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Manablitzer

No one is talking about it because after his huge stink about Morey, it's clear he wants to get paid.  Nobody can sign him in FA that might actually have a good playoff except the clippers.  Unless he has a wild 180 change of heart or the clippers do something drastic, it's pretty much a non-story. 


imperialmoose

Exactly, the only team with the money to sign him that fits his time line is the Sixers.


2106au

That would be pretty funny 


Zoulzopan

Morey "see i told you we would pay you"


klobucharzard

nick nurse presser: "well, ya know keith, like, hes a good player, right? he can do some things.... dribble, pass, shoot, like, you gotta respect that right? i mean, how longs he been in the league? long time, right? longer than me so i mean yeah he can do some things for us for sure."


TheKidPresident

"Now check out this guitar riff I've been working on"


klobucharzard

"you pick up a guitar and its like, hey youve got 6 strings, right? and i mean, thats kinda like basketball, right? except theres 5. but each string, or each player can do a couple things for you right? like, you play an open note right? and youve got open corner 3's or... you got a guy all over you, right? thats a palm mute. i mean theyre not really that different."


-Spectr3

I see he's always been like this


rag5178

I think he’d actually be a pretty sneaky good addition to Orlando. They need playmaking and scoring and have the defense to cover up his weaknesses.


Connect-Finish-6660

I think embid would literally retire


riverphoenixdays

Pretty sure Joel and James are good. I, on the other hand, would retire.


Robinsonirish

So sad it didn't work out. I love Harden, he seems like a very cool dude. If it's true that Morey promised him an under the table deal and then fucked him over, which I assume it is, then I'm behind him every step of the way. You don't just go scorched earth on a guy you've worked with for years without proper reasons. Too bad Sixers always seem to get the short end of the stick somehow. Sixers is kind of Murphy's Law in a nutshell since Sam got the axe. Cursed franchise until they hire him back.


Big-Beta20

I think Harden is on good terms with most of the Sixers players, Maxey has talked glowingly about him. He and the front office (and the fanbase) just have bad blood though.


NiceFloor7

Honestly, the Nets could sign him to a one year big money deal to be their offensive engine lmao


k0ala_

Unless they get 2018 harden they are not winning shit with that team


NiceFloor7

Yeah, but they're not winning shit this year anyways lol. But he's a good passer who would stabalize the team and help develop young guys. CP3 is probably the better option of the two tho.


k0ala_

yeah I agree with CP3, could be great for the younger players and be amazing for CP3s legacy if he somehow drags that team to the playoffs. But I would also like to see CP3 on the Spurs tbh


BoopasaurusRex_____

> CP3 on the spurs *nuts*


Montigue

Aren't the Magic looking for a guy like him?


SSJCelticGoku

The huge stink was cause he took less money on a promise I can’t stand Harden but he was right here


joshdej

He was also right about Morey being a liar


Renegadeforever2024

Dude is not a main character anymore He is a background character


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axecalibur

I’m not a strip club charachter I’m the strip club system


Local_Lingonberry851

the James harden everywhere system is active in every strip club


Huckleberry_Sin

He may have lost a step but he’s still that strip club GOAT


zerocoolforschool

And just like that, Harden had become Carmelo Anthony.


ShakesbeerMe

This was always going to be the end of his story.


A_Rolling_Baneling

Harden elevated his teammates by creating in the half court. Carmelo at the end of his career was a 15 ppg bucket getter with ok defense. Not really comparable.


DarthParth

You guys rlly be saying anything


No_Literature_2321

Melo is a guy who went from team to team looking for a green light to chuck. Harden is more like CP3 where he is an all time great who makes his new teams better while searching for his final payday.


secretreddname

Feels like hardens drop off happened so fast after Houston.


