Of the eight NBA executives and scouts surveyed by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, six of them — or 75 percent — currently expect All-Star guard James Harden to spend the entire 2020-21 season in Houston.
While Harden requested a trade this offseason, he’s under contract for at least two more years. To this point, the Rockets have held firm in not moving him unless they receive what they view as fair value for a perennial MVP finalist. On Monday, Harden rejoined the team at practice, and he’s set to make his 2020-21 debut in Tuesday’s preseason game.
According to Bontemps and his league contacts, that’s where Harden could be playing for quite some time. Bontemps writes:
While it’s clear Harden would like to be traded, making a move is far easier said than done, at least in the eyes of rival scouts and executives. Harden’s large contract — and interest in extending that contract with only a handful of teams — makes it difficult to match salaries, especially if the Rockets maintain their demands for a package of potential young stars and a boatload of future first-round picks.
Those factors together led most to say that despite current appearances, Harden won’t be on the move anytime soon.
“Who f—ing knows, man,” an East exec said with a laugh. “I don’t think he gets traded unless other teams get involved and there becomes a bidding war of sorts. Otherwise I think they just hold pat. They’re not going to trade him for crap.”
Of the two people (out of eight) who answered “yes” to Harden being with another team after the March 25 trade deadline, one picked Philadelphia as the destination, while another selected Brooklyn.
New ESPN story: After a frenetic offseason, I surveyed executives and scouts to get a sense of what lies ahead this season. Who is the best player in the NBA? Who had the best offseason? Who will win the title? All of that, and more: https://t.co/8R2rMceId0
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 14, 2020
Because Harden is signed through at least the 2021-22 NBA season, the Rockets could wait to trade him until at some point in that year. The decision will also depend, of course, on the quality of trade offers from other teams in the interim, as well as how strong the Rockets look on the court when the 2020-21 regular season starts later this month.
If Houston looks poised to contend in the Western Conference, that might push Rockets GM Rafael Stone to table any huge moves until after this season. On the other hand, if the Rockets are struggling — or, perhaps, if a slow start by another team prompts its GM to boost its trade offer for Harden — that could potentially bump up the timetable.
For now, though, “The Beard” remains in Houston. And there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that changing in the immediate future.
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