There’s been a lot of talk ever since James Harden requested a trade out of Philadelphia this summer, as many insiders placed him either representing the Clippers badge, or even returning back to Houston for a second spell. Well, now we know that most of those rumors were true, as new Rockets coach Ime Udoka admitted that he had to make a decision between signing The Beard or Fred VanVleet.
The former Boston boss is about to enter his first season in Texas, and appeared in an interview with ESPN’s Zach Lowe to discuss several subjects, including the team’s free-agency pursuit of VanVleet. The former Raptors guard eventually signed a contract in Houston and left no space for Harden in the team.
When asked about having to chose between both athletes, Udoka started off by the that Fred’s ability to work without the ball is what he was looking for, and was simply a “better fit” than Harden. The Rockets trainer wanted to make clear that the rumors of not wanting the Sixers star are untrue, it was simply a matter of circumstance.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka explained why the team chose to sign Fred VanVleet over pursuing James Harden https://t.co/Df7k7utqpP
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 5, 2023
“Nothing against James,” he started off. “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.”
This Wednesday on “First Take”, Stephen A. Smith also reported on the reasons why things didn’t turn out for the veteran star and his potential comeback to Houston. You can’t tell some of his arguments share a similar discourse to Udoka’s testimony.
“James Harden actually talked—this is what I’m told, I haven’t confirmed it with James Harden, this is what I was told—He actually talked himself out of a max deal because he went in there talking about how he wanted to return to being that scoring champion,” the ESPN analyst said. “And Ime Udoka and them were like, ’Nah, we ain’t trying to have that here, we’re building something a little bit different.’ Had he come in there and said the right things, they would have given him a max four-year deal, he talked himself out of his own max deal.”
Harden finally reported back to Philadelphia’s training camp after dissing Media Day on Monday
It seems like things are finally coming back to normal in Philly, as The Beard appeared in the club’s training camp this week. Even though the player still expects to be traded out before the start of the campaign, he decided it was a smarter move to reunite and workout with his teammates.
While the Sixers are reportedly not negotiating with any interested team, Stephen A. Smith point out some potential landing spots for Harden.
“There are certain landing spots… I would love to see him in Miami because I think they need someone with his skill set. He led the league in assists last year. We talk about James Harden like he’s not still an All-Star-caliber player. He’s not the three-time scoring champion that he once was. But he is a big-time player,” Smith expressed on ESPN.
According to fellow reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden’s first practice session went without drama, and he seemed to be happy to be back at training with his teammates.
