The idea that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta told general manager Rafael Stone not to trade James Harden to the Sixers – whose front office is led by former Rockets GM Daryl Morey – is incorrect, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Fertitta stays out of trade discussions, according to Feigen, who says that Stone and Morey had “extensive” discussions. In fact, talks on Harden advanced to the point where Stone made one final demand of the Sixers in the final stage of negotiations and would have traded the former MVP to Philadelphia if Morey had agreed.
As Feigen explains, Stone wanted one more draft pick or player – believed to be Tyrese Maxey – and less protection on the draft picks included in the Sixers’ offer. Philadelphia was unwilling to meet those demands, so Houston made a deal with Brooklyn. Morey has since told confidants that he thinks his former lieutenant Stone made a great trade, according to Feigen.
Here’s more out of Houston:
- While some reports have suggested that Harden favored Tyronn Lue for the Rockets’ head coaching job over Stephen Silas, the team actually didn’t know which coaching candidate Harden liked best, Feigen writes in the same story. While Russell Westbrook preferred Lue, Harden never expressed a strong preference, which may have been due to his simmering desire to be traded. Westbrook and Harden both ultimately signed off on the hiring of Silas, Feigen notes.
- Rockets point guard John Wall isn’t accompanying the team on its road trip this weekend due to a sore knee and isn’t expected back in the lineup until at least Tuesday, according to Feigen. Danuel House (health and safety protocols) also won’t play until Tuesday at the earliest, while Christian Wood (ankle) will miss at least Friday’s game in Detroit.
- Injuries, absences related to COVID-19, and the Harden trade had the Rockets playing rotational roulette during the first month of this season, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who suggests the club will ideally be able to get a better read on its roster in the coming weeks.
I wouldn’t build a team around Ben Simmons either. Dude hasn’t improved his shooting one bit. He’s not working hard enough. Brook Lopez learned how to shoot… marc gasol… This “one of a kind” great playmaker can’t?!
Many said Ben Simmons is overrated
I compare Simmons to Wiggins
To last weekend
Shot block
Wiggins ranks 7th best in nba
Simmons 35
Wiggins scores 19 pts average
Simmons 12
Wiggins 39.7% 3pt
Simmons can’t shoot
Wiggins is one of the best 3 and D
Wiggins up-to-date
Shoot 40% from the three
Is more impressive than anything Simmons does
No offense, but this is one of the more asinine comments I’ve seen here in a long while, which is saying a lot
He’s cherry-picking stats from players of two different positions. With that logic Tristian Thompson is better than Steph Curry because he has 2.5 more rebounds per game and 1.2 more blocks per game in 10 fewer MPG.
It would be a plausible comparison if Wiggins was a primary ball handler or playmaker. Additionally, Simmons is an all-nba defender with a multi-year track record for strong defense. Wiggins has only shown limited commitment to defense during his career. He has always had the tools to do so, but let’s pump the brakes on saying that is just who he is now. He needs to show this level of effort over several seasons.
I agree with you Dr Phil and I’m a Warriors fan. Wiggins gets it’s done and amazes you at times but when you need him to accomplish something say in the 4th quarter, it ain’t happening. He’s like DeMar DeRozan but not as good. Crunch time he’ll dribble it off his foot or make a bad pass for a turnover of some kind.
On defense it seems like Wiggins doesn’t have the lateral quickness. Guys get around him all the time. I guess he’s not quite the athlete we thought he was. Offensively he can score but the defense is wanting big time
This is the exact point I tried to make to him last time he tried to compare Wiggins and Simmons lol
It’s amazing how people insist once and again on identifying great defenders based only on the number of blocks. Many did it with Whiteside (a poor defender) and now with Wiggins (who is also limited at that end).
Wiggins can’t be a 3 & D when his D is a minus lol.
Reason Simmons can’t shoot is cuz of his horrible form. If you’re going to play basketball and have horrible form, you have to shoot a thousand shots a day to be efficient.
If you look at the angle from the foul line that the television game sometimes gives you of Simmons, from the back you can see his left elbow is pointing at the bench on the side rather than straight up and down. One of the most horrendous shooting forms ever.
I can’t believe some shooting coach hasn’t taught him that the elbow needs to be directly underneath the ball not out chicken wing Style
As a long time Ben Simmons stan I’m actually starting to agree with this sentiment
Every offseason move Philly made was supposed to “unleash” Ben and he’s posting a 15 PER over a dozen games in
To me I’m seeing a little bit of Ricky Rubio 2.0 here.
Every year “Ricky Rubio is the best PG in the L if he can shoot!” Next thing you know he’s 30 years old and essentially the same dude
Agree and how many threes has this dude made in his career?
Like 2 ?
Before this season it was two, now it’s 3!
And somehow he is still barely better than Westbrick.
Rockets just need to move on. Considering he always knew he wanted out. Rockets did well to move both players. Got good value for Harden.
Regardless of how the Rockets rate Ben Simmons, the organization has repeatedly lied about its intentions to trade/retain players and whether they’re competing, significantly moreso than other organizations, since Tillman Fertitta took over.
The Rockets also denied Fertitta was all over the CP3-Westbrook trade. Does anyone here believe Morey wanted that deal to happen? Even if it was Harden’s idea, Harden would have needed Fertitta to override Morey.
And right up until the moment Westbrook was traded for Wall, the Rockets were talking about how they were keeping it together to compete for a title this season… Then they told us they were going to keep Harden and compete with the roster they had, as if anyone believed them. Then they were willing to get uncomfortable, as if we weren’t already past that point.
No… No… all the cost cutting is the Stone’s idea. C’mon. Fertitta’s fingerprints are all over the demise of this franchise. I feel bad for Rockets fans.
Who knows, who cares. None of us as fans have any influence anyway. Just sit back and enjoy the ride… or throw up in the barf bag
Demise? This franchise wasn’t going anywhere as it was before, but now they have a legitimate big 3 with Wood, Oladipo, and Wall. The future for the Rockets is much brighter than it is for Brooklyn and their wannabe big 3.
If you’ve ever seen anything about Fertitta, he seems like a real trash person (wish I could say something else, but we’ll go with that lol), so not a shocker he is a trash owner.
Rockets should unload their big contracts and focus on Wood and Porter Jr. If those guys develop into their full potential and they use their picks wisely the rebuild might not have to take as long as some of the other failures in the league (my Kings especially). You traded away harden for a litany of picks. Just commit to the rebuild.
Oladipo will likely bolt. Rox will have to deal him by the deadline…
Oladipo will get them at worst a 1st and 2 2nds. Rockets had no choice but to move on. I’m shocked at Walls performance actually. He wont ever be worth the contract for the production but hell sell some jerseys. Wood looks like a good signing. They should deal everyone else, and probably pay someone to take Gordon’s bad contract.
Same here regarding Wall… Although the rub may be that he’s going to play well but only be healthy for half the season lol
Ya, like Blake Griffin. They should trade for him. They can alternate which half of the season they play.
You are bottom 5 teams When you have following 3 contracts
Griffin
Wall
Westbrook
Tank is the only path to the playoffs within 4 years
“Rotational roulette”, is that the kind where only one chamber has a bullet?