NBA Rumors: Houston Rockets' James Harden Potential Kobe Bryant Sub in Los Angeles Lakers; NBA Star Pegged as Next NBA MVP

By Mitch de Leon
Stephen Curry and James harden - Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets NBA Playoffs 2015
Stephen Curry and James harden - Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets NBA Playoffs 2015

The Houston Rockets did not know what was coming for them when the NBA team opted to sign James Harden in 2012. Seven seasons since the day the NBA team signed him though, Harden has shown consistently that he is worth every penny spent by the Rockets to keep him in the roster.

With an MVP-caliber performance in the past NBA season, sports analysts believe that Harden could actually beat the self-proclaimed world's greatest basketball player LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry, the MVP from NBA champions the Golden State Warriors.

Prior to his rise to fame, Harden had been nothing more than a mere second stringer following the lead of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook during his days with the Oklahoma Thunder. At that point in time, the go-to man of the Rockets only scored an average of 9.0 points and recorded 1.8 assists in a span of three NBA seasons.

However, with his current team, Harden has never failed to be included in the top 10 NBA stars in terms of clocking in points and assists for every game.

With the Rockets, the skills and strategies of Harden have shown nothing but continuous improvement since 2012. Throughout his stint with the NBA team,Harden never achieved a field goal percentage of less than 43 percent. Meanwhile, his free throw percentage just keeps increasing from 80 percent recorded during his rookie year in the NBA to 86.6 percent in the previous NBA season. 

The last NBA season also held a momentous event for Harden as he managed to score a career high of 27.4 points. As for his assists, his days of measly records with the Thunder are now behind him as Harden puts in 7.0 assists per game. Houston also saw him record 5.7 rebounds for every game last NBA season.

With these achievements, it becomes apparent that Harden wants to take home an NBA Finals trophy soon. However, it looks like Houston have yet to reach that potential in terms of its roster. Hence, speculations are rife that Harden might be bolting from the Rockets as soon as the NBA stars achieve free agency status in 2018.  

Bearing in mind the desire of Harden to finally win an NBA title, it is highly probable that the Los Angeles Lakers locker room will seem attractive to Khloe Kardashian's current beau. With the rumors that Kobe Bryant is set to retire sometime soon, it looks like the Lakers will be looking for an NBA star to fill in the void. Taking into consideration the potential of the Rockets star player, it is highly feasible for  Harden to take over once the post Bryant days set in.

Other NBA teams that could attract Harden are Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. The latter team might be more probable though as Tim Duncan is also rumored to retire soon. With an NBA star as bankable as Harden, it seems highly likely that the Spurs would pursue him aggressively come 2018.

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