Should James Harden and the Houston Rockets embark on a new beginning this summer — nearly three years after their breakup that was both messy and misunderstood — it will be a reunion born out of what so many believed was their ending.
The deal to Brooklyn that finally went down on Jan. 13, 2021, was already done, with Harden heading to the Nets in a blockbuster involving four teams, three first-round picks, four first-round pick swaps and players. But Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, whose unabashed love of all things Harden was no secret during their three and a half years contending for titles together, had a message to share with his soon-to-be former franchise centerpiece on his way out the door.
如果詹姆斯·哈登和休斯顿火箭队在这个夏天开始新的开始——在他们分手后将近三年，这三年既混乱又被误解——这将是一次重聚，许多人认为这是他们的结局。
与布鲁克林的交易最终于 2021 年 1 月 13 日结束，交易完成，哈登以一鸣惊人的方式前往网队，涉及四支球队、三个首轮选秀权、四个首轮选秀权互换和球员。但是火箭队老板蒂尔曼·费尔蒂塔在他们一起争夺冠军的三年半时间里对哈登毫不掩饰的热爱已经不是什么秘密了，在他即将离开球队的路上，他有一个信息要和这位前球队的核心分享。
“You’re always welcome back here,” he told him in so many words during a goodbye phone call between the two.
But more than two years later, with Harden focused on his championship pursuits with the Philadelphia 76ers these days and the speculation over what he’ll do in free agency already in full swing, the more important part about that final Rockets conversation was what came next. Harden, sources with knowledge of the situation say, made it abundantly clear the feeling was mutual. There were no promises made that day — on either side — but everyone who was part of those final Harden days in Houston knew there were strong indications he’d be back, specifically, in the summer of 2023.
“永远欢迎你回到这里，”在两人的告别电话中，他对他说了很多话。
但两年多后，随着哈登专注于他在费城 76 人队的冠军追求，以及对他将在自由球员市场做什么的猜测已经如火如荼，关于火箭最后一次谈话的更重要的部分是接下来的内容. 了解情况的消息人士称，哈登非常清楚地表明这种感觉是相互的。那天——双方都没有做出任何承诺——但所有参与过哈登在休斯顿最后日子的人都知道，有强烈的迹象表明他会回来，特别是在 2023 年夏天。
Fast forward to the present day, and the whispers about a Harden-Rockets reunion are louder than ever. Never mind that this Harden-Joel Embiid iteration of the Sixers looks as capable as ever of winning the whole thing, or that the Rockets are in the midst of the worst three-season stretch in franchise history.
This possibility, which was born out of those parting talks and first reported by ESPN in late December, is as strong now as ever. Sources, who like all of the other sources in this story were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, have told The Athletic Houston is widely expected to pursue the 13-year veteran point guard if, as is expected, he declines his player option for the 2023-24 season. And even more surprisingly, sources with knowledge of Harden’s outlook say he’s as serious about a possible return now as he was when he left town.
快进到今天，关于哈登-火箭重聚的传言比以往任何时候都响亮。不要介意-恩比德的 76 人队看起来像以往一样有能力赢得比赛，也不要介意火箭队正处于球队历史上最糟糕的三个赛季。
这种可能性源于那些离别的谈话，并于 12 月下旬由 ESPN 首次报道，现在和以往一样强烈。与这个故事中的所有其他消息来源一样，消息人士被授予匿名，以便他们可以自由发言，他们告诉The Athletic 休斯顿普遍预计，如果他像预期的那样拒绝他的球员选择权，他将追求这位 13 年的老将来球队征战2023-24 赛季。更令人惊讶的是，了解哈登前景的消息人士称，他现在和离开小镇时一样认真考虑回归的可能。
As free agency situations go, this is about as unique as they come. It’s puzzling on paper, what with Harden still looking for his first championship and the Rockets looking like the league’s least likely collection of players capable of helping him in that mission. But Harden’s ties to the Houston region, and to the Rockets organization for which he played in those eight-plus seasons, run deep in the kind of way that simply can’t be forgotten here.
