Bill Simmons: Presti offered Harden for Valanciunus

[gregbroncs]

LOL.. and Harden who's about to finish 5th in MVP voting grows on trees?

We're not talking about trading Favors for scraps here man, we're talking someone who'll be an All Star for the next 10 years.

And was the 3rd best wing player on his own team. Seriously players like Harden are a lot easier to come by than players like Ibaka and Favors.

 

[NAOS]

Dunno, man. All signs pointed to the fact that Harden was the real deal. Hayward needs to get more aggressive; otherwise, not getting Harden was a mistake. Pray for Burks, too.

 

[The Midnight]

And was the 3rd best wing player on his own team. Seriously players like Harden are a lot easier to come by than players like Ibaka and Favors.

I don't see how that is relevant? Fact is Harden has played himself into an MVP contention behind only to: LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Paul and Carmelo.

Do you seriously think that kind of talent comes along often?

 

[b_line]

I don't see how that is relevant? Fact is Harden has played himself into an MVP contention behind only to: LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Paul and Carmelo.

Do you seriously think that kind of talent comes along often?

Well, there are 5 of them right now. How many defensive anchors are there in the league? Ibaka and chandler. Two. Three if you count Duncan.

Edit. Add joakim Noah

 

[The Midnight]

Well, there are 5 of them right now. How many defensive anchors are there in the league? Ibaka and chandler. Two. Three if you count Duncan.

Edit. Add joakim Noah

There are a few more..

Elite Defenders
Ibaka, Chandler, Duncan, Noah, Garnett, Howard, Sanders, Marc Gasol

2nd tier Anchors
Asik, Hibbert, Lopez, McGee, Davis, Favors, Jordan

 

[b_line]

There are a few more..

Elite Defenders
Ibaka, Chandler, Duncan, Noah, Garnett, Howard, Sanders, Marc Gasol

2nd tier Anchors
Asik, Hibbert, Lopez, McGee, Davis, Favors, Jordan

Garnett and Duncan are practically dead. Add Dwayne wade, Steph curry, Westbrook, Kobe up until a week ago, Paul George, etc to your list and it starts getting pretty long. The defenders on that second tier, favors is better than those guys.

The point is that either player is good, but a truly great defensive anchor is something you don't trade for a wing scorer. Hopefully favors can be great. I think Hayward and burks can produce what harden would have.

 

[NAOS]

Garnett and Duncan are practically dead. Add Dwayne wade, Steph curry, Westbrook, Kobe up until a week ago, Paul George, etc to your list and it starts getting pretty long. The defenders on that second tier, favors is better than those guys.

The point is that either player is good, but a truly great defensive anchor is something you don't trade for a wing scorer. Hopefully favors can be great. I think Hayward and burks can produce what harden would have.

Holy ****, your second tier is pretty hilarious.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Hardens grow on trees for sure. Lets forget that the Jazz haven't had a scorer of his calibre in 15 years.

 

[Hantlers]

Garnett and Duncan are practically dead. Add Dwayne wade, Steph curry, Westbrook, Kobe up until a week ago, Paul George, etc to your list and it starts getting pretty long. The defenders on that second tier, favors is better than those guys.

The point is that either player is good, but a truly great defensive anchor is something you don't trade for a wing scorer. Hopefully favors can be great. I think Hayward and burks can produce what harden would have.

I can't stop laughing at this. I really, really like Hayward and Burks...but they aren't anywhere near the kind of player Harden is, and they never will be.

 

[NUMBERICA]

If I was OKC, I would've traded Westbrook or Perkins long before Harden. If they ****ed up anything it was evaluating their own roster.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

If I was OKC, I would've traded Westbrook or Perkins long before Harden. If they ****ed up anything it was evaluating their own roster.

There biggest problem was they thought they had just a good player, they had no idea he was MVP good because he was behind two studs in Durant and Westbrook.

 

[Julie Greengiant]

I can't stop laughing at this. I really, really like Hayward and Burks...but they aren't anywhere near the kind of player Harden is, and they never will be.

I always thought Hayward was pretty close but it's hard to tell in the current system. His handle is definitely not as tight but his shooting ability and ability to get to the free throw line are pretty similar. Also better defender.

 

[NAOS]

Hayward lacks explosiveness toward the rim from inside 5 feet. This + his handles = the biggest gulfs between him and Harden.

He can obviously tighten his handles. I'm sure that is on the top of hiss off-season to-do list. He can work on his lift, but he will also have to add to his repertoire of hesitation moves (which is his best chance of offsetting the explosiveness issue).

My awe at Burks' potential hasn't flagged. He has all the raw tools to be a 20+ ppg scorer. His biggest thing right now is making smarter bball reads, and that is starting to get better. He needs a lot more game time and game reps. Deja Vu, eh?

 

[fishonjazz]

Hayward lacks explosiveness toward the rim from inside 5 feet. This + his handles = the biggest gulfs between him and Harden.

He can obviously tighten his handles. I'm sure that is on the top of hiss off-season to-do list. He can work on his lift, but he will also have to add to his repertoire of hesitation moves (which is his best chance of offsetting the explosiveness issue).

My awe at Burks' potential hasn't flagged. He has all the raw tools to be a 20+ ppg scorer. His biggest thing right now is making smarter bball reads, and that is starting to get better. He needs a lot more game time and game reps. Deja Vu, eh?

Love your comments on burks.

He needs to be unleashed..... free alec burks? (Still)

 

[gregbroncs]

If I was OKC, I would've traded Westbrook or Perkins long before Harden. If they ****ed up anything it was evaluating their own roster.

They had serious questions as to whether he would re-sign there. He was unlikely to ever be more than the 3rd guy in that core. Therefore they traded him for what they could. I don't deny that I probably would have traded Westbrook 1st, and said so last year. But it was not as cut and dry as you make it seem here.

 

[b_line]

I can't stop laughing at this. I really, really like Hayward and Burks...but they aren't anywhere near the kind of player Harden is, and they never will be.

I never said individually they would be as good. But if they don't, between both of them, produce more than harden, then I will be disappointed. Also, I still hold out hope that one of them will be a 20 plus scorer every game. Again, not harden but if they are both good then I am happy.

 

[b_line]

Holy ****, your second tier is pretty hilarious.

Ain't my second tier.

 

[GVC]

They had serious questions as to whether he would re-sign there.

What? They were negotiating an extension before the trade. Harden wanted more than they were willing to give. He was absolutely going to re-sign.

Also, just because something is rarer doesn't mean it's more valuable. The Jazz don't have anyone nearly as good as Harden (in terms of overall impact).

 

[NUMBERICA]

They had serious questions as to whether he would re-sign there.

There were no questions. There was no mystery to the situation. They wanted to keep him but they low-balled him (he wouldn't take anything less than the max which is exactly what he should've done and everyone of us would do) because they already had so much salary committed. He would've stayed if they were willing to pay market value (and wouldn't have had much of a choice even if he didn't. They knew he was going to get a max offer this offseason, and they knew they wouldn't match, so they then went into the market. If they somehow dump Perkins, they probably could've kept everyone else. And if they had performed a similar trade of Westbrook, they would've been able to keep him.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I never said individually they would be as good. But if they don't, between both of them, produce more than harden, then I will be disappointed. Also, I still hold out hope that one of them will be a 20 plus scorer every game. Again, not harden but if they are both good then I am happy.

In the NBA, a quarter is worth much more than three dimes.