James Harden appears ready for workload that will come his way
An uptick in production could be coming from the 35-year-old.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Paul George and the LA Clippers going their separate ways this offseason was not unexpected, and for the first time since George’s free agency decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Clippers’ other star guard, James Harden, opened up on what transpired last season.
“We tried to, last year to where we tried to figure it out and guys their roles,” Harden said. “It’s kind of difficult when you got that high caliber of players or ‘Hall of Famers’ and basically the same position and everybody’s trying to figure their roles out. It was pretty difficult. But this year for me, I got a clear space on what I need to be doing.”
The word that Harden used to describe what he needs to do this upcoming season was “aggressive.” The guard emphasized it twice, in fact.
But what is aggressive? It depends on who you ask.
When questioned last week as to the added responsibility on Harden’s shoulders, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue mentioned it will involve more pick-and-rolls, plus “scoring the basketball more” as well as “taking more shots.”
Kawhi Leonard speaks for first time since Team USA departure
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kawhi Leonard’s departure from Team USA camp in July raised more questions than answers. On Monday, at media day for the LA Clippers, Leonard spoke for the first time about what transpired.
In June, the Clippers and Harden agreed on a new two-year, $70 million deal. The second year is a player option.
With George not returning, it’s quite clear that the Clippers have moved on from their three-star dream and settled back into a two-star mindset that could see things, at least on offense, be streamlined a bit more than they were last season as they attempted to feed too many mouths.
Harden’s decision to re-sign was a simple one according to the star.
“I’m home, you know what I mean?” Harden told reporters on Monday at the team’s media day availabilities inside their brand new Intuit Dome. “I’m home and I don’t plan on going anywhere else. I want to leave a legacy, especially here.”
Things didn’t get off to a rosy start for the Clippers in the early Harden days as the team lost their first five games after the trade. But then the Clippers rattled off a 31-8 stretch as Harden and the rest of the group found a nice balance. Harden averaged 17.6 points, 9.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds on 44.6% shooting across that time.
However, the guard started dealing with various ailments that impacted his ability on the floor, including shoulder and foot injuries. Over his final 19 games of the regular season, Harden averaged just 13.5 points on 36.4% shooting, including a paltry 28.3% on 3s.
Despite the downturn at the end of the season, Harden performed brilliantly in the first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks, averaging 21.2 points and 8.0 assists on 44.9% shooting, as well as leading the Clippers to a big Game 4 win in Dallas to even the series. Harden scored at least 20 points in each of the first four games of the series.
“We’re going to figure it out,” Harden said on Monday of what the right style of play is for this team going into the season. “I’m going to tell you one thing, it’s definitely going to involve a lot of me.”
For the Clippers, that has to be seen as a good thing. After all, Harden’s 20.6% Usage Rate last season ranked as the lowest of his career since the 2010-11 season in Oklahoma City, where the guard was in a Sixth Man role. Getting Harden the ball more and in better positions to make decisions is a positive.
The Clippers want to play faster and get more 3s up, as Lue told reporters last week. While Harden might not be seen as someone who plays fast, he is known for his hit-ahead passes. And, of course, everyone knows Harden’s penchant for hoisting 3s and getting those shots for his teammates.
In truth, this current Clippers squad appears built to Harden’s strengths more than last year’s was, and it’s something the team is banking on. That style of play—the heliocentric nature of offense—is a talking point Harden is very aware of.
“There’s always going to be talk,” Harden said. “There was talk when I was in Houston and I was doing what I was doing, ‘You can't win like that.’ Where you just seen a guy last season [Luka Doncic] who made it to the Finals playing the same exact way that I played. So there is a way. The team got to be constructed very well, you got to have a little bit of luck, you got to make sure you’re healthy, and all those things got to play into a factor. So for me, training camp and these preseason games, we’ll figure out how the style needs to be played and then we’ll go from there.”
The topic of whether or not Harden still has something to prove came up. The guard’s answer was a far cry from the one given by the player who left for Philadelphia a few months ago.
“I’m not out there to prove nothing to anybody,” Paul George told reporters after the Clippers’ Game 5 loss in April. “But what I do want to do is just go and show up for my teammates, leave everything on the floor like I said, and just try to be a leader and live with the results.”
Does Harden feel he still has something to prove?
“To myself, yeah,” Harden told reporters. “And I’m going to do it. I don’t really got too much to say about it. I’m going to just go out there and do it.”
To be successful, the Clippers will need Harden to play like he still has something to prove. Not just to the league but, as he said, to himself.
They need the James Harden from a couple of years ago to emerge. The one who dominated the ball to an extensive degree and produced jaw-dropping numbers on a nightly basis. Whether or not that player is still in there remains to be seen as the 35-year-old begins his 16th NBA season.
But Harden believes he can pull that player from the fire. The Clippers will need him to. And he appears ready to do so.