What do we think of James Harden now? Tim Warner/Getty Images
I’m really torn on what I think about James Harden after these playoffs. I thought this postseason would sway me one way or the other. I’d been saying for years that we will always be in James Harden purgatory - somewhere up there but never in heaven. About midseason I admitted that I was wrong, that James could take us to the promised land. Now I’m not so sure. I’m in limbo which is what purgatory is I guess. So I’m right back where I started. I think.
I’m so confused.
But that’s what James does. He confuses and confounds you then promptly amazes and astounds you. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to pick up my phone and tweet about one of his errant passes or lazy defensive efforts or when he just let an inbounds pass bounce right to a Warrior who picked it up and scored easily.
But I stopped myself. And sure enough right after one of his boneheaded plays he’d steal a pass or hit Capella with a sweet alley oop or knock down a big 3 and a tweet that would have made perfect sense would have looked stupid just a couple minutes later.
So where are we on James Harden’s legacy?
I have no idea.
If only Chris Paul hadn’t gotten hurt. With CP3 we know they had enough fire power to win it all. Whether or not they would have is the great unknown. I think they would have. You may not think so. Okay. You’re not wrong either. No one knows for sure.
I do know that he was the yin to James’ yang. He was hot when James was cold. In those crunch times we’ve seen James fold in, CP3 took the reins and guided them to victory - Game 5 against the Jazz when he poured in 41 or Game 4 in Oakland when he brought them back from 12 down in the 4th to even the series at two games apiece.
And that was fine by me. If Chris Paul was the alpha dog and led them to the title, all we’d remember is that they won. James could bathe in the glory of a championship and the monkey would be off his back. They couldn’t have won it without him regardless of his postseason play. It would be idiotic to criticize him any longer because he won. Period.
But that’s not the case. Now all we have is another playoff failure and James has to take his share of the blame for it. In Game 7 he scored 32 but on 29 shots. He was just 2 of 13 from 3 point range and worse yet he didn’t have any answers or leadership in another second half swan dive.
Elimination James is alive and well. It’s not nearly as egregious as last year’s Game 6 against the Spurs or as haphazard as his 11 turnover game in ‘15 but it was still an elimination failure. So the question still remains. Can the Rockets win a title with James Harden? Other questions have to be answered first.
Is an oft-injured Chris Paul a max deal guy and if so for how long?
Do you match whatever for Capella?
Do you upgrade the Trevor Ariza position?
Will anyone take Ryan Anderson’s contract? Please.
Is Gerald Green worth bringing back?
Are you really in the LeBron sweepstakes?
They’re all legitimate issues Daryl Morey has to face this offseason. I think he did a helluva job putting this team together and getting them to the precipice of greatness. All the pieces fit perfectly. If that one spoke didn’t break they could have won the race.
The reality is that that spoke breaks quite often and you have to prepare accordingly. You never want to predict that someone will get injured but history shows that it’s more likely than not for CP3. We also know that James can’t win it alone so there’s got to be more.
If it isn’t LeBron it’s going to have to be someone else.
Paul George? Not likely.
Boogie Cousins? No thanks.
Carmelo Anthony? I’d rather have Boogie.
Most of the other decent possible additions are restricted free agents and they cost too much. So does JJ Reddick.
Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker and Dirk are too old. Rajon Rondo is a nut job. Marco Belinelli might be a piece that would fit but he’s just a piece.
Good luck Daryl. Should be fun. But he pulled it off last offseason so you never know.
I do know this. I feel better about James right now than I did last year at this time. That’s not a high hurdle though. At this time last year we were all reeling from the Game 6 nightmare.
At least in Game 7 against the Warriors he tried. He spun his wheels but he did try.
He deferred to CP3 against the Jazz and Warriors but I’m OK with that. He did what was best for the team.
All his postseason numbers were worse than his regular season numbers. Took more shots and made fewer. Took more 3’s and made fewer. Scored less per game overall.
So you would think that nothing’s changed and if that’s your attitude then so be it. But I saw something different this year. I’m kind of with Mike D’Antoni on this one. Let’s not discount the 65 wins. Let’s not forget the WCF appearance. Let’s appreciate what will be an MVP season from James.
It all just looked and felt different and if that’s because James had CP3 there leading him towards the water that’s fine. He drank it. And the team was better for it.
I don’t care if James isn’t the alpha in the room. That’s not his thing. Scoring is and he does that better than everyone in the league and because of it they were one half away from the championship round.
We may still be in James Harden purgatory but I know this: the pearly gates ain’t far away.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.