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.
My 12 year old self was watching his first NBA Finals between Pistons vs Spurs, rooting for Puertorrican hero Carlos Arroyo. When the Spurs won, I asked my grandfather that if they are supposed to give the Finals MVP to best player in the series, why didn’t they give it to that Manu Ginobili guy. My gramps said because Duncan played better. Miss you grandpa!