James Harden is not concerned with the details of his divorce from the franchise, as he returns to Houston to face the Rockets on Wednesday night (7:30 pm ET on ESPN) for the first time since his exchange request was made. finally answered.
“They showed me great love and respect, and I’m really excited to be playing for those fans,” said Harden.
Harden apologized for “how things went” in his final months with the Rockets, when he was pushing for an exchange, but Harden said he did not regret the actions that led to the desired outcome. He got what he wanted – the chance to play for an opponent again, specifically the Brooklyn Nets – and is making the most of the opportunity.
Harden is happy and looking for an MVP level for the hottest Eastern Conference team. Meanwhile, times are tough for the Rockets, who are devastated by injuries and having a streak of 12 consecutive defeats in the return of their former MVP.
A review of the saga of months before Harden left Houston:
“It is very, very frustrating, especially the amount of work that I put in individually. But I will continue to thin out. I will continue and continue until I cannot. grow up and put the right pieces around me and Russ to get where we want to be. “
– Harden, after the Rockets were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in a series of five games in the second round
The drastic renewals of the Rockets’ list did not lead to better results.
The Houston front, at Harden’s request, showed Chris Paul and a package of first-round picks to his friend, former teammate and recent MVP Russell Westbrook. Largely to accommodate Westbrook, the Rockets made an unprecedented commitment to small ball, launching the great Clint Capela into a four-team deal that drew Robert Covington, suddenly transforming a six-foot PJ Tucker into the shortest starting center of the alloy by several inches.
For a while, the Rockets’ wild experiment worked. Houston won 10 of 12 games over the course of a month, a stretch highlighted by a road victory over the Lakers, fueling the hope that the unconventional Rockets could really fight.
The Rockets then ran out of fuel, losing four of their last five games before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the season. They never really got back on track, with Harden and Westbrook reporting late to the bubble in Orlando, Florida, after contracting the coronavirus, and then Westbrook forcing his quadriceps during the sowing schedule.
Houston narrowly avoided the humiliation of losing to Paul’s Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, surviving Game 7 by two points thanks to a rescue block from Harden at the end of the series. They beat the Lakers in the first round of the second round, but were dominated by the rest of the series, losing by 23 points in the elimination game.
The main subjects of Harden’s post-game interview were the uncertain status of coach Mike D’Antoni with his contract expiring – resolved the next morning when D’Antoni announced he would leave Houston – and the resistance of the Rockets’ unusual style. The final question for Harden was whether he was willing to adapt his game, perhaps playing more with the ball.
“To answer your question, yes, I am willing to do whatever it takes,” said Harden. “Mainly to win.”
“For the past eight years or more, our goal has been to win a championship because we had James Harden. We still have James Harden. Our goal is still to win a championship, and if you have it, you’re halfway there. It’s up to me and Stephen [Silas] and the whole team to find out the rest of the whole, but the key piece is there. “
– Rafael Stone, at his first press conference since he was promoted to general manager of Rockets
Daryl Morey, the general manager whose 2012 deal with Harden reinvigorated the Rockets franchise, announced his resignation in October. Morey cited a desire to spend more time with his family – and was hired as president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers 13 days later.
Several sources within the Houston organization firmly believe that Morey made a preventive decision, departing in large part because he predicted that Harden would want to leave, beginning a period of rebuilding for the Rockets. According to sources, Morey expressed concern inside the bubble about not being able to “keep James happy” due to the lack of choices to use as a barter to make upgrades to the squad out of season.
Harden’s happiness, or lack thereof, was Stone’s problem after the former Rockets board executive was promoted to replace Morey. But just getting Harden to communicate with him was difficult for Stone and the Houston board, a factor that delayed the search for a coach who ended up hiring Silas, a longtime NBA assistant who was a finalist when Houston hired D ‘Antoni for four years earlier.
In early November, the Rockets had reached a particular agreement with the fact that the Harden-Westbrook pair failed, as the friends no longer wanted to play together. This was problematic, given the high price the Rockets paid in the Westbrook trade the previous summer, but Houston had the stomach to look for a Westbrook trade.
As long as the Rockets had Harden, they would have hope. They just needed to convince Harden, who annually pushed for urgency out of season in search of a title, of that.
