OKC Thunder TIP3: Harden MVP chase, LeBron Rockets rumors, CP3 injury history

Spyropoulos opines on the LeBron James rumors:

I’m not seriously entertaining the thought of LeBron coming to Houston… yet. I believe two things have to happen for James to join the Rockets. The first is that the Rockets must push the Warriors to six or seven games in the Conference Finals. Anything less than that and LeBron doesn’t view them as a team close to beating Golden State (Which is an important factor, if not the most important factor in him coming to the Western Conference).

The second is that the Cavs must lose in 5 games or less in the Finals, allowing LeBron to truly see how far away the team is from being true challengers to win the title. If both of those things happen and Paul can convince LeBron to join the Rockets, Morey must be able to swing it financially, which will be another huge hurdle. I wouldn’t have any concerns about a Paul/Harden/James trio, because they are the three best passers in the game and have shown a willingness to play off-ball and let others shine.

Melo in Houston with LeBron equates to an iso nightmare:

After witnessing how much trouble the OKC Thunder have gone through to integrate an iso heavy player like Melo, how precisely would it work with four of them on one team? (Harden/James/Paul/Anthony).

Anthony would be the trickiest component due to his iso-heavy nature, but if he were playing alongside the other three, they would likely convince him to buy-in as an off-ball, “Olympics Melo” scorer.

Most importantly, the Rockets are Harden’s team, but LeBron doesn’t take a back seat to anyone (ask Kyrie), so if this fantastical situation came to fruition whose team would it be? And how keen would James Harden be to have a trio of quartet of friends descend upon his team?

I think it would still be Harden’s team to Rockets fans, but the media and outsiders would claim that any team LeBron joins is now his team. Harden wants to win, and depending on happens this season, I believe he would be fine with the trio of friends joining the Rockets, as he gets a better chance to win a title and plays alongside some of the greatest players in recent NBA history.