It’s a near-lost result that the Houston Rockets are looking to rekindle their relationship with former franchise cornerstone James Harden this season. If their pursuit of Harden fails, the Rockets may quickly turn their focus to one of Harden’s former teammates.
On Sunday, the NBA Reporter Mark Stein He revealed that the Rockets “plan to balance the run on Kyrie Irving in Dallas” if the team is unable to lure Harden away from Philadelphia.
With new head coach Aime Udoka in the fold, Houston look eager to speed up their rebuild this season by adding veteran pieces around a rising young core made up of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alberin Shingon.
Harden and Irving had two very choppy seasons with the Nets, appearing in fewer than 40 concurrent games before Harden clawed his way out of Brooklyn midway through the 2021-22 season. Harden has long been seen as the apple of Houston’s eye. Still, Irving would be an interesting replacement for a Rockets starved for a head coach.
Kevin Porter Jr. is currently named the team’s starting point guard and is fresh from a scoring average of 19.2 PPG, but the USC product isn’t what you’d consider a natural guard and arguably offers a higher ceiling as a shooting guard.
As for Irving, you’ll be hard-pressed to find five players who are better at the point guard position in the league. Baggage aside, Irving remains dominant on the court, averaging 27.1 points on 49.4% shooting while recording 5.5 assists per game for the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets during the 2022-23 season.
Irving’s age and level of play make him a better fit for a multi-year deal in free agency than Harden. Irving, 31, will be three years younger than Harden, who turns 34 in August, at the start of next season. Irving averaged 26.9 points and 5.5 assists in four straight campaigns.
Harden, on the other hand, has seen his scoring average drop by 13.3 PPG over the three seasons since leading the league with 34.3 PPG in 2019-20.