Tag: James Harden

James Harden morphed into Kawhi Leonard for one play and stopped the Spurs all by himself

What if James Harden played defense like this all the time?

James Harden has been maligned for most of his career as a generally poor defender.

At best, he wasn’t trying because of the offensive load he was taking on. At worst? He just didn’t care. Defense never seemed like it was his problem. Unless, of course, he was playing in the post. Then he took it personally. Just ask Daryl Morey.

But on Monday, Harden looked like an All-World defender for once. It was almost like he morphed into his teammate, Kawhi Leonard, to lock up Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs all by himself.

Harden registered four different deflections on this possession by my count.

That’s some incredible defense. It didn’t really amount to much in that quarter — the Spurs ended up dropping 40 points to start the game.

Still! That’s impressive work from Harden. And LA still ended up getting the win despite having to pull off a 26-point comeback.

Netflix’s Starting 5 Season 2 cast is here and NBA fans should love it

Basketball fans are going to enjoy this.

Netflix’s documentary series about the NBA, Starting 5, will come back for a second season and that is fantastic news for basketball fans.

The first season featured big stars LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis. It was an enjoyable and entertaining watch that offered fascinating insights into the world of players at dramatically different points in their careers.

USA TODAY’s For The Win spoke to Sabonis about his experience filming the show and what it was like having a documentary career following him around during the Sacramento Kings season.

SEASON 1 INTERVIEW: Domantas Sabonis is ‘scared’ and ready for fans to dive into his life on new Netflix show

For those that watched and enjoyed, they can have something more to look forward to.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the show is coming back for another season (!) and will feature five new fresh faces.

The cast is Kevin Durant, James Harden, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Haliburton. The show will follow them during the 2024-25 NBA campaign, which features Brown defending his 2024 NBA championship and Gilgeous-Alexander pursing a potential MVP award.

This should be a lot of fun.

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2024-25 Los Angeles Clippers: A quick preview

While many have focused on the departures of Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Clippers have quietly added key defensive pieces in Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, and Kris Dunn. These additions, while not as flashy, could make the team better …

While many have focused on the departures of Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Clippers have quietly added key defensive pieces in Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, and Kris Dunn. These additions, while not as flashy, could make the team better overall, as they focus on balance and fit rather than pure talent.

With Kawhi Leonard and James Harden anchoring the offense, the Clippers still have two elite scoring options. What’s different now is that they’ll be surrounded by versatile, defense-minded role players who complement their skill sets. The team may be less star-studded than last year, but the pieces could fit better, particularly under head coach Tyronn Lue’s nine-man rotation system, which emphasizes staggering stars and maximizing player roles.

Leonard and Harden will continue to lead the way, but with players like Jones stepping into a starting role and Dunn filling the backup point guard position, the Clippers have a deeper, more defensively sound team. Additionally, the team’s flexibility with Harden’s two-year deal ensures they remain competitive now while maintaining future cap room.

Duke basketball freshman Isaiah Evans names James Harden, Jalen Brunson as inspirations

During last week’s episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Duke’s Isaiah Evans named James Harden and Jalen Brunson as players he looks up to.

The best way to become a great basketball player is to watch what great basketball players do, and that fact is not lost on new Duke freshman [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag].

During last week’s episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, the incoming five-star named James Harden and Jalen Brunson as two NBA players he enjoys watching.

Evans said he felt drawn to Harden since he was young, and he would have been 12 years old when Harden was named the 2017-18 NBA MVP with the Houston Rockets. He averaged 30.4 points per game that season, his first of three consecutive scoring titles.

“He imposed his will on the defense,” Evans said. “He was just going out there and just showing you, you really just couldn’t do nothing with him. I just loved that.”

With Harden now approaching his 35th birthday, Evans said Brunson emerged as a younger player he loves studying.

“His footwork and his pivots and his pump fakes,” Evans said. “I’m just in love with it.”

Thanks to his Duke commitment and slender build, Evans draws many visual comparisons to former Blue Devil [autotag]Brandon Ingram[/autotag]. The five-star freshman also said he likes watching Ingram and [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] as he tries to take what he can from as many stars as possible.

