Houston Rockets: James Harden puts on a show in his debut
James Harden looks impressive as ever in regular-season debut
If there’s one thing that has been clear regarding the Houston Rockets this season, even though they didn’t play their first game of the year until Saturday, it’s that James Harden wants to be traded and sooner rather than later.
While Houston continues to search for a deal or offer that appeases their asking price, it’s become clear that the team is going to act as if all things are normal when they’re playing games on the floor.
If there was any concerns or question about how this team would perform on the basketball floor, they were answered when Harden and the Rockets made their 2020-21 regular-season debut against the Portland Trail Blazers.
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Even though the Rockets lost to the Blazers in their first game of the season, Harden looked impressive as he finished with 44 points, 17 assists, and four rebounds per game. If nothing else, Harden once again proved that he can carry an offense – that was missing multiple contributors, including John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins – and still fill up the stat sheet.
For any team that is looking for a superstar, Harden made it loud and clear that he could fill that role still at a very high level – and that he could still play at a very high level even without an organized training camp (which he missed a large portion of).
It’ll be interesting if the market for Harden grows or drops as teams begin to see him play at a high level for the Rockets. Assuming he continues to turn in impressive performances, the hope and expectation from Houston are that his trade value begins to balloon once again.
It’s difficult to predict whether or not the Rockets will get an offer for their outrageous demands but I don’t think James Harden playing at a high level will hurt their chances much.
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James Harden looks as good as ever and is hoping his impressive showing is enough to get another team to come to get him.