Remind us again: Just why is Hardenuntouchable?

Dwight Howard shipped away?

Ty Lawson banished to Salt Lake City?

Daryl Morey on shaky ground?

James Harden safe, secure and untouchable in Houston.

There’s no question mark for that last sentence. But there should be.

Mastermind Morey could do just about anything — or ultimately nothing — before the clock strikes 2 p.m. Thursday and the NBA trade deadline expires.

Of course, the one thing we all knowis that The Beard isn’t going anywhere, barring Clutch kidnapping the league’s second-leading scorer or star-obsessed Les Alexander suddenly deciding he prefers an apocalyptic

rebuild instead of allowing his restless general manager to move a few more chess pieces around the Rockets’ ringless king.

But what do we really knowabout Harden? And is a shoot-first, defense-last shooting guard with increasingly hollow numbers and endless onand off-the-court drama circling his name really the right one for Morey and Alexander to build Toyota Center around?

Those are the questions that must be asked after three-plus years of Oklahoma City’s former No. 3 best player producing two weak first-round bow-outs, one coach’s firing, and whatever the heck the Rockets’ current 27-28 train wreck theoretically represents.

Oh, yeah. Harden also carried the Rockets to the Western Conference finals last year and should have won the MVP award in- stead of golden boy Steph Curry.

But Harden also conveniently forgets to try when the ball’s not in his hand, often believes the most efficient way to find his shot is by calmly dribbling 18 seconds off the clock, and confused locker-room leadership in 2015-16 by co-signing Kevin McHale’s pink slip and then further dividing himself from Howard and a bunch of other average dudes (most of whom have been hanging on the trade block since February began).

Poor little Lawson never had a shot. Superman rarely gets to fly.

Losing favor with fans

So forgive me if I sold my game-worn Harden jersey on eBay for some quick cash, then immediately sunk the meager profits into a signed Curry NBA Finals ball. And understand these words that follow from spurned Rockets lovers, who are now embarrassed to publicly admit they ever owned a chef’s hat and did that silly stir-it-up thing when the bandwagon was briefly full.

“Trade Harden. He’s the real problem. #SelfishDiva.”

“Yes, trade him. No heart, no hustle.”

“You aren’t winning a ring with him. That’s a fact.”

That’s what poured out when I began an otherwise upbeat Wednesday by asking my Twitter friends a casual, open-ended question. Twenty-eight hours left until the NBA trade deadline: If you’re the Rockets, what do you do? It got nasty quickly. There was solid analysis: “Harden is an exceptional talent but lacks leadership and is too selfish to win it without Dwight.”

Strong opposition: “Only idiots think this way.”

Worldly perspective: “Pitchers and catchers report this week. Moving on to baseball.”

Even insider humor: “Trade Morey.”

But less than nine months after Harden, Howard and the incredibly resilient Rockets could have gone up 2-0 against Golden State in Oakland, Calif., it was startling to see howmany bored and frustrated locals have already turned on a 26-yearold just entering his prime and under contract for two more seasons.

I guess Houston really is over the Kardashians.

Or we just have smart basketball fans in this city. People who knowwhen their global, $200 million shoe-deal superstar isn’t giving his all for 48 minutes a few times a week and is more obsessed with himself than inspiring the bored millionaires around him.

I have a great amount of respect for what Harden can do with a basketball rolling off his fingers. I have less belief than ever — and I was already spiritually challenged — that the Rockets’ chosen No. 1 is a true 1 in this star-driven Association.

Greatness in question

Can Harden win a title while everyone is staring up at him for the answer? Can he be coached, pushed, and occasionally broken like all the great ones were? Can he hold a candle to the current names — Curry, LeBron, Durant — when the arena goes dark and a single spotlight is all that’s left?

Harden can score 30 in his sleep. He can flick his wrist and bomb in gamewinners from deep. Great. We knew all that four years ago.

But almost seven seasons into Harden’s professional life, his “team” resumes its pursuit after the All-Star break in ninth place in a weakened West and more fractured than it has been since the decade began.

That’s all on Harden. Just like the “too cool” Rockets’ sudden fall that got McHale axed. As have been all the syrupy-slow starts and careless quarters that have left replacement J.B. Bickerstaff wondering just howlong his young men celebrated the previous night’s loss at the club.

You’re only as good as your leader. You are who you are.

We think Harden is better than this. The Rockets have bet their franchise on it.

If Howard’s gone by 2 p.m. Thursday, Harden will have another discarded name on his résumé. And even if Superman stays in Houston a little longer, the question will still remain: Are the Rockets building this mess around someone they can truly trust?