Harden agrees to 5yr/80mill extension

[AboveLegit]

James Harden has agreed to a five-year, $80 million contract extension with the Houston Rockets, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

 

Harden, 23, was acquired by the Rockets late Saturday in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wednesday was the deadline for teams to agree to contract extension with players taken in the first round of 2009 draft.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--james-harden-gets--80m-extension-with-rockets-31181709.html

 

He's undoubtedly a max contract player, but the Rockets gave him the 5th year as well.

[Real Deal]

Beat me to it, lol.

 

Overpaid? I figured he would get the max, but only for the four years.

[ChosenOne]

Good deal. B had me worried saying it was only for 4 years.

[ChosenOne]

Beat me to it, lol.

 

Overpaid? I figured he would get the max, but only for the four years.

 

Why are you saying 4 years?

[Real Deal]

Good deal. B had me worried saying it was only for 4 years.

Nah, you misunderstood me. What I wrote in my post above is copied from that topic...I was expecting four years.

[Real Deal]

Why are you saying 4 years?

Meaning...only for the four years he was originally offered by the Thunder (four years, $52 million). I figured he'd get max, but for those four only...not a five-year deal from Houston.

[ChosenOne]

Nah, you misunderstood me. What I wrote in my post above is copied from that topic...I was expecting four years.

 

Ok lol

[Dash]

Expected. I'm wary over rewarding Harden the 5 year deal but we can afford it.

[The Regime]

One of the most overrated players in the game, and this contract will help back that up.

[AboveLegit]

One of the most overrated players in the game, and this contract will help back that up.

um, what? Care to elaborate?

[The Regime]

um, what? Care to elaborate?

 

His career highs of 16,4,4 are nice as a sixth man, but the dude choked in the playoffs. I don't see how the Rockets expect a third wheel to become the focal point of their offense. He's had the luxury of playing behind two superstars, who warrant most of the attention and cover up his deficiencies.

 

He excels most at driving to the hole, and even with that he's goes left like 90% of the time. Teams are going to gameplan for that. Miami took that away from him in the Finals and he couldn't do squat. He's still really raw offensively. In OKC he has the luxury of spotting up, as the #1 option for Houston he's not going to get the same shots.

[NomarFachix]

I guess Detroit hasn't game planned for him tonight

[Make It Naaaashty]

He's going HAM

[AboveLegit]

His career highs of 16,4,4 are nice as a sixth man, but the dude choked in the playoffs.

Yeah, his first Finals, sorry he underperformed against some of the best wing defenders of our generation (Bron, Wade, Battier).

 

I don't see how the Rockets expect a third wheel to become the focal point of their offense.

Behind a top 3 PG in the league, and the best scorer in the league. That's not saying much. He's 23 years old.

 

He's had the luxury of playing behind two superstars, who warrant most of the attention and cover up his deficiencies.

Please list those deficiencies that Durant and Westbrook covered, because if anything, Harden was the one covering up Westbrook and Durant's weaknesses (playmaking).

 

He excels most at driving to the hole, and even with that he's goes left like 90% of the time. Teams are going to gameplan for that. Miami took that away from him in the Finals and he couldn't do squat. He's still really raw offensively. In OKC he has the luxury of spotting up, as the #1 option for Houston he's not going to get the same shots.

He was the most efficient player last season driving to the basket and finishing. You don't think defenses game planned for that?

 

He's raw offensively? You're kidding, right?

[Dash]

Two things that stood out to me the most tonight:

 

1) His composure, looked extremely comfortable playing heavy minutes and the ball needing to be in his hands almost literally every play in order for much of anything to happen for the Rockets as if he's been doing it his whole career. To me this was more important than any statistic.

2) The 12 assists. This team literally has no other offensive threat/creator besides Jeremy Lin and I can only recall 2 assists from Harden to Lin. The Rockets are loaded average/mediocre offensive players (Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons, Carlos Delfino, etc) and he was getting EVERYONE involved.

[The Regime]

Yeah, his first Finals, sorry he underperformed against some of the best wing defenders of our generation (Bron, Wade, Battier).

 

That's no excuse because he going to be going up against the best perimeter defenders and facing double teams all season long.

 

Please list those deficiencies that Durant and Westbrook covered, because if anything, Harden was the one covering up Westbrook and Durant's weaknesses (playmaking).

 

Westbrook is an underrated playmaker. When he needs to he can facilitate, he just has a scorers mentality. Like I mentioned earlier he's going to subject to alot more attention now that he's the #1 option. Spot up shots and drives to the basket are going to come at a very small rate. As of right now he doesn't have any game in between those two things.

