Harden Wants Out

Author: Ian Kayanja

Editor: Fran Attié

James Harden wants out of Houston, and the Rockets would be misguided to deal him just because he asked out.

The NBA offseason opened up on Monday, and with it came a litany of trades and rumors. The loudest of them all being Harden's demand to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Where there is smoke, there is fire. And with the Houston Rockets, the house has been burning since the organization traded Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2019. Harden's trade demand is only the latest domino to fall, but the Rockets can't allow a superstar's trade demand to tank the entire franchise.

In the age of player empowerment, it’s increasingly common to see star players force their way off teams with multiple years still left on their contracts. The teams often get put into a bind and make knee jerk reactions, because the player is always right, right?

Wrong.

There comes a time where the pendulum swings too far in one direction. In the last four seasons, the NBA has hit that point, as star players realized there are a ways to get their money and end up the career winner. And frankly, I can’t blame them. The name of the game is to get paid, after all. So, two years into their max extensions, stars cry they are trapped in a losing situation. They want out.

Yet, what is damaging is when the organization gives a player a max contract and then proceeds to show that player that those in charge are committed to building a winner, and then the player leaves anyway. What was the point in re-signing in the first place? Why is the grass always greener somewhere else?

That is exactly the situation Houston finds itself in now. Harden has two years left on his contract, and has demanded a trade. Ok, so what? I understand Daryl Morey is gone. I understand that he has a new head coach, and he will be operating in a new system. Harden probably has some apprehension as to what exactly this new system may look like, or how the front office will handle things going forward. I understand all that.

It is also no mistake he put Philadelphia as one of the teams he would want to be traded to. Both the 76ers and the Nets offer Harden familiarity. He's played for Daryl Morey before, and he has played with Kevin Durant before. Outside of the city, Houston is a new franchise. It has a new owner, new general manager, a new coaching staff, but there is not a new Harden.

Situations like this just take time. Going forward, Houston should ask Harden to honor the two years left on his contract, and give it time. If he still wants out a year from now, the franchise should explore options then. But to trade Harden now would be jumping the gun on something that just might sort itself out.

If Harden needs any warning on why jumping the gun can change the trajectory of a player’s legacy, he need only look at Kyrie Irving and what happened to him when he wanted out of Cleveland.

Houston traded for Trevor Ariza, and it got back draft capital. Those in the front office claim that they want to run it back with Westbrook and Harden, even amongst Westbrook’s harsh critiques of Rockets culture. If this team can find what it had in the early months of 2020, it could still be a championship-caliber team. If new head coach Stephen Silas curates a system that doesn't put such a heavy offensive workload on Harden, things could work out. If Tilman Fertitta learns to let go of the basketball decisions and trusts the people he has hired, again things just might work out.

There are too many unknowns to say Houston is a sinking ship, but if Harden leaves obviously that would become the reality.

It’s human nature to always want the next best thing, even if it means too much too soon. So, with Harden’s wandering eye, Houston has to double down and trust that holding on to him, even for just one more season, might just straighten things out for the long term.

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