Funny how he got a pass for that shit.
The league knew they were the best team that year. Teague and another guy were on the end of the Bucks bench and knew it was a lost cause
It’s a damn shame for KD
As if he didn’t score 0 pts on 0-6 in the OT of a home game 7?
It’s odd that all people talk about in that game is the “toe on the line” , rather than KD’s lack of scoring when it mattered most.
Which means he dropped 48 points on 59% TS, which is still one of the best performances ever in Game 7s, while his entire roster was injured and he had to generate his own shot on almost every possession. If he had missed those shots in the first quarter, they wouldn’t have even gone to overtime.
You’re being disingenuous and biased. It’s easy to say that if a player never missed a shot, he would have won the game, just to dismiss a historic performance. It’s the equivalent of saying, “If Jordan hadn’t missed 19 shots and had scored 68 points instead of only 63, the Bulls would have defeated the Celtics in ’86.”
KD scored 15 points and had 2 assists in the fourth quarter, while Giannis scored only 7 points and had 0 assists. But because of the strength of his team, Giannis was allowed to play in overtime.
Just for comparison, Giannis scored 40 on 66% TS in that game 7.
As far as the 4th Q goes, Giannis’ teammates shot 7-15 (47%), KD shot 6-11 (55%) while his Nets teammates shot 5-6 (83%). So whose team was stronger in that Q that the Nets won by 1 pt?
Durant had a monstrous effort to even get them there. Being disingenuous doesn’t make you correct
Thanks for proving my point so quickly.
Giannis and Middleton scored in OT, as did Bruce Brown. But the KD stans just don’t want to acknowledge that 5 minute ofer.
Crazy how KD stans talk about that second round exit like it was game 7 in the finals
No one’s being a stan, just being objective. Pretty much the whole NBA world thought the Nets would’ve won in 21
Not true. They had the 4th best record in the league in ‘21 and finished 2nd to the 76ers in the East
Nah only KD stans think that. Even if everyone did that just means KD failed to live up to expectations… again
The 4 best players on the Nets were all injured and he had 50. One of the best individual efforts in any game i’ve ever seen; going cold in OT don’t change that
Winning is the goal of pro sports. Do you think Steph or Lebron would have failed to score in OT of a home game 7?
Also, KD’s 48 pts in that game is less than 50.
Lebron was 0-4 FG with 2 points in OT of 2018 finals game 1. You’re saying it’s his fault they lost? Despite his 49 points in regulation?
You really embody your username.
Curry has a poor record in the clutch in the playoffs, so maybe?
Thunder weren’t winnin regardless
The Thunder lost 3 games by a combined 15 points and were favoured in the series going into it.
Westbrook, Ibaka, Fisher, Perkins, Sefolosha and Harden all shot well below their seasonal averages and the league average TS% that year of 53%
Durant was at +12% (65% TS)
Opponents’ TS% against the Heat was 51%, and most of Westbrook’s value came from his playmaking, as he set up Durant for easier shots very often.
If you look at the series against the Heat exclusively, then you can say they were affected by shooting luck. But Harden shot well above his averages against the Spurs, and if you look at the totality of the playoffs, their shooting was basically the same from the regular season to the postseason:
OKC: RS = 36% from three on 20 attempts per game; PS = 36% from three on 19.4 attempts per game.
Shooting variance helped them against the Spurs and did not favor them much against the Heat.
They was only favored cause of the Spurs upset — they matched up poorly
How? Literally more than one good game by Westbrook or an inch of competence from role players and that series would’ve been very close
And Spo would’ve adjusted accordingly 😂
Probably Ime didnt want him, he didnt want him the first time he was a FA, picked FVV over him.
That was the wrong take then and it would be the wrong take now, too
Ime hates offense. If you can’t meet his defensive expectations he doesn’t want you. Only problem is ya gotta score to win games
He’ll likely get sacked after the season the latest. Thanks for the rebuild but he can’t coach a contending team
…he took a team to the finals
And decided to play drop coverage on Steph Curry.
Brutal😭
has a reporter ever asked why he did that? i’m insanely curious to know what crazy reason he had
What is that bad? Thought the sarcasm was obvious lol
Not if you’re Steph Curry!
A team took him to the finals…
he just needs to have another affair with an his employee to give him the championship run edge
The team made the finals despite him. It’s extremely clear they’re much better under Mazzulla.
He just got a contract extension before the season, he’s not getting fired.
I get if he was a FA they would sign him to a reasonable contract.