This isn’t LeBron James returning “home” to Cleveland in the summer of 2014, when he left Miami to join a Cavs team that featured a 21-year-old Kyrie Irving and had won just 33 games the season before — especially considering Harden’s hopes for his first championship remain unfulfilled and James already had two titles at that point. But there are common themes between the two situations worthy of exploration. And if you talk to the people who know Harden best, who lived through all the acrimony and angst that came with his Rockets exit, this isn’t the negotiating leverage play so many assumed it to be.
随着情况的发展，这是独一无二的。这在纸面上令人费解，哈登仍在寻找他的第一个总冠军，而火箭队看起来是联盟中最不可能帮助他完成这项任务的球队。但哈登与休斯顿地区以及他在八个多赛季为火箭效力的联系，以一种在这里根本无法忘记的方式深入人心。
这不是勒布朗詹姆斯在 2014 年夏天回到克利夫兰的“家”，当时他离开迈阿密加入了一支由 21 岁的凯里欧文组成的骑士队，并且在前一个赛季只赢了 33 场比赛 - 特别是考虑到哈登的他的第一个总冠军的希望仍然没有实现，詹姆斯当时已经获得了两个总冠军。这两种情况之间有一些共同的主题值得探讨。如果你和最了解哈登的人交谈，他们经历了哈登离开火箭队后所有刻薄和焦虑，并不只是许多人认为的谈判游戏。
Depending on how these next few months go for the Sixers, and how they handle his contract situation in July, the prospect of Harden heading back to Houston is real in ways most couldn’t have imagined when he left. One of the game’s greats, this 33-year-old former MVP and 10-time All-Star who is one of two players averaging at least 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds this season, is proving he has plenty of elite basketball left. But where does he want his next hoops chapter to be, and what factors will matter most when the time comes to decide? Even Harden himself may not know at this point.
To the untrained eye and the majority of the outside world, the split between Harden and the Houston Rockets was a culmination of internal turmoil and off-court antics, the apex of frustration fueled by years of trying — and ultimately failing — to reach the NBA’s pinnacle of success.
取决于接下来几个月 76 人队的表现，以及他们如何处理他在 7 月份的合同情况，哈登回到休斯顿的前景是真实的，这是他离开时大多数人无法想象的。这位 33 岁的前 MVP 和 10 次全明星球员是比赛中最伟大的球员之一，他是这个赛季场均至少得到 20 分、10 次助攻和 6 个篮板的两名球员之一（还有约基奇），证明他的油箱还有很多的油。但他希望他的下一个篮球篇章在哪里，在决定的时候哪些因素最重要？这一点连哈登自己都未必知道。
对于未经训练的人和大多数外界人士来说，哈登和休斯顿火箭队之间的分裂是内部动荡和场外滑稽举动的高潮，是多年尝试——最终未能——获得总冠军的挫败感。
For the eight seasons that defined the union between Harden and the organization, joint efforts to get over the hump had proven futile. What was once deemed a noble cause upon his arrival in 2012, the never-ending pursuit of a championship had become an obsession that had resulted in copious amounts of roster turnover, most notably a nasty breakup with future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul, an uncanny trade for Russell Westbrook, a resulting precarious stylistic shift to small ball and an unceremonious postseason exit at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In the wake of the Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni departures that sparked the mass exodus, Harden’s final days and weeks in Houston were widely seen as acrimonious. And the optics surrounding his part in it all weren’t pretty.
在定义了哈登和球队的八个赛季中，共同努力克服困难被证明是徒劳的。在他 2012 年到来时曾经被认为是一项崇高的事业，对总冠军永无止境的追求已经成为一种痴迷，导致大量的球员更替，最引人注目的是与未来名人堂控球后卫克里斯保罗的分手，对拉塞尔威斯布鲁克的离奇交易，由此导致的不稳定的风格转向小球，以及在 2020 年新冠大流行最严重的时候毫不客气地从季后赛出局。
在莫狗和德安东尼的离开引发了大规模出走之后，哈登在休斯敦的最后几天被广泛认为是时态激烈的时刻。媒体围绕他的角色的呈现并不漂亮。
There was his choice to party in multiple cities — and do so publicly, no less — during a global health scare. He reported late and out of shape for training camp. There were tension-filled practices, clashes with coaches and teammates. The widespread belief was Harden’s moves were intentional power plays, boss moves made as a way of holding the organization hostage and facilitating the exit strategy of his choosing.
