SOLO ACT BETTER?
Another superstar in Westbrook wants out, so is it time to build around Harden alone?
What would Rockets be like if James Harden was the only star?
I will acknowledge at the start that it is a crazy idea.
But during yet another crazy Rockets week when Russell Westbrook suddenly had something very significant in common with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, I’m also not sure Houston’s NBA team has a better alternative with James Harden leading its turbulent franchise.
Move on from the superstar duo thing.
Build a real basketball team around the Beard.
See?
I told you it was crazy.
The still-echoing pain of CP3’s strained hamstring in May 2018 will always be proof that Harden paired with another superstar could have worked. The Rockets were less than a minute away from being up 3-2 against the “unbeatable” Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Toyota Center proudly roared, and two closeout games awaited, including Game 7 in Houston.
The NBA Finals were clearly in sight. Had the Rockets advanced, they obviously would have beaten a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that eventually was swept 4-0 off the league’s grandest stage.
But we all know what happened after Paul went down — to those Rockets, the NBA champion Warriors, Mike D’Antoni, Daryl Morey, CP3, etc. — so there’s no use in writing about that version of the past one more time.
On with the present.
Because that’s where the Rockets have to, some way, finally figure this Harden thing out.
Either that or get really crazy and trade him, too.
The Rockets’ roster is aging, overpriced and declining. The 2019-20 crewwas a half game away from finishing in sixth place in the Western Conference and one of the primary ongoing concerns inside Toyota Center is the fear that the 2020-21 Rockets might only be good enough to fight for a Nos. 5-8 spot in an even stronger West.
Los Angeles’ two teams, the reigning champion Lakers and annually disappointing Clippers, aren’t going anywhere. Denver shined in the bubble, and Phoenix almost popped it. Then there are Utah, Dallas, Portland, Memphis and New Orleans.
Oh yeah. And the Warriors, who are set to get Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back, still have Draymond Green to annoy everyone, possess the NBA’s No. 2 overall pick in Wednesday’s draft and perfectly timed a 15-50 off year to get a head start on the upcoming 72-game season.
That’s 10 teams fighting for eight spots. And that doesn’t include the Rockets, who will enter a new campaign with a brand-new coach, first-time general manager and potentially Harden without Westbrook.
Howard, who just won a world title as with the Lakers, lasted three seasons in Rockets red and made the conference finals in 2015.
Paul produced a fantastic debut year — franchise-record 65 wins, best regular-season record in the NBA — but only made it through two campaigns with the Rockets before it was time for CP3 to go.
Westbrook is entering the middle of November 2020 stuck at one. And that might be all he ends up with if the Rockets grant his big wish.
As of Saturday evening, there was still nothing official regarding Westbrook’s future in Stephen Silas’ backcourt.
Westbrook’s name had been linked in mostly flimsy rumors to a variety of teams but only one championship contender.
ESPN reported Friday that the market for a potential trade was “slow developing.”
And that was it.
With the draft, free agency and another abbreviated NBA season looming, the Rockets’ future with Westbrook was in a holding pattern.
I spent Wednesday through Saturday thinking about, discussing and analyzing No. 0. Which meant that I spent much of that time thinking about, discussing and analyzing Harden’s eight-year run with the Rockets for the millionth time.
One sentence, sarcastically spoken to me by someone who knows things, kept sticking out: Maybe they should just build a team around (Harden).
Morey collected superstars like rookie trading cards — he eventually acquired a few of the prized ones he wanted but kept pining for and missing out on others. He also treated draft picks like disposable coffee pods.
Miami selected 2020 playoff hero Tyler Herro at No. 13 overall in ’19. See what happens when you occasionally participate in the draft? You make the NBA Finals, push the Lakers to six games and Jimmy Butler wants to sign with you.
For all of the good that the Rockets accomplished after Morey stole Harden away from Oklahoma City in October 2012, they never were great. They also relied more and more on modern trickery — endless 3-pointers, a bunch of oddly similar small forwards, small ball, flickering defense — that was never going to work when the hardwood tightened up and playoff intensity kicked in.
If you want to actually have fun on Twitter, find the fascinating videos that show Harden’s old Rockets game.
He shot mid-range shots, once.
He thrived in the pick-and-roll, back in the outdated days.
He formed an almost unguardable one-two punch with a big man (aka a center), thriving with Howard and Clint Capela.
Harden took an average of 6.2 3s per game during his first season with the Rockets. He averaged 30.4 points when he won the NBA MVP in 2017-18. He averaged a career-high 36.1 points a season later, taking a career-high 13.2 3s a game.
Notice the trend?
If Westbrook really is gone, another superstar paired with Harden could follow.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis made the big-name thing work big time for the Lakers last season.
But that James is the Association’s real king, and Harden is still seeking his first NBA Finals game since he left OKC.
What would the best scorer in the league — the undisputed face of the Rockets and a future Hall of Famer — be like with a balanced rotation, depth across the court, a team-wide emphasis on defense and an athletic big man supporting it all?
Maybe we’ll find out in the next couple seasons.
Maybe we’ll never know.