During a press conference that followed a Houston Rockets blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, disgruntled Rockets star James Harden said that the team is “just not good enough” to play with teams that are contenders.
He also added that he believes that the current situation in which Houston is in can’t be fixed, which is the closest Harden has gotten to publicly asking for a trade since rumors of him wanting to leave Houston surfaced in the offseason.
According to reports, the Rockets would be willing to deal their star scorer and former league MVP, but it would have to be for a king’s ransom. The Rockets reportedly want at least a young franchise cornerstone player and a few first-round picks in exchange for Harden.
Reports have claimed that the Rockets have had discussions with more than six teams and have kept Harden in the loop as well regarding the negotiations.
Sources say that Harden told Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta in the offseason that he did not believe in the current direction of the franchise and that he would prefer to be traded to a team that had a better chance of contending for a title.
Despite his displeasure with the situation, Harden is still averaging 24.8 points per game this season.