But in spite of everything that transpired, this was a situation unlike any breakup in NBA history involving a star player and a franchise. There was no bad blood between the two parties, just a collective feeling of disappointment. Instead of having it turn into an arduous, drawn-out saga that absorbed most of the season, Harden’s exit was a streamlined process from start to finish. The former MVP had made it clear he wanted to be traded during the preseason and Houston’s braintrust obliged, keeping him abreast of developments on that front.
在全球健康恐慌期间，他选择在多个城市举办派对——而且是公开的，同样如此。他回到训练营时身体状况不佳。有充满紧张的练习，与教练和队友的冲突。人们普遍认为哈登的举动是有意的权力游戏，老板的举动是为了挟持球队并促进他选择的退出策略。
但尽管发生了这一切，这种情况不同于 NBA 历史上任何涉及明星球员和球队的分手。双方之间并没有敌意，只是共同的失落感。哈登的离开并没有变成一场耗费本赛季大部分时间的艰巨、冗长的故事，而是从头到尾都是一个精简的过程。这位前 MVP 明确表示他希望在季前赛期间被交易，而休斯顿的智囊团不得不让他了解这方面的发展。
By the time the dust had settled by mid-January, Harden’s list of serious suitors had been whittled down to the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, two Eastern Conference teams desperate to break the ceiling and launch themselves into the upper echelon. He had armed himself with agents Jason Ranne and Chafie Field of the Wasserman Media Group to assist in the process and maintained dialogue with the Rockets brass.
At the 11th hour, the Nets emerged as the clear frontrunner for Harden’s services and more importantly, it was a path the Rockets were comfortable going down — allowing the franchise to recoup precious draft capital and flexibility that it had lost over the last few years. It was far closer to an amicable split than bitter divorce. The sense was, in the closing moments of Harden’s time in Houston, that the door for a potential return was still open. Harden had to leave to try and achieve his dream of winning a championship but this was by no means a goodbye. It was more of a “see you later.”
到 1 月中旬尘埃落定时，哈登的追求者名单已经缩减到布鲁克林篮网队和费城 76 人队，这两支东部球队迫切希望打破天花板并跻身上层梯队。他聘请了 沃瑟曼传媒集团的Jason Ranne 和 Chafie Field 来协助这个过程，并与火箭高层保持对话。
在第 11 个小时，网队成为哈登交易明显的领跑者，更重要的是，这是火箭队安心走下去的道路——让球队收回过去几年失去的宝贵选秀资金和灵活性。与痛苦的分别相比，这更接近于友好的分手。感觉是，在哈登在休斯顿的最后时刻，潜在回归的大门仍然敞开。哈登不得不离开去尝试实现他赢得总冠军的梦想，但这绝不是告别。这更像是“回头见”。
Amid all the evidence Harden might be planning a return to Houston, here’s the part where his situation gets so fascinating: According to a high-ranking Sixers source with knowledge of the team’s operation, they are “unconcerned” about possibly losing him this summer. This confidence, it seems, is rooted in the belief that only Philadelphia can provide the two things Harden holds most dear: A chance to contend for a title, and maximum earning potential.
When it comes to the former, this Sixers group that fell in the second round to Miami in last season’s playoffs after landing Harden from Brooklyn last February is looking more legitimate than ever in these past three months. They’ve won 27 of 36 games since starting 12-12, with the Harden-Embiid duo that Sixers president of basketball operations/former Rockets executive Daryl Morey dreamed of when he so doggedly pursued his former Rockets star playing at its peak.
在哈登可能计划返回休斯顿的所有证据中，这是他的情况变得如此迷人的部分：据一位了解球队运作情况的 76 人高层消息人士称，他们“不担心”今年夏天可能会失去他。这种信心似乎源于这样一种信念，即只有费城才能提供哈登最看重的两件事：争夺总冠军的机会和最大的收入。
说到前者，这支在去年 2 月从布鲁克林签下哈登后在上赛季季后赛第二轮输给迈阿密的 76 人队在过去三个月里看起来比以往任何时候都更加合理。自从 12-12 开局以来，他们赢得了 36 场比赛中的 27 场，76 人队篮球运营总裁/前火箭队高管莫狗如此顽强地追逐他梦寐以求的哈登 - 恩比德组合。
It all began in training camp, when that candid conversation between Sixers coach Doc Rivers and Harden that was recorded for NBATV went viral.
