Barring ‘The Dream’ Hakeem Olajuwon, James Harden is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever step foot on the court wearing a Houston Rockets jersey. James Harden is to the modern Rockets as Hakeem was to the Rockets of 1990.
The simple difference is that Hakeem was able to battle his way to 2 championships, one even starting as the No.6 seed, whereas Harden had monumental success individually, bagging the MVP title in 2018 but was never able to boost his team past the Western Conference Finals.
Harden initially took a pay cut to join the Sixers for a second year, and it’s very possible that the Rockets’ could offer Harden a much bigger contract due to the cap space outreaching the Sixers’ by a large amount.
Will James Harden be returning to his former glory with the Houston Rockets?
James Harden during his tenure with Houston was a revelation. He was performing to the standard of a top 30 all-time player. It seems laughable considering his now more subdued, pass-first role but in 2018, James Harden was dropping 40 points nightly with 10 assists dished out.
Sure, 15 of those points might have come from free throws, and not all fans might have liked his foul-baity offense but there was no denying that the man was having a season for the ages.
Harden was traded to the Rockets in October of 2012, from the Oklahoma City Thunder, due to them not being able to offer him a max contract. Thunder fans will live to regret that decision. Imagine a Thunder core of prime Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, and James Harden all in MVP form. The Golden State Warriors‘ legacy may have never happened.
REPORT: James Harden is “torn” over staying in Philly or moving on to Houston.
(via @ShamsCharania, @ryenarussillo, https://t.co/CqNsm4mTY2) pic.twitter.com/1j55EcLkXk
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 6, 2023
Coming to his present situation, NBA inside Shams Charania had this to say concerning Harden on ‘The Ryen Russilo Podcast,’ “I don’t think he knows, as far as what I know about his mindset. … I really think that he’s torn with the prospect of staying in Philadelphia or moving on to Houston potentially and returning back to his home. That’s where his roots are, his family is there, of course. They’ve got upwards of [$60 million in cap space], they could make even more money available—close to $70 million in cap space—so they’re going to have a ton of money. And this is a team, in Houston, I do believe they’re going to be aggressive in the marketplace.”
Harden would be staying in a better situation, in Philly due to his MVP-caliber teammate as well as young stars like Tyrese Maxey. If his goal is to win a ring before it’s all said and done then the move would be to remain in his present domain albeit for a lower salary.
But if he wants to recapture some of his old stardom and be the main man leading a team of young superstars like Jalen Green and maybe Scoot Henderson to the promised land, then he’s in for a hard road but maybe one that’ll be worth it when he finally delivers a championship to Houston.