The Beard, James Harden, will get to decide how the Houston Rockets act in free agency this summer.
Normally this isn’t that big of a deal. LeBron James gets a say in how the Cleveland Cavaliers will act, too—shocker, right?
But this one regarding Harden and the Rockets is a little more interesting. Houston grossly underachieved this year and Harden gets some of the blame. Not only that, he never meshed well with star center Dwight Howard, who figures to opt out this summer and perhaps take his talents elsewhere. So the fact Harden perhaps gets a say in Howard’s future, as well as how the rest of the market plays out, makes this a rather notable nugget.
Said nugget comes from ESPN’s Calvin Watkins:
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said James Harden will have a voice when it comes to free agency signings.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) April 15, 2016
Interesting, to say the least.
And what would Harden want on the market? Kevin Durant hardly seems reasonable if not for how dysfunctional the Rockets have been, then for how likely it seems Durant simply doesn’t want to be there. Would Harden want an upgrade on Patrick Beverley in the form of a Rajon Rondo? And if Howard leaves, how would Harden and the Rockets plan on replacing one of the game’s best centers?
Maybe this is getting way ahead of things. But it seems almost a sure thing the Rockets bow out of the first round against the Golden State Warriors. Is there a chance the Rockets suddenly somehow mesh and play up to expectations after 82 games of simply keeping their heads above water? Sure. Would living up to that potentially actually give the Warriors some problems? Absolutely.
But at the end of the day, the headlines around the Rockets already focus on the offseason for a reason. An offseason, in fact, belonging to Harden, because it turns out he’ll have a rather big sway in how the summer plays out.