RUN IT BACK?
A Houston Rockets insider gave us some context behind controversial James Harden rumors
Mar 3, 2023, 1:02 pm
Should the Rockets bring back James Harden? Composite image by Brandon Strange.
Rockets shrug off setbacks behind Harden's continued dominance
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.
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There's no denying that this year's World Series champs (LA Dodgers) have some serious firepower on their roster. And one of the ways they were able to assemble such a talented team involved players like Shohei Ohtani being willing to differ their money.
Just this week, there was some speculation that the Yankees could do something similar when restructuring Gerrit Cole's contract, that would allow them more flexibility in the present.
The Yankees ended up calling Cole's bluff about opting out, and no adjustment was made to the contract.
But this situation got us thinking, would the Astros consider a tactic like this to maximize the roster? At this point, it doesn't seem all that likely. Just last year, the team handed out a $95 million contract to Josh Hader, without any differed money.
The other factor that also has to come into play is the tax threshold. The organization would have to give the okay to go over it again in order to make a splash signing this offseason. Which unfortunately does not sound like the plan right now when listening to GM Dana Brown at the Winter Meetings.
Astros pitcher hires a new agent
Now that MLB free agency is in full swing, most of the attention moving forward will be focused on players like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto.
But for Astros fans, there might be someone else to keep an eye on this offseason and next. Starting pitcher Hunter Brown quietly hired super agent Scott Boras recently.
With Brown still another season away from his first year of arbitration, he should be with the Astros for the foreseeable future.
However, the hiring of Boras does raise some interesting questions. Why make the move now? Certainly, Brown could use some more cash, as he's set to make less than a million in 2025.
Perhaps Brown wants to land some HEB commercials to fatten his wallet. And if Bregman does leave the team in free agency, a spot will open up for another player, in theory. And three of the players in the HEB ads are represented by Boras (Jose Altuve, Lance McCullers Jr. and Bregman).
Jeremy Pena has been stacking cash from Taquerias Arandas for several years now, maybe Brown would like an opportunity to do an endorsement similar to that.
I say all this half kidding, but Brown does look like the future ace of this staff, and I'm sure there are plenty of advertisers that would have interest in Hunter.
There is another element that could have initiated the hiring of Boras. Would Brown be willing to sign an extension early with the Astros similar to the deal the team made with Cristian Javier?
Their situations are actually pretty comparable, except Javier was one year further into his career (3 years of MLB service time) and eligible for arbitration before agreeing to the extension.
If Brown was heading into arbitration this offseason, it wouldn't be surprising at all for the Astros to be considering a long-term deal with him that buys up all his arbitration years. The 'Stros love these types of contract extensions. We've seen them do it with Bregman, the aforementioned Javier, and others.
One of the main differences though between Brown and Javier is their rookie year numbers. Brown only pitched 20.1 innings in his first season (2022). While Javier pitched 54.1 innings his rookie year. However, his rookie season was in 2020, so Javier completed a full year of service time despite the shortened season. Whereas Brown didn't get called up until September 2022.
Another difference is performance. Javier never posted an ERA over 3.55 in his first three seasons. As opposed to Brown, who had a disastrous year in 2023. He made 29 starts, recording an ERA over 5.
It wasn't until May of 2024 that Brown started using his two-seam fastball with great success and becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League.
The Astros had a bigger sample size to judge Javier. However, if Brown has another quality season in 2025, Houston and Brown should definitely be having conversations about an extension. Especially with Framber Valdez being in the final year of his contract in 2025. Hunter could be the unquestioned ace one year from now.
Still, though, there are some concerns with handing out these early extensions. For example, if the Astros had it to do over again, would they still extend Javier?
After receiving his extension before the 2023 season, he went on to post the highest ERA of his career (4.56), and then blew out his elbow in May 2024.
And if we're going by Luis Garcia's recovery timeline from Tommy John surgery, we may not see Javier pitch at all in 2025.
So even with a sample size of three terrific seasons, the Javier extension looks like a miss with the benefit of hindsight. It will be interesting to see if that deal impacts Dana Brown's decision-making going forward.
Especially since Javier was Dana's first big contract extension as the Astros GM.
Be sure to watch the video as we discuss how the Astros can get the most out of their roster, the pros and cons of signing Hunter Brown early, and much more!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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