I’m not a Harden hater by any means and felt that he was mistreated by his previous teams, but I alike others did not want him here.

Reason being is that our team’s identity had already been established from the end of last year and there was already high chemistry building off of the off-season. Not only that, but the system we were attempting to play became more clear as EVERYONE knew their roles on the team. Ex: Russ (ball-handler), Kawhi & PG (2-way masters), Zu (rim protection), Bones & Plumlee (backup PnR duo), Norm (6MOTY), Mann with Brown & RICO (hustlers that play 3 and D while setting screens for the main scorers).

Now, everything, including our playstyle, chemistry, and identity is changing, and all for Harden, who at this point in his career I don’t think really moves the needle much for us, especially considering the awkwardness of the players’ fit.

At the end of it all, what’s done is done, and one can only hope they figure what to do in these upcoming games. Maybe for once, these players should understand that playing with your friends isn’t always the best idea alongside letting the GM focus on roster construction rather than the owner looking for big names.

E: for anyone disregarding the fact how we beat tanking teams for our first few games, I would like to state that, while true it might not be an accurate representation of the potential, it was, however, encouraging to see us removing the team from the game by the end of the 3rd quarter, something top championship-contending teams are able to. In addition, that Jazz loss really wasn’t bad as they were hitting absurd shots that aren’t likely to fall over an entire playoff series.