Does James Harden deserve a $228 million extension?
James Harden. Digital image. Sports on Earth. N.p., 2 Dec. 2014. Web. 9 July 2017
Before you read this article, I would like to confess that I am a massive James Harden fan. As a result, I have an tremendous bias towards both James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
In case you didn't know, yesterday, James Harden signed an NBA-record, $228 million, 2-year extension that would expire at the end of the 2022-2023 season, which extends upon his current contract of 4 year/$118 million. This extension signifies that at the end of the 2022-2023 season, it would have been a decade since Harden arrived in Space City, after arriving through a trade during the 2012-2013 season. The report of this extension came right after ESPN's Woj reported that the trade talks between the Rockets and Knicks, which involved Carmelo Anthony, were intensifying. The Rockets later reported that this extension has no connection to the Carmelo Anthony pursuit. The big question remains, though, which is, "Does James Harden deserve a $228 million dollar extension?"
James Harden, in my opinion, is the best basketball player in the league, right now. Although he doesn't have a MVP under his belt, Harden has had a MVP-caliber season almost every year as part of the Rockets franchise, and is able to maintain the status of being an elite player. Additionally, he was able to lead the Rockets to the second round of the playoffs last year, despite switching to point guard from shooting guard. Additionally, Harden was able to lead a 50 plus win campaign and secure a #3 seed last year despite not having multiple star players and having to work with mediocre starters. So when asked if James Harden deserves a record-breaking extension, my answer is that there is no one else that is talented enough to receive that kind of paycheck. Many critics might respond saying that he is unreliable, especially after the last couple of games in the playoff series against the Spurs this past postseason. But, I would respond saying that Harden was the player that brought the Rockets to that point. Every player has a couple bad games, and unfortunately for the Rockets', these bad performances happened during the crucial moments in the series with the San Antonio Spurs, this past postseason. For example, LeBron James brought the Heat to the Conference Semis, but he performed poorly against the Celtics, and as a result lost the series. Also, in the 2016 NBA Finals, Steph Curry (who won the MVP that year) led his team to the NBA Finals against the Cavaliers, but in the decisive Game 7, his performance was greatly disappointing.
Not only does this extension benefit James Harden, but it benefits Daryl Morey and the Rockets. This is because Harden is the future of the Rockets franchise. Being able to hold him back for another six years almost guarantees that the Rockets will have a winning season until Harden's extension comes to an end. Not only that, but the Rockets can rule out the possibility of losing their franchise player, which in this case is James Harden. The loss of Gordon Hayward for the Utah Jazz this offseason is the perfect epitome that the Rockets' are avoiding. Hayward was the Jazz's franchise player, a solid forward that led the Jazz to the second round of the playoffs this season. With the loss of their franchise player during free agency, the Jazz have very little, if any, hope of getting better, and are stuck in a very deep hole. I am sure that the Rockets are not ready for a situation like this to see their franchise player leave!