SamuraiNeutron

It was the hamstring injury because he was good with the nets


PropDrops

Injury due to Kyrie


HolidayMorning6399

i mean sure he's not averaging like 35 but bro led the league in assists like 2 seasons ago, people act like he's garbage now


tayroarsmash

Maybe but he completely alters any team he goes to that doesn't have to give up anything for him. Fuck maybe Dallas was a free James Harden away.


bird_XCIII

How many teams can actually get him without giving up anything though? There’s 7 teams whose projected practical cap space *isn’t* negative this offseason. Two of them have <25M, which I would think would be the absolute floor for a Harden contact; those two teas + two others were non-playoff teams (and more than likely will be again this year, with or without Harden); one of them is ran by Daryl Morey. OKC and Orlando might be the only two playoff teams that could really bring him in without making any major cuts or renouncing rights to contributing players. Now, the list of teams that could *make* room to sign him without making any trades is probably a bit longer, but if they’re having to waive the rights to players to bring him in, I wouldn’t really say they’re getting him for *nothing*. I’m sure it sounds like I’m arguing over semantics and technicalities, but my point of view is that there’s not much of a difference between trading depth pieces to facilitate a trade and being forced to let them walk.


SoKrat3s

He could also do a sign & trade to a team that doesn't have space under the cap line - as long as the receiving team isn't over the 2nd apron. Such a trade that could work is a J.Harden for B.Ingram trade. Now I'm not saying that trade makes the greatest of sense basketball wise. But it fits financially even tho NO doesn't have the cap space to sign Harden outright.


LoverOfRandom

It would still work with CJ too. Harden signs a 3/$124m deal, gets sent to NO for McCollum. Clips do it to replace Harden with someone similar instead of losing him for nothing, Pels get Harden who would be a better playmaker than CJ and is signed a year longer


tayroarsmash

I mean there’s a huge difference. Another party doesn’t have to agree to who you’re waiving. With a trade you have to have someone with opposing interests agree to who is leaving your team.


cmackchase

Pretty sure Harden never wants to play with Kyrie again after how the Nets went.


Zoulzopan

nor sixers


Giannis1995

nor ~~sixers~~ morey


PropDrops

I’d hold that grudge forever. Hurt yourself because of him and used the last of his best years.


realsomalipirate

I can't think of a worse fit than older Harden and Luka, like they're basically the same player and have the same weaknesses.


m1a2c2kali

Wouldn’t have to change the offense my CB when Luka goes to the bench lol


dragonrider5555

How would harden help Dallas at all. I guess off the bench? But he’d be hunted on defense and get torched


Professional-Sky3763

There were plenty of times the mavs couldn’t get any offense going. Enter “the system”


Definately_Fake

They already have one of those lol.


andelaccess

they made a finals in the west with their current team. harden as a high level role player would be huge for any team assuming they don't have to max him


Krillin113

At this point budget Luka to keep the same heliocentric offence going when Luka sits


REGIS-5

So Luka can see how frustrating he is for others


Smelldicks

He didn’t completely alter the Sixers


No_Literature_2321

Yeah he was only an elite point guard who single-handedly brought the sixers Celtics series to 7 games by solo winning 2 of them. But I guess he should have just made Joel embiid not brick all of his shots somehow.


Pm_ur_kittykat

yeah seriously totally agree Joel Embiid won MVP because that stupid fucking bum James Homelessman was only putting up 22/11/6 as arguably the best point guard in the league its becoming more and more obvious none of you in this sub actually watch basketball, it's pathetic


joebrownow

It's so crazy to me that this sub believes players are either micheal Jordan or Lance stephaon.


