Quote:
Originally Posted by rjolley
For the drama, I'm with you, but Tatum + Harden + Walker ain't bad, especially in the East.
|
Jaylen is 24 & went from 13ppg to 20 to 26 this year (ok, SSS), on 54% shooting, combined with actually good defense on the wing. Plus his assists have gone from 1.4 to 2.1 to 3.5 (again, SSS, and yes Kemba being out gave him more ball handling). Tatum + Brown alone in the East ain't bad, let alone if Kemba comes back at full strength (and even so I still question if you really want him in crunch time vs certain playoff matchups).
This team is already a 50+ win team & a title contender if Tatum (or I guess Brown!) can outplay Giannis, Butler, Kawhi, LeBron, etc in a 7 game series... if I was able to wishcast & get Harden for some combination of Kemba + picks that would be a hell of a move, but I really don't see how trading Jaylen (+my binky Marcus!) for Harden would increase our odds of winning this year. You need one go to guy on O - and Harden is more proven than Tatum if he's motivated - but you think Harden is competing on the D end vs Butler, Simmons, Giannis, etc, let alone switches in the pick & roll?
(I'm unabashedly a homer who prefers homegrown cores, but I'll stand by it
)