“I ain’t the president no more,” Harden had said to Rivers in a reference to his old Houston days.
The point, in essence, was that he was willing to take a secondary role for the betterment of the team. Five months later, with Embiid averaging career highs in points (33.0), shots (20.6) and field-goal percentage (53.2) while playing his way onto every voter’s shortlist for MVP, Harden has followed through on what he and Rivers discussed that day. And then some.
这一切都始于训练营，当时为 NBATV 录制的 76 人队教练道格·里弗斯和哈登之间的坦诚对话在网上疯传。
“我不再是老大了，”哈登在提到他在休斯顿的旧时光时对里弗斯说。
从本质上讲，关键在于他愿意为了球队的进步而担任副手。五个月后，随着恩比德在场均得分（33.0）、投篮次数（20.6）和投篮命中率（53.2）上创下职业生涯新高，同时一直在 MVP 候选名单中，哈登贯彻了他和里弗斯那天讨论的内容. 然后还有一些。
It has been quite the under-the-radar transformation, with one of the best scorers the game has ever seen becoming a pass-first playmaker while remaining elite along the way. Yet despite the fact he’s leading the league in assists (10.7 per game), averaging 21.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and is on track to have the second-best true shooting percentage of his career (.620), the spotlight hasn’t shined nearly as bright in his direction.
Most notably, Harden — who missed 14 games recently with a right foot injury — missed out on the All-Star Game for the first time since 2012 (coaches voted for Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday for East reserve guards). but power dynamics among star players are always easier when the accolades are being shared.
这是一个相当低调的转变，联盟最好的得分手之一成为传球第一的组织者，同时一直保持着精英水平。然而，尽管事实上他在助攻方面领先联盟（场均 10.7 次），场均 21.6 分、6.2 个篮板，并且有望获得职业生涯第二好的真实投篮命中率 (0.620)，但聚光灯并没有照亮他的方向。
最值得注意的是，最近因右脚受伤缺席 14 场比赛的哈登自 2012 年以来首次缺席全明星赛（教练们投票给波士顿的杰伦布朗、芝加哥的德马尔德罗赞、印第安纳的泰瑞斯哈利伯顿和密尔沃基的东部预备队后卫霍乐迪 ）。但当荣誉被抢走时，明星球员获得复仇的动力总是更容易。
You get the sense those are all reflections for another time, and that Harden is locked in on this push to win it all. In that regard, things are going well in Philly. But what scenarios might make it the most likely he’ll leave? It seems to be anyone’s guess. Maybe winning it all makes it easier for him to head for Houston, with that championship burden lifted. Or maybe the Sixers get to the NBA Finals, showing just enough promise to make him want to stay and finish the job. And why, as is the case, do some key Sixers players privately believe that Harden may make this Houston reunion a reality? These are questions for the summertime.
Some of the personal dynamics have changed during Harden’s time in Philadelphia, too, with former Sixers owner and close friend of Harden’s, Michael Rubin, selling his shares of the team in June. Rubin, who still has a prominent presence in the Sixers space and frequently attends home games, was widely known to have played a major part in Harden’s desire to play for the Sixers.
你会感觉到这些都是转型的代价，而哈登已经为赢得比赛用了一切的努力。在这方面，费城的情况进展顺利。但是什么情况下他最有可能离开呢？这似乎是任何人的猜测。也许赢得冠军让他更容易前往休斯敦，解除冠军负担。或者 76 人队进入了 NBA 总决赛，表现出足够的希望让他想留下来完成工作。这也是为什么在这种情况下，76 人队的一些关键球员私下里相信哈登可能会让休斯顿重聚成为现实？这些是夏季的问题。
哈登在费城期间的一些个人动态也发生了变化，前 76 人老板和哈登的密友迈克尔鲁宾在 6 月份出售了他在球队的股份。鲁宾在 76 人队仍然占有重要地位并经常参加主场比赛，众所周知，鲁宾在哈登加盟 76 人队的交易中发挥了重要作用。
Meanwhile, Harden’s choice to hire a new agent has been seen by some sources close to the situation as further confirmation of his Houston ties and free agency desires. He is now represented by Troy Payne, a former senior sports marketing manager with Adidas who is partnering with agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier to lead Equity Basketball. Payne, a lifelong friend, worked side by side with Harden as his business partner and Adidas representative for the entirety of his near-decade relationship with the company. the bonds are strong there.
