2020-21 Players' Transactions: Breaking News , Trades, Free Agents, And Rumors

He can shoot the 3 alright 36.5% with us last year in limited time. For chemistry purposes also Im ok with this

 

Welcome back...or whatever

 

Wow how about that. But why really? We have THT ready to contribute a hell of a lot more because of his more dominant offense and defense for sure than Cook. Who I like but seems to me "when" is he going to play is the issue and why over THT getting the minutes who looks to be a coming defender with his long arms and strength? Of course Cook and AD were reportedly tight and maybe that figures in somewhat?

But check this nice "mini deep dive" out. I cringed at the title and first 2/3 of it because we all know what it would mean to bring a 3rd star in when we're going to be capped out. Gutting the team of really good other players. But the last 3rd is better and probably what the FO office is setting up if we need to be over the cap some. Hopefully retaining our good to great role players like Caruso and whoever else is killing it for us this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/how-th...re-a-third-star-next-offseason-010241784.html

 

Chinemelu Elonu, wow that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while

He was our second round pick in 2009. It’s hilarious that we somehow still have his rights and the ability to add him under the hard cap.

He is a center ... I say we throw him an unguaranteed contract to continue the story of our late 2000 big men draft picks finally suiting up for the purple and gold! Plus, we need a rookie on the roster to run errands for the vets. I don’t know how a 33 year old would feel getting the rookie treatment from players younger than him, but probably worth it for a shot at an NBA spot lol

 

maybe the problem is the #1 option nomenclature. i mean, harden is obviously a "#1 option" in that his team hands him the ball on every possession and has him dribble it until he shoots or someone makes him give it up. like its 4th grade and you have the one kid who can play. but he's clearly, without a doubt, their first option on offense.

but can you win like that? no.

more importantly, is just being the guy we would most like to be shooting super important?

to me, "#1 option" means: can this be your very best player and you win a title? with AD, i think that answer is yes. with harden, i think that answer is no. why? davis plays both ends at an elite level--his offense has gotten incredibly underrated for some reason, despite being the 12th leading scorer in the league (narrowly second to towns among non-guards) and a title-winning team's leading scorer.

anyway, harden's proven he can carry an offensive load and turn a non-playoff team into a playoff team as its best player. but when he's your best player, you don't have a real leader, and you don't have someone who sets a tone of competitiveness and accountability on both ends. this is why you basically have to pray for injuries to multiple other teams if harden's your star. and he doesn't get along with other stars on the court because of the reasons i just stated. paul and westbrook both clearly had issues with how harden approached the game and how the organization enabled that approach. and they were both right.

 

It slowly morphs over the years but in each era, that era basically belongs to maybe 6 players at the most.

 

what i really want to know is if we really left quinn cook at the bubble and didnt turn around

 

then they forgot to resign him and had to go back and resign him again. Hey, sorry Quinn, we keep leaving you behind!!! Here's 2.6 million, everything better?

 

Anyone remember when Jerry Buss gave Magic a 25 year contract for a million dollars a year and everyone went, woe man, that is IN CRED I BLE!!!!!

 

damn, was really hoping they signed another big

glad to have cook back though

 

right, but i'll add that even these franchise players win with at least one other all nba player. AD never had close to that until he played with lebron. but even lebron never won a title without at least one other all nba player (really, two, depending on what you consider the cleveland version of kevin love).

harden has now played with 2 (3 if you count the version of howard that was in houston) all nba players and hasn't produced the big win. again, he got a shot with paul, but my contention is that was because he was the second most valuable player on that team.

 

Harden is the most overrated star of the 21st century. He has NEVER won one big game in his life. His game is a by product of the current rules. If the league wasn't so soft, he would be a 20-25 point scorer at best. Nothing more than a Tracy McGrady clone. All stats, no wins.

 

I think that's disrespectful to T-Mac. Injuries hurt his game, whereas the Bearded Gut has been healthy. Prime T-Mac was one of the most gifted, natural scorers ever. Gervin before him and KD after. Just elite bucket getters.

What Harden does is nothing close to that. He's a s***ty RB who puts his head down, runs at the rim, barely makes a basketball move and then mucks the game up by shooting 25 FTs a game.

 

I agree, a healthy T-Mac was a true beast. Such a shame that injuries killed his career (same goes for Grant and Penny)

 

I don’t like T-Mac ... Primarily because of his 13 points in 35 seconds game, I always irrationally still have hope that we can come back even when down double digits with barely any time left. “Just need a quick 3, a steal, a 4 point play, some missed free throws, and another 4 point play, and we’re right back in the game!”

 

this is why i make the arenas/joe johnson comparisons. what if someone had had them run a high pick and roll every trip down and given them the greenlight to take 15 contested threes a game? think they couldn't have scored 35ppg? think kobe couldn't have scored 45? none of them would have won that way, though.

yeah, i think tmac was way more talented than harden. and he played defense, too.

 

t-mac was far more talented than harden, and he didn't rely on shooting FTs to score. for a couple years there, t-mac was the best scorer in the league

harden is a great scorer, but his reliance on drawing fouls and getting to the line kills any comparison to other great scorers