It's hard to imagine a three-year run of draft success better than the SuperSonics-then-Thunder picking Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden from 2007 to 2009. All three are no-brainer Hall-of-Famers and have won an MVP. All three will likely retire in the top-15 in scoring all-time, with Harden and Durant in the top-10 in career 3-pointers and Harden and Westbrook in the top-10 in career assists.
They are among the most productive offensive engines in NBA history, and — with Harden getting traded to the Cavs yesterday — they will also have collectively played for 12 of the 30 teams in the league. That feels like a remarkable amount of movement and transition for three all-time greats.
Durant, Westbrook and Harden haved changed teams at a historic pace
Of the other 12 players who will likely make up the league's top-15 scorers by the time this trio is done, only three — Shaq, Moses Malone and Carmelo Anthony will have played for six or more teams in their careers.
The Cavs will be Harden's sixth team. Westbrook is playing for his seventh team, Durant his fifth. Westbrook is a free agent this summer, Harden has a player option for next year, and Durant has a player option for the year after that. Given their track records, it's easy to imagine them suiting up for other teams before they're done.
PLAYER | NUMBER OF NBA TEAMS |
|---|---|
LeBron James | 3* |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 2 |
Karl Malone | 2 |
Kobe Bryant | 1 |
Michael Jordan | 2 |
Kevin Durant | 5* |
Dirk Nowitzki | 1 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 3 |
Julius Erving | 3 |
Moses Malone | 9 |
James Harden | 6* |
Shaquille O'Neal | 6 |
Carmelo Anthony | 6 |
Dan Issel | 2 |
Russell Westbrook | 7* |
(LeBron James is also bolded here for two reasons. You could argue that he played for four different teams, since he did two separate stints with the Cavs. He's also still active and may be playing on a different team next season.)
Malone is an outlier, obviously, but he played less than 82 games for three of those nine teams. Same for Anthony. Malone, Anthony and O'Neal players played for so many teams because they bounced around as fringe role players deep into their careers. Harden, Westbrook and Durant are unique in that they were acquired by so many different teams as a centerpiece, with the roster shaped around them and significant offensive responsibilities lavished upon them. Westbrook is in the mercenary role-player phase of his career, but Durant and Harden haven't even gotten there yet.
And while they've always put up big numbers, every team that has tried to build around one of them has been held back by the same flaws. Durant has attracted co-stars of questionable quality and commitment — the fit has never been right, with one extreme exception. Westbrook has refused to adjust his fundamental style of play, approaching the game like a 21-year-old athletic freak, but with a 37-year-old body and still-broken jumper. Harden is an offensive machine that picks up a little more friction and wear-and-tear every year.
Combined, they've played in 478 playoff games, but they have just the two rings — both earned by Durant when he was a member of the Warriors, with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. And it's not clear another ring is really on the horizon for any of them.
Teams keep hoping it will be different this time with James Harden
Harden was the first to leave the Thunder, traded to the Rockets in 2012 after he and the team couldn't agree on an extension. He was the third option behind Durant and Westbrook, and the move gave him an opportunity to feature as the primary scorer and creator for the first time. He thrived in Houston, averaging 29.6 points, 7.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game over nine seasons, winning an MVP, leading the league in assists once, and winning three consecutive scoring titles.
However, his Houston teams could never get over the hump in the playoffs, and he was dogged by questions about his poor conditioning, half-hearted defense, and tendency to disappear in the biggest moments. In terms of his points and assists, he was a historic offensive engine, but it wasn't enough, and, to some degree, every team that has acquired him since has been reliving the Tobias Fünke meme — it didn't work for any of them, but it might work for us.
If you need someone who can reliably create with the ball in their hands, and think you can put the right floor-spacers and stoppers around him, then Harden looks like an answer. That's why there's always been someone else willing to take a chance on him.
Harden is still a high-level shot-creator, but his personal efficiency has declined. His most effective offensive outcome is still drawing a foul, but his free-throw rate has dropped since he left Houston. He prefers to iso — finishing about twice as many possessions in isolations as the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll, which means he has a tendency to make offenses stagnate. At this point, he's more of a floor-raiser than a ceiling-raiser at that end.
To the Cavs credit, they have the pieces of an elite defense, and raising their offensive floor may be enough to get them where they want to go. But it wasn't enough when he was paired with Durant and Kyrie Irving. It wasn't enough when he was paired with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And it wasn't enough when he was paired with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. We have seen lots of different iterations, slightly different complementary stars, different arrangements of role-playing shooters and defenders. Each time, it ends with playoff disappointment and Harden happily jumping ship for a familiar setting and role with a new set of teammates.
Anyway, good luck to the Cavs.