Anyway sorry to all to clog the thread w Lakers talk.

As far as Harden goes yes, I think he immediately makes us a playoff team regardless of where the ping-pong balls drop… but I'm also 100% sure he's never going to be the cornerstone of a championship team.

So is it going to be more fun with James and is Aggie Derek going to be able to scalp more tickets? Hundred percent yes. But I think the story ends with the team blowing up eventually with no championship. Which might be the ending anyway, but with James it's assured.

To add to that, DLo's numbers in LA per 36 are 20/7 with just 2.7 turnovers on .484/.414 shooting. In the playoffs, per-36 is 18/6/4. Brodie scored about the same with LA, but on an extra 3-4 shots per 36, since he was so much less efficient.

In the playoffs for LA, DLo is the #3 scorer, even above Austin Reeves, who is playing more minutes.

With LeBron and AD's long range shots not falling, having another shooter that can also create with the ball helps a ton. LA needs shooters around Bron/AD and with Rui, DLo, Reeves and Walker they have them. Brodie couldn't stretch defenses.

Harry Dunne said:

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Anyway sorry to all to clog the thread w Lakers talk.

As far as Harden goes yes, I think he immediately makes us a playoff team regardless of where the ping-pong balls drop… but I'm also 100% sure he's never going to be the cornerstone of a championship team.

So is it going to be more fun with James and is Aggie Derek going to be able to scalp more tickets? Hundred percent yes. But I think the story ends with the team blowing up eventually with no championship. Which might be the ending anyway, but with James it's assured.

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I don't know that he turns any team around 22 wins at this point. In the 3 years he left, he has played 67% of the possible games and the NBA has cracked down on the types of fouls he used to draw in Houston, so he only gets to the line half as much now as he did in his best years. The guy turns 34 before training camp.

I'm definitely more of a hater of him than most, but I just don't see him taking a team on a 20+ win upswing when he misses so many games and is getting older and getting to the line less. I certainly wouldn't want to commit to a ton of money long-term to a guy that will be 34 when the season starts.

I was really hoping the Celtics would lose that series so they'd be more tempted to trade Jaylen Brown, but now I think making it to the ECF is enough for the Boston front office to just say "run it back" even if they lose this series (assuming they don't lose in 4 or 5 games).

HotardRat said:

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I was really hoping the Celtics would lose that series so they'd be more tempted to trade Jaylen Brown, but now I think making it to the ECF is enough for the Boston front office to just say "run it back" even if they lose this series (assuming they don't lose in 4 or 5 games).

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Jaylen has one more year on his contract. Boston isn't trading him unless he forces them. He's tight with Udoka and the Hawks (hometown team) are a cluster****, so my guess is that he waits for the 2024 summer to sign or S&T his way out of Boston to Houston, if he is truly unhappy in Boston.

Guitarsoup said:

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HotardRat said:

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I was really hoping the Celtics would lose that series so they'd be more tempted to trade Jaylen Brown, but now I think making it to the ECF is enough for the Boston front office to just say "run it back" even if they lose this series (assuming they don't lose in 4 or 5 games).

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Jaylen has one more year on his contract. Boston isn't trading him unless he forces them. He's tight with Udoka and the Hawks (hometown team) are a cluster****, so my guess is that he waits for the 2024 summer to sign or S&T his way out of Boston to Houston, if he is truly unhappy in Boston.

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Right that's what I'm saying. *Now* they're not trading him, but if they lose to Philly in 5 games, then they definitely would be flirting with it all summer.

HotardRat said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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HotardRat said:

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I was really hoping the Celtics would lose that series so they'd be more tempted to trade Jaylen Brown, but now I think making it to the ECF is enough for the Boston front office to just say "run it back" even if they lose this series (assuming they don't lose in 4 or 5 games).

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Jaylen has one more year on his contract. Boston isn't trading him unless he forces them. He's tight with Udoka and the Hawks (hometown team) are a cluster****, so my guess is that he waits for the 2024 summer to sign or S&T his way out of Boston to Houston, if he is truly unhappy in Boston.

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Right that's what I'm saying. *Now* they're not trading him, but if they lose to Philly in 5 games, then they definitely would be flirting with it all summer.

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He's a 26yo All-NBA 2nd team player that is elite defensively. He averaged 27/7/4 this year. They weren't going to flirt with trading him unless he forced them no matter what happened in the playoffs. He's shooting 54/47 in the playoffs.

I agree that he alone wouldn't mean 20 more wins. To be clear I meant both getting him and making a commitment to win. I think we could've won 10 more games this season if we were actually trying to win. I think you can add 10 more to that by adding some smart veteran role players instead of G-league guys on extended tryouts. We've got a real head coach and I assume we'll have an offensive & defensive identity for the first time in a while. That makes a big difference.

