James Harden says Houston Rockets ‘just aren’t good enough’
James Harden says the Houston Rockets aren’t contenders
Despite the elephant of James Harden wanting out, the Houston Rockets have elected to move forward with him still on the roster to start the 2020-21 NBA season. The Rockets are reportedly working to trade him, on their timeline, but still haven’t found a deal to their liking.
In part due to this distraction, the Rockets have gotten off to a rocky start to the season. Through nine games, Houston is 3-9 and are sitting in the 14th slot in the Western Conference standings.
Statistically, the Rockets are average and don’t have the look or feel of a playoff team. Through nine games, the Rockets have the 17th ranked offense, 22nd ranked defense and the 20th best net rating in the NBA.
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In short, the Rockets are a below-average team that has more questions than answers at this point in the season. So much so that James Harden has made those sentiments public after back-to-back losses to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
"[via ESPN]“I love this city. I literally have done everything that I can,” Harden said after the Rockets’ 117-100 loss. “I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed.….“We’re not even close, honestly, to that team — obviously the defending champions — and all the other elite teams out there,” Harden said. “I mean, you can tell the difference in these last two games.“We’re just not good enough — chemistry, talentwise, just everything. And it was clear these last two games.”"
While this may not be something that Rockets fans want to hear, Harden might be 100 percent right with his comments. Houston simply isn’t good enough right now and it’s hard to see that changing anytime soon.
Their cap situation isn’t the best, they don’t have many if any assets in terms of future draft picks, and the team’s best player doesn’t even want to be with the team anymore. That’s not exactly a recipe for success in the NBA.
James Harden wants a trade and his comments Tuesday night completely fell in line with what has already been reported. His stance hasn’t changed and perhaps put words to whispers in an attempt to expedite the process.
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The Houston Rockets are not in a great place and will likely have to move James Harden for dimes or even pennies on the dollar. Sometimes, as a franchise, you have to take a step back before taking steps forward. With where Houston is, a huge step back might be in the cards next.