Houston clearly just doesn’t want to trade their young assets and that’s what they’d have to trade to match salary, not rocket science
[deleted]
We’re not firing Udoka, our fanbase actually goes full meltdown every time we lose. The rockets subreddit has actually become pathetic
I think calling for his job right now is a huge overreaction, but I am extremely annoyed by how much he is constantly throwing our players under the bus while refusing to take any responsibility himself. Our offensive scheme is ass, but every time we lose he says the players aren’t trying hard enough. Like, maybe effort is a problem sometimes, but this is the NBA, you can’t win by just “wanting it more”. If you’re a player and your coach constantly bashes you for your effort even when you’re giving it all you have, it’s just going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would like to see Ime take some real accountability.
I get the impression that he is a great defensive coach who gets teams to play tough and physical, but is totally clueless and unimaginative offensively. It’s not a coincidence that the Celtics offense really took off after they dumped Udoka for Joe Maz.
Your impression is exactly correct. Feels like I am watching the Texans all over again with how agonizing this offense is to watch sometimes.
Kerr. Spo. Mazzula. Carlisle. Your guy.
Them strip clubs got that boi hooked. He’s been trying to get back to Houston for years.
It’s the chicken wings that does it.
Come for the strippers, stay for the wings
If we wants strippers and wings, he should try to get traded to Atlanta.
Harden never playing in Atlanta is one of the great crimes against Humanity
Ime ego too big
How could you even make the trade happen without FVV agreeing to it?
Because James let his restaurant in Houston go into foreclosure after he bailed on them the fist time 🫣😂
imagine not trading for the 2nd greatest player in franchise history
I mean it’s not as easy as just signing someone though is it lol
It was a couple years ago lol. Ime chose FVV over Harden
Yeah, but Harden’s quote of “I am the system” didnt sound like someone who was going to foster the development of all our younger players, but rather hinder them, and also a potential clash with Udoka as he tried to reset the Rocket’s culture. He also was looking like he could be on the downturn of his career, health and production wise. Obviously that last part turned out not to be the case.
Everywhere hes helped young players develop
I should have been more specific. If Harden was thinking he was going to be as heliocentric(“I am the system”) as he used to be in Houston, then thats taking reps away from our young players. I think at the time I also thought he was focused on winning ASAP, which we weren’t necessarily there at the time.
I think you’re right that he would have been fine, and would have put our younger players in better positions to succeed. They certainly havent progressed as much offensively as we had hoped, and Harden might’ve been the exact kind of player to open up a lot more offensive options. And by all accounts, as a locker room presence, he’s solid with young players. I think I remember Tyrese Maxey saying Harden really gave him the faith in himself to level up his game.
Who should they have given up to get him? The roster is a little thin this year as is.
Rockets had no cap room. And apparently they’re loyal to Jabari.
Rockets should have traded for him
What were the rockets going to trade for him?
Vibes.
I’m not even sure the rockets have any vibes to give up that’s how bad they are going
Maybe a gift card to Pappadeaux’s?
Should have signed him as FA few years ago
FVV would need to be in any deal for a big salary, except he’s got the ability to veto a trade, and has already done the rockets a solid in reworking his deal. That’s a pretty big complication with trading for Harden.
Ime hates him. He asks him to fuck off the first time when he got the chance to pick him or VanVleet
James would’ve transformed their stagnant offense. But Ime would probably resign before he has to give up any control, man’s ego is too big. The Rockets probably aren’t going anywhere until they change their coach.
And the Houston strip clubs wept.
Fire Udoka asap
Fire udoka
Didn’t he say that he never requested a trade, so how would he have interest in being traded back to Houston if a trade request was never on the board from him?
Somebody lying.
I mean it’s possible the Clippers initiated the trade talks with Harden
I wonder why?…
Harden misses those Houston Titty bars
We didn’t have any way to get any type of major deal done this season. Call me crazy but I don’t think teams were foaming at the mouth for DFS and an injured Steven Adams. The Rockets have fuck all flexibility until the summer. Is what it is
It can be done if they wanted. They can match salary with DFS, Adams, and Reed. Throw in some FRP. I’m sure Clippers will do it. But do Rockets want to give him the extension? Because they won’t be enough cap to re-sign Eason and Amen.
Cause he’s a losing playoff performer.
Feel like Harden is exactly what Houston could use currently. Thankful this didn’t happen. lol
Between Houston not having anything to really send out in a trade that’d work, and the way Harden exited the team, I really doubt Houston would’ve even tried tbh.
Harden wants to go back to Houston because he likes the strip clubs
Compared the strip club scene of Cleveland to Houston, can’t blame him for trying
the missing pg they needed too
People never forget that image of his feet
It’s clear they were traumatized by what they saw
Udoka would probably have an aneurysm over Harden’s defensive effort
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47840039/james-harden-kawhi-leonard-la-clippers-cleveland-cavaliers-darius-garland
“Harden was interested in reuniting with the Houston Rockets, sources say, a natural fit because their point guard, Fred VanVleet, had torn his ACL before the season. But the Rockets showed little interest in their former MVP. Cleveland did, however.”
Good.
He’s your problem now, Cleveland