The whole James Harden saga is far from over even after the Houston Rockets have already played two games into the 2020-2021 season. An NBA insider deemed the Philadelphia 76ers as the most likely destination for the disgruntled star in the event that both teams agree to manufacture a blockbuster trade at some point in the future.
Via Henry Abbott of True Hoop:
“The list of teams where he might end up grows and shifts daily—it’s this NBA season’s favorite topic. But many insiders believe Philadelphia is most likely. Harden wants to be there, Morey loves Harden so much he was just fined $50,000 for an automated Tweet praising Harden. And the 76ers have Ben Simmons, the kind of young star Stone seeks in return.”
Despite not being fully committed to his team and heading to training camp not in playing shape, Harden still displayed his scoring prowess for the Rockets in their first two games.
In the Rockets' season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, James Harden went off for 44 points, four rebounds, and 17 assists which tied his career-high tally. He also received help from the debuting Christian Wood who contributed 31 points and 13 rebounds.
However, the 2018 NBA MVP was also one to blame for their narrow loss as he threw a bad pass that was picked off by former Rockets teammate Robert Covington in the dying seconds of the game to seal the 128-126 victory for the Blazers.
In their second game of the season, Harden showed out with another all-around performance of 34 points, six rebounds, and eight assists while Wood impressed anew with 23 points of his own. Despite their production, the Nuggets were simply loaded and had a more balanced attack that they used to escape with a 124-111 victory.
If the Rockets do decide to get Simmons from the 76ers, their point production will certainly regress but will also give them an opportunity to cultivate a better team culture moving forward. Regardless of who their trade partner will be in the future, coming out with a trade involving a former league MVP in James Harden will surely be a tough decision to make for the Rockets.
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