James Harden

And that's probably Golden State's ultimate expression.

One other example I want to mention here is the early 2020 is Brooklyn nets and other Kevin Durant team where alongside him, you have James Harden, you have Kyrie Irving and on paper, the offensive ceiling was absurd.

The relative office offensive efficiency, when even two of these guys were on the floor together, all, you know, although very fleeting was historical stuff, you know, three elite creators, three elite shooters, three players completely capable of destroying individual coverage.

And like I said, when all three or even two of them actually played, they were, they were terrifying, but, And that was the problem with the phrase, right? When all three actually played because you had injuries, you had Harden's hamstring, you had Kyrie's availability.

Eventually Harden wanted out and the trio barely shared the floor together.

And that's what makes Brooklyn a frustrating and interesting historical case with a super team because, you know, like did their basketball concept fall flat? I'm not even sure we got enough evidence to say that definitively one way or the other.

What failed was their ability to consistently field that basketball concept.

But at least as you get down into these guys, you can find a Kelly Oubre at 82 who you think might jump up the board a little.

You might be able to find a Jarrett Allen if you think James Harden continues to help him and the free throw number comes back okay.

Mark Williams just went down for probably half the season with a labrum tear, so that's dead.

So you're basically talking about centers going near 100, like Miles Turner, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Damej Luka where you're like, "Well, I guess there's a chance those guys might exceed their number Other than basically Kalele Ware, big men are not being under-drafted this year for the first time freaking ever.

I know you wanna take this value guy, but you better get a big man, 'cause you're probably not gonna do it again until the eighth round, unless Onyeka Okongwu gets to you." Thing number two, punt play guards are being faded for the most part.

The exception to that rule is LaMelo Ball, who's still going in the second round, and he's a punt field goal guard.

But for the first time that I can remember in a very long time, James Harden and Trae Young are nowhere close to being taken in the first round.

Harden had started to fall already.

yeah

but then covid happened kairi reacted to covid in the way that he reacted he also posted some interesting documentaries he'd found on prime video that some people weren't fond of James Harden was like, get me the fuck out of here.

The whole thing disintegrated.

And by the time COVID was over, the Nets were just like a wasteland.

now.

James Harden, Harden was there, you remember? Yeah, he was there.

Do they deserve it? I don't know.

I don't know, man.

And I don't want to diminish or minimize his game because he did do so much for them.

But even, like, what Bruce Brown was doing for the Nets, I would like to see Dyson do that for stretches, you know, where – Bruce Brown was a huge release valve for KD, Kyrie, and James Harden.

Dyson has a lot more to his game than Bruce Brown.

Or even Drew Holiday for the Celtics, another great example.

In his statement... after the investigations were done, he was kind of talking, I'm excited to turn the page and continue on with the Raptors and things like that.

It seems that even if the Clippers tried to demand Kawhi come back, he's either going to pull a James Harden and come back you know, unfocused, unmotivated, or he's just not going to show up at all.

So I think it's going to go through.

And I think the reason is just as simple as like the Clippers front office doesn't like the key people of their front office just aren't a part of the NBA anymore, at least for the next six months to a year.

I just don't feel threatened by the roster.

I don't mean to be rude, but Donovan Mitchell is in his honeymoon phase.

James Harden is in his...

I don't even know what kind of phase James Harden's in.

If he can't, the Lakers lose.

So the battle at small forward is essentially, can you defend James Harden style wings or are you going to get exposed?

Exactly.

It's about lateral quickness and strength.

I think they're a better team now.

I don't love that we re-signed James Harden for not so much the years, but the money that he's going to be on in three years' time.

I'm excited for what Peyton Watson can bring as an actual tall, small forward.

For so long, the Cavs have struggled having, outside of their guards and outside of Mobley and Jared Allen, they've always struggled to get a genuinely good small forward, or they've tried to pigeonhole guys into it.