(The original article was published on December 27. The author is Sam Inn of CBS Sports. The content of the article does not represent the translator’s point of view)
When Harden, who was still in the rocket, wanted to join basketable nets, Harden, who appeared in training camp in 2021, was obviously out of shape. After that, he did not work on the court, and even said directly and publicly, unless his desire to be traded is satisfied, his current situation cannot be improved. This happened 23 months ago, and now it sounds like a long time ago.
After more than a year passed, Harden was extremely eager to leave basketable nets, so that he could hardly see Harden’s efforts in the game of losing to the king, and only got a poor 4 points. This happened about 10 months ago. It was Harden’s last match as a basketable Nets player.
Now this kind of thing happens almost every year. Harden wants to play in another team. He doesn’t like it here. He wants to go there. A new news broke out on Christmas Day. According to ESPN reporter Woj, Harden was seriously considering returning to the rocket as a free agent this summer. You may be thinking that Harden said in a post-match interview on Sunday that he was very happy at 76 people, which means that these reports are nonsense? Okay, do you remember Nash said basketable nets wouldn’t trade Harden?
These things soon became the symbolic features of Harden, but as he grew older, Harden was no longer the superstar at the beginning, instead, it is the capital that he has been able to change teams frequently. Harden at the critical moment is always unreliable. Now it cannot be guaranteed in the regular season and becomes reliable without affecting the stability of the team. Basketable nets and 76 people are willing to take this risk because they think Harden is good enough to help them win the championship. Harden didn’t do it basketable nets. Maybe he could come to 76 people, but now it seems unlikely. There is no reason to change the team again. There is much hope of winning the championship.
After all, rockets have nothing in common with basketable nets and 76 people. The Rockets are not going to compete for the championship now. They are rebuilding slowly and methodically. The Rockets team is very young. Eight of the nine players who have played more than 400 minutes in the team this season are under 22 years old. When these people were ready to win, Harden, who had already declined, was 35 or 36 years old. Considering Harden’s training habits, he probably won’t resist aging like Paul and James. From this perspective, Harden’s return to the rocket is almost meaningless.
To be honest, even if Harden is in good condition when he is old, it is meaningless to return to the rocket. The two most outstanding young Rockets players are Jay Green and Kevin PROTONIC, both of whom are highly utilized defenders. The Rockets have always encouraged this practice, hoping to promote the development of the team. In PROTONIC games, he touched the ball 79 times, ranking 20th in the league, and it was James who ranked 19th. Jay Green’s ball control frequency is lower than before, but he tried more shots, with an average of 17.6 shots ranked 31st in the league, between LaVine and Anthony Davis. This is the rocket’s plan. They want Jay Green and PROTONIC to understand the game now, solve their own problems within a few years and be ready to win.
Both players can continue to grow in their future careers. It is not a good way to let them watch Harden fengshui ball on the court. NBA tracks the total moving distance between the attacking end and the defensive end of each game. In the last five seasons when Harden played for the Rockets, the moving distance of Rocket players at the attacking end of each season was the bottom of the league. His teammates on the court did not move, did not cut, and did not integrate into the attack. Everyone stood in the designated position of downtown, waiting for Harden to send the ball to his hands.
Harden’s return to the Rockets will limit Jay Green and PROTONIC, and may also derail the development of Shen Jing. He is completely different from Harden’s preferred pie center. Shen Jing’s talent lies in his ability to play the role of attacking fulcrum in the center position, and Harden will not give him freedom in this respect. In order to tap the all-star potential after entering the league, little Jamari Smith, who was visiting the talent show this year, needed to develop the ability to independently create offensive opportunities. In the current lineup of rockets, it is difficult for him to get enough playing time to exercise. By next June, the rocket may have another high-speed lottery show, and no one can benefit from Harden’s return to the rocket.
The same is true for Harden. He gave up the option of executing players during the offseason, and the salary cut allowed 76 people to sign Tucker and house. Yes, if Harden performs player options, he can earn more; But now, he still has player options next season. As far as we know, this was the longest contract Harden could get at that time. After seeing Harden’s performance in the playoffs, it was reasonable for 76 people to hesitate about his long-term contract renewal. In addition to the Knicks, which is desperate for Brunson, other teams with a lot of salary space are planning to rebuild this summer. No team will give Harden a contract for the old.
This is the current situation of rockets. It should be noted that if 76 people do not intend to invest in Harden’s future, rockets will have enough salary space to do this at least, provided that they are willing. According to journalist Keith Smith, the rocket is expected to have a salary space of nearly 60 million dollars next summer. If Harden wants to sign another top salary contract, at least it is feasible to use rockets to negotiate with 76 people. What if Harden is really interested in returning to the rocket? Salary space may be a big reason. Don’t expect Harden to join any team with a basic salary.
For rockets, there are more and more meaningful ways to use salary space. Those players who are likely to maintain value during the contract period for many years are good starting points. Rockets can use salary space to absorb bad contracts in exchange for talent show assets, just as many teams have done in the past. Rockets can even use the league’s renewal rules to renew existing players in advance to avoid longer-term costs.
Giving a contract to a player like Harden means winning now, maybe the rockets will do so. After all, trading Harden helped them get a large amount of picks, which can be used in exchange for new helpers. What needs to be remembered is that Harden is not satisfied with Durant; If Harden leaves 76 people, it means that he is not satisfied with enbide either. Who else can the Rockets exchange for a better player than these two? If Harden continues to decline, no superstar will soon be able to win the championship with the top-paid Harden.
The theoretical template of Harden’s return to the rocket is James’s return to the Knight in 2014. When James left the knight in 2010, they almost had nothing. Four years have passed, and the Cavaliers have accumulated enough talent picks and assets to build a champion team around James after his return. Maybe Harden hopes to get something similar. Relying on the young players and assets accumulated by the Rockets, he will get some experienced players and win a championship trophy.
In fact, there are many differences between James and harden. For example, James is obviously stronger than Harden, and he has won two championship trophies before returning to the Knight. He has proved himself on the playoff stage, but none of these Harden. At the same time, James, who returned to the Knight, was also younger. At that time, he was only 29 years old, while Harden was 34 years old before the start of next season.
The biggest difference is that although he was disgusted with James’s original decision, the knight had enough reasons to believe James again. James explained for himself in his article deciding to return to the Knight. He made it clear early in his career that it was his goal to bring a championship trophy to his hometown, in the end, he will return to this goal. He gambled his honor on this return to the Knight.
Harden did not gain more honor after leaving the rocket, but more was a kind of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Harden forced the management to trade himself to basketable nets, and finally ended in failure. A year later, he forcibly came to 76 people. If Harden chose to leave during the offseason, he failed again in 76 people. In this way, there is no reason to believe that he will not fail again in the rocket. For Harden, everything has not changed substantially. On the contrary, the rocket now looks promising after losing Harden, which is a great progress. Basketable nets and 76 people gave Harden what he wanted, but didn’t get what he wanted. For a rising team like rockets, Harden’s arrival may be a potentially disastrous blow. Different from 76 people and basketable nets, the rocket’s optimistic situation is caused by Harden’s desire to leave at the beginning.
Original: Sam Inn
Compile: Li Taibai
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