The Houston Rockets made one big move earlier this season and came close to pulling off another at the NBA trade deadline.
Apparently James Harden was the catalyst behind both ideas.
Harden “pushed” Rockets management to fire head coach Kevin McHale and also wanted the team to trade center Dwight Howard before the Feb. 18 deadline, CBS Sports’ Ken Berger reported Thursday, citing multiple league sources.
The Rockets came through on Harden’s first supposed demand, as general manager Daryl Morey fired McHale in November just 11 games into the 2015-16 season. Houston was 4-7 at the time of his departure but haven’t gotten much better; the team is 24-22 under interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and currently sits outside a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Rockets reportedly also went to great lengths to meet Harden’s second demand by shopping Howard around before the trade deadline. They couldn’t find a taker for the 30-year-old big man, however.
As Berger noted, a bit more concerning is the power Harden seemingly wields within the Rockets’ organization. The four-time All-Star is an exceptional player, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be the driver behind the decisions of more experienced front-office executives.
“It’s really bad for the locker-room dynamic,” a person familiar with the situation told Berger, via CBSSports.com. “If everybody knows that James Harden can fire you or trade you, are you going to pass the ball to Dwight or are you going to pass the ball to James Harden?”
The NBA clearly is a star-driven league, and the apparent clout Harden holds in Houston isn’t exactly unique: After the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt, there were a few rumors LeBron James had a strong influence on GM David Griffin’s decision.
Thumbnail photo via Russ Isabella/USA TODAY Sports Images
