A year ago, James Harden was the third-best option on a team primed to make a run at an NBA championship title.He was running alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and the rest of an elite Oklahoma City Thunder squad. As we all know, the Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals where they were easily dismantled by a far superior team in the Miami Heat last June.
For the 2011-2012 season, Harden had career-best averages of about 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, 39-percent shooting on 3-point attempts and 49-percent shooting from the field. He achieved these garish numbers while remaining a team player, putting the team first and coming off the bench in the sixth man role. Deservedly so, he went on to be named the Sixth Man of the Year that season.
After the summer had passed and all 30 teams were gearing up for yet another year of title chasing, the Thunder made a move that can only be viewed as a calculated risk at this point in time. OKC did not match up well with Miami, and that was evident from Game 2 of the NBA Finals and so on.
Before reaching the Finals, however, the Thunder had no trouble beating teams out of the West. They knew if they were going to compete with the Heat over the course of a seven-game series and some changes would need to be made, but no one outside of the organizations knew what this meant.
After general manager Sam Presti and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder front office offered Harden a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension that he did not pull the trigger on, it became clear that he was going to be suiting up for another team.
The Thunder wasted little time moving him, which is understandable considering his specific skill-set. Interest must have been through the roof from, as teams all around the NBA were in need of an effective, scoring shooting guard. On Oct. 27, 2012, James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets. He had found his new home and was paid handsomely for landing in their laps.
With that, Harden signed to a five-year, $80 million contract extension, which led to the Rockets having a young, immensely talented focal point on offense that they have already begun building around.
Before Harden was acquired, the Rockets had gone out and signed Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin. Both were pricey, but at least Asik had been well worth the investment. He is averaging about 10 points and 12 rebounds per game, both well above his career-averages of about five points and seven rebounds per game.
Though they are not the most feared triumvirate in the NBA, they are more than adequate to build a playoff-contender around and one day even develop into a title-contender. Fast forward to today, the Rockets currently sit seventh in the Western Conference standings and have surpassed most expectations set for them upon Harden’s acquisition at the onset of the season. They are 42-33 and swiftly gaining ground on the Golden State Warriors for the sixth seed.
In one single season Harden has propelled himself, through at times miraculous play, into the Top 10 players in the NBA and also into many experts’ MVP conversations. He is averaging about 26 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals per game. His points-per-game average is good for fifth in the league.
So how did the reigning Sixth Man of the Year go from first man off the bench for a title-contender to an All-Star, top-five league scorer and have his team in a secured playoff-spot? The answer lies in the freedom and creative empowerment Harden has been awarded in Houston. He expresses himself on the court by playing a game unique to only him.
He plays more like a European “basketballer” than a conventional NBA player. He has a quick first step, a great stop-and-pop jump shot and knows how to draw a foul on the way to the basket better than anybody. All he needed was the chance to shine.
The thing I admire most about his transition from the Thunder to the Rockets is that he didn’t make any drastic adjustments to his style of play. The main difference is that he is able to do as he pleases without having to defer to Westbrook or Durant on every other possession.
He is the headline attraction in Houston, whereas in Oklahoma City he was little more than the third pony in their horse show. I do not know if Houston general manager Daryl Morey has incredible foresight or if he just got lucky with the players he has paired together. Harden’s game has brought out the best in those around him, inspiring higher aspirations for all.
Morey and head coach Kevin McHale made it clear the team’s goals this year have been to develop their young players into role-filling contributors, become a closer and more unified unit throughout the season and earn a playoff-berth in the West. All indications lead me to believe they are 3-for-3 on those season-long goals.
As the playoffs near, the focus for Harden and the Rockets must be to maintain their seventh seed going into the postseason and determine the best rotations for what they will potentially face in the first round of the playoffs. Either the San Antonio Spurs or the Thunder are the most likely first round playoff opponent for Houston. Let’s see what they would have to do to make it passed the first round against one of these two elite teams.
If they face the Spurs, they will have to prepare for a more experienced, deliberate team that knows how to negotiate the wear-and-tear a playoff-series has on the body against a younger team. Tim Duncan will put up his normal, dependable stats but the player the Rockets would really have to be aware of is point guard Tony Parker.
Parker is having himself a near career year and has what it takes to break a game or series wide open single-handedly. The Rockets will have to take it upon themselves to keep him covered up at all times and at all costs. If they do this, they will have a fighting chance against the steady Spurs.The second and more favorable option would be to draw the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. This is a better match-up for the Rockets because they have the players and depth to hang with the Thunder’s speed and athleticism. They have agile big men, sufficient perimeter defenders, and good guard play.
They also were able to beat OKC in one of their three meetings this season. Also, not to mention the revenge factor that may be fueling Harden during the postseason. He definitely has something to prove and what better way to do so than by beating the team that refused to pay you the money you felt you had earned and deserved?
It is a big “if”, but if the Rockets did beat the Thunder in round one of the playoffs, it would be a wild twist in the James Harden leaving Oklahoma City saga. I think he is capable of leading a team, but until he does it in a playoff-series, no one will put much effort into defending this stance.
This could be a huge opportunity for Harden and the Rockets, where he personally could solidify himself as a bona-fide superstar player in the NBA and help his team could show the world that it is one of the fastest risers around.
