For those of you who follow the NBA, James Harden is one of the most gifted offensive players we have seen in NBA history. Harden has won three scoring titles, league MVP, and has been in the playoffs for 8 consecutive years with the Houston Rockets. The era of James Harden, sadly, is coming to an end in Houston.
After a disappointing 2020, playoff run in the NBA bubble that resulted in a second round out at the hands of the Lakers, Harden decided it was time to jump ship. The Rockets have completely emptied house. They parted ways with GM, head coach, and their two star players.
Naturally, Harden has demanded that he be traded to a title contender like Brooklyn or Philadelphia; however, he has not made things any easier for himself.
After making these demands, Harden skipped preseason training camp in order to party at Lil Baby’s birthday in Atlanta. Harden finally showed up for the second preseason game where he clearly had gained a few pounds and was not in playing shape. My man went from James Harden to James “Soften”.
You would think a guy who was averaging close to thirty points last season would easily garner trade interest that would be beneficial for all parties. That has not been the case due to Harden’s preseason antics previously described and the fact that executives have released that Harden had too much control over the organization.
Right now Harden is not in the most powerful position considering he still has two more years on his contract with the Rockets. Houston is going to hold on to him as long as they possibly can until they get their fair compensation for him.
In the word’s of the late Jerry Bust to a disgruntled Kobe Bryant, “I am not trading the hope diamond for a bunch of smaller diamonds”. That is how the Rockets are going to treat this situation.
If Harden wants to be traded quickly, I suggest that he gets his act together.
My take on this would be that Harden needs to drop a few pounds. My goodness, the man is making 40 million dollars this year and can’t take the time to get in playing shape or utilize his personal chefs and trainers.
The next thing he needs to do is show up to work on time and show that you are not a distressed asset. If teams are going to give up equitable value, you need to show them that they are investing in something that will improve their franchise overall.
If harden can do what he does and average close to 30 points and 7 assists, he might be able to get a team like Brooklyn or Philadelphia to give up some assets to acquire him.
The NBA is all about player empowerment. That empowerment can help or hurt you. James Harden is hurting his value. He needs to prove that he is a reliable, trustworthy and effective asset before any team is willing to give up anything of good value.