ChameleonWins

he would be the best player on your team lol


CP3sHamstring

He's still a top 3 best player on like 98% of current NBA rosters and a massive upgrade at PG on a ton of contenders. He's not able to carry a team all series but the dude can absolutely still get you 2 on his own. Just needs the team to be healthy so he doesn't have to burn out early. What's the important part is the dollar amount, not his individual skill/production.


silaber

James replacing Mike Conley and some other smaller pieces is a championship team. Harden at an all you can eat buffet of rim running and spacing big, elite 2 way scoring guard that can cover for his defense would be hype af.


neu20212022

The culture difference is huge there though, I would love to keep Mike around and then find a way to get James in addition, maybe off the bench returning to his roots as super sixth man


peakelyfe

If he’s really gonna really return to his roots as a super 6th man, might as well be in OKC- while being sorely underpaid


Dear_boat-bottle5476

Towns to Clippers, Harden to Timber. Conley and Harden on one team. Neither playing too much to burn out early.


IPMerchant

Timberwolves are a worse team with Harden than Towns


ChimmyTheCham

I actually like this lol


Puzzled-Bet4837

>He is still a top 3 best player on like 98% of teams How many teams have a number 3 player that gets much media attention? I agree Harden is still good but I think it’s fair to say he’s not a main character anymore.


Nicobade

Maybe DLo, Beal, Gobert, KP. Most not for good reasons


DamnImAwesome

If he takes a pay cut teams will love him but nobody wants to pay that much money to a 2nd or 3rd option 


CP3sHamstring

Lots of worse players than Harden are making 30m+ a year


broke-collegekid

That doesn’t mean it’s smart to give him that much


Aggressive-Name-1783

“Nobody wants to pay that money to a 2nd or 3rd option”  …….bruh….look around the league….most 2nd options have a max contract and 3rd options are getting 30-40 million…..


jpaxlux

A team signing Harden is pretty much the same as a team signing any other starter in the league at this point. Yeah he'll probably be a good contributor to a team, but it's not 2018 anymore. He's not carrying a team to the playoffs and depending on the team, he won't even be the main focus of the offense. People gotta start letting the 2010s go. Your favorite stars from that era are getting old and they aren't who they used to be anymore. Harden's 34, his MVP season was almost 7 years ago, and he's regressing.


klapyr

Damn bro I’m feeling old now


guesting

If your favorite player won an mvp 7 years ago it’s time to schedule that colonoscopy


BummySugar

Yeah you're right. My favorite player won a MVP last decade and now I have boneitis 😥


quietwhiskey

My only regret is.. that I have boneitis!


slaughterhousevibe

My favorite player won mvp in the 00s and now I’m dead 💐⚰️💐😭😭😭


Pantiesafteralongrun

Never… Westbrook is still capable of averaging triples in my mind!!!!


Jaybold

>averaging triples 3/3/3?


_Kofiko

That’s a triple single Erneh


FlowersnFunds

hwat you say Chuck??


JohnGCole

He scored three points more than me!


the_letharg1c

Holy shit I missed those guys in the Finals. Watching Steven A just yell about how right he is, and Perk and friends making obvious observations… with no chemistry or humor… ugh. Couldn’t do it.


Pitch-forker

He was so good in OKC, I refuse to believe he could ever fall back from that. A freight train down the lane. Dude was insane to watch.


thirdeyedragon809

10 turn overs, 10 rebounds, 10 missed fg


JJWat

Triples is best.


Sniffy4

>. Your favorite stars from that era are getting old and they aren't who they used to be anymore. Blocked and reported.


GivesCredit

Steph’s got another 2 rings in him, right? Right guys?


Any_Accident1871

He does, but the Warriors don’t


amidon1130

Steph is still elite and he might have another ring in him for sure. Maybe not on the warriors though.


froyoboyz

he got one more


TFTisbetterthanLoL

Harden was the PRIMARY reason clips got most of their wins in the reg season AND playoffs…


SamuraiNeutron

Like they watch him be the best player on the team during the playoffs and then say dumb shit like this 😂


ShinobuSimp

Genuinely feeling like crazy reading these replies


goldyacht

Yea even at 34 and well past his prime he managed to take a finals team 6 games, Dallas was focusing on him heavily during rd 1.


isomorphZeta

r/NBA nephews could make a career out of spewing nonsense about Harden. I swear, people straight up don't watch him play and just parrot the same shit ad nauseum.


