NBA

He really doesn’t need to be prime Houston Harden in Philly...

Well said, and I don't disagree with any of that, but what I was specifically bringing up was the issue of him getting one last big payday. Indeed, it's hard for me to see even most non-contending teams paying what he wants.

For example, if you're a rebuilding team, then adding him is taking away development time from someone else, and I don't know that the Beard is all that great as a mentor. Or if you're stuck in mediocrity, looking to attract fans, then I don't think this version of Harden is going to move the turnstiles all *that* much. After all, even in his prime James could be pretty hard to watch with his iso-ball, gamesmanship, and chronic apathy towards defense. No, I think he almost needs some kind of owner / exec who really likes him to get that theoretical payday, but he had the best version of that with Morey, and managed to bork that up.

On top of all that, motivation is also a huge concern. Even with a big contract on a non-contender, do I trust him to live up to said contract? As the exec pulling the trigger, I'd be very nervous about doing so.

Yeah, I might be a little cynical with those outcomes, but they're based on real facts that I'm not just pulling out my wazoo. Now, I have no particular ill-will towards Harden, even as a Nets fan, so whatever the case I've got my popcorn handy.