Well, it would put it would put Kevin Durant and on the Storm because we all know that when Kevin Durant is healthy, he's just a sensational basketball player.

I expect him even if he's at 80% instead of 100 I expect him to be a t least 80%.

But even if he's at 80% he's 6 11 with a 76 wingspan and one of the ultimate snipers in this game, one of the greatest scores this game has ever seen.

I easily see him, and I use the word easily, see him averaging 25 to 27 game.

And so I expect him to do his thing.

And I think that, I think without Harden, the Brooklyn Nets should be the favorites to go to the finals out of the Eastern Conference.

I think with Harden, you can literally look at them and say, Excuse me, championship Now, if you're James Harden, it's one of those situations where I know that he loves playing in Houston.

No state income tax.

The city loves him off off course.

He's been a star there that really, really elevated his career.

Once he became, once he went from being a reserve in O.

K C behind Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant toe what he's been in Houston, there's no question.

But from what I'm being told, he may not want to stay there on Lee because you're not trying to be a part of a retooling or rebuilding.

You want to compete for a championship 32 years of age.

You've averaged over 30 the last three years.

You one of the prolific scorers this game has ever seen in your own right.

You want to be in a better situation.

Him and Kevin Durant are very cool with one another.

Their former teammates, obviously, Kyrie and K d.

A tight.

The combination of those three together, it's just buckets.

And Jay Williams brought up this very valid point this morning on his show with Keyshawn Ankle and and Zubin, he said, Listen, because K D is coming off that Achilles injury, you might want another individual that's explosive offensively to take some of that pressure off of Kevin Durant.

I'm talking about the physical pressure off, having to carry the load So when you look at it from that perspective, and then you look at how judicious Kevin Durant is, one of the most efficient offensive superstars the game has ever seen makes the right plays.

He's a shotmaker.

Doesn't need to engage in volume shooting in order to be explosive, because he's just that caught that kind of ability.

Plus, he's incredibly, incredibly unselfish, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

I think you could look at the Brooklyn Nets and say Excuse me title.

I'm not saying that you automatically ordained them.

That with the Lakers, you know, scheduled to resign Anthony Davis to a long term deal in all probability with LeBron James with getting a Dennis Schroder and all of that stuff.

But can you look at the Brooklyn Nets?

If they were to acquire, Harden and say K D Harden, Kyrie should not be the favorite to win the title.

Who could definitively say that, knowing the game of basketball, I don't think anyone can.

I think James Harden would know that he'd go to Brooklyn when I try to win a couple of titles and then end up ending his career back in Houston for all I know.

Basically, that's what you're looking at right now as the situation involving James Harden.

Yeah, I mean, look, the history of the MBA is when you stack MVP caliber players on top of each other on a team, even if the fits not perfect, you're gonna be the favorites.

Because usually that team wins.

It's not perfect, right?

Hardens the ball stopper.

Kyrie is a ball stopper who has the ball in their hands.

Everything.

On the other hand, you think of you think of uh Que de with Harden and Kyrie.

It's like, Ah, version, almost of what the thunder might have been had they stuck together and matured altogether.

Right, because you have multiple M V P and high level All Stars on the same team.

But I don't think it would put the same kind of pressure on K D that he had on Golden State.

There's more upside here.

If you win, you get more credit.

But there's not as much downside had k d.

Not one on the Golden State Warriors.

Stephen A 73 win team where he's replacing Harrison Barnes.

You go from Harrison Barnes to Kevin Durant in a death lineup, right?

Like had they not one That's a disaster for K D.

So there wasn't as much upside.

There was more downside.

Is that more pressure, or is this more pressure where maybe there's not as much downside.

But there is some upside here.

I mean, you know, to make it work, to get the chemistry right to come back off.

Catastrophic injury.

Um, you know he'll get some upside credit here if they win.

The fact remains, if you have to M v P Caliber players and a player is talented.

Is Kyrie on your team?

You're going to be the favorites in your conference, at least.

Well, I think one of the important important components here, Max, is that it's about also being wanted.

Like, if you're James Harden, you are the man in in Houston.

I don't give a damn who it iss outside of LeBron James, anybody that becomes, uh, Kevin Durant's teammate outside of LeBron James or even Steph Curry, K d.

Is gonna be that dude.

And so when you look at it, that's that's That's James Harden and having to go to a situation.

Even though Katie has established himself yet in Brooklyn, cause he hasn't even played the game for them as of yet.

But from what I'm being told, and I don't know whether it's true or not, but from what I'm being told, they've been playing together, practicing together.

I think it's in L.

A.

I'm not sure, but I think it's in L.

A over the last few weeks and you hear noise about how k D once harder to come there and Harder wouldn't mind reuniting with his friend and teammate.

So assuming that kind of stuff is true, I think we could look at it from a standpoint that anything is possible with this situation.

All I'm saying is James Harden with K D alone is a championship worthy consideration.

You add Kyrie to the mix, the Onley.

There's only two things that come to mind.

A health, okay, and khadi is the one questionable god there because I think Katie would be healthy.

And obviously James Harden hasn't gotten himself hurt.

Thea other thing is going to be Excuse me, Do you want to play together and can k d really, really, really in the personalities?

Because James Harden, as great as he is, didn't want Dwight Howard any longer.

Didn't want see feet three there any longer.

And even though Russell Westbrook and him are boys by all stretches of the imagination, the bottom line is they're not thinking about playing together as well, by the way, is in the side.

I spoke.

I spoke to Russell Westbrook the other day.

He wanted to make sure everybody understood that he tweeted about this, but he reiterated to me personally, he and James Harden are as tight as ever.

Their brothers, they always will be brothers.

They're tight.

He didn't elaborate on anything beyond that, but he wanted to make sure there's a difference between, you know, reports of not wanting to play with one another and as opposed to them not being tight and not being friends and not being boys.

There is nothing wrong with their relationship whatsoever.

It's just that you heard the reports that they don't necessarily or Russell Westbrook definitely wants to move on.

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