‘Is James Harden leaving the Rockets?’: Report confirms if ‘The Beard’ would submit a trade request like Russell Westbrook

It is being reported James Harden does not want out of Houston and is “locked in” with the Rockets.

The past few hours have been rough for the Houston Rockets organization, to say the least. After losing in the 2^nd round yet again, it has somehow gotten even worse for the Rockets.

It was reported by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that both James Harden and Russell Westbrook were uncertain about where the Rockets were headed. Speculation was rife that the duo could hand in a trade request

Also read: ‘James Harden and Russell Westbrook not happy with Rockets’: NBA Analyst confirms issues in Houston

And last night, Shams Charania reported that Russell Westbrook wanted out of Houston. Along with this came a flurry of other stories regarding PJ Tucker, Austin Rivers, and others who were unhappy with the Rockets too.

This led to massive frenzy amongst the Rockets faithful about James Harden’s future with the franchise, as Harden himself was worried about the vision of the front-office with regards to getting a championship home.

James Harden does not want to leave Houston

Russell Westbrook has been added to the list of stars who don’t mesh with James Harden. Harden has been the Rockets’ lone superstar for almost 7 years now.

Even with reports surging that Harden is unhappy with his franchise, he was quick to let it be known through the media that he is committed to Houston.

Houston’s James Harden remains committed to the Rockets and is “locked in” for the season, sources tell @KellyIkoNBA and me.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 12, 2020

However, Harden has also made it very clear to the Rockets’ front office that he has no interest in rebuilding. He says he wants to compete for a championship next season.

In order to do that, the Rockets would need to get Harden a brilliant support cast, now that Russ is on his way out.

Will James Harden be better off with Russell Westbrook?

The Rockets’ failure was inevitable. Placing 2 ball-dominant stars in the backcourt together usually results in only one thing: one of them would be unhappy with the amount of touches they get.

Also Read: “James Harden hasn’t been answering Rockets’ owners calls for 2 weeks”: Kendrick Perkins on dire situation in Houston

If Harden wants to seriously compete for a title, he needs a player radically different from Russ. The offense needs to run through Harden for his teams to be successful. With Westbrook requesting a trade, this might be beneficial for the 2018 MVP in the long run.