mainly due to injuries to other players. Otherwise, lebron, AD, KD, steph and giannis off the top of my head, in no particular order are arguably better when healthy
I usually don’t agree with espn’s top 100 list overall because some placing are pretty bad but their overall top 10 isn’t horrible. They have many of my picks ranked higher than harden as well. I’d personally move AD lower as well as Luka and dame but no way harden is top 3.
After watching Harden's first game with the Nets, I probably need to revise my comments a bit. I still don't see where Irving fits into the mix but Harden and KD together again is working liking gangbusters. The last time these two were teammates they got to the NBA Finals so maybe Brooklyn is on to something. I also forgot Mike D'Antoni is now an Assistant Coach with Brooklyn and his greatest creation, 2 x MVP Steve Nash, is on hand to lend his Hall of Fame expertise on running D'Antoni's offense. So I'm retracting my wtf -- there might be something here.
But still, 3 unprotected first round picks and 4 pick swaps? The NBA probably needs to pass some kind of rule to get this under control.
I’d look to move Irving if I were the Nets. I don’t think a healthy Durant and Harden need a third “superstar”. They will make a good tandem because their styles don’t clash. Kyrie is going to be a problem.
They could probably use 2-3 more good role players though...and some draft picks.
I’d look to move Irving if I were the Nets. I don’t think a healthy Durant and Harden need a third “superstar”. They will make a good tandem because their styles don’t clash. Kyrie is going to be a problem.
They could probably use 2-3 more good role players though...and some draft picks.
That's the part I was referring to about "grading" the trade. I don't like it, but I also get it (to an extent) from both sides. The league already has rules about trading away consecutive first round picks, etc., and at a certain point you just have to let teams do potentially stupid things if they want. It may be a gamble, but it may work out....
We’re gonna see harden on a stacked team for once like kawhi has had his whole career. Switch harden and kawhi and the rings kawhi won harden wins and houston wouldn’t be as good in that run with the guy who can’t run an offense
A stacked team, like the Raptors? A bunch of guys who were considered career chokers, until he got there? A stacked team, like the Clippers? A team that was, at best, a bunch of low spades, prior to last season?
The Raptors are so stacked that they’ve got a worse record than the Kings despite still having arguably all the “top” supporting players from that title run. (Gasol was a late season addition who wound up being more important to them last season than the title year so I’m leaving him off)
Also saying Harden never played on a stacked team is disrespectful to late prime Dwight, CP3, Westbrook, and the horde of good role players the Rockets managed to keep surrounding him with.
I think its obvious that Harden raises the ceiling for a bad team a lot more than Kawhi because of Hardens ability to run an offense and create elite level offense for himself and others. On the other hand Kawhi is a better piece on an already good team because of his elite level defense and ability to be effective offensive piece without having the ball in his hands.
Fans today are spoiled by Lebron. He at his prime is pretty much the only player (compared to active players today) that can lift a team by himself from horrible to a serious championship contender. AD isnt close to that, Kawhi isnt close to that, Durant hasnt ever demonstrated that, Curry cant do that right now even when he is considered a top 3-5player atm. In 2007 Lebron took an absolutely horrible Cavs team to the finals. To me its probably his top 3 accomplishment and zero active players has been even close to that level as a player. Thats why there are these superteams, players just arent able to win on their own and fans judge players by their rings and finals records. Thats why superteams are formed because stupid fans are thinking that Lebron losing the 07 finals is somehow a big minus in his books because it contributes to his negative finals records.
The Raptors are so stacked that they’ve got a worse record than the Kings despite still having arguably all the “top” supporting players from that title run. (Gasol was a late season addition who wound up being more important to them last season than the title year so I’m leaving him off)
Also saying Harden never played on a stacked team is disrespectful to late prime Dwight, CP3, Westbrook, and the horde of good role players the Rockets managed to keep surrounding him with.
A stacked team, like the Raptors? A bunch of guys who were considered career chokers, until he got there? A stacked team, like the Clippers? A team that was, at best, a bunch of low spades, prior to last season?
lol so Toronto wasn’t stacked when they were winning last year it’s two years later now y’all can crap on there roster. They didn’t miss a beat last year and when he missed games playing with them they had a better record.
clippers not being a stacked teams pure comedy let’s change history cause they lost a 3-1 lead
lol so Toronto wasn’t stacked when they were winning last year it’s two years later now y’all can crap on there roster. They didn’t miss a beat last year and when he missed games playing with them they had a better record.
Toronto was so "stacked" last year that, without Leonard, they went right back to being what they were, before Leonard: a second-round-and-out team. The Raptors have always been great at putting together wins, in the regular season, and then choking in the playoffs... Not at all unlike a certain bearded MVP, that may have just malingered his way to Brooklyn. They were so "stacked" that they traded their all-franchise-everything guy to get Leonard, because they realized that they'd already reached their peak, with what they had, and it wasn't good enough.
clippers not being a stacked teams pure comedy let’s change history cause they lost a 3-1 lead
"Change history"? I'm forty-five years old, chief: the Clippers have never been to the conference finals in my lifetime. For that matter, they've never been to the conference finals in anybody's lifetime. How's that for "history"? The Clippers are so "stacked" that, their previous two seasons, in the post-Chris Paul era, they went first-round-and-out, and missed the playoffs. Something that "stacked" teams do all the time, I'm sure. And then, they traded a third of what made them so "stacked" to get Paul George, a guy who's such a colossal choker, that he's become a meme.
The 2019-20 Clippers were a team on which Montrezl Harrell, he of the career 13ppg average (who is currently averaging a whopping 14ppg, for the defending champions), was averaging 19ppg. Another way to look at that is that the 2019-20 Clippers were a team that was so mediocre, outside of Kawhi Leonard, that they needed Montrezl Harrell to score 19ppg, in order to win basketball games. But yeah, totally stacked, those guys.
A stacked team, like the Raptors? A bunch of guys who were considered career chokers, until he got there? A stacked team, like the Clippers? A team that was, at best, a bunch of low spades, prior to last season?