With the James Harden trade to the Clippers in the news, I’ve recently looked back on the first time Harden was traded in his career in 2012:
When Harden was traded to the Rockets, it was pretty clear he was a good player that would be a starting guard on almost any NBA team.
However, it became clear very quickly that his offensive ceiling was a lot higher than people expected when he dropped 37 points then 45 in his first two games as a Rocket.
I just remember the excitement of those first few games where it was apparent this guy had a level to his game that not many could have foreseen based on his time in OKC.
Ralph Sampson tip in, Michael Cooper on the floor in disbelief. Next day in school, kid logic took over and we all talked ourselves into thinking the NBA will let the Lakers give them another chance because they were defending champs and needed to be in the Finals against Boston.