James Harden’s Future With The Houston Rockets
As mentioned before, the situation with the Houston Rockets is so full of drama that the NBA could profit off of a reality show with this organization if they wanted to. Bringing in Russell Westbrook last offseason was seen to be the “championship move” the Rockets needed to do, but they did not envision trading him away after just one season that ended in a 4-1 series loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Now, they have James Harden, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins as the three big names for this upcoming season, which would have sounded amazing back in 2017 when all three players were NBA All-Stars. Entering the 2020-21 NBA Season, John Wall has not stepped on the court since December of 2018 and DeMarcus Cousins has dealt with an Achilles injury, a quad injury and an ACL Injury all in the last 3 years.
If these guys can stay healthy and still play at high-level, then sure, the Houston Rockets should be a legit team in the Western Conference, but this is one of those scenarios where you will “believe it when you see it.” Because of all of this uncertainty with the organization moving forward, James Harden may be on the first plane out of Houston by the end of the season.
There were rumors this offseason about Harden wanting to be traded from the Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets to reunite with his former teammate, Kevin Durant, but nothing ever developed further than rumors, and both the Nets front office and he shot down these rumors saying that nothing was ever “set-in-stone” and they were never close to any deal.
No matter what or who you believe, James Harden is frustrated in Houston and does not want to waste the prime of his career on a team that is rebuilding. The championship window, if it even exists anymore, is extremely small for the Rockets in the Western Conference and how James Harden decides to go about his future in Houston should be a very intriguing storyline to follow throughout the 2020-21 NBA season.