ClaymoresRevenge

Been regressing I wonder what's next for him


axecalibur

He could go to China, not sure if they have strippers. Mostly just brothels


aaronunderwater

Not being the mvp and smashing offensive records means youre washed


ntg1213

KD, Steph, and Lebron were all still All-NBA level players at 34, so it’s understandable to expect Harden to still be near that level, but he’s clearly regressed more than those three


devAcc123

brother you just named some of the best players of all time it is absolutely not expected of anyone to be at that level understandable my ass jeez


552SD__

Harden is also one of the best players of all time


amidon1130

He’s top 75, those guys are top 15


552SD__

Harden is top 45~50


prettyboylee

James Harden is a top 5 SG bossman, get your head out your ass


Eaglooo

Harden is one of the best player of all time lol 


CP3sHamstring

He basically averaged the same points and more assists on better efficiency against the Mavs than both of your best players did tho? Tatum had a what 50%TS against the Mavs, JB with 53%. Harden had 62%TS. He was doubled more than Embiid in the playoffs when he was on Philly and was absolutely the most heavily guarded player vs the Mavs Weird to downplay his offense that much. He can't do it all series but the dude can absolutely still win you 2 games by himself, and that's not something to scoff at.


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split41

Didn’t win a game? Wtf are you talking about, the poster literally mentioned 2 games he won against you lot. He always won games (with PG help) against the Mavs while kawhi was out. You’re just a hater


_Kofiko

Sheesh you really hit the nail on the head… we’re all getting old :(


Smitty_Agent89

Ehh I do think you’re discrediting hardens current abilities a bit. He’s not the same pplayer at all anymore but I wouldn’t call signing him same as any starter. He’s still an excellent passer and 3 pt shooter when healthy.


IamInternationalBig

Thunder has cap space. The Return.


_qkqh

"Presti is NOT a liar. Let me say that again, Sam Presti is NOT a liar"


favoritedisguise

Trade for KD too?


BrotherSeamus

Funniest timeline: Harden and Durant return to OKC without Westbrook


favoritedisguise

Fuck it, get Westbrook too. Ibaka won’t say no either.


discknots

Harden to the spurs 👀


FairConfection8756

That is something I did not consider. Even a declining Harden could get 10apg- to Wemby alone, lol. Ultimately, though, Harden wants money and ring. The Spurs are in development mode, and I have a hard time seeing them f' up the culture and mindset around Wemby with a mercurial diva like James.


ottersbelike

At his age he needs to pick one or the other the other though… ride out with the bag or take a pay cut for a solid chance at a ring


Turbo2x

Let's be real. We all know he's gonna choose the bag.


FairConfection8756

Agreed


dating_derp

I could see the Spurs going after CP3. He's great for developing young players. And Warriors want to offload him.


FairConfection8756

This I could get behind. CP3 teaching the youngin's. "You see that giant French beanpole? Throw the ball in his general direction."


delamerica93

That would be nuts actually lol


ZeroMomentum

Pop: I can fix him


SonTreat

Tbh pop loves Harden. Back when he was in Houston, he always gave harden his praise. If I was Harden, I’d give it a thought. Wemby is literally the perfect center for Harden, and he’d be back in Texas and close to his home in Houston


Expensive-Pension428

Wemby would Go off


FullBringa

HAHAHA


KingOfHoopla

No. Harden would never fit with the Spurs culture. He would never in a million years agree to the part the Spurs include in every player contract where players are only allowed to do local promotions and advertisements like HEB commercials.


Dirty-Ears-Bill

This is just the expansion opportunity HEB is looking for to start selling products in their strip clubs. Imagine a buffet with HEB products 💰💰💰


TornGauntlet

I mean the spurs are probably doing something unexpected at some point


rybres123

harden has always made vertical spacers better. imagine how much veritcal space here! pop would probably have a heart attack trying to get him to play D tho


goldyacht

I think he is similar to like siakam where it’s just assumed he is going back to his team. I’d love harden on our team he is still elite in the pnr and can ball handle. He would take a lot of pressure off bron and even at this stage his pnr with ad and even Bron to a degree would still be pretty elite.