1:18
Rockets coach Stephen Silas discusses James Harden’s current situation and how his focus is on coaching the team.
“I am not clear about the message. The reason is his. He is the one who can explain why or why he is not here. For me to make inferences and think about the possibilities is not real for me. What is real is that he is not here, and he has a reason, but it’s up to him to tell anyone. “
– Silas, on the second day of the Rockets training camp
Weeks before the camp opened, a senior Rockets source told ESPN that the team was “willing to feel uncomfortable”, emphasizing that the board felt no urgency to switch between Harden and Westbrook before the season began, despite unhappiness. from the stars, vowing not to be pressured to trade them for cents on the dollar.
Westbrook finally got his wish fulfilled days before the camp opened, when the Rockets attacked when the Washington Wizards offered a protected choice in the first round along with point guard John Wall.
After avoiding the Toyota Center when the rest of the NBA players were doing individual training on the team’s premises, Harden was absent from the start of the training camp, instead of attending rapper Lil Baby’s birthday party in Atlanta, giving his friend with extravagant gifts and posting pictures of the unmasked case on Instagram.
From there, Harden went to Las Vegas. The Rockets attributed Harden’s absence for the team’s first training to the league’s health and safety protocols, but Silas acknowledged the next day that it was an obstacle.
“As for the schedule, there is no schedule that I know of. And it is a setback,” said Silas. “You want your best player to be here. And there is a small window. It is a setback. I have to be honest and understand that it is a setback not to have one of the best NBA players here.”
Harden’s late arrival ensured that he would lose almost the entire camp, as he had to test negative for the coronavirus for six consecutive days before being released to join the team’s activities. Harden’s explanation for the Atlanta and Vegas tours: “I was just training.” Harden had certainly convinced the Rocket bosses that he took his trade-in request seriously. His priority was to execute an exit strategy.
“We just aren’t good enough. Chemistry, in terms of talent, just everything … I love this city. I literally did everything I could. I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think I can do. be fixed. “
– Harden, after a January 12 defeat to the Lakers, his last game in the Rockets’ uniform
Harden, well aware that the Rockets’ commercial negotiations with the Nets and 76ers had intensified, delivered what was a farewell speech during his virtual press conference after Houston’s fourth defeat in five games.
He left the Toyota Center like a rocket for the last time.
Harden was instructed to stay home instead of training the next day, while Stone put the finishing touches on a four-team deal that sent Harden to Brooklyn and earned the Rockets four choices in the first round, four exchanges in the first shift. All-Star guard, Victor Oladipo, and a few other players to fill salary.
Houston’s asking price for Harden had been the cornerstone of a young franchise and a historic package of choices. The Rockets ended up having to compromise, choosing the Nets ‘offer headed by a package of picks instead of the 76ers’ proposal with Ben Simmons as the centerpiece, but significantly less draft assets. And that ended the chapter of Harden’s management in Houston, which featured eight seasons of individual brilliance, but always fell short of the NBA finals.
“I thought I would never leave this franchise. I thought I would stay in Houston, obviously, for the rest of my career. Things happened. I have different goals and I saw a different vision for me and my career and my family.”
– Harden, days before his return to Houston
Harden has walked the path since his arrival in Brooklyn, fulfilling his promise to fit in with the stars of the Nets, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, silencing skeptics who wondered how three of the best scorers in this generation could share the same ball.
Harden adapted his game to focus more on facilitation. Harden has always been an elite passer – having won the NBA Assistance Title in 2016-17 before claiming the league’s scoring crown for the next three seasons – but that part of his game flourished especially with the Nets. He averaged 11.3 assists in 22 games with Brooklyn, and he officially became the point guard after Irving’s declaration of defense duties during training last month.
Harden is still the best scorer, but he can afford to be more selective in his strokes with the Nets. He averages 25.3 points per game – which would be Harden’s lowest-scoring season since he was Thunder’s sixth player – but with the best career clips in field goal percentage (0.490), 3 percentage points (0.419) and effective percentage of field goals (0.589).
Harden is also getting 8.7 rebounds per game for Brooklyn, which would be another career record. He has seven doubles triples for the Nets, who have won nine of their last 10 games, despite Durant’s prolonged absence due to a hamstring strain.
Yes, Harden did everything to win. For him, it meant leaving Houston.