James Harden and the Rockets was always going to end this way
Even without his recent effort to get out of Houston, it was always going to end this way for James Harden and the Rockets.
Just before the 2012-13 season started, with a reigning Sixth Man of the Year and two eventual MVPs on their team, the Oklahoma City Thunder made a choice. James Harden, the aforementioned reigning Sixth Man of the Year, was sent to the Houston Rockets as the centerpiece of a multi-player trade. The Thunder chose Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as their building blocks.
In the years since, Harden has become one the NBA’s most prominent stars. “The Beard” now has three scoring titles and a league MVP on his resume. The Rockets have reached the Western Conference Finals twice, but Harden has regularly fallen short in the playoffs.
Harden has also struggled to co-exist with prominent teammates. Dwight Howard was not without fault, but the relationship between the two was strained and he was eventually gone. Chris Paul came in to form a dynamic backcourt duo with Harden, and after two seasons he was gone. A reunion with Westbrook, who came from the Thunder in the trade sending Paul the other way, was one-and-done. John Wall came to Houston in the deal for Westbrook during the offseason, and there’s already a divide between the two as Harden keeps one foot firmly planted out the door.
Harden is simply not a team leader, as former Rockets coach Kevin McHale once openly acknowledged.
“ I think it (adding Paul) makes them a much better team because you had James Harden with the ball, he’s fantastic with the ball – the guys got phenomenal vision, James can see all the passes and do everything but James is not a leader, “
As Harden continues to try to blaze a path out of Houston, with open questions about his physical shape and overall effort level now, the Rockets continue to make an effort to trade him (with a rightfully high asking price).
UPDATE: 3:40 CT, 1/13/21, Harden has been traded to the Brooklyn Nets:
Harden has gotten get his way, and the short-term pain the Rockets might have had will be mitigated by getting Victor Oladipo. But the Nets better be ready for what they’ll get, the good and the bad as Harden joins Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The pieces sent to Houston, Cleveland and eventually Indiana in the trade will naturally gut the talent they can put around the trio. The trail of unrealized playoff dreams he’ll leave behind in Houston is the cautionary tale for catering to Harden’s wants.
Years of evidence built toward this inevitable end between Harden and the Rockets—a bitter divorce as he did whatever he could to force his way out.