NBA 2023 NBA Offseason thread

[Jack Straw]

Yeah, I’m no fan of Harden but it certainly does seem like Morey screwed him. At this point I would probably take Ben Simmons back but no way is Brooklyn trading him for Harden. What a mess.

 

[HisIceness]

Harden could have been one of the all-time greats. Now he's just a headache, yeah I get his beef with Morey but I'd want no part of him on my team knowing he probably won't be happy long-term anywhere at this point.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Morey probably did screw him, but it's absolutely the right move. The cannot sign that man to a massive extension.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Harden being a baby again? Shocker

It's the same thing every offseason

 

[BB88]

I don’t understand why anyone gives him the excuses anymore.

 

[Voight]

Harden is the biggest crybaby in NBA history. This guy wanted out of Houston (show dup to camp overweight and flaunted COVID rules while waiting for a trade), gets to his preferred destination Brooklyn, wines and moans and says he wants to be in Philly, hes not even there 2 years and decides he wants to go back to Houston then changes his mind and wants to be in LA.

Lets just say he does end up on the Clippers, hes going to hate it there when Kawhi/PG miss a bunch of time due to injury and hes left on his own. Hes running out of bridges to burn.

Houston couldnt win with him, Brooklyn couldn't. Philly couldn't, Clippers won't.

sixers need to deal him ASAP even if it means getting a lousy return from the clips. he's not even going to be willing to suit up for them at this point

He can also afford the fines they would give him.

 

[BostonBob]

Freaking agents.

from cbssports.com:

Harden, according to his agent, Troy Payne, feels so disrespected by not just Morey, but by an entire league that no longer believes his talent is worthy of limitless leverage, that he might just mess around and win MVP this coming season.

"James has a crazy hunger in him right now," Payne said on the The Hidden Gems podcast. "If he got an MVP this season, I wouldn't be surprised. That's what kind of hunger he got in him right now, just from the disrespect ... you know, the free agency stuff, which I don't really want to get into."

Payne goes on to detail Harden's offseason workouts, saying he's practicing at 7 a.m. and then playing ball again after photo shoots. Well then, when you put it like that! An NBA player is working out for four hours a day? And he's paying attention to his nutrition? Man, look out! This dude's about to conquer the world!

 

[Breakers]

Not really defending Morey

But Stephan A, and others have rightfully said Harden is Naive to trust an NBA GM with a quid-pro-quo

i take a pay cut of $15 mill to help us now, and you take care of me with an extension

that is hella Naive.
Look how things change in the NBA on a weekly basis

 

[BB88]

Not really defending Morey

But Stephan A, and others have rightfully said Harden is Naive to trust an NBA GM with a quid-pro-quo

i take a pay cut of $15 mill to help us now, and you take care of me with an extension

that is hella Naive.
Look how things change in the NBA on a weekly basis

There still needs to be some level of expectations for the on ice product.

You can’t completely …. the bed and expect a max contract

 

[Avs_19]

I'm still unclear on what the lie was. Everyone is just assuming he's referring to a wink-wink deal from last summer but something doesn't add up. Why is he leaking he might go to Houston on Christmas if he already has a wink-wink deal in place to get paid this summer? Both he and the team were playing well too and that was like 2.5 months into the season. So, it was well before yet another classic Harden playoff exit. He's a weird dude but I don't see what benefit he gets from leaking that to ESPN if there's already an under the table agreement with Morey.

It's all speculation but to me it seems like the lie he's referring to is a trade after he opted in this summer. It was reported that the two sides would work on getting a trade done and Morey even went on radio and said he's trying to honour the request. So he gives away all leverage he could've had by opting in and now Morey says we're not trading him.

Either way, I don't blame Harden for being pissed IF Morey did in fact lie to him. I get it, it's Harden and he's never happy and this is what he does but that's shady business by Morey IF true.

 

[Halladay]

There was no promise, if there was why was Harden leaking he was going to Houston starting back in Christmas. He is just upset no one wanted to pay him. If he tanks this season, he isnt getting paid as a 35 year old free agent.

 

[GKJ]

 

[Voight]

Not really defending Morey

But Stephan A, and others have rightfully said Harden is Naive to trust an NBA GM with a quid-pro-quo

i take a pay cut of $15 mill to help us now, and you take care of me with an extension

that is hella Naive.
Look how things change in the NBA on a weekly basis

Sharks did this with Kevin Labanc a couple years ago. Got him to take a pay cut after he had a career year, signed for one million with the promise they'd give him more $$ the following season when they had more cap space. To Doug Wilsons credit he followed through and re-signed him to a lucrative deal even after Lebanc went from 56 to 33 points.

Stephen A is 100% right here tho. Harden should've known better, he probably thought because they've known each other for a long time Morey would keep his word.

There was no promise, if there was why was Harden leaking he was going to Houston starting back in Christmas. He is just upset no one wanted to pay him. If he tanks this season, he isnt getting paid as a 35 year old free agent.

Pretty ambitious of him to think GMs would be lining up to give him a $200million dollar contract at age 34.

 

[Breakers]

Pretty ambitious of him to think GMs would be lining up to give him a $200million dollar contract at age 34.

Lebron got these other guys thinking they deserve big money at a more advanced aged

But Lebron has never shown up to training camp in a fat suit like Harden.
Indirectly that cost him some money right now. As a GM is saying why would I give you money when you have used the season twice to get into shape.

Plus harden travels to Vegas during the season a bunch on 2 days off between games which is insane

 

[BB88]

Lebron got these other guys thinking they deserve big money at a more advanced aged

But Lebron has never shown up to training camp in a fat suit like Harden.
Indirectly that cost him some money right now. As a GM is saying why would I give you money when you have used the season twice to get into shape.

Plus harden travels to Vegas during the season a bunch on 2 days off between games which is insane

I’d say the biggest reason is how he shows up in the playoffs.

Way too many off games in key moments

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

I'm still unclear on what the lie was. Everyone is just assuming he's referring to a wink-wink deal from last summer but something doesn't add up. Why is he leaking he might go to Houston on Christmas if he already has a wink-wink deal in place to get paid this summer? Both he and the team were playing well too and that was like 2.5 months into the season. So, it was well before yet another classic Harden playoff exit. He's a weird dude but I don't see what benefit he gets from leaking that to ESPN if there's already an under the table agreement with Morey.

It's all speculation but to me it seems like the lie he's referring to is a trade after he opted in this summer. It was reported that the two sides would work on getting a trade done and Morey even went on radio and said he's trying to honour the request. So he gives away all leverage he could've had by opting in and now Morey says we're not trading him.

Either way, I don't blame Harden for being pissed IF Morey did in fact lie to him. I get it, it's Harden and he's never happy and this is what he does but that's shady business by Morey IF true.

He also had no choice to opt in because no team he wanted had the cap space to sign him once Houston backed out. A opt in and trade is the only way to get him to LA and Morey isn't gonna just trade him for for warm bodies and 2nds while the team still wants to try to contend.

 

[Voight]

Lebron got these other guys thinking they deserve big money at a more advanced aged

But Lebron has never shown up to training camp in a fat suit like Harden.
Indirectly that cost him some money right now. As a GM is saying why would I give you money when you have used the season twice to get into shape.

Plus harden travels to Vegas during the season a bunch on 2 days off between games which is insane

LeBron also earned the right to be compensated in the later stages of his career. Maybe if Harden was a better playoff performer and didn't choke at the worst possible times Morey wouldnt hesitate to give him a 4 year max extension.

He also had no choice to opt in because no team he wanted had the cap space to sign him once Houston backed out. A opt in and trade is the only way to get him to LA and Morey isn't gonna just trade him for for warm bodies and 2nds while the team still wants to try to contend.

100%. If Morey just took whatever LA offered he wouldnt be doing his job. He had to give up good assets for Harden, makes 0 sense to trade him just to trade him.

The hold out worked with Simmons (i.e. he waited until he got a fair offer) but I dont think it'll work this time around. Harden has already made hundreds of millions; I dont think hell lose any sleep over a month or two of missed game checks.

 

[John Price]

Harden agrees 76ers relationship beyond repair

Days after James Harden called 76ers president Daryl Morey a "liar," the star guard maintained his position that there was no way back for him to stay in Philadelphia.

www.espn.com

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

Off topic thread but MJs son getting married to Pippen’s ex-wife is hilarious

 

[HisIceness]

Off topic thread but MJs son getting married to Pippen’s ex-wife is hilarious

I swear I read somewhere she used to babysit him. I'm sure that's happened before but I've never heard of such a thing.

I'm sure they'll get divorced in 5 years.

 

[BostonBob]

And absolutely nothing will come from this.

 

[Hasbro]

What I'm hearing here is Philly strip clubs suck.

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

I swear I read somewhere she used to babysit him. I'm sure that's happened before but I've never heard of such a thing.

I'm sure they'll get divorced in 5 years.

Even still, kinda wild to think that the 7th Jordan-Pippen ring would come in 2023

 

[John Price]

 

[John Price]

Sixers fans called Harris the worst ever for not paying employees during the pandemic, and went straight to the "he's a billionaire he can afford it". And that's just finances, they've been moaning about Harris for some time. I guess most of them forgot what the Sixers were like during the process before they drafted Embiid...fairweather fanbase.