James Harden avoids trade talk, sets 2020-21 goals for himself, Rockets

In Monday’s media availability, Harden wasn’t in the mood to discuss whether his views of the Rockets had changed in recent days.

All-Star guard James Harden wasn’t in the mood after Monday’s practice to discuss whether his views of the Houston Rockets had changed.

Harden reportedly asked for a trade this offseason, based largely on his apparent skepticism that he can win an NBA title in Houston. While the Rockets had a strong preseason, including a 2-0 record with Harden and a sensational debut by emerging big man Christian Wood, “The Beard” wasn’t yet ready to make any kind of declaration about the future.

Here’s how one noteworthy exchange went:

Adam Spolane: “James, now that you’ve been in [training] camp for about a week, do you feel any better about this situation now than you did before you arrived?”

Harden: “Next question.”

For context, Harden frequently ignored or reframed parts of questions that referred to or hinted at his alleged desire to be traded. Rather than discuss that storyline, the 31-year-old opted to discuss day-to-day updates on basketball activities for himself and his Houston teammates.

“You keep talking about what I missed,” said Harden, asked about the impact of his delayed arrival in Houston. “I think the entire league is in catch-up mode because of the shortened training camp.”

Harden, who had positive things to say about teammates such as Wood, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins, then set a goal of a “top three seed” in the Western Conference for his Rockets.

“My expectations never change,” said Harden, asked about his goals for the 2020-21 season. “Individually, be the best basketball player in the world. As a team, try to get a top three seed and give yourself a chance.”

Harden said the Rockets have “been going pretty hard” at training camp scrimmages in recent days. Per head coach Stephen Silas, Houston’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s regular-season opener versus Oklahoma City is likely to be Harden, Wall, Danuel House Jr., PJ Tucker, and Wood.

Extended highlights from Harden’s Monday afternoon media availability session at Toyota Center can be viewed below.

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