Disgruntled superstar James Harden said the Houston Rockets “just aren’t good enough” after the team’s second consecutive loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, adding that they do not believe the team can improve enough to be a candidate.
“I love this city. I literally did everything I could,” said Harden after the Rockets’ 117-100 defeat. “I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed.”
It is the closest Harden came to going public with the demand for trade that sources said he made during the off-season.
The Houston board is determined to remain patient until the 2018 NBA MVP price is met, sources told ESPN. The Rockets informed teams that they want a youth franchise and a package of choices in the first round and / or intriguing talents in newbie contracts in exchange for Harden, the sources said.
The Rockets have had active / ongoing business discussions with “more than half a dozen teams,” according to a source close to the situation, and have been communicating with Harden about these options.
Harden made it clear to owner Tilman Fertitta ahead of the season that he did not believe in the direction and ability of the franchise to fight and would rather be negotiated with a team that was in a better position to win, sources said.
Fertitta was disappointed, but told Harden that he would explore the commercial market according to the Rockets’ schedule. Since then, he has continually given Harden assurances that he will negotiate and authorized new general manager Rafael Stone to negotiate three-year-old three-time champion and $ 133 million with a player option for the last season remaining in his contract when he finds a deal he likes.
The Rockets have lost four of their five games since Harden, who resisted at the start of the training camp, came back from a sprained right ankle that caused him to miss a game. He has scored 20 points or less in the last four games, his longest period since 2011-12, his last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to the ESPN Stats & Information poll.
This loss was especially uncompetitive, as the Rockets lost 35-14 at the end of the first quarter. Houston dropped to 3-6, just half a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves to the worst record in the Western Conference.
“We are not even close, honestly, to this team – obviously the champions – and all the other elite teams out there,” said Harden. “I mean, you can tell the difference in these last two games.
“We are not good enough – chemistry, talent, just everything. And that has been made clear in the last two games.”
Harden ended his virtual press conference after just two questions. Rockets owner John Wall, who arrived in a trade for Russell Westbrook shortly before the training camp started, noted that players concerned about personal schedules could bring down a team.
“He is speaking with his own opinion. I cannot know what he thinks about the team or what he feels we are,” said Wall. “I know how hard these guys work … to try to improve each day. I know how much work I put into it to go back and compete at a high level.
“There are a lot of guys here who want to compete at a high level. As I told everyone tonight and told the guys before, when one to 15 guys are all on the same page and are committed and know their role and know what they want out of it and that is to win, everything will be fine. But when you have certain guys in the mix who don’t want to buy everything as one, it’s going to be difficult to do something special or anything good like a basketball team. “
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.