James Harden is the NBA's most inscrutable player. On the court, he's reached the point where his reservoir of brilliance is more or less tapped and must be conserved and deployed judiciously—his 40+ point masterpieces in Games 1 and 5 of 76ers' playoffs loss to Boston were offset by his clunkers in Games 6 and 7. Off the court, he's alternately loyal and mercurial—he maintains deep, abiding ties to the Houston Rockets and Daryl Morey, even as he's potentially on the verge of blowing up his third team in as many years. Still, even at his advanced age, the 33 year-old Harden is so good that, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, there's widespread “appetite” around the league to lavish him with a four-year, $200 million max contract.
At this point, Harden's two primary options seem to be either staying with the Philadelphia 76ers and running back a quasi-contender or rejoining the Houston Rockets and becoming the elder statesmen of a putatively ascendant team. The 76ers can pay Harden more money, but the difference is negligible; the 76ers can offer Harden a four-year, $210.1 deal while the Rockets (or any other non-76ers team) can offer a four-year, $201.7 contract, which would functionally be worth more once the absence of income tax in Texas is factored in.
While Harden has publicly professed that winning is his primary objective, the Rockets have been operating as if they're assuming that they'll land him. During their recent coaching search, the Rockets reportedly asked candidates about their thoughts on coaching Harden.
If this all seems like a lot of fuss for a player in decline, James Harden has shown that he's worth it, for now. In his first full year with the 76ers, Harden 21.0 points and a league-leading 10.7 assists per game.
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