When he signed his two-year, $68.6 million deal with the Sixers last summer, Harden chose to make $14.5 million less than he could have this season in order to help the front office add to the team’s depth (specifically, P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr., two familiar faces and key members of contending Rockets teams). That move would later play a part in the league’s choice to conduct a tampering investigation, though Harden was later found to have done no wrong (the Sixers were penalized two second-round draft picks when it was determined that they engaged in free agency discussions with Tucker and House Jr. prior to the time when it was permitted).
与此同时，一些了解情况的消息人士认为，哈登选择聘请新经纪人进一步证实了他与休斯顿的关系和成为自由球员的愿望。他现在由阿迪达斯前高级体育营销经理特洛伊佩恩代理，他与经纪人迈克西尔弗曼和布兰登格里尔合作领导篮球。佩恩是毕生的朋友，在他与公司近十年的合作关系中，作为他的商业伙伴和阿迪达斯代表与哈登并肩工作。两者之间的联系很牢固。
去年夏天，哈登与 76 人队签下了一份为期两年、价值 6860 万美元的合同，哈登选择比上赛季少赚 1450 万美元，以帮助管理层增加球队的深度（具体来说，PJ 塔克和丹纽尔豪斯，两个熟悉的面孔和过去火箭队的主要成员）。这一举动后来在联盟进行调查中发挥了作用，尽管后来发现哈登没有做错但 76 人队被罚了两个第二轮选秀权。
For Harden’s part, the choice never sparked the kind of media praise showered on Kevin Durant when he made a similar move to Golden State in 2017. But it was vital nonetheless. And as Harden admitted to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon in early October, he doesn’t believe he was given the proper public credit for the choice to leave money on the table for the betterment of the team.
Beyond the financial terms of that deal, though, it was lost on no one inside the Rockets organization that the chosen length of Harden’s most recent contract happened to coincide with the summer in which Houston’s salary cap space opens up like the Gulf of Mexico. In the eyes of some, it was as clear a sign his plan to return was still in place. Still, the Sixers have the inside track here on the financial front if they’re willing to go all in on Harden’s mid-30s (and beyond).
对于哈登而言，这一选择从未像凯文杜兰特在 2017 年向金州勇士队做出类似续约时那样受到媒体的赞扬 。但这仍然至关重要。正如哈登在 10 月初向The Athletic的 Joe Vardon 承认的那样，他认为自己没有得到适当的公众赞誉，因为他选择将钱留下以改善球队。
然而，除了这笔交易的财务条款之外，火箭组织内部没有人会忘记哈登最近合同的选择长度恰好与休斯顿的工资帽空间在那个夏天相吻合。在一些人看来，这清楚地表明他的回归计划仍然存在。尽管如此，如果 76 人愿意在哈登 30 多岁（及以后）的时候全力以赴，他们在财务方面还是很吃紧的。
While Philadelphia can give Harden a five-year, $272 million max deal (starting salary of $46.9 million with eight percent raises), other teams with max space are limited to four-year, $201 million offers (starting salary of $46.9 million with five percent raises). Considering the dearth of teams with that kind of room (the Rockets, Orlando, San Antonio and Utah) and the fact this will likely be Harden’s last chance at a long-term max deal, it seems the boardroom component looms large here.
But the basketball part of the calculus, it seems, is where the Sixers have the most reason to be confident about holding onto Harden. After all, this all-time great who has yet to win a title wouldn’t leave their elite squad for the worst team in the league, would he? Believe it or not, the signs remain strong he just might.
