The patented step-back three. The iconic beard. An overwhelming fondness for strip clubs.
Whatever the James Harden Era is most remembered for, it finally came to a close when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news on a blockbuster four-team trade. Houston sent their star to Brooklyn in exchange for a haul of draft picks and several players, but the story has to be told from the beginning to fully understand the dramatic downfall of Houston basketball’s pride and joy.
Dramatic Beginnings
The Harden trade saga began during the offseason when rumors surfaced that the superstar wanted out of Houston. At the time, the Rockets organization faced major changes in their leadership. Head coach Mike D’Antoni parted ways with the team, as did longtime general manager Daryl Morey. Both D’Antoni and Morey had a close friendship with Harden, so their departure likely played a large role in the star’s decision to request a trade.
Amidst the staff turnover in Houston, Harden also reportedly declined the largest contract extension in NBA history. In turning down the two-year/103 million dollar offer, he made it clear to ownership that he didn’t plan on sticking around much longer.
Over the following weeks, chaos ensued. At the start of training camp, Harden refused to show up. Instead of practicing with teammates, he spent his time partying with rapper Lil Baby in Vegas and Atlanta. Aside from the obvious refusal to report for work, Harden’s nightlife exploits included breaches of the NBA’s health-and-safety protocol for COVID-19 precautions.
Upon his eventual return to the team a week into an already-brief training camp, the league fined him fifty thousand dollars and required Harden to quarantine before he could participate in team activities. Meanwhile, James kept adding more teams to his list of desired destinations, but Brooklyn and Philly remained at the top. His polarizing off-court actions became a distraction not only for fans, but for the team as well. Nearly every media session with Rockets players and staff resulted in at least one Harden-related question, but the answer remained the same each time- “We hope James will be able to join us, but we can’t make that decision for him.”
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Early-Season Struggles
The Beard made his 20-2021 debut on December 26th in an overtime thriller against the Portland Trail Blazers. Harden posted one of his usual absurd statlines with 44 points and 17 assists, but Houston ultimately lost the contest in the closing seconds. In spite of missing much of camp and lacking chemistry with a revamped Rockets roster, the star shooting guard looked like his old self.
In press sessions, he spoke about how much potential the team had, and in games cheered on his teammates’ success. Playing against Sacramento on New Year’s Eve, Harden dropped 33 points including 16 in the fourth quarter to lead Houston to their first win of the young season. He looked engaged, locked in, and willing to give his team one last chance.
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Not all was well in Houston, though. Harden rolled his ankle late in the fourth, and sat out of the Rockets’ next contest due to ankle soreness. As missing games proved a rare occurrence for him, most assumed Harden had enough faith in his team to believe they could win without him.
The Rockets won that game, but a completely different version of James emerged following his short break. Over the next five games he logged point totals of 21, 15, 15, 20 and 16. This stretch of low production was Harden’s worst since his time as a sixth man for the Oklahoma City Thunder years ago.
The box score looked bad, and somehow the eye test looked worse. Once a force on the court who scored at will, Harden now appeared uninterested and lazy while in the game. His shots fell off target and he struggled to get to the basket. To make matters worse, he spent most of his time standing at half-court uninvolved in coach Stephen Silas’ offense.
The Final Chapter
This new version of The Beard looked like a shell of his former-MVP self. After a particularly bad loss to the reigning-champion Lakers, Harden took the podium for post-game media several minutes late before dropping a bombshell, saying “We’re just not good enough. Chemistry, talent wise… This situation is crazy, it’s something that I don’t think can be fixed.”
Less than 24 hours later, word got out that the Rockets were fielding more trade offers for the disgruntled star. After Harden didn’t show up for practice, Coach Silas told the media that it was in the team’s best interest for James to stay home.
As the situation developed, Philadelphia and Brooklyn both made convincing offers for Harden. However, the Sixers blew their chance when they refused to meet Houston’s high asking price. A Ben Simmons package was extended, but Philly (whose front office is now led by Morey) allegedly refused to include Tyrese Maxey.
Finally, only Brooklyn remained standing in the Harden sweepstakes. Shortly after, the final details of the trade came out. Cleveland and Indiana had both added players to the mix, making it a four-team blockbuster deal:
- Houston receives Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, four unprotected first-round picks (MIL 2022, BKN 2022, 2024, 2026), and four unprotected pick swaps (BKN 2021, 2023, 2025, 2027).
- Brooklyn receives James Harden
- Cleveland receives Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince
- Indiana receives Caris LeVert, second-round pick (HOU 2023)
As the trade became finalized the next morning, the Rockets continued to gain more assets. Bobby Marks reported the blockbuster was split into two separate transactions: Houston, Brooklyn and Cleveland completed their parts together. Afterwards, Indiana got involved in a second trade to complete the Oladipo/LeVert swap, which created a $15.4 million Traded Player Exception for the Rockets. This hefty TPE gives them extra flexibility to work the market as the trade deadline approaches, so it’s the metaphorical “cherry on top” of the bigger picture.
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A Bright Future
Honestly, the Rockets gained quite the haul for Harden. While it would have been nice to get a franchise cornerstone like Simmons, Brooklyn’s draft compensation should prove equally exciting in the long run. The deal has similarities to when the Celtics traded aging stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn years ago. The picks Boston gained in that trade were later used to draft Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown— two extremely talented young players who they’ve rebuilt around to become a contender.
Houston finds themselves in the same situation now, because their new draft capital gains value as time passes. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and now Harden will all likely regress with the next few years before ultimately retiring. As Brooklyn’s stars decline, those draft picks probably turn into early lottery picks… meaning Houston could scoop up top-tier young talent in the coming years.
Even this season isn’t entirely lost, as Oladipo should fit right into the Rockets’ lineup alongside John Wall and Christian Wood. Moving forward, the Rockets can develop young guys like Wood, Jae’Sean Tate, Sterling Brown and Kenyon Martin Jr. while keeping their playoff hopes alive with Oladipo too. They could reasonably finish 5th-8th in the West this year and make it as far as the second round with a bit of luck.
While they won’t win a championship, 2021 should at least be one last fun year before fully embracing a rebuild afterwards. All things considered, Rockets’ new GM Rafael Stone certainly proved he’s the real deal.
Harden’s Legacy
To be brutally honest, Harden’s exit is a bittersweet one. The last few months have been a downward spiral for the Rockets organization and James is to blame for most, if not all of the dysfunction. There was a side to him that most fans didn’t see until the very end, a side which grew from D’Antoni and Morey letting him do whatever he pleased. Harden expected that same special treatment from the new leadership, and threw the equivalent of a tantrum when he was denied.
As a result, James made life difficult for the other 14 Rockets and their rookie head coach. With the Harden headache now gone, the team can finally focus on getting better without the dark shadow of a disgruntled star hanging over them. Fans can find relief knowing they don’t have to remain on #HardenWatch any longer, and can stop worrying about whether he’s truly committed to the team.
Regardless, however, his absence certainly hurts. After all, he’s been an iconic figure in the Houston sports scene for the past eight years. While there were moments of heart-wrenching failure, James also brought so much success to the Rockets franchise. They made the playoffs every season and reached the Western Conference Finals twice during his tenure.
James was an eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA player, and a perennial MVP candidate here too. Had a few moments played out slightly differently, he could have even brought a championship to Houston for the first time since Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994 and 1995. While nobody saw this bitter ending coming and most would probably like to forget it, Harden will certainly be remembered as one of the Rockets’ all-time greats.
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