If you’re thinking to yourself, “This headline is ridiculous!” … you’re right. It is. It should go without stating that there are no credible sources that suggest the Rockets have any interest in James Harden returning to Houston. If you will recall, we dealt with these rumors before the beginning of last season, and word on the street is Ime Udoka said, “Thanks, but no thanks” to the mere suggestion of adding Harden to what was then an even younger roster than currently constructed.
The internet wants James Harden to return to the Rockets
Some people want to see a homecoming.
However, you don’t think that would stop the world wide web, do you? Of course not. Who are these people who are keeping this narrative alive? Are they even people? Am I now culpable just by talking about it? At the risk of that being the case, let’s address this once and for all and put it to rest.
Looks legit doesn’t it… for about 13 seconds, then you realize that this would be arguably the dumbest trade in Rockets franchise history, aside from the fact that this trade isn’t even financially plausible. The point isn’t whether or not this trade is realistic or not, the point is why does this stuff exist on the internet at all? Who benefits from this? Why do people outside of Houston want Harden back on the Rockets so badly?
The most likely reason is the “unfinished business” narrative. The idea is that Harden gave all he had to the Rockets until it was clear that it was time for he and the organization to part ways, after coming oh so close, but never reaching the mountain top of the NBA. The idea of him now returning to “finish what he started” sounds and feels like a fairytale ending. Ah la LeBron returning to Cleveland to win one for the hometown. There is just one problem with that narrative. This isn’t Harden’s hometown, and what the Rockets have going now, he didn’t start.
James Harden had his shot in Houston, multiple times in fact. Before Chris Paul’s hamstring there was the choke job against the Spurs in 2017, the gentlemen’s sweep in the WCF by the Warriors in 2015, Dame Lillard’s buzzer beater in Game 6 of the first round in 2014, etc. James Harden was a tremendous regular season player in his time with the Rockets. A perennial MVP candidate, who could have won at least three other MVP trophies in his time in Houston and probably should have won at least one more.
As great as he was, it wasn’t good enough. Not in his 20s with Jeremy Lin, or prime Dwight Howard, not in his early 30s with prime Clint Capela, Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, Luc Mbah a Moute and the number one defense in the entire league, not with the hall-of-famer and top 75 “point-god” Chris Paul still in his prime. It just wasn’t enough. What on earth would lead anyone to believe that now going on the age of 37 next year, James Harden is suddenly the missing piece to the Rockets championship puzzle? It’s asinine really.
Here is the reality that fans of James Harden do not want to face. They want to frame it as if the Rockets need Harden, when in reality it is the other way around. Harden needs to win a championship to cement his legacy, and if he were do so for any team, all his playoff failures of the past would instantly be forgiven… but if he were to do it back in Houston? He would ascend to an even more legendary status than he could possibly dream of otherwise. However, the Rockets don’t need him. He has already served the purpose this regime needed from him, and that was to help recoup a massive haul of assets that allowed them to rebuild the team they have now. He has served his time and his purpose here.
Let’s put it to rest once and for all. The next time James Harden comes to Toyota Center as a Rocket, should be the evening they are hanging his number 13 jersey in the rafters. No sooner and no later. No one defended James Harden’s tenure in Houston more than yours truly. It is my humble opinion that he is the second greatest carer Rockets player of all-time and the third greatest player to ever put on the jersey, behind only Kevin Durant and Hakeem Olajuwon. I believe the “rumors” and discussion on the internet spaces is just hopeful and romantic wishes of a perfect ending to the James Harden saga in Houston. As for me, it will always be about the name on the front of the jersey above all else. The legacy of the names on the back will always come second.