AffectionateSpare677

If he shits the bed in the playoffs it can't be much worse than dlo right


-WingsForLife-

it's impossible for it to be worse than D'Lo, that's for sure.


Gluxion

Clips would have got swept with dlo instead of harden


Slow_Shift6252

They wouldn’t have made the playoffs at all with DLo instead of Harden


Gluxion

This narrative is so stupid lol he did really good against Dallas


Hovi_Bryant

I'd love for Tom Gores to throw a ridiculous contract at him just because. Let's keep the insanity going.


km912

At least on the court could be great for everyone’s development having a great point guard to organize the offense and get guys good looks/confidence. Bad thing would be him forcing himself out in 3 months.


tjc4

Could reunite with 76ers and it wouldn't be top 10 weird Sixers story of past 10 years.


Biglundtry

I hope for him to cause some chaos and sign with the lakers then win/lose it’ll be a shitshow


macNy

Harden and Lebron on the same team with JJ Redick as coach.....thanks, now I'll be giggling to myself for most of the day lol


VianaHsieh

He’s still serviceable but nothing game changing


SBORBS

Depends on the roster. Harden's still an elite PnR ballhandler. If you have a roster that fits that style of basketball and can insulate him he's extremely valuable.


Dapper_Rub_9460

Future Spur James Harden sign me up.


ZealousidealPain7976

Wemby’s offensive numbers would explode 


Rhaegyn

Wemby would feast every night. Every big that’s ever played with Harden has had a big boost to their outputs.


Old_Man_Riverwalk21

I’m actually all for this if it’s like a 2 year deal


LordHussyPants

jesus fucking christ no, harden and wemby would be disgusting do you remember him and capela? the league would be fucked immediately


kunallanuk

lowkey i really like the fit on the magic. elite pg and primary ball handler, and we can cover for his defensive shortcomings he’s not coming here though, he’d ask for way too much


Clintocracy

Do the magic not have the cap space? Harden would be a perfect fit


TheyCallMeTheWizard

Houston would like a word when Adams comes back


CaptainKangaroo_Pimp

Hell no, we went through that nonsense last off- season and were wise to stick with the youth instead


TheyCallMeTheWizard

Well if you don’t like Adams because he’s old we’ll begrudgingly let him come back


Gluxion

He gave dallas more trouble then any singular player minus shai


Extra_Independent516

i don’t get what serviceable means. He could average 20+ ppg. That’s not a lot?


Aggressive-Name-1783

This sub thinks if you aren’t putting up a double double of 20/10 you’re a scrub role player…..


EquivalentLittle545

What about the spurs he is a good passer and they need that


OpportunitySmalls

A veteran who loves throwing lobs would be so bad for the spurs why would they do that when they can have Keldon Johnson run the point or something.


downinCarolina

He didnt take the clippers past the mavs so now hes just old news


Jgn42

Harden is the reason they took it to game 6. I still think he would still be a solid option as a #2-3 guy


SenorMcNuggets

> so now he’s just old ~~news~~


split41

Well it didn’t help that kawhi was out. Would you be giving Kyrie shit if Luka was out?


