I have a pretty good respect for Eric Maynors game
I know he is coming off ACL injury, but he is a real PG who could have a Kyle Lowry type career arch. I know Harden really took off once Maynor went down with injury, but preinjury, Maynor would play alongside Westbrook and let him slide over to the 2 when they wanted to initiate in halfcourt and Westbrook was struggling.
Maynor is a pretty good backup pg, and could start for a few teams
I wanted to note that I was one of the few (only) people lobbying for OKC to push for Dwight Howard by offering Westbrook, then stick Maynor in the starting role. Don't think he can start for (m)any other teams, but putting a pass-first PG next to a combo of Howard, Durant, Harden, and probably Ibaka would've been nice.
I really dislike the idea of sticking a shoot first PG next to someone like Durant.
I must say, it's getting sad seeing all these teams jump the gun on deals when we have so many assets. LA jumped for Dwight. Philly jumped for Bynum. Nuggets got Iggy for free. And now the Rockets have Harden. IF (emphasis on if) those guys all re-sign with their new teams, we are gonna be sitting here looking stupid for waiting for free agency. Just my .02, would have liked to see us trade to get one of those guys. The top players don't seem to sign contracts in free agency anymore. They are traded for.
Also, who's left that hasn't already changed teams? Josh Smith? Wouldn't be surprised is he's dealt at the deadline.
No offense but if you were expecting the Cavs to sign a player of that caliber in free agency you were setting yourself up for disappointment from the start.
Look, season is going to prove me right. Rockets are going to miss the playoffs and it will be very, very clear that Westbrook is a better player.
And what? Where in the world do you get this from? I mean what a silly thing to say immediately after the trade occurred. Lakers managed to go get more titles after trading Shaq for a bunch of garbage. And yet Harden is just so vital to that team that there is no way they can ever recover? Please.
I'll be proven right about Harden this year. Max players are the type of players that take their teams to the playoffs no matter who else is around them. Harden is not that type of player.
LOL
So first, we're going to make judgements based on one season. Okay. I guess if Drummond is better than Waiters this season, or JV is better than Thompson then that proves me right for ever and ever. Just cause it happened in one season.
Second, how the fuck does Houston's performance this season justify Westbrook > Harden? If you think sending Westbrook to HOU instead somehow magically makes them a playoff team, you're wrong.
Lakers stuff was done before the new CBA. OKC set up one of the best young cores in many, many years and broke it up because of the financial ramifications. The financial aspect of the NBA/Thunder isn't going to change, so really, I don't think the "new Thunder" will ever be better than what the old Thunder would have been.
There are two players who can take their teams to the playoffs no matter who else is around them - Dwight Howard and LeBron James. Your definition of a max player is simply not reality.
At the end of the day, when it came down to it in the NBA finas-- Harden faded badly and Westbrook gave Miami all they could handle defensively.
Every team in the league spends more time game-planning for Russ Westbrook than they do for James Harden when scouting the Thunder.
I'm still not sure if I love the move or not for OKC. It could be argued either way, in my opinion. However, I HATE the move for Houston. I hate it a lot. Really bad move by Morey. This might be one of those deals where at the end of the day both teams regret making it.
But again, we are talking about one series.
Obviously teams gameplan more for Westbrook? He shoots more, has a higher usage, etc. Doesn't mean it's right, though. Harden has been more efficient.
IBWT, OKC should largely make decisions based on who fits around their best player/top 3 player in the league, Kevin Durant. True or False?
Russell Westbrook is a better fit than James Harden given that the team is built around KD. Setting aside the better player argument for a second, just fit with KD. True or False?
From a fans perspective, I really don't see how people can like it for OKC. James Harden is a just-turned 23 year old Manu Ginobili. OKC just traded him for:
- possibly the worst defensive SG of the past 5+ years who can't stay healthy and is a piss-poor distributor (which again, OKC already lacks)
- a rookie chucker with a subpar outside shot who can't create for others either and seems to get lazy frequently
- a draft pick that will probably fall in the 8-14ish range
Then add to it how OKC was in a tremendous financial situation before, with so many guys on rookie deals, allowing them to roll in the money only to watch them get greedy at the buzzer instead of going for rings.
op:
