James Harden worth max contract?

[tr3ymill3r]

I think everyone is way off base on this. When a guy who barely played a game last season in Eric Gordon is going to receive a max deal, then the term max deal is irrelevant. Who cares how much he is getting, because he's an asset the Rockets needed and someone the Thunder had to get rid of. It really is a simple as that. The Rockets perceive him as a Superstar whether he is or not. The Thunder did not see him in that light.

[ayuntalo]

Joe Johnson 2.0

[Andrew32]

Fcvk no but considering others who have gotten the max or near max he deserves it.

[Fnom11]

It's going to be beautiful when Harden's career takes a huge flop in Houston.

[Heediot]

Put it this way. If every team had just one max player, would he be one of them? Is he a top-30 nba player. I would say he is or borderline at worst. So he's worth a max just not in OKC (due to their situation). In this economic landscape he is.

[Heediot]

I understand the system is broken but realistically, is Harden worth that much? Well, I think one or two players in the league are actually worth max contract (Durant and Lebron)

Kobe is worth it for the revenue he generates.

Dwight, Paul, Durant, and James for sure. I would say Wade also.

[Heediot]

By saying Harden will be the best SG iin two years, you are simply saying he's a franchise player...now tell me the potential you see in him that'll make him a franchise player? He will never be as good as Wade or Kobe.

There are only a handful of TRUE Franchise players anyway.

[blastmasta26]

As a Heat fan, I believe I am more credible assessing harden than you do. After-all I watched every second he played in the finals...he was terrible.

Didn't you have a Lakers sig recently?

And if you're really going to bring up the Finals, are you saying it would have been reasonable to say LeBron wasn't elite after his performance against Dallas?

[JasonJohnHorn]

I had said yes last time I was asked, but i only thought he was eligibler for 10 mill per, it turns out he's eligible for 15 mill per... so no.. he isn't worth that much. Not for what he does on the floor at least.

[JasonJohnHorn]

I think everyone is way off base on this. When a guy who barely played a game last season in Eric Gordon is going to receive a max deal, then the term max deal is irrelevant. Who cares how much he is getting, because he's an asset the Rockets needed and someone the Thunder had to get rid of. It really is a simple as that. The Rockets perceive him as a Superstar whether he is or not. The Thunder did not see him in that light.

I don't think it's that the Thunder didn't see him as a superstar. I think they did. It's just that they already have two superstars on their team (Durant and Westbrook), and they can't afford a third.

The Rockets don't have any superstars, so they are willing to pay what OKC can't. OKC's trade was, I believe, not a reflection of what they though about Harden's talents, but rather a reflection of their pocket book.

[thenaj17]

I see a problem coming with his patience with the ball. In OKC, where the floor had to be spread because of Durant and Westy, Harden really took his time. With defenses honed in on him now, unless Houston gets some shooters and floor spacers, he won't get that freedom.

But, your numbers are about exactly where I pegged him in the expected stats thread, which means he will still be hovering in the elite scorer category for sure. I just have to see him as a #1 before I can buy into max player type deal. Not that I don't expect him to be just fine, just need to see it.

Exactly right Hawkeye. It's far too early to assess if Harden is worth this money. I've never liked Harden but know he is a good player. Until we see him as a number 1 option every game, we won't know for sure.

[dnewguy]

Didn't you have a Lakers sig recently?

And if you're really going to bring up the Finals, are you saying it would have been reasonable to say LeBron wasn't elite after his performance against Dallas?

That was my halloween sig

[TyrionLannister]

It doesn't matter whether he's worth a max contract, it's whether the market value will result in people giving him a max contract. I'm sure half the teams in the league would give Harden a max contract if he was an unrestricted free agent right now. ****, one could probably argue if not for salary limits, someone would be willing to pay LeBron $60 million per year.

[sep11ie]

For someone like Harden it will be around 58-60 mill for four years. That means he gets paid 20/yr. Max contract is ultimately determined by number of years in the league...need more explanation?

Nice math fail... And thread fail... And life fail...

[monty77]

He has gone to Houston to prove that and maybe next year he get a max contract. If Houston don't pay it, he will receive max contract from Phoenix, it's sure, but it would be normal that some teams struggle for a top 3 SG in the league.

Everybody knows that KD and Rusell Westbrooks are top 10 players in the NBA, but nobody knows whether that fact had benefited Harden or not. I have wanted to see him play as a started and probably he´ll be allstart this year.

Both Kobe as Wade are getting old and I don't see any SG more talented than Harden around the league so would not surprise me that he got it. However, I was disappointed by his performance in the final round of playoffs last year so I have so many doubts about his mentality and leadership skills.

Despite this, it's sure that Harder is going to show us more next year than he showed this three years in Oklahoma. Besides, he'll surely improve because he'll have more responsibilities.