Harden is not treated with the respect he deserves in the 76ers, and there is no proper tactical combination, and it is better to return after the season, and the Lakers should be a good option
The biggest name in the NBA's free agent market this summer is 34-year-old Harden, who has player options, trade veto power and can become a free agent this summer. Can you imagine what kind of imagination space the Lakers will have in the new season if Harden wears a Lakers jersey and becomes teammates with James and Davis, and the Lakers leave guard Reeves and forward Hachimura?
Harden is not expensive, the average annual salary of the contract is 34.3 million US dollars, and he averaged 20 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds per game in the playoffs last season, shooting 39% from the field and 37.8% from three-point range, and the data and shooting percentage have dropped a lot, and have also been scaled by many fans and experts. But there's no denying that Harden is still an All-Star.
Harden has a bad market image, the 76ers are not very happy with Harden, and many teams in the NBA have not had a perfect impression of Harden in the past few years. Harden's condition and stability are deteriorating, Harden has ceased to be the league's scoring champion and MVP for the past two years, and Harden will have a very difficult time securing a multi-year contract with an annual salary of more than $30 million this summer.
Everyone should not forget, the 76ers played seven games with the Celtics in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, and finally lost seven games, the 76ers won three games, Harden G1 cut 45 points, G4 cut another 42 points, both of which were won by Harden's super performance. The 76ers are Embiid's team, but the winning password and key player is Harden. Without Harden, the 76ers would lose considerable competitiveness.
The 76ers are Embiid's team, and he just won the MVP, Harden is not very right with his style of play, and the room to play will be more limited
For Harden, he has two options:
First, whoever gives the largest contract will go there. This is very pragmatic, money is more important than winning championships, reality is more important than championships, and in professional sports, in addition to the pursuit of glory and career achievement, striving for the maximum contract and salary is always the most important thing.
There should be a team this summer to offer Harden a point at least four years of $120 million contract, which is reasonable, in addition to grasping Harden's championship in the next two years, the remaining 1-2 years of retirement, which is fair to the team and Harden.
Harden's old club Rockets have no chance to win a championship in a short period of time, and are unwilling to give a top salary, of course, Harden will give up, and there are many teams willing to pay
Second, go to the Lakers. The Lakers have James and Davis, and they both need a guard who can handle the ball, is good at scoring, and has considerable explosive scoring power. Harden's singles are top-notch, his offensive means are diverse, and his scoring explosiveness is full of energy. Harden can perfectly fill James' outside instability, aging age and single-hand temperament, and can make up for the Lakers' offensive deficiencies.
Once the Lakers successfully retain Reeves, Hachimura, and one-year contract forward Vanderbilt this summer, the Lakers' core roster is quite complete, and all that remains is to replace defensive engineers, shooters and rebounders with base and low salaries.
Of course, the Lakers have a chance to sign Harden with space, Lakers guard Russell will almost certainly sign first and then trade, the Lakers will not keep him, but the trading method must be precise, at least a three-way transaction is inevitable. But the key is Harden's personal will, as long as Harden has a strong willingness to win the championship and is willing to sacrifice some salary, the Lakers have a lot of room to maneuver.
Russell didn't do well in the playoffs, and the Lakers should trade him out, using a first-come-the-trade approach to potentially swap him for Harden
The Lakers backcourt old Jen, Fus with Harden, inside and Davis, forward to keep Hachimura base, van der bilbert, and add base-salary shooters, defensive engineers and reboroughs, the Lakers will be terrible in the new season. Old Jen, Harden, Davis, Reeves, are simply natural matches.
When most teams and fans are loathing Harden, and even disgusted with Harden's lack of peak performance at the end of his playoff career, this is the moment when Harden proves his vision and determination to compete for the championship.
When the Lakers' salary space is tight, the roster needs a super scorer, and can hold the ball, create space and various opportunities, and at the same time play the role of the first, second and third person of the team, Harden's age, positioning, ball path, ability, is simply born a natural Lakers. Harden needs Old Jen to lead the team and shoulder the responsibility of the team boss, Harden has never been the material and character of the team boss, and the Lakers and Old Jen are the final perfect home of Harden's career.
Although Harden and James are no longer as brave as they used to be, they now have extremely high basketball emotional intelligence and championship ambitions, and their style is also quite suitable
Free agency is very interesting this summer, and Harden is on his way to Los Angeles, and the chances are high.