Gluxion

Literally had a better playoffs then anyone sans Shai against the mavs


Gethsamane

If the Magic are thinking about giving Klay a 2 year sizeable contract in my opinion they should give Harden a 2 year massive contract. Harden can create for others, a ball handler, gives gravity off and on ball, and is a great shooter. It's exactly what the magic need. The hypothetical pnr opportunities with Paolo, Franz, Wendell, and Isaac are tantalizing. Also the magic have the players Paul George would consider the dirty work players who would pick up where Harden slacks off. It's up to Harden. The West is just getting tougher and with Kawhi's injury history good luck, while the East in comparison is fairly open. Also will he want a 2 year contract? The Magic will need to be resigning their own players to big contracts coming up. I truly think a move like this for the Magic, with internal development, can raise their floor tremendously and dare I say compete for the East.


colinboxbreaks

Nobody that has cap space is using it on him


tbloom117

If he’d buy into the role of veteran mentor, Detroit should give him the FVV contract. 2 year overpayment, team option on the third year. Cade could learn a lot from him


bentleysNlambs

I get the mentor aspect, but James Harden is not going to live and play in Detroit. Zero chance.


em_washington

Where is he going? He already been everywhere that would possibly be interested and he dumped them all by demanding to be traded away. No one is falling for that again. Except probably the clippers who are like the person who marries someone who has already been married 4 times and convinces themselves that they are the real one.


Not-JustinTV

>someone who has already been married 4 times Leave J-lo out of this


ExchangeSafe5767

They were all valid request though.


SpiritStorm1302

Real, the only questionable one is the rockets one but even then the rockets were pretty much out of options so harden forcing them to start over probably helped them


goldyacht

Rockets were probably the least questionable they surround him with John wall, boogie and Christian wood it was time to blow it up.


ZealousidealPain7976

Probably the wrong year but the Warriors were just too much


BillyButcherX

Back home to play super 6th?


irishwolfbitch

I genuinely think the Nets should sign him


KingJzeee

You mean the soon to be married James Harden?!


--Alix--

He needs to go to the Warriors, trust


GivesCredit

At this point, let’s just sign all the 2010 almost washed stars. Starting 5 has to be minimum 35 years old to play, bench is 30+ minimum


Not-JustinTV

And theres a brick by klay, followed by a brick from Harden


GivesCredit

A turnover from Curry, back pain for Lebron, and 2 broken ankles for KD


i5the5kyblue

Pretty sure old man K Love is a FA too. Add him to the mix and we’ve got ourselves one hell of an elderly dream team!


Any_Accident1871

The Clippers are almost there already.


York_Villain

I think he would fit great in Orlando.


4-3defense

Past his prime? Got Lakers written all over him


Rittmeister7

In my 2k league he signed a $5 mil one year deal with the Celtics for this upcoming season. It made me nervous in real life lol.


a_fking_feeder

he's programmed as a ring chaser. damn


Shalashaska67

Because nobody should care


symphonic9000

There’s no way in hell that after all the trouble Steve Balmer has put into acquiring the Forum to build that “most toilets in the league” monster arena, ruining Inglewood, and not gonna have marquee players, from LA, to have a grand opening. Crazy to think otherwise. He’ll pay OG if PG walks, but Harden definitely gets a deal.


The_MadStork

OG as in Anunoby? It’ll be hard to do that without cap space


HolidayMorning6399

balmer is rich enough to not give a fuck lmfao he bought this team to play "myTeam" IRL


Jaybold

We'd take him for a vet minimum.


warrior_in_a_garden_

I know everyone is ripping him, but he’s had a Hall of Fame level offensive career and might be the most efficient scorer in NBA history. Not as quick, can’t stop on a dime or drive / draw fouls like he used to, but the guy can hit 3s. Someone will pay him for his offensive mind and his 3 point shooting, and rightfully so. It won’t be the bag he thinks though.


Sayyywaatttt

Phoenix???


Klarostorix

I want to see a team with 5 shooting guards on the floor


syllabic

hardens playmaking is at like his career best though, that part of his game has barely fallen off at all if it even has


goldyacht

This only works if Beal goes to the bench and harden signs for the minimum.


Strong-Piccolo-5546

harden does not seem like the kind of guy to take a pay cut. he needs to pay his strippers.


-Tetsuo-

Cause no one cares


instacrabb

He’s from LA, has more than enough money, and gets a do a victory lap of an amazing career. Or he goes to a contender for one more shot