When will James Harden speak about his reported desire to take his beard and basketball powers elsewhere?
It would be great to know exactly what Harden is thinking.
Back in the good ol’ days when NBA players usually asked to be traded because they wanted more money, they were up-front with their demands.
In the 21st century, when players often demand to be traded because they want to play with friends, these asks are done on the down-low. I guess they’re trying to protect their brands.
Times have certainly changed.
Would you lose respect for Harden, who just finished his eighth year with the Rockets, if he co-signed some of the wild ideas many fans have been pushing on social media?
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What if Harden called owner Tilman Fertittta a coward, said the organization was run by fools and that Fertitta was only in it for the money?
“But I look at the way the team is run and I see an organization that is always looking to cut the corners. This is a team that goes out and gets players who come cheap. They have hired coaches who they have been able to pay way below the level of the top names. You just look at the way they do business, and you can see that winning championships is not what the Rockets are about.
“I think it’s better for the city if they get a new owner interested in winning. It’s so obvious that his only interest is to sell the club and make money.
“It’s time for the Rockets to go in one direction and for me to go in another one. I’ve got some good years left, and I want to use them working for a team that wants to win. Championships aren’t guaranteed. Life is not guaranteed. All you can guarantee is that you work.
“I’ve put in eight good years here, and we haven’t progressed. You have to face up to it when it’s time for a change.”
If Harden said that (or tweeted it or posted it in an Instagram story), the Rockets would then have to trade him right?
Not necessarily.
The last time a Rockets player said all of that — proudly and on the record — he wasn’t traded, even though more than half the teams in the league made offers.
Trade demands have meant almost as much to the NBA as the 3-point line. Seriously.
Thousands of players have demanded to be shipped out of town.
A whole bunch of those star players were told, “Nah, that’s not happening.”
Aside from the longshot of a team offering a legitimate return for their superstar guard, that is what the Rockets should say to Harden.
As for Harden’s apparent desire to play for the Brooklyn Nets, so he can reunite with his friend Kevin Durant … um, so? That yearning is a personal problem. This is business.
Harden hasn’t done enough for the Rockets to be overly concerned about his future if it isn’t with them.
He would, literally, be their past. The Rockets’ obligation of keeping their superstar happy ends abruptly when he stops wearing Rockets red.
A Harden trade wouldn’t be a retirement present. Harden isn’t walking off into his graybeard years with a couple championships on his résumé. He is still running, dunking and shooting 3s.
Harden is on the bad side of 30 for a basketball player, but the level at which he has played in recent years combined with his dedication and playing style, should result in him being an elite player, and MVP contender, for several more years.
The Rockets would prefer those years to be in Houston. If they choose to move him, any old trade will not do.
New general manager Rafael Stone’s challenge is to find any acceptable deal for Harden, or anyone who would agree to a deal for Russell Westbrook, who has also made a silent request for relocation.
Stone’s lack of front-line experience really won’t be a factor in what happens.
He will not be able to choose from a bevy of options. There is limited demand for Westbrook, and hardly any teams who can supply quality to match Harden, a top-five player.
That includes, the 76ers, who recently hired former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. Philadelphia probably can’t put enough on the table to make trading Harden worth it to the Rockets.
The gap between Harden and Ben Simmons, who has less range than your average bitty basketball player, is too wide to be filled with low-end throwaway first-round picks.
Perhaps a good trade will be proposed during the season, or next offseason or the following year.
What will be best for the Rockets right now is for Harden to show up and play well and turn the trade demand into a fun story to tell.
That is what the aforementioned Rocket did.
Hakeem Olajuwon once wanted out in the worst way. He said that every time the phone rang at training camp of the 1992-93 season he thought, “it was somebody calling to tell me that I was traded. I was ready to go.
“It was disturbing. It was uncomfortable. But after a while I realized the reality was I would be in Houston again and I just concentrated on doing my job.’’
The Rockets turned down all the offers. Olajuwon finished second in MVP voting that season.
The Rockets won the next two NBA championships.
Harden is no Olajuwon. But maybe a non-trade could be the second-best trade the Rockets never made.
Trading him for what has been mentioned thus far will be one of the franchise’s worst.
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November 18, 2020 at 04:30AM
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Solomon: Rockets can’t accept a bad deal for James Harden - Houston Chronicle
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