Disgruntled superstar James Harden said the Houston Rockets are “just not good enough” after the team’s second consecutive result against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, adding that he does not believe the team can improve enough to be a contender. not.
“I love this city. I literally did everything I could,” Harden said after the 117-100 loss to the Rockets. “I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something I do not think can be fixed.”
This is the closest Harden has come to the public with the trade question that sources have said he posed during the off-season.
The Houston front office is determined to stay patient until the award for the 2018 NBA MVP is reached, sources told ESPN. The Rockets have let teams know they want a young franchise cornerstone and a package of first-round and / or intriguing talent on rookie contracts in exchange for Harden, sources said.
According to one source close to the situation, the Rockets had active / ongoing trade discussions with ‘more than half a dozen teams’ and communicated with Harden about these options.
Harden made it clear to owner Tilman Fertitta before the season that he did not believe in the franchise’s direction and ability to fight, preferring to be traded to a team that was in a better position to win.
Fertitta was disappointed, but told Harden he would investigate the trading market on the Rockets roster. He has since consistently given Harden the assurance that he will swap, and empowers the new general manager, Rafael Stone, to swap the three-time points champion, who has three years and $ 133 million with a player option for the last season on his contract. remains he finds an agreement he likes.
The Rockets have lost four of five games since Harden, who held the start of training camp, returned from a right ankle strain that caused him to miss one game. According to ESPN Stats & Information, 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.
This loss was especially not competitive, as the Rockets were 35-14 behind at the end of the first quarter. Houston fell to 3-6, just half a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the worst record in the Western Conference.
“We are not even honest with that team – of course the defending champions – and all the other elite teams out there,” Harden said. ‘I mean, you can see the difference in these last two games.
“We just are not good enough – chemically, talented, just everything. And that was clearly the last two games.”
Harden ended his virtual news conference after only two questions. Rockets point guard John Wall, who arrived in a trade for Russell Westbrook just before the start of training camp, noted that players concerned about personal agendas could drop a team.
“He speaks in his own opinion. I can not know what he thinks of the team or how he feels like us,” Wall said. ‘I know how much hard work these guys do … trying to get better every day. I know how much I do to get back and compete at a high level.
“Here are a lot of guys who want to compete at a high level. Like I said to everyone tonight and I told the guys before, if one to 15 guys are all on the same page and they connect and they know what their role is and they know what they want to get out of this and that’s to win, it’s all going to be good, but if you have certain guys in the mix who do not want to buy everyone as one, it’s going to be hard to do something special or anything good as a basketball team. ‘
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.