Disgruntled superstar James Harden said the Houston Rockets “aren’t good enough” after the team’s second straight loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night, adding that he doesn’t think the team can improve enough to be a contender.
“I love this city. I’ve literally done everything I can,” Harden said after the Rockets’ 117-100 loss. “I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think can be fixed.”
It’s the closest Harden has come to trading on the stock market with the commercial demand that sources said he made during the off-season.
The Houston head office is determined to remain patient until the price demanded by the 2018 NBA MVP is met, sources told ESPN. The Rockets have informed teams they want a young cornerstone of the franchise and a pack of first-round picks and / or intriguing talent in rookie contracts in exchange for Harden, sources said.
The Rockets have held active / ongoing trade discussions with “more than half a dozen teams,” according to a source close to the situation, and have contacted Harden about these options.
Harden made it clear to owner Tilman Fertitta before the season that he did not believe in the direction and fighting ability of the franchise and preferred to be changed to a team that was in a better position to win, sources said.
Fertitta was disappointed, but told Harden that he would explore the commercial market according to the Rockets’ schedule. Since then, he has continuously given Harden the guarantees that will change him and empowered the new general manager, Rafael Stone, to change the three-time scoring champion, who is three years old and has $ 133 million with a player option for the final season remaining on his contract, he finds a deal he likes.
The Rockets have lost four of five games since Harden, who stayed out of the beginning of the training camp, came back from a sprained right ankle that caused him to lose a game. He has scored 20 points or less in the last four games, his longest stretch since 2011-12, his last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
This loss was especially uncompetitive, as the Rockets placed at the end of the first quarter with a 35-14 record. Houston fell to 3-6, just halfway ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the worst Western Conference record.
“We’re not even close, honestly, to this team, obviously the current champions, and all the other elite teams out there,” Harden said. “I mean, you can differentiate in these last two games.
“We’re just not good enough: chemistry, talent, everything. And it became clear these last two games.”
Harden ended his virtual press conference after just two questions. Rocket point guard John Wall, who arrived at a Russell Westbrook trade just before the start of training camp, noted that players preoccupied with personal agendas can drop a team.
“He’s talking to his own opinion. I can’t know what he thinks about the team or what he feels like,” Wall said. “I know how much work these guys do … to try to improve every day. I know what work I do to get back and compete at a high level.
“There are a lot of guys here who want to compete at a high level. Like I told everyone tonight and I told the guys before, when one in fifteen guys are all on the same page and they commit, they know their role. and they know what they want out of that and that’s winning, everything will be fine, but when you have some guys who don’t want to buy them as one, it’s going to be hard to do anything special or anything good as a basketball team. ”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.