Kendrick Perkins explains how James Harden’s 2012 Team USA stint led to his trade to Houston

In a new podcast, NBA analyst and former teammate Kendrick Perkins explains how James Harden’s 2012 stint on Team USA laid the groundwork for his trade to Houston.

The October 2012 blockbuster trade that sent James Harden from Oklahoma City to Houston resulted in the Rockets acquiring a player widely viewed as the second best in franchise history (trailing only Hakeem Olajuwon, a two-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer).

On the “Road Trippin’”  podcast, Kendrick Perkins — once Harden’s Thunder teammate and now a league analyst for ESPN — says that historic Harden-to-Houston deal got an assist from high places.

As Perkins recalls, it was Harden’s gold-medal run with the United States men’s national team at the 2012 Olympics that laid the groundwork for his Oklahoma City departure. According to Perkins, it was Harden’s distinguished Team USA teammates — namely, legendary players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — who convinced Harden that he was worthy of an expanded role.

Via Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire:

“(Kevin Durant) said, ‘Man, (we’re) about to lose (Harden)’,” Perkins said. “… At the Olympics (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade), all those guys were telling James, ‘Bro, (you’re) too nice to be coming off the bench… You need to have your own team.’”

The full podcast and the Olympics snippet can be viewed below.

A few months later, Oklahoma City’s then-sixth man rejected the team’s contract-extension offer. From there, the fourth-year guard was traded to Houston for a package heavy on cheap, young prospects and draft assets. That deal allowed the Thunder to avoid any risks associated with keeping an unhappy Harden — who could’ve become a restricted free agent a year later — on the roster.

Eight All-Star appearances and a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award later, it’s clear that Houston won that transaction. Then-general manager Daryl Morey was the architect, but it appears that James and Wade may have played a behind-the-scenes role, as well.

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Kendrick Perkins believes James Harden’s time with Team USA led to Thunder departure

Kendrick Perkins believes James Harden’s time with Team USA led to Thunder departure.

In recent years, one of the most altering deals in league history involved the Oklahoma City Thunder. After failing to reach an extension, OKC shipped James Harden to the Houston Rockets in 2012.

The Thunder failed to get proper value as they fell short of a championship with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, Harden blossomed into a superstar and was one of the best players of his era.

In a “Road Trippin'” podcast appearance, Kendrick Perkins revealed Harden’s time with Team USA in 2012 showed the first signs of fractures in his relationship with the Thunder.

After an NBA Finals appearance, OKC’s trio of Durant, Westbrook and Harden were on Team USA during the 2012 Olympics. They went on to win a gold medal. Afterward, Harden was eligible to sign an extension with the Thunder but never did.

“(Kevin Durant) said, ‘Man, (we’re) about to lose (Harden)’,” Perkins said. “… At the Olympics (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade), all those guys were telling James, ‘Bro, (you’re) too nice to be coming off the bench… You need to have your own team.’”

This has been a popular theory for years. Many assumed Harden’s time with Team USA planted the idea that he was too talented to be the third option. There are other reasons why he left OKC, but that was a primary one.

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Did James Harden make a mistake by not extending with the Nets?

Could James Harden have made a mistake by not extending with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2021-22 season?

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the primary teams that NBA fans think about when it comes to what could have been with a franchise having as much talent as they did just a few years ago. However, it’s not only Brooklyn that there is a what if as one of the players that were with them during their title contending window has a what if moment of his own.

James Harden was recently listed as one of the notable players that mismanaged their own market value by Bryan Toporek of Bleacher Report. The reason that Toporek listed Harden is because of everything that’s happened to him since his time with the Nets.

Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Harden had a chance to sign a three-year, $161 million ($53.6 million per year) extension with Brooklyn in October the 2021-22 season, but declined to sign an extension for an understandable reason. If Harden waited until the following summer, he would have been able to re-sign with the Nets to the tune of a four-year, $227 million ($56.7 million per) extension.

Granted, there wasn’t a bad option for Harden as the difference between those two outcomes is a little over $3 million per season and one extra year of security on the contract. The Nets traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers in February of 2022, just a few months after he declined his extension and he ended up re-signing with Philadelphia the following summer for two years and $68.6 million, a deal below what he could have signed for in his attempt to help the 76ers have more financial flexibility.

