James Harden went from being one of the most dangerous role players in the NBA in Oklahoma City to being an MVP candidate with the Houston Rockets. Following the trade right before the start of the 2012-13 regular season, Harden was immediately a superstar in the league. He got the Rockets back to the playoffs in his first season, then started thinking about championship contention once Dwight Howard joined him. Things have never been better for Harden, even when you factor in him making it to the NBA Finals in his third season with OKC.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Harden is thinking of staying long term with the Rockets. How long term? He wants to finish his career with the franchise. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has Harden saying he "definitely" wants to play the rest of his career as a Rocket -- something he didn't even hesitate to answer when posed with the question.
"Always," he said when asked if he is still has the same desire. "I'm the last one on the court. I'm still hungry. I have a long ways to go. I'm just getting started."
As for where it will all end, Harden did not entertain a thought of changing anything. Comfortable as he is in the spotlight, he showed no signs of a pull from Hollywood for a return to his native Los Angeles. He had little reason to want to want to change. Signed through the 2017-18 season, when asked if he intends to play the rest of his career in Houston, Harden did not hesitate.
"Definitely," Harden said. "Definitely it's going to end here."
The question then becomes where Harden could end up in the all-time conversation of the Rockets organization. Despite playing just three seasons so far with Houston, the 26-year-old superstar is already rapidly climbing up the ranks in franchise history. He's fourth all-time in 3-pointers made for Houston -- a team that helped jump-start the trend of 3-point shooting as a big weapon in 1993. He's eighth in total free throws made and has the highest scoring average (26.3) in franchise history.
The idea of challenging Hakeem Olajuwon as the top player the Rockets have ever employed is probably insane. Olajuwon is regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, won back-to-back titles for the Rockets, and is in the Hall of Fame. However, Harden could end up at least rivaling his résumé from an individual standpoint when it comes to sheer franchise rankings for categories. This won't move him past Olajuwon unless he manages to become a great defensive player and bring home multiple titles to Clutch City.
But being the second greatest player in franchise history? A franchise that boasts alumni of Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone and Tracy McGrady? That's very doable. He's scored at least 2,000 points in two of his three seasons there. Replicating his production from last season as a scorer will move him from 14th in franchise scoring up to ninth just after this season. Another year of that would jump him to sixth behind Olajuwon, Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich, Hayes and Malone.
He'd only be 28 years old at that point and still in his prime. Let's conservatively project him at this pace of production from 28 to 32. That would put him in the neighborhood of 19,000 points as a Rocket, which would put him second all-time in scoring and within approximately 7,500 points of Olajuwon for the franchise lead. That's not an impossible number to surpass if he's planning on playing into his mid-to-late 30s.
Not to mention, he'll be the franchise leader in 3's, free throws, and knocking on the door of franchise leader in assists. Health, a commitment to defense, and finding ultimate team success will be the key signifiers in just how accomplished Harden becomes in the lore of the Houston Rockets franchise all-time. But if he remains a superstar at this level and keeps coming back to the Rockets year after year, he could end up being one of its most hallowed players.
