The Official NBA Season Thread: NBA Cup Night

From 2015-20 James Harden was as good as any player in the league. His peaks were just as good, if not better, than Kobe's.

He was supposed to level up but never took that step as a playoff performer.
 
One bad campaign isn't enough to give up on a guy you just paid. That is not wise IMO.

If Jordan Poole comes back next summer with all the same issues with no improvement sure. But for as bad as he was this playoffs he had an even better one last year.
Poole is a zero IQ player that's a complete liability on defense and streaky at best on offense. The problem was paying him in the first place. If you can move off a player like that you do it at the first opportunity, next year will be too late. Warriors payroll is gonna reach half a billion if they don't move one of him Dray or Klay
 
And why would Philly do that?
If Harden chooses to just walk, Philly would be losing a max contract slot and would still be pretty much right around the salary cap so they wouldn’t be able to add anyone of significance.

While CP is probably not what you’d want to swap him for, Harden has all the leverage here. He’s not going to S&T to go somewhere he doesn’t want to be, and he can just walk to Houston as a free agent because of their cap space.
 
I don't trust Shams and think he has an agenda. Warriors need to own up to this Poole thing. They never handled the Dray thing in a real way and threw money at a problem. They chose Dray over Poole but they thought paying him would split the baby as they say and created a horrible environment. Poole had 0 confidence all year. I don't think the money is 100% to blame for his regression. That relationship with Dray and the organization is broken and needs to be fixed.
 
Also... If we're gonna cherry pick quotes from that Dubs article...

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Everyone is too quick to give up on Jordan Poole
Maybe what Steph means is that Poole is the 🔑 to the Warriors receiving a much needed 2-way big man in a trade 👀

GSW knows that their small ball, no legit center in the lineup style ain't gonna work in the modern NBA
 
If Harden chooses to just walk, Philly would be losing a max contract slot and would still be pretty much right around the salary cap so they wouldn’t be able to add anyone of significance.

While CP is probably not what you’d want to swap him for, Harden has all the leverage here. He’s not going to S&T to go somewhere he doesn’t want to be, and he can just walk to Houston as a free agent because of their cap space.

You’re basically running it back with a worse player. I’d rather let Harden walk for nothing than get CP3.

Tobias is also an expiring contract that will be easier to move.

It doesn’t feel like Harden will make a decision soon so I wouldn’t want to rush into anything without weighing the options.

Harden has a strong relationship with Morey so I’m confident there’s going to be open dialog.

What I’d rather do right now is fire Doc immediately and start the search for a good coach.
 
you
One bad campaign isn't enough to give up on a guy you just paid. That is not wise IMO.

If Jordan Poole comes back next summer with all the same issues with no improvement sure. But for as bad as he was this playoffs he had an even better one last year.
One bad campaign also ignores the year prior to that. Last year looks more like the anomaly relative to the rest of his career. Jordan Poole trick y’all
 
EYE believe the locker room was broken and then became divided between young and old.



Lowkey Would Make Sense Why He Wasnt Playing Well In The Post Season.

I Mean He's Been A Professional All Season Long After Being Embarrassed In The Preseason.

But Yeah He Should Def Ask For A Trade To A Better Healthier Situation. GS Seems Like They Supporting/Milking The Aging Trio.
 
I get Embiid. Still felt like he had a moment to show everyone different. Harden is Harden at this point in his career and age

But for Embiid this isn't a situation where he played great but the team failed around him (people will push narratives in that nature) but he himself didn't show up.

I look at someone like Sabonis. Great regular season player this year. I did not think he would look that bad in a playoff setting. I'll just come in with a different expectation for the playoff version him until he shows otherwise. Nothing wrong with that. He still deserved his regular season award.

I’m at a point where these regular season awards mean absolutely nothing to me.

If you’re not there for the playoffs what’s the point?

Harden 34
Embiid 29
Julius 28

These aren’t rookies. We know what they are by now.
 
Poole only 23. He was crowned too early. "3rd splash brother/splash cousin" stuff came too soon. Won a chip too soon. It was impressive how he played himself into that contract, for sure, but that's when the job starts, not ends. You gotta work hard to justify the money you're being given.
 
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