I also think James would be at his best on-court being a pretend Alpha with all these young guys that look up
to him. He would be great in the regular season like he always is and give the younger guys a bunch of confidence. Then he would crumble in the playoffs a couple of times more before aging out of stardom and leaving the team culture a mess.

I agree with the ultimate end result there.

A few quick points:

* Harden would probably sell some more tickets
* Harden would be a pretty awful mentor for the young players
* Harden would want a big, multi-year contract
* Harden may be the anti-Udoka-type player. Udoka's last transaction at Boston was to trade for Derrick White, who is a Caruso-type combo guard. Grant Williams, Robert Williams, White, Smart, Hortford - all role players that are good to elite defensively to go with Tatum/Brown. In 2022, Udoka's Celtics had six players between 5.9 and 3.5 assists. No one above.
* If we are going to trust Udoka to build the players and the team, I think Harden will do more bad than good, even if he wins you an extra 10 games.

I think Houston might be better off building to Udoka's type of team: good passers, great defenders.

* Keep max room available (or flexible enough to get it) for summer 2024
* Use other cap room for some vets that play his way. Thinking Junkyard Dogs like Mario Elie-type players. Maybe go after Brook Lopez and break up Milwaukee? Go get Miles Bridges, if Udoka thinks he has learned from his year off.
* A lot will depend on what happens tomorrow in the lottery in what direction to go and what free agents to prioritize. The good thing for the Rockets is it is a deep draft and the very worst you can get is 5th, which means you can easily get a Jarace Walker that could be elite under Udoka.

With Udoka as coach, I don't see Harden being positive in the team rebuild in anything other than ticket sales. I think he could set guys like KPJ and Green even further back defensively.

WES2006AG said:

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Our young guys have not developed as quickly as we would like up to this point. Throw James into the situation and I am pretty sure we can go ahead and torch the rest of their careers. James would quite possibly be the worst influence possible. Not to mention he didn't leave on good terms and that shouldn't be so easily forgiven.

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I missed this at the bottom of the last page, but this is where I am at.

Happy lottery day everyone.

Beyond the disappointment of missing on the top 3 prospects, the discourse on the potential selections in the 4-6 range is going to be brutal this year. Not much consensus and some very polarizing prospects.

Praying hard for at least top 3.

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Tonight is going to determine my mood for the rest of the year.

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This thread and the Spurs thread will be glorious tonight

CFTXAG10 said:

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This is the official Victor prayer circle thread

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I want VW. But I'd be perfectly happy with Scoot.

I'm gonna laugh so hard is Morey hires DAntoni to replace Doc. Embiid on SSOL would be hilarious.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Could a Harden-D'Antoni reunion be in the works? 😯 pic.twitter.com/vhRTVgYKsz

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 16, 2023

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Philadelphia Owner: We have to stop disappointing in the playoffs. We have a generational center that is extremely talented but kind of slow.

Morey: Hey, I'm still good friends with Mike DAntoni, let's bring him in and get Embiid to race up and down the floor at top speed all year, then surely Mike has learned a lot the last few years. There's only one place to go for his sub-.500 Playoff reccord: UP!

Philadelphia Owner: LET'S GOOOOOO!!!

pro sports coaches have it so good. they can be terrible and get fired then just get hired again somewhere else with hopes that it works.

Lol A&M football coaches have it better. Just gotta have 1 season above expectations and you'll get a 10 yr fully guaranteed contract.

ESPN already leaking the top 4 teams to get the first pick?! Don't show this to the Spurs fans LMAO

Mood checker based on what pick we get :

#1 (14.0%) - NBA title in a couple years, here we come.
#2 (13.4%) - so close, but still stoked
#3 (12.7%) - about what we expected
#4 (12.0%) - this is rigged
#5 (27.8%) - this is rigged
#6 (20.0%) - I give up

#6 and the Mavericks/Spurs get #1 - jump off the "Be Someone" bridge into I-45 traffic during rush hour and hope it ends quickly.

FYI - expected outcome of draft position. (If you pick before this, you beat the 50% expectation based on the odds)

Houston - 3.86
Spurs - 4.06
Dallas - 9.19

Elvin Haynes, John Lucas, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Yao Ming. I pray that Victor Wembanyama will be the next one to join this list in our history.

ESPN said many consider wemby to be the best prospect in team sports history across the world. And that many GMs think he will be the best player in the nba in 3 years

mAgnoliAg said:

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ESPN said many consider wemby to be the best prospect in team sports history across the world. And that many GMs think he will be the best player in the nba in 3 years

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Best prospect, sure. Still a big risk of injury at his size and frame.

Pistons to 5

Yikes pistons