NBA Rumors: Dwight Howard, James Harden trying to get each other traded
By John Buhler
The relationship between James Harden and Dwight Howard might be at a tipping point. Is Harden essentially forcing Howard off the Houston Rockets?
With all the trade talk surrounding the Houston Rockets’ starting center Dwight Howard, could it be in part that Houston’s All-Star shooting guard James Harden is trying to force Howard out of town? If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.
On their first year together with the Rockets in 2013-14, Houston was eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs by a buzzer-beater off the dribble by the Portland Trail Blazers’ point guard Damian Lillard. From there came a ton of finger-pointing between Houston’s two franchise players.
Harden left his first team in the Oklahoma City Thunder after their first ever trip to the NBA Finals in the 2011-12 NBA season, citing to want his own team to lead. Harden was the sixth man coming off the bench for the Thunder to spell point guard Russell Westbrook and small forward Kevin Durant.
Howard was an MVP caliber player while he was with the Orlando Magic. After the same 2011-12 NBA season, Howard decided that he had enough of head coach Stan Van Gundy and Central Florida and left for the Los Angeles Lakers via free agency to play with Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. Nash was always hurt and Bryant clashed with Howard over work ethic almost instantly.
Interestingly the two disgruntled superstars of Harden and Howard would decide to team up in Houston in 2013-14 to try to bring back the glory to a once-proud Rockets franchise. Though Houston made it to the Western Conference Finals last season, the Rockets plummeted out of the gate in 2015-16, resulting in the abrupt firing of head coach Kevin McHale.
Under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the Rockets have become a directionless team, as the No. 2 seed in the West the year before wouldn’t make the NBA Playoffs if they started today. Houston in is ninth place in the West and a game below .500.
It’s interesting as the 2016 NBA trade deadline approaches that the same old friction between Harden and Howard is rearing its ugly head again. However, it seems like Howard is conceding and is willing to let Harden have the dysfunctional Rockets he partly created all to himself.
If Harden is essentially forcing Howard out of town, what would Houston be getting in return that would salvage this otherwise disaster of a season for the Rockets, a team that was a sexy pick to contend for an NBA Championship in 2016.
General manager Daryl Morey would certainly find efficient assets to play his style of basketball, but he can’t again overlook how important player chemistry is in building a championship caliber team. On paper, Houston should contend for an NBA title, but locker room upheaval will extend the Rockets’ 20-year title drought for at least another NBA season.