费城可以给哈登一份 5 年 2.72 亿美元的顶薪合同（起薪 4690 万美元，加薪 8%），其他有顶薪空间的球队仅限于 4 年 2.01 亿美元的合同（起薪 4690 万美元，加薪 5%）提高）。考虑到拥有这种空间的球队（火箭队、奥兰多、圣安东尼奥和犹他），以及这可能是哈登获得长期顶薪的最后机会，管理层的拍板在这里显得很重要。
但是，篮球部分似乎是 76 人队最有信心留住哈登的地方。毕竟，这位尚未赢得总冠军的伟大球员不会离开他们的精英阵容去联盟中最差的球队，对吗？信不信由你，这些迹象仍然很强烈，他可能会这样做。
For the Rockets, bringing Harden — one of the franchise’s most decorated players — back into the fold at age 34 might be seen as a gamble, but it’s one the organization should be willing to take, especially if he’s able to continue this elite combination of playmaking and scoring.
From an emotional standpoint, sources with knowledge of his thinking continue to maintain that while Harden’s head and focus are on winning a championship with the 76ers, his heart will always be in Houston. It’s a comfort zone, his safe space.
For starters, it’s the city where he’s lived the longest in his adult life. He continues to have strong ties to the community, in addition to his family and other extensive relationships throughout the area. His nonprofit, Impact 13, aims to improve the quality of life in areas like education and financial freedom for disenfranchised youth and women.
对于火箭队来说，让哈登 —— 球队获得荣誉最多的球员之一 —— 在 34 岁时重返球队可能被视为一场赌博，但这是球队应该愿意接受的，尤其是如果他能够继续这种精英级别的比赛和得分。
从情感的角度来看，了解哈登的消息人士继续认为，虽然哈登的头脑和注意力都集中在与 76 人队赢得总冠军上，但他的心永远在休斯顿。这是一个舒适区，他的安全空间。
首先，这是他成年后居住时间最长的城市。除了他的家人和整个地区的其他广泛关系之外，他继续与社区保持着牢固的联系。他的非营利组织 Impact 13 旨在改善被剥夺权利的青年和妇女在教育和财务自由等领域的生活质量。
As a businessman, he’s also intertwined with the city. He’s a part-owner of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo. He’s also the owner of Thirteen restaurant, one of the most vibrant and popular destinations in town. In a lot of ways, Harden is Houston. And Houston is home.
“My family is here — my mom, my sister, my brother — so this is the place I would call home,” Harden told Haute Magazine last year. “I feel like this city deserves for me to still put my stamp on it even though I’m no longer playing here. I’ve got to find ways to continue to do that, and I will.”
作为一名商人，他也与这座城市交织在一起。他是美国职业足球大联盟休斯顿迪纳摩队的股权部分所有者。他还是休斯顿最具活力和最受欢迎的十三餐厅的老板。在很多方面，哈登就是休斯顿。休斯顿是家。
“我的家人在这里——我的妈妈、我的姐姐、我的兄弟——所以这是我称之为家的地方，”哈登去年说。“我觉得这座城市值得我留下自己的印记，即使我不再在这里打球。我必须想办法继续这样做，我会的。”
There’s the more existential aspect of his past Rockets life, too, all those creature comforts he enjoyed in the Harden-centric ecosystem in Houston and that didn’t travel with him to Philadelphia.For all those years — the eight consecutive playoff berths, two West Finals appearances, one MVP season and eight All-Star appearances — Harden had an unofficial agreement with his Rockets bosses. So long as he showed up and showed out, he’d be free to bend the rules when it came to well-chronicled off-court style.
sources say his relationship with Tilman Fertitta and his son, Patrick Fertitta, remains strong. Patrick has worked closely with his father as a liaison between ownership and management for years. On the court, the ties remain as well.
他过去在火箭队的生涯也有更多的意义，休斯顿以哈登为中心的球队体系中享受的所有那些舒适感并没有伴随他去费城。那些年来——连续八次进入季后赛，两次西部决赛、一个 MVP 赛季和八次全明星赛——哈登与火箭队老板达成了一项非正式协议。只要他表现好就可以提出，当涉及到球队的风格时，他就可以自由地改变。
消息人士称，他与蒂尔曼·费尔蒂塔 (Tilman Fertitta) 及其儿子帕特里克·费尔蒂塔 (Patrick Fertitta) 的关系依然牢固。作为所有权和管理层之间的联络人，帕特里克多年来一直与他的父亲密切合作。在球场上，关系也依然存在。
During the offseason, Harden spent a considerable amount of time working out with the Rockets’ young players. Sources say Harden is extremely fond of their collection of talent, notably second-year guard Jalen Green.
