Harden is a great 1b in the playoffs as seen when we went to 7 against the warriors with a great cp3. He can defer to Kd in the 4th

mAgnoliAg said:

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Fat Bib Fortuna said:

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Harden picking up right where he left off in Houston with a zero point first quarter vs. the Magic.

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32, 14, and 12

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Against the Magic in the regular season I would expect nothing less. Wake me up when he's in the ECF semis vs. Boston or Miami.

Rockets beat Orlando by 42 a week ago with Harden sitting the entire 4th quarter. Not exactly impressive.

https://amp.indystar.com/amp/4200755001?__twitter_impression=true

Some quotes from Oladipo that the rest of this season is a business trip for him.

Quote:

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"You've got to go through every aspect of the business plan before you kind of figure out if you want to invest in it. For me, I'm just going to go out there and play to the best of my abilities with an open mind and an open heart and do whatever I can to help this team win.

"When that time comes to do everything else after the season, then I'll reflect. But for now, I'm just focused on winning and playing and helping this team win."

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I can respect that.

k20dub said:

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Quote:

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"You've got to go through every aspect of the business plan before you kind of figure out if you want to invest in it. For me, I'm just going to go out there and play to the best of my abilities with an open mind and an open heart and do whatever I can to help this team win.

"When that time comes to do everything else after the season, then I'll reflect. But for now, I'm just focused on winning and playing and helping this team win."

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I can respect that.

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Absolutely. The alternative could have been the typical "I will give them 100% and buy in right away, blah blah blah". I am glad he is going to take his time and feel things out, especially with no guarantee that the organization won't trade him at a moments notice. I did like some of the photos I saw floating around of him and Silas seemingly going over plays and his role on the team. Should be fun to watch the WOW lineup with this team of youngsters.

Ultimately, it seems Tillman was as leery of dealing with Morey (or just being spiteful) as many of us were.

I feel like Simmons is similar to Harden in that neither can be the "Alpha" that leads you to the title. Their games are completely different, but neither puts you in position to win it all by themselves as "The Guy". Plus, no thank you on that Simmons contract.

I really like Simmons but would rather have the Nets package with the timeline we are looking at. We should tank and get assets the next two years and then really go for it again.

CFTXAG10 said:

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I feel like Simmons is similar to Harden in that neither can be the "Alpha" that leads you to the title. Their games are completely different, but neither puts you in position to win it all by themselves as "The Guy". Plus, no thank you on that Simmons contract.

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I think you could build a team around him, but you need a couple legit scorers. The nice thing about him is that he can guard so many players, you have a lot of leeway with what other positions you put around him. A guy like Wood, a good shooter/scorer and a D&3 and you are right in the thick of it.

Guitarsoup said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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I feel like Simmons is similar to Harden in that neither can be the "Alpha" that leads you to the title. Their games are completely different, but neither puts you in position to win it all by themselves as "The Guy". Plus, no thank you on that Simmons contract.

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I think you could build a team around him, but you need a couple legit scorers. The nice thing about him is that he can guard so many players, you have a lot of leeway with what other positions you put around him. A guy like Wood, a good shooter/scorer and a D&3 and you are right in the thick of it.

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Yea, I guess my thinking is in today's NBA you have to have that Alpha. The last several title teams have had LeBron, Kawhi, and Durant with other all star caliber pieces around them. I like Simmons as a player but feel it would have been difficult to build a team around him that is title worthy (especially at his $$$$), and it seems the Rockets thought so too.

I think you need playmakers more than anything. Simmons is a playmaker, but the bonus is he can pretty much defend against anyone.

Most title teams have a top 5 player and Simmons won't be that until he can rock the threes. But you can build a team that can win the title without that, and a versatile playmaker that plays elite defense against multiple positions is a fantastic building block for that. You will need 2-3 shooters on the court, a guy that is a great PnR partner, and just a good wing scorer.

So Wood, Simmons, good scorer/defender wing like Khris Middleton, and a D&3 guy - maybe Pat Bev. I think that's the core of a team that could win a title. Throw in a center for putbacks, block the lane like Mitchell Robinson, and you are set. That's Simmons plus 4 guys that were 2nd round or UDFAs.

You aren't winning anything with Tobias, Ben, and Embiid, that's for sure. And I don't think Simmons and Wall are great partners. You need to dump off Wall if you want to build around Simmons. And dumping wall with his injury history will be difficult, especially when the other team knows you have 8 unprotected draft picks

That's the thing. I think just have to wait out Walls contract which runs through 22-23.

Gordon's contract is through 23-24 - brutal...slightly better chance to offload that one.

Aggie09Derek said:

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That's the thing. I think just have to wait out Walls contract which runs through 22-23.

Gordon's contract is through 23-24 - brutal...slightly better chance to offload that one.

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I would attach a 1st tomorrow to get rid of Gordon

Eric Gordon's 23-24 year only happens if the team he is on wins the championship before that season along with some other things happening. So he's not getting that year guaranteed.

Aggie09Derek said:

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That's the thing. I think just have to wait out Walls contract which runs through 22-23.

Gordon's contract is through 23-24 - brutal...slightly better chance to offload that one.

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Both contracts are brutal. If Wall stays healthy and puts up a 20/7/5 season or so, he's either really valuable to the Rockets or another team that needs a PG.

Gordon's last year is not guaranteed, so ONLY two seasons after this.

Crazy. Have a link for that? Figured was just a normal player option which he would be pretty much guaranteed to pick up at that price.

https://hoopshype.com/player/eric-gordon/salary/

Read the notes

A lot of practice needs to happen to get this team gelling.

Holy Christian Wood

It'd be nice to have a consistent lineup. Feel like I'm watching a new team every night

Just saw Harden miss a shot and then run like hell to track down the rebound and pass it to KD for three. I was like who the hell is this guy?

NGL, watching him chase down a loose ball to kick out to someone else was pretty jarring.

Nice game by Oladipo

Good Poster said:

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Nice game by Oladipo

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He looked like he wanted to be there so that is already a step up from Harden.
We are pretty scrappy and will be fun to watch moving forward.

I know things have been hectic since Harden left, but man we suck at defense.

We need to be rid of Tucker and Gordon as soon as possible. I love Tucker, but he's not the defensive stopper he used to be. And Gordon is just plain slow, lazy, and flat footed on defense.

The rest are young and can learn, assuming the coach actually wants better defense (no proof so far).

You have to give up assets to dump EG. He's not going anywhere. Tank commander the next 2 years.