this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Man it’s a good thing that Darryl Morey didn’t like, take a huge gamble on him, based on their history together.

Oh.

James Harden was a transcendent offensive talent, even though he’s never been much fun to watch. But I can’t remember a player who has had a sadder (or quicker?) descent from MVP-caliber to actively cancerous ring-chaser.

He’ll still probably get a ring, somewhere. IF (and it’s a big if, actually) he can stay healthy, stay in shape, and be comfortable actually being the third or fourth best guy on a title team.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't know where he would get a ring.

He clearly still wants a pretty big role in the offense wherever he is, and has now quit on 3 teams in a row. I'm not sure why any contender with a good culture would want to add that. It's not like he's some incredible spot-up shooter that could fall back into a primarily 3-point guy, his career percentages are drastically better off the dribble. It's not like you're adding the corpse of Steph Curry here, who would presumably still be able to launch 3s at a high % clip.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The last couple of years his catch-and-shoot and off-the-dribble numbers are basically identical. Actually since about 2017 he's been a better catch-and-shoot than off-the-dribble shooter - but again, it's close.

I agree with you that he's quit on three teams in a row and still wants a big role in an offense wherever he goes - but I think my point is valid, too. If he could resign himself to being the third best guy on a team, he's still got enough in the tank to be value added.

He's not washed - he's just an asshole. 😂

Real talk, though - you're getting at least a 50% chance he shows up out of shape, a 100% chance that he'll quit on you at some point, and even if those two things don't pop, he's never exactly been a lock down defender. But he can still create shots and hit 3s at a decent clip. He's basically the better version of Seth Curry, if Seth insisted on having the entire offense run through him.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I don't think he can still play.

The Celtics series this year was a great example. He did have one great game to keep them in the series while Embiid was out. But the consequence of that was so much fatigue he couldn't make a layup the rest of the series (and while they played good defense overall, he had his share of good looks that he just missed hard)