RUN IT BACK?
A Houston Rockets insider gave us some context behind controversial James Harden rumors
Mar 3, 2023, 1:02 pm
RUN IT BACK?
James Harden returning to the Houston Rockets next year is such a crazy, loony, makes-no-sense idea that I’m now 100-percent convinced it’s gonna happen.
Remember, we’re talking about James Harden and the Houston Rockets, two forces of nature that haven’t made a lot of sense in recent years.
I asked a Rockets insider, why would Harden want back here, and why would the team want him back? Didn’t they have a messy divorce just two years ago, with Harden practically sabotaging the team to force a trade to the Brooklyn Nets?
“I guess (Rockets owner) Tilman Fertitta figures Harden would draw attention to the team, sell some tickets and they’d win a few more games. I can’t think of any other reason,” the insider said.
The Rockets currently are 13-49, on their way to the distinction of being the worst team in the NBA for the third consecutive year. The Rockets are like the Richard Farina novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.
Maybe Harden would sell tickets – and the Rockets wouldn’t have to offer bargain-basement deals to entice fans to Toyota Center. Like Wednesday night for example: a quesadilla and a beverage (beer, soda or water) for “just $29!” You can imagine Fertitta doing his best Ron Popeil imitation – “just $29!” If you crunch the numbers, and subtract the quesadilla and beer, the Rockets are practically giving away NBA games at “one low, low price of under five bucks!”
To watch the Rockets get blown out by the Memphis Grizzlies, a title contender with exciting superstar Ja Morant.
Would it make sense for the Rockets to bring back Harden, who likely would ask for a max four-year contract worth $201 million? The Beard will be 34 next season.
Why not? Last year the Rockets paid John Wall $44 million to not play.
It’s not a secret, and hasn’t been one for several months, that Harden is considering coming back to the Rockets, where he spent eight sensational, high-scoring, controversial seasons. He made eight All-Star teams, won three NBA scoring titles and one MVP award.
He allegedly also pulled stunts like forcing the team to stay an extra day in certain cities so he could party and hang out with friends. He reportedly was given days off from practice so he could travel to Las Vegas on a private jet. TMZ reported that one night, after a disastrous playoff performance and Rockets loss, Harden went to a strip club where patrons chanted “MVP” at him.
Fertitta has a personal fondness for Harden. After the Rockets traded Harden to Brooklyn, Fertitta told him, “You're always welcome back here.”
Harden loves Houston, pure and simple. Last year, while wearing a jersey that said Brooklyn on the front, Harden said this about Houston: “My family is here, my mom, my sister, my brother, so this is the place I would call home. I feel like this city deserves for me to still put my stamp on it even though I’m no longer playing here. I’ve got to find ways to continue to do that, and I will.”
One way would be to sign with the Rockets at the end of this season.
Meanwhile, after demanding to leave Houston, and shortly after demanding to leave Brooklyn, Harden is playing for the ‘76ers who are serious title contenders. Harden is having an excellent season despite missing some games from injury. He is averaging 21.6 points while leading the NBA in assists with 10.7 per game. Wonder what his teammates think about Harden and rumors that he wants back in Houston?
This wouldn’t be the first time that the Rockets have brought in a veteran star. In recent years, they’ve signed Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and others. How’d those signings work out? Not so good – and it was Harden who contributed to their unhappy endings.
If Harden does return to the Rockets, which Harden would we be getting: the megastar ball hog or the now more mature and co-starring playmaker?
Before the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked if he was going to pick “the Dribbler (Harden)?” The Greek Freak’s answer: “I want somebody who’s going to pass the ball.” Antetokounmpo wound up taking Kemba Walker over Harden that game.
That was then. This is now – Harden has MVP candidate Joel Embiid and other veterans to pass to. If he plays for Houston next year, he’ll be joining a team currently comprised of rookies, first and second-year players who have done nothing but losing in their pro careers. Plus the Rockets have three first-round picks in the 2023 draft. So Harden would be taking the court with a young team projecting to be even younger. He would be the team’s undisputed star and T-shirt seller, though. At least the marketing department would have something to promote: James Harden and the Pips
Is Harden a changed man who can show these young’uns how to be a professional?
For the past 10 years, Harden has talked about his hunger for an NBA championship. The team he’s with now, the 76ers, have a legit shot at a ring this year and next. The Rockets aren’t contenders and likely won’t be for a few more seasons at the earliest.
Harden surely won’t be coming to Houston for the money. While the Rockets could offer him $201 million over four years, the 76ers can up that to $272 million over five years.
It’s not like Harden needs the money. He’s already the fifth highest-paid player in NBA history with earnings of $268.6 million. Add another $201 or $272 for his next contract, plus his $200 million shoe deal and other endorsements and investments, and Harden will walk away from basketball on his way toward being a billionaire.
The Houston Astros entered the 2025 MLB Draft with limited capital but a clear objective: find talent that can help sustain their winning ways without needing a full organizational reboot. With just under $7.2 million in bonus pool money and two forfeited picks, lost when they signed slugger Christian Walker, the Astros needed to be smart, aggressive, and a little bold. They were all three.
A swing on star power
With the 21st overall pick, Houston selected Xavier Neyens, a powerful left-handed high school bat from Mt. Vernon, Washington. At 6-foot-4, Neyens is raw but loaded with tools, a slugger with plus power and the kind of bat speed that turns heads.
He’s the Astros’ first high school position player taken in the first round in a decade.
If Neyens develops as expected, he could be the next cornerstone in the post-Altuve/Bregman era. Via: MLB.com:
It’s possible we’ll look back at this first round and realize that the Astros got the best power hitter in the class. At times, Neyens has looked like an elite hitter who’d easily get to that pop, and at times the swing-and-miss tendencies concerned scouts, which is why he didn’t end up closer to the top of the first round. He was announced as a shortstop, but his size (6-foot-4) and his arm will profile best at third base.
Their next big swing came in the third round with Ethan Frey, an outfielder/DH from LSU who was one of the most imposing college hitters in the country.
He blasted 13 home runs in the SEC and helped lead the Tigers to a championship.
Filling the middle
In the fourth round, the Astros grabbed Nick Monistere, an infielder/outfielder out of Southern Miss who won Sun Belt Player of the Year honors.
If Kendall likes the pick, I like the pick. https://t.co/NQKqEHFxtV
— Jeremy Branham (@JeremyBranham) July 14, 2025
He doesn’t jump off the page with tools, but he rakes, hitting .323 with 21 home runs this past season, and plays with a chip on his shoulder.
They followed that up with Nick Potter, a right-handed reliever from Wichita State. He projects as a fast-moving bullpen piece, already showing a mature approach and a “fastball that was regularly clocked in the upper-90s and touched 100 miles per hour.”
From there, Houston doubled down on pitching depth and versatility. They took Gabel Pentecost, a Division II flamethrower, Jase Mitchell, a high school catcher with upside, and a host of college arms, all in hopes of finding the next Spencer Arrighetti or Hunter Brown.
Strategy in motion
Missing multiple picks, Houston leaned into two things: ceiling and speed to the majors. Neyens brings the first, Frey and Monistere the second. And as they’ve shown in recent years, the Astros can develop arms with late-round pedigree into major league contributors.
The Astros didn’t walk away with flashy headlines, they weren’t drafting in the top 10. But they leave the 2025 draft with a clear direction: keep the farm alive with bats that can produce and arms that can fill in the gaps, especially with the club managing injuries and an aging core.
If Neyens becomes the slugger they hope, and if Frey or Monistere climbs fast, this draft could be another example of Houston turning limited resources into lasting impact.
You can see the full draft tracker here.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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