“I’m proud of him,” Harden said of Green following a surprising December loss to Houston in double overtime. “He has not only lived up to expectations, but he is coming into his swagger every single game. … His aggressiveness from last year has carried over to this year. He’s been attacking the rim, shooting his shots and playing with a lot of confidence. As a young guy, if you have confidence, you can learn all the other things. …As long as he continues to put the work in, he’ll learn game-by-game, season-by-season as he continues to grow.”
在休赛期，哈登花了相当多的时间和火箭队的年轻球员一起训练。消息人士称哈登非常喜欢他们收集的人才，尤其是二年级后卫贾伦格林。
“我为他感到骄傲，”哈登在去年 12 月在双加时赛中意外输给休斯顿火箭队后谈到格林时说。“他不仅没有辜负人们的期望，而且每场比赛他都表现得非常自信。......他去年的侵略性一直延续到今年。他一直在攻击篮筐，投篮并且充满自信地打球。作为一个年轻人，如果你有信心，你就能学到所有其他的东西。......只要他继续投入工作，他就会在不断成长的过程中逐场逐赛季地学习。
The Rockets season has been a disaster thus far, with the team on course to owning the league’s worst record for three consecutive seasons — or in other words, the post-Harden era. Between a slew of injuries, a lack of offensive cohesion, a disappearing defensive act and a coaching staff struggling to put the pieces together, it’s been months of head-scratching, finger-pointing and collective frustration on multiple fronts. But still, hope remains.
For a roster this young, it’s become apparent there’s a need for quality veterans. Eric Gordon (a close former teammate of Harden who’s open to rejoining the team in the future) privately and publicly bemoaned Houston’s lack of experience around the youthful core for months, before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers last month. But for what it’s worth, the front office plans to address those deficiencies in free agency.
到目前为止，火箭队的赛季是一场灾难，球队有望连续三个赛季保持联盟最差战绩——或者换句话说，后哈登时代。在一系列伤病、缺乏进攻凝聚力、消失的防守行为和教练组努力拼凑之间，几个月来在多个方面都挠头、指责和集体挫败感。但是，希望依然存在。
对于这么年轻的阵容，很明显需要优秀的老将。埃里克戈登（哈登的亲密前队友，他对未来重新加入球队持开放态度）在上个月被交易到洛杉矶快船队之前，私下和公开地哀叹休斯顿的年轻核心缺乏经验。但就其价值而言，管理层计划解决自由球员市场的这些缺陷。
“Putting ourselves in a position where hopefully one, the guys currently on the roster get a better sense of what it takes to win,” Rockets GM Rafael Stone told The Athletic in a recent interview. “And then two, we’re able to supplement them with some people who have experience in doing it and more know-how, and that, that ends up being a good blend. That’s a really exciting prospect for everybody in the organization.”
Houston’s roster to-do list is lengthy at this stage of their rebuild, which is either a positive or negative trend depending on your point of view. This group needs balance. This group needs two-way wings, shooting and a defensive presence in the middle. But more importantly, they need an elite point guard.
火箭队总经理拉斐尔·斯通在最近的一次采访中告诉 The Athletic：“让我们自己处于一个有希望的位置，目前在名单上的球员能更好地了解如何才能获胜。” “然后我们可以用一些有这方面经验和更多专业知识的人来补充他们，这最终是一个很好的融合。这对球队中的每个人来说都是一个非常令人兴奋的前景。”
在重建的这个阶段，休斯顿要走的路还很长，根据你的观点，这是一个积极或消极的趋势。这只球队需要平衡。需要侧翼、射手和内线的防守存在。但更重要的是，他们需要一名精英控球后卫。
The Rockets are the worst team in the league at taking care of the ball, coughing it up nearly 17 times a game. Harden’s 3.15 assist-to-turnover ratio is bested by only the likes of Chris Paul, Tyrese Haliburton and Fred Van Vleet among starting point guards, none of whom are having better scoring or overall offensive seasons than him. Defensively, Harden’s been a positive as a 76er according to Cleaning the Glass, an interesting twist in the narrative against him in that respect. Harden would be nothing short of a godsend for a group lacking in self-confidence, organization, structure and swagger.
