Dwyane Wade wants James Harden to average 40 points

Count NBA legend and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade among those to marvel at the scoring exploits of Houston Rockets star James Harden.

Count NBA legend and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade among those to marvel at the continued scoring exploits of Houston Rockets superstar James Harden.

After a 49-point outburst in Saturday’s win at Minnesota, the 30-year-old commonly known as “The Beard” is now averaging 39.5 points this season, along with 7.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Most impressively, there’s nothing empty about the numbers, since they’re contributing to victories by his team. The Rockets (10-3) have won seven straight games and are just a half-game back of the Los Angeles Lakers (10-2) for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

During the streak, Harden is averaging 43.0 points on 44.9% shooting and 41.4% on three-pointers, along with 7.9 assists, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game. In turn, that begs the question: Could the former Most Valuable Player (MVP) make a run at averaging 40 points?

Wade seems to think that it’s at least possible.

At the moment, Harden’s scoring average in the 2019-20 season is the highest by any NBA player in the last 56 seasons. The only player to have broken the 40-point barrier is Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain, who did it twice in the 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons.

Wade’s praise is also noteworthy because he’s one of the game’s historic greats at Harden’s position. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Wade are widely considered to be at the top of the all-time list for elite NBA shooting guards, and it speaks well to Harden’s current run that a member of that group is showing his appreciation.

Harden has also provided value on defense, where Houston has gone from the league’s second-worst unit in net rating during its 3-3 start to the No. 2 defense over its current seven-game winning streak.

It’s possible that Harden’s raw numbers could eventually come down. His 49 points on Saturday came on 41 shots, largely because co-star Russell Westbrook did not play due to planned maintenance on the second half of a back-to-back. And even when Westbrook has played during Houston’s current streak, he’s been in a shooting slump with averages of just 40% from the field and 18.5% on three-pointers.

Once Westbrook returns, and especially if or when his shooting returns to normal levels (for his career, Westbrook is a 43.4% overall shooter and 30.6% from three-point range), that could slightly reduce Harden’s shot attempts and total numbers.

But for now, even with Westbrook out or slumping, the Rockets are still winning games at a 63-win pace — and Harden’s ability to take on an even higher workload than usual has a lot to do with it. It’s only appropriate that all-time greats, such as Wade, have taken notice.

[lawrence-related id=17965,17801,17627]