The 76ers traded Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in November of 2023 with him being set to be a free-agent after the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign. This summer, he re-signed with the Clippers on a two-year, $70 million deal.

Harden has made almost $69 million over the past two seasons when he could have made at least $106 million at the very least. Given how his career has transpired since he declined that extension from Brooklyn, it seems like he could be regretting the loss in income.

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The Lakers have huge salary restrictions after re-signing LeBron James and it’s their own fault

How can the Lakers improve next season with these restrictions?

As expected, the Lakers re-signed LeBron James to a new contract in free agency.

It was one of three biggest moves they have made so far this offseason, including hiring the co-host of his podcast as head coach and drafting his son then offering him a multiyear guaranteed contract. Otherwise, as of when this story was published, fans can expect to look mostly similar to last year.

James will return on a two-year, $104 million contract worth the maximum he could sign. His deal includes a player option in the second season (which means this song and dance can continue next summer) and a no-trade clause.

James signed a max contract after his agent, Rich Paul, said that he would be willing to accept a pay cut if the Lakers could secure certain players around the league during free agency:

“The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker such as James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis such as Jonas Valančiūnas, sources told ESPN.”

Harden re-signed with the Clippers, Thompson was included in a sign-and-trade with the Mavericks, and Valančiūnas joined the Wizards. That left the best remaining free agents cupboard fairly empty, so James signed a deal for as much money as he could, which he earned the right to do.

According to ESPN, Paul and Rob Pelinka are “planning to discuss” the possibility of James potentially taking “$1 million or so” below the max. Until that happens, though, it looks like trouble for Los Angeles.

Now that D’Angelo Russell accepted his player option to return to Los Angeles, the Lakers are currently in the punitive second apron of the luxury tax.

Due to the restrictions of the first apron, the front office would have a very unrealistic challenge to clear at least $25 million in salary to access the $12.8 million non-tax mid-level exception.

But they have even more harsh restrictions in the second apron, such as an inability to acquire a player (including a potentially appealing free agent like DeMar DeRozan) in a sign-and-trade.

Unless they significantly reduce payroll, they are also restricted from using the $5.2 million taxpayer mid-level exception.

As of right now, without salary dumping players in a trade, the Lakers can essentially only sign minimum players or re-sign their own players from last season (such as Taurean Prince) if they want to add to their roster.

Perhaps this team improves with new coaching and gets solid contributions from rookie Dalton Knecht or a healthy Gabe Vincent. Otherwise, however, there is little reason to expect this team to look any better than they did as a play-in team in 2023-24.

There is no one to blame but themselves for the situation getting this dire.

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Social media reacts to James Harden staying with Clippers: ‘He’s in a committed relationship, everybody clap’

James Harden will return to the LA Clippers on a two-year, $70 million deal. The 10-time NBA All-Star could now likely finish his career in Los Angeles. Here’s how NBA Social Media reacted to the news:

James Harden will return to the LA Clippers on a two-year, $70 million deal. The 10-time NBA All-Star could now likely finish his career in Los Angeles.

Here’s how NBA Social Media reacted to the news:

USC basketball hosts Kevin Durant, other NBA stars with recruits watching

Hosting Kevin Durant and James Harden after practice with recruits looking on? Seems like a good recruiting tool for USC and Eric Musselman.

USC basketball hosted a number of notable NBA players on NBA draft day at the Galen Center. Dalen Terry (Arizona), Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga), Kevin Durant (Texas) and James Harden (ASU) met with USC coaches Will Conroy and Eric Musselman. Conroy put the NBA guys through a workout after USC basketball practice.

There are many recruiting advantages to USC being located in Los Angeles. Highly-prized 2025 five-star recruits Tounde Yessoufou and Brayden Burries were visiting and taking in practice as the NBA players assembled courtside. It never hurts to have two NBA MVPs working out with one of your assistants when you are hosting two elite prospects.

“It’s good for our guys to watch, jump in, work out with them,” Musselman explained after practice. “We’ve had a steady flow of guys almost every day, and the great thing about being in LA is that a lot of these guys have offseason homes here, and certainly we want to open our doors to them.”

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