2014 NBA Top 20: #7 James Harden

James Harden joined the Houston Rockets from the OKC Thunder for the 2012-13 season

When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets last summer, it raised eyebrows everywhere. The Thunder had a decision to make with regards to their salary cap and either of forward Serge Ibaka or shooting guard Harden would have to make way.

And they plumped for the big man!

Along with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Harden formed a fearsome threesome that drove the Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals, where they fell short to the overwhelming favourites, the Miami Heat.

Though many saw the move as a good one for Harden, questions remained about whether he could fulfill his potential and could carry a team on his own.

He answered all of that and more in his standout debut season for the Rockets last time around.

The beast had been unleashed!

“I mesh with anyone.”

“It’s a new journey for me. It’s a new growth for me, to do something special, being one of the focal points of this offense. It’s a great opportunity.”

“I’m with Houston now. I just have to come in here and play hard and win games.” – James Harden after being traded to the Rockets.

The move to Houston was a perfect fit for Harden as he immediately took a liking to the system and the coaching methods of Kevin McHale. The Rockets last year were one of the most dynamically offensive teams in the league with the shooting talent of Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin to go with center Omer Asik’s superb inside play.

And it saw them reach the first round of the playoffs, where they were eliminated in seven games by Harden’s former team. With Westbrook out injured, the Rockets had their chances, but good friend Durant elevated his level of play to almost single-handedly pull the Thunder through.

“He’s got a pace to his game that I like. I think he plays at a speed where he can repeat things over and over again. He’s a really sophisticated player” – Rockets head coach Kevin McHale.

Despite that opening round loss, the last season would go down as a success for the Rockets and Harden.

The Rockets got the superstar they wanted, who they could build a solid team around and the season served as a bedding in period for Harden and in their first season, they managed to reach the playoffs. And for Harden, he was in a place where it was now ‘his’ team.

Harden exploded for 40+ points in on two occasions last season, both of them resulting in wins.

The first came against the Atlanta Hawks on the road, where Harden scored 45 points shooting a ridiculous 73.7% from the field overall while draining 2 out of 4 3-pointers. He also had 6 assists in that game and just 2 turnovers.

He repeated those heroics again when he caught fire to register a 46-point game against his visiting former team, the Thunder. He matched his field goal shooting percentage from the previous 40+ game (73.7%) and in addition shot the lights out from 3-point territory as he drained 7 out of 8 3-pointers for a staggering 87.5% shooting percentage.

In total, he scored 30 or more points in a game on 23 occasions.