From a locker room perspective, potentially inserting Harden during a pivotal offseason could have positive long-lasting effects. Sources close to Harden highlight 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey as an example of the veteran’s mentorship and leadership, taking the young talent under his wing and retooling his mindset, propelling a third season worthy of Sixth Man of the Year honors. It’s also no coincidence Embiid’s best seasons have coincided with Harden’s arrival in Philadelphia. His presence has meant everything, even if it’s gone surprisingly under the radar.
火箭队是联盟控球能力最差的球队，场均失误近 17 次。哈登 3.15 的助攻失误比仅次于克里斯保罗、泰瑞斯哈利伯顿和弗雷德范弗利特等首发控球后卫，他们的得分或整体进攻都没有他好。在防守方面，根据 Cleaning the Glass 的说法，哈登在76 人队的表现是积极的。对于一个缺乏自信、组织和狂妄自大的团队来说，哈登简直就是天赐之物。
从更衣室的角度来看，在关键的休赛期让哈登加盟可能会产生积极的长期影响。接近哈登的消息人士强调，76 人队后卫泰瑞斯马克西是这位老将领导出来的典范，他将年轻的天才置于他的羽翼之下，并重新调整了他的心态，推动他第三个赛季获得年度最佳第六人的荣誉。恩比德的最佳赛季恰逢哈登加盟费城也并非巧合。他的存在意味着一切。
Somewhere along the lines, whether it was him realizing the wear and tear of averaging or flirting with 30 points a night, the rising talent of players around the league or a juxtaposition of the two, Harden’s mentality shifted. One source with ties to his Rockets days described him as “incredibly driven.” He’s now in his Chris Paul/Phoenix Suns era, a highly talented player willing to defer to fit in more and amplify others as opposed to making everyone fit around him.
“He’s one of the best point guards in the league right now,” one source said. “Without a doubt. That’s a big step towards winning.”
Players like Green and Jabari Smith Jr. — another player Harden is fond of — would benefit greatly from his tutelage, although they’re some tiers below Devin Booker and Miles Bridges. The former would require a significant jump from his second to third season akin to Booker, but Harden would undoubtedly improve Green’s efficiency, making him a more lethal off-ball weapon while still giving room for him to spread his own wings with the ball in his hands.
随着时间的推移，无论是他意识到场均得分的疲惫还是每晚拿下 30 分，联盟球员的天赋不断上升，还是两者并存，哈登的心态都发生了变化。一位与他在火箭队时期有关的消息人士称他“非常有动力”。他现在处于他的克里斯保罗/菲尼克斯太阳队时代，一个非常有天赋的球员愿意适应其他人，而不是让每个人都适应他。
“他是目前联盟中最好的控球后卫之一，”一位消息人士说。“毫无疑问。这是迈向胜利的一大步。”
像格林和小贾巴里史密斯这样的球员——哈登喜欢的另一位球员——会从他的指导中受益匪浅，尽管他们比德文布克和迈尔斯布里奇斯低一些。前者需要像布克一样从第二个赛季到第三个赛季有显着的飞跃，但哈登无疑会提高格林的效率，使他成为更具杀伤力的无球武器，同时仍然给他空间，让他在有球的情况下张开自己的翅膀。
As plausible and perhaps even likely as a potential Harden and Rockets reunion appears to be, a few more factors can’t be ignored.
Sources close to the process say the Rockets are confident they’ll land a meeting with Harden should he declare for free agency as expected, but what comes next? For nearly a decade, Harden was used to a certain level of freedom and control, both on and off the floor. Would the Fertittas and Stone be willing to go down that path again? If this Harden 2.0 version is here to stay — and by all accounts, it is — haggling over semantics seems less important.
尽管哈登和火箭队的潜在重聚似乎是合理的，甚至可能是有可能的，但还有一些因素不容忽视。
消息人士称，如果哈登如预期宣布成为自由球员，火箭队有信心与哈登会面，但接下来会发生什么？在将近十年的时间里，哈登已经习惯了一定程度的自由和控制，无论是在场上还是场下。费尔蒂塔和斯通是否愿意再次走上这条路？如果这个 哈登 2.0 版本继续存在——并且从各方面来看，讨价还价似乎就不那么重要了。
“He wