Man, that deal is going to kill Houston. Houston is done. Harden is leaving. 12 months from now, Harden is out the door.
Wall is finished. Torn achilles for a speedy guard who over-relies on his athleticism and has failed to further develop his skill-level for years? No way. He's not coming back anywhere near where he left off of.
Houston is done and Harden is out the door 12 months from now.
Yeah, hard to imagine Harden staying in Houston and the West remains stacked (LAC, LAL, DEN). Even if he makes a miraculous return from achilles injury, he's a poor shooter who struggles in the playoffs. This also leaves Houston paying out his salary of 41 - 44- 47 million over the next 3 years.
Westbrook is arguably even worse in the playoffs with his shooting & decision-making, he's older, and signed essentially the same contract as Wall. And the East keeps getting better (BOS, MIL, MIA, PHI).
Looks like a lose-lose for both teams, though it's easy for us to underestimate the difficulty of acquiring all-stars from our armchairs.