2021 NBA regular season thread

[bksballer89]

This Clippers/Blazers game is good

 

[msgkings322]

This Clippers/Blazers game is good

PG3 balling without Kawhi, stepping up

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Maybe if he hadn’t ate his way out of Houston he wouldn’t have got hurt. Karma is a mfer

I still think he had a body suit on

 

[tlance]

I still think he had a body suit on

Only logical explanation.

Looked fit as ever as soon as he landed in Brooklyn.

 

[trojanfan12]

But you just blamed him on being a terrible teammate and are saying OKC wanted to get rid of him. In this case you should be hating on the Thunder not Harden.

This doesn't make sense. If he was a terrible teammate to the point that the Thunder wanted him gone...how is that not on Harden?

 

[thunderc]

This doesn't make sense. If he was a terrible teammate to the point that the Thunder wanted him gone...how is that not on Harden?

All I really said was that there were enough warning signs way back then to be a factor in how the thunder handled things the way they did. The thunder knew they were going to have a lot of commitments and management was pretty new in handling the cap. If they really wanted him around though there is no way the small money difference would have mattered.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

If Harden swapped out Russ does OKC beat GS?

 

[trojanfan12]

All I really said was that there were enough warning signs way back then to be a factor in how the thunder handled things the way they did. The thunder knew they were going to have a lot of commitments and management was pretty new in handling the cap. If they really wanted him around though there is no way the small money difference would have mattered.

What I remember from back then was hearing that part of the reason he left was he didn't want to be the 6th man anymore and that the Thunder lowballed him.

If he was starting to get vocal about wanting to start, that could have created some issues. I don't follow them like you, so I'm not going to claim I know better. I usually assume that someone following the team hears the "local stuff" that doesn't always get out nationally.

 

[bksballer89]

This doesn't make sense. If he was a terrible teammate to the point that the Thunder wanted him gone...how is that not on Harden?

There's been no evidence that he was a terrible teammate in OKC. We really need to stop making shit up

 

[bksballer89]

What I remember from back then was hearing that part of the reason he left was he didn't want to be the 6th man anymore and that the Thunder lowballed him.

If he was starting to get vocal about wanting to start, that could have created some issues. I don't follow them like you, so I'm not going to claim I know better. I usually assume that someone following the team hears the "local stuff" that doesn't always get out nationally.

Read up on it a little more last night to refresh my memory. I take back what i said about them lowballing him. Maybe the starting thing was a bigger issue but they offered 53 or 54 and the most they were allowed to offer was 60. It said Harden wantes 58-60 but 4-5 isn't really lowballing imo. Probably could have came to a middle ground of 55/56 mil

 

[thunderc]

There's been no evidence that he was a terrible teammate in OKC. We really need to stop making shit up

I didn’t make a damn thing up. We generally get along ok but you would do well to not make up shit about people and mind your own fn business at times. He has proven to be a horrible teammate, and I mean horrible. Some of it is style of play but a lot of it is lack of competitive spirit. My comment about his time in OKC was that thet there enough signs of what he turned into that OKC was not going to max him. That is exactly what happened.

 

[thunderc]

Read up on it a little more last night to refresh my memory. I take back what i said about them lowballing him. Maybe the starting thing was a bigger issue but they offered 53 or 54 and the most they were allowed to offer was 60. It said Harden wantes 58-60 but 4-5 isn't really lowballing imo. Probably could have came to a middle ground of 55/56 mil

They most certainly could have if the thunder wanted to keep him around, which was my point.

 

[bksballer89]

I didn’t make a damn thing up. We generally get along ok but you would do well to not make up shit about people and mind your own fn business at times. He has proven to be a horrible teammate, and I mean horrible. Some of it is style of play but a lot of it is lack of competitive spirit. My comment about his time in OKC was that thet there enough signs of what he turned into that OKC was not going to max him. That is exactly what happened.

James Harden is my business

 

[trojanfan12]

If Harden swapped out Russ does OKC beat GS?

That's a good question. In a lot of ways, it's basically the same guy as far as being ball dominant and forgetting he has teammates. But Harden has always been more efficient, so maybe he makes enough of those shots (or gets to the free throw line enough) that Westbrook didn't and they're able to hold them off?

 

[trojanfan12]

Read up on it a little more last night to refresh my memory. I take back what i said about them lowballing him. Maybe the starting thing was a bigger issue but they offered 53 or 54 and the most they were allowed to offer was 60. It said Harden wantes 58-60 but 4-5 isn't really lowballing imo. Probably could have came to a middle ground of 55/56 mil

Yeah, that makes that @thunderc says seem a little more likely. Hard to imagine OKC not ponying up an extra 3-5 million (or even an extra 2 million like you suggest) if they really wanted him to stay. Also hard to imagine Harden not coming down a little on his demand if he really wanted to stay.

Seems like they didn't want him and he wanted out.

 

[shopson67]

Yeah, that makes that @thunderc says seem a little more likely. Hard to imagine OKC not ponying up an extra 3-5 million (or even an extra 2 million like you suggest) if they really wanted him to stay. Also hard to imagine Harden not coming down a little on his demand if he really wanted to stay.

Seems like they didn't want him and he wanted out.

It also comes down to how much do you really want to pay your 6th man? They may have offered him as much as they did to save face, knowing he wouldn't take it? Gives them an out...

 

[trojanfan12]

It also comes down to how much do you really want to pay your 6th man? They may have offered him as much as they did to save face, knowing he wouldn't take it? Gives them an out...

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. A $5-7 million dollar difference is nothing in the NBA. Seems like both sides decided to make their offer/demand final when they really didn't need to. So, OKC gets to say "We made him a fair offer" and he gets to say he "Made sure he was paid what he's worth".

 

[dtgold88]

It’s well known that OKC made a token offer not caring if he accepted or not. You don’t just become a horrible teammate overnight, there were signs.

so well known shouldn't you have an article to back it?

 

[dtgold88]

It wasn’t enough of a difference to matter, they put up a token offer to save face and shipped his ass. Like I said they might do it different now.

which means they messed up....however you care to spin it.

 

[dtgold88]

Has nothing to do with his time in OKC, nothing at all. To me he is all that is wrong with the league. Maybe he will be different this year but he shrinks in the playoffs, gives off a vibe that it’s no big deal he has better things to do. Just what I see. That’s without even factoring in that his game is an abomination to the game.

You're really all over the place here. First he was dumped because everyone knew he was an ass and now it had nothing to do with his time in OKC and also said maybe they do things different if they could do it over.