2023 offseason thread

[The Q]

I really think it’s a typical Silver move. People are talking so let’s go through the motions and say we looked into it. Then release some statement that they found nothing but carefully word it to make sure Harden doesn’t look like he’s lying.

yeah i expect silver to get it wrong again.

dude misses a lot more than he hits.

what you described would qualify.

 

[DJ Fieri]

And I said Harden and the Sixers are such a shit show that just about anything is believable.

"Trust the process."

 

[The Q]

And I said Harden and the Sixers are such a shit show that just about anything is believable.

Anyone who thinks harden took a pay cut for nothing, when the sixers tampered with him and with tucker and theis…


…I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you

 

[fightinfunbags]

Anyone who thinks harden took a pay cut for nothing, when the sixers tampered with him and with tucker and theis…


…I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you

Anyone who doesn’t think Harden got sold on taking a pay cut and now regrets it… He got played.

 

[thunderc]

Anyone who doesn’t think Harden got sold on taking a pay cut and now regrets it… He got played.

Yeah no one gives a shit what happened to Harden. Crickets from the players, kind of like when he was picked last on the playground.

 

[The Q]

Yeah no one gives a shit what happened to Harden. Crickets from the players, kind of like when he was picked last on the playground.

No one commented on Joe smith either

You love dancing on things when people get it wrong

Here and other threads

Very odd

 

[fightinfunbags]

No one commented on Joe smith either

You love dancing on things when people get it wrong

Here and other threads

Very odd

You’re very convinced they’re getting it wrong here. Why is Harden angling for leverage through his agent all last season with the Houston rumors? It’s your contention that Harden and Morey had already struck a deal.

 

[The Q]

You’re very convinced they’re getting it wrong here. Why is Harden angling for leverage through his agent all last season with the Houston rumors? It’s your contention that Harden and Morey had already struck a deal.

All reports were that houston was very interested until they hired udoka and he preferred fred

 

[fightinfunbags]

All reports were that houston was very interested until they hired udoka and he preferred fred

Why is that out there in the media? You think that’s leaked by Houston and not Harden’s agent? Why do all of the times a new report was floating around coincide with when Doc Rivers was coming at Harden about his nightlife and going out?

 

[trojanfan12]

You’re very convinced they’re getting it wrong here. Why is Harden angling for leverage through his agent all last season with the Houston rumors? It’s your contention that Harden and Morey had already struck a deal.

Here's the thing..."wink, wink, nod, nod" or "handshake deals" happen all the time in the NBA. All anyone needs to know that's true is see how quickly deals are announced when FA starts.

So, it's possible, maybe even likely, that there was a "handshake deal" in place.

Given the dumb way they handled their tanking and that James Harden doesn't exactly seem to be "eaten up with intelligence" (as a friend of mine likes to say) I could see Morey being dumb enough to make that deal and either renege or try to change it...

and I can see Harden being dumb enough to get mad and complain about it publicly, potentially getting his deal voided.

Hopefully, for you Sixers fans, your version is the true version.

But lets not pretend that the version that @The Q is rooting for isn't also a possibility.

 

[thunderc]

No one commented on Joe smith either

You love dancing on things when people get it wrong

Here and other threads

Very odd

Lmao I’m not saying anyone got anything wrong, just that no one is going to shed tears for Harden.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Here's the thing..."wink, wink, nod, nod" or "handshake deals" happen all the time in the NBA. All anyone needs to know that's true is see how quickly deals are announced when FA starts.

So, it's possible, maybe even likely, that there was a "handshake deal" in place.

Given the dumb way they handled their tanking and that James Harden doesn't exactly seem to be "eaten up with intelligence" (as a friend of mine likes to say) I could see Morey being dumb enough to make that deal and either renege or try to change it...

and I can see Harden being dumb enough to get mad and complain about it publicly, potentially getting his deal voided.

Hopefully, for you Sixers fans, your version is the true version.

But lets not pretend that the version that @The Q is rooting for isn't also a possibility.

So if Harden has a deal why the Houston rumors? There’s no answer. 12/25/22 Harden is using the media through his agent with leaks to negotiate. 6/30/23 Harden says he already had a deal. How do those two conditions make sense together? They just don’t. You can’t be working leverage for your next deal multiple times through the season and then claim we had an understanding on a deal. If that’s true why are you still negotiating through the media?

 

[trojanfan12]

So if Harden has a deal why the Houston rumors? There’s no answer. 12/25/22 Harden is using the media through his agent with leaks to negotiate. 6/30/23 Harden says he already had a deal. How do those two conditions make sense together? They just don’t. You can’t be working leverage for your next deal multiple times through the season and then claim we had an understanding on a deal. If that’s true why are you still negotiating through the media?

No, they are different situations that don't really have much of anything to do with each other.

As @The Q pointed out, it appears there was interest from Houston until they hired Udoka.

Harden wanted out, Houston had interest, then decided they didn't want him. No one else was looking to sign him, at least not for $35 million.

So, an "opt in and we'll trade you" deal gets made...he opts in and it turns out no one wants to give up the assets Morey thinks he should get...and here we are.

 

[fightinfunbags]

No, they are different situations that don't really have much of anything to do with each other.

Bwahahahaha! So you guys think that it’s Houston who is reaching out to reporters and planting a story about their interest in a potential free agent? That makes zero sense.

 

[thunderc]

I never saw any reputable information that Houston wanted anything to do with Harden. It never made any sense, to me anyway, to put a guy like that with such a young team.

 

[The Q]

I never saw any reputable information that Houston wanted anything to do with Harden. It never made any sense, to me anyway, to put a guy like that with such a young team.

It was widely reported before hiring udoka they wanted middleton and harden

But they pivoted due to udoka. Fred is a better fit for him in general.

Also younger so he fits the timeline better

 

[trojanfan12]

Bwahahahaha! So you guys think that it’s Houston who is reaching out to reporters and planting a story about their interest in a potential free agent? That makes zero sense.

Your desperation for the Sixers to not look stupid is negatively affecting your comprehension.

Please show where I said any of this came from Houston. I said there appeared to be interest from Houston. Whether it was real or just some bullshit used by Hardens agent as a ploy, doesn't matter, it was out there.

Also, those stories were pretty public, why would Houston take their time about saying they're not interested?

 

[trojanfan12]

I never saw any reputable information that Houston wanted anything to do with Harden. It never made any sense, to me anyway, to put a guy like that with such a young team.

Especially with the way he left.

But, the Lakers and Dwight managed to mend fences. Sooo, who knows. lol

I'd expect if Houston really had any interest, it would have been from a putting asses in seats perspective.

 

[The Q]

Especially with the way he left.

But, the Lakers and Dwight managed to mend fences.

I'd expect if Houston really had any interest, it would have been from a putting asses in seats perspective.

He was tight with ownership and they traded him where he asked to go

They ran their course with his bad GMing costing houston dearly (trading Paul for russ)

 

[fightinfunbags]

Your desperation for the Sixers to not look stupid is negatively affecting your comprehension.

Please show where I said any of this came from Houston. I said there appeared to be interest from Houston. Whether it was real or just some bullshit used by Hardens agent as a ploy, doesn't matter, it was out there.

Also, those stories were pretty public, why would Houston take their time about saying they're not interested?

Stop. Where do the leaked rumors come from? It’s either Harden and his agent or it’s Houston. If it’s Harden it back doors his current claim that they had a deal. Wait…we don’t actually know is that’s Harden’s claim. That’s his assumed claim. You’re saying that it’s not inconsistent for him to be negotiating a deal in public in December when what’s being claimed now is that a deal was agreed upon with a handshake the prior June. So that can only then be seen as it’s Houston originating the leak and not Harden. If it comes from Harden the actions are incredibly inconsistent with the current claim.