The Houston Rockets have come up short in their pursuit of an NBA Finals appearance. Led by James Harden, it hasn’t mattered if Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, or Russell Westbrook was in the supporting cast—- previous Rockets teams haven’t quite managed to get through the Western Conference.
With Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni no longer members of the Rockets organization, there is a real potential for Harden and Westbrook to seek playing elsewhere— similar to the situation the Oklahoma City Thunder faced last NBA offseason.
Harden has yet to outright demand a trade from the Rockets, but he does have some teams in mind if he were to do so. Per 5 Reasons Sports, the Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers each are on his ‘wishlist.’
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The thought of the Brooklyn Nets is perhaps the most intriguing when considering they already have Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on the roster. It would be difficult to maneuver salary cap-wise, but it’s a fascinating possibility, nevertheless.
The Miami Heat face the most difficult of pathways to being able to land Harden since they have shown an unwillingness to part with talents like Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Since making an NBA Finals appearance, the perception of their own talent may be at an all-time high.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been an often mentioned potential landing spot and appears the most likely of these three NBA teams. It’s clear that changes need to be made to their roster and that could include Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid eventually.
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It still seems the Houston Rockets will need to pushed into trading James Harden by him outright demanding to be dealt. The team has every intention of building around him along with Russell Westbrook as they feel they are contenders in the Western Conference.
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