If James Harden decides not to sign a new contract with the Philadelphia Sixers this summer, it is very possible that we will see him return to the ranks of the Houston Rockets. ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reported tonight (Sunday), shortly before the Christmas game between the Sixers and New York, that Harden is “seriously considering” a comeback to the Texan team in the media where he starred for more than eight seasons.
Less than two years have passed since Harden demanded to be transferred from Houston in a trade, which led the Rockets to close a deal that sent the bearded man to the Brooklyn Nets. Now, Wojnarowski claimed, the 33-year-old player and his associates are looking deeply at Houston as a possible destination for next season.
Of course, how successful Philadelphia is this season will affect Harden’s decision regarding his future. Along with Joel Embiid, the guard led the team to a seven-game winning streak before Christmas, and under the guidance of Doc Rivers they hope to challenge for the NBA championship title in the upcoming playoffs. Harden’s averages this season are 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game, when he makes 36.4% three-pointers.
Harden signed a two-year contract with an aggregate salary of $68.6 million, within which he has the option to become a free agent in the summer of 2023. The Sixers included him in a trade last February, in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two draft picks that made their way to Brooklyn.
According to sources around him, despite the demand to leave the Rockets at the time, the star felt a strong affinity for the city of Houston, the community and the lifestyle in it – so it was written. During his time with the Texan team, the man and the old man was chosen as the MVP of the regular season in 2018, and in all his seasons there he was chosen to appear in the All-Star game, and in three of them he finished as the league’s king of baskets. He ranks second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, behind Hakeem Oljawan, and first in assists.