Ime Udoka Confirms Rockets’ Lack Of Interest In James Harden

The Rockets punted on a James Harden reunion this offseason, and Houston head coach Ime Udoka cleared the air.

In signing Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $128 million deal in free agency, Houston signaled its disinterest in pursuing Harden which sparked speculation. Why did the Rockets not want Harden back? Was Udoka behind the rejection of Harden? Did Udoka and Harden have beef during their brief time together with the Brooklyn Nets?

Well, no, no and no, according to Udoka.

“Nothing against James, but Fred is just a better fit,” Udoka told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. “I coached James in Brooklyn. He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. The words ‘Ime doesn’t want James’ never came out of my mouth. It was, ‘Let’s look at the best fit.’ If we want Jalen (Green) and the young guys to take the next steps, we need them to have the ball. As for me saying I don’t want James, that was never the case. It was about fit.”

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Since the 76ers were eliminated in seven games by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Harden’s animosity for Philadelphia — specifically president of basketball operations Daryl Morey — has grown. It’s clear both sides can’t move forward into the season and a departure, at some point, will need to go down.

With just weeks before Opening Night and training camp already underway, when that’ll be remains to be unknown.

To Udoka’s credit, adding Harden to the mix doesn’t do much. Unlike his previous run with Houston a few years back, Harden isn’t nearly the same scorer in terms of consistency. When taking on the Celtics, without Joel Embiid present, Harden exploded for 45 points in Game 1 — and didn’t do anything much afterward.

The Rockets also aren’t in a position to contend just yet, therefore, committing to Harden, while also sacrificing assets to complete a trade, doesn’t really help for more reasons than one.