(05-31-2023, 04:00 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: I can see a pretty realistic scenario in which Harden walks
I know Jalen Brunson, I know Cuban the Tightwad (and Incompetent GM), I know Kyrie the Unpredictable, I know the "It only Takes One Offer" mantra.
But I don't see anything on the horizon that offers anything realistic about PHI or any other teams landing Kyrie.
With Brunson, we saw the threat 6 months in advance, and saw it grow. But here, we can't even agree who to fear, because the suitors are just not there. We have to invent them, and envision roster-destroying gymnastics, for them to even get into the mix.
No good teams have that extreme amount of cap room to sign Kyrie. And very few bad teams have it either. No one is signing him away.
Most importantly, Mavs want Kyrie (because Cuban has long coveted the 2nd star), AND Cuban knew the general price tag for re-signing him when he made the deal. So I think it's far more likely that Cuban pays too much (bidding against himself as always), than he loses Kyrie to another team, because I believe his sole roster-building "plan" since the title has always been "Get two stars, somehow, regardless of the price, then figure out how to build around them somehow." It's lacking in finesse, it leads to overpayments, and others are able to prey on his lack of savvy and his desperation, but it is what it is.
He didn't see Brunson as a star. So he had no desire to compete for JB financially and NY got him by default. OTOH, Kyrie is a star, there are no real threats, so it's different.
My 2c.