 

He was the most efficient player last season driving to the basket and finishing. You don't think defenses game planned for that?

 

The game is significantly easier when you're playing alongside two superstars. No doubt teams game planned for him, but it's different accounting for him when he's playing against second units and playing alongside Durant and Westbrook.

[AboveLegit]

That's no excuse because he going to be going up against the best perimeter defenders and facing double teams all season long.

He wasn't getting doubled in the finals, and he was going up against the best perimeter defenders before too. You're talking as if he was playing against bench warmers the past 3 years. He averaged 30 mpg last season, played starters minutes in the fourth quarter, and had the ball in his hands a lot.

 

He had a bad series. Get over it. It doesn't define him.

 

Westbrook is an underrated playmaker. When he needs to he can facilitate, he just has a scorers mentality. Like I mentioned earlier he's going to subject to alot more attention now that he's the #1 option. Spot up shots and drives to the basket are going to come at a very small rate. As of right now he doesn't have any game in between those two things.

When he needs to? Thunder had the lowest APG average as a team in the entire league. Clearly they needed Westbrook to do more. He simply couldn't, and thus, all of the play making fell into the hands of their best play maker, James Harden.

 

OKC's go to play in the fourth quarter had Harden set up on a pick and roll with Durant stationed on the weakside and Westbrook lurking alongside the baseline. He's not a spot up shooter. He gets to the lane at will, it's almost impossible to stop his drive. His game consists of play making, the pick and roll game, and drives to the basket. He doesn't shoot many pull ups, but aside from that, what else do you want from him? Isn't that what LeBron does?

 

The game is significantly easier when you're playing alongside two superstars. No doubt teams game planned for him, but it's different accounting for him when he's playing against second units and playing alongside Durant and Westbrook

He's not playing against second units the entire game lol, stop with that nonsense. He played every significant minute of every fourth quarter last season, and he blossomed. He closed out plenty of games for them last year.

[fish7718]

lol at Jeet in this thread...Harden showed tonight he is a better playmaker than Westbrook, he's such a fantastic passer, unlike westbrook he uses his offense to open up the game for his teammates, like all great players should..

[The Regime]

I never said anything about Harden not being a good facilitator. He was probably the best playmaker on the team. But as the Rockets #1, they're going to expect him to score first and create second. And given the lack of talent on that team, he isn't going to put up flashy numbers every single night. He's going to see an onslaught of double/triple teams as the season progresses and that will throw him out of funk because he definitely wasn't used to that in OKC.

 

And lol at comparing Lebron to Harden. They might have the same strengths but their method of attack and physicality are on two totally different levels. I just don't know any other way of putting it.

 

You say that he blossomed in crunch time and played significant minutes but that was with Durant and Westbrook on the floor, and they warrant way more attention that Harden does. Harden isn't going to have the same success in Houston with Lin and Parsons? And he did lodge plenty of minutes against second units, you guys are acting like he was a starter and controlled the floor minutes at a time without Durant or Westbrook.

[AboveLegit]

But as the Rockets #1, they're going to expect him to score first and create second.

Scoring comes naturally to him. He's far too efficient for anyone to worry about him creating looks for himself.

 

And given the lack of talent on that team, he isn't going to put up flashy numbers every single night. He's going to see an onslaught of double/triple teams as the season progresses and that will throw him out of funk because he definitely wasn't used to that in OKC.

I don't understand how that has any bearing on the individual... Obviously there's an adjustment period, but him not putting up a gaudy level of assists is no indictment on his talent.

 

And lol at comparing Lebron to Harden. They might have the same strengths but their method of attack and physicality are on two totally different levels. I just don't know any other way of putting it.

Someone has trouble with reading comprehension here.

 

You mentioned that Harden doesn't have much outside of drives to the basket and spot up shots, in which I cited LeBron as a player who does those exact same things. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what I'm aiming at here.

 

This is a player that shot 70% at the rim and 41% from three last year. He draws free throws at the rate of a superstar, and his per minute numbers suggest that he'll be a superstar in this league. That's enough to warrant this contract, especially in this league today.

 

You say that he blossomed in crunch time and played significant minutes but that was with Durant and Westbrook on the floor, and they warrant way more attention that Harden does. Harden isn't going to have the same success in Houston with Lin and Parsons? And he did lodge plenty of minutes against second units, you guys are acting like he was a starter and controlled the floor minutes at a time without Durant or Westbrook.

Well no shit he lodged minutes with the second units, he's coming off the bench. But in the fourth quarter, are teams playing their bench players, or are they bringing out their starters? Harden had plenty of time to prove his worth against the leagues' best under pressure situations.

 

I feel like you're hating just for the hell of it.

[The Regime]

I was talking about Harden's scoring abilities, not his playmaking abilities. You're the one who rerouted the argument in a different direction. You can't compare Lebron with Harden. Lebron has a post game and he is alot more effective shooting off the dribble. All in all he is just way more rounded than Harden obviously. Forgive me but I just don't see where you are going with that comparison.

 

You continuously discrediting the fact that Harden is playing "significant" minutes with Westbrook and Durant on the floor with him a good chunk of the time. Say what you want about him, but for me he's mostly a product of the system. Only time will tell what kind of player he becomes. I'm not arguing just for the sake of it, I just don't see how a guy who has played third fiddle his whole professional career and has come up short in the most pressure packed situation is deserving of a max contract.

[AboveLegit]

I was talking about Harden's scoring abilities, not his playmaking abilities. You're the one who rerouted the argument in a different direction. You can't compare Lebron with Harden. Lebron has a post game and he is alot more effective shooting off the dribble. All in all he is just way more rounded than Harden obviously. Forgive me but I just don't see where you are going with that comparison.

Ok for the sake of salvaging this discussion, forget about LeBron. What Harden does on offense (pick and roll, drive, spot up) is more than enough for a #1 option. He's already an elite scorer off the pick and roll, and he's already one of the best passers and ball handlers at his position.

 

You continuously discrediting the fact that Harden is playing "significant" minutes with Westbrook and Durant on the floor with him a good chunk of the time. Say what you want about him, but for me he's mostly a product of the system. Only time will tell what kind of player he becomes. I'm not arguing just for the sake of it, I just don't see how a guy who has played third fiddle his whole professional career and has come up short in the most pressure packed situation is deserving of a max contract.

And what system is that? You do know Scott Brooks has none, right?

 

I still can't believe your argument is centered around his inability to produce in the finals. In case you forgot, it was Harden that closed out the Mavericks in the playoffs this year, scoring 29 points, 15 of those that came in the fourth quarter.

 

Then of course, there was this. Note: Kawhi Leonard is on him, as he was most of the game.

 

He played good in the playoffs and came through in the clutch time and time again for this team.

Edited November 1, 2012 by AboveLegit

[YugoRocketsFan]

I was talking about Harden's scoring abilities, not his playmaking abilities. You're the one who rerouted the argument in a different direction. You can't compare Lebron with Harden. Lebron has a post game and he is alot more effective shooting off the dribble. All in all he is just way more rounded than Harden obviously. Forgive me but I just don't see where you are going with that comparison.

 

You continuously discrediting the fact that Harden is playing "significant" minutes with Westbrook and Durant on the floor with him a good chunk of the time. Say what you want about him, but for me he's mostly a product of the system. Only time will tell what kind of player he becomes. I'm not arguing just for the sake of it, I just don't see how a guy who has played third fiddle his whole professional career and has come up short in the most pressure packed situation is deserving of a max contract.

 

Regardless of what his situation was for the Thunder everyone can clearly see what kind of player he is.

[fish7718]

Lol Harden was drawing double and triple teams tonight, he was beating them and passing out of them lol

[Sħãlïq™]

Report: James Harden Was Hurt OKC Didn’t Give Him More Time To Consider Their Final Offer

 

On the outside looking in, life couldn’t be better for James Harden than it is right now. He has an extension worth close to $80 million. He’s the focal point, the franchise player of a young and talented team that’s won two of their first three games with him. Harden is currently leading the lead in scoring by a wide margin (almost ten points a night), and also has more responsibility than any player in the NBA (No. 1 in usage rate, just barely ahead of his old teammate Russell Westbrook).

 

But the Beard is still a little disappointed at the way he left Oklahoma City. After some back-and-forth negotiations between the two sides left them about $6 million apart, Sam Presti and the Thunder started working the phones, brought a deal with Houston to their doorstep for leverage with Harden’s camp, and then went back to the reigning Sixth Man of the Year with a final offer (this time $54 million, a slight increase from their original stance). They gave him an hour to accept or decline.

 

Harden told Yahoo! Sports that, “After everything we established – everything we had done – you give me an hour? This was one of the biggest decisions of my life. I wanted to go home and pray about it. It hurt me. It hurt.”

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