The Houston Rockets were interested in signing James Harden during the offseason, but appeared to change course after hiring Ime Udoka as head coach.
The Rockets instead signed Fred VanVleet, which was a preference of Udoka. VanVleet is a more capable player without the ball than Harden. Houston believed VanVleet could better complement players such as Jalen Green than Harden could.
“Nothing against James,” Udoka told ESPN, “but Fred is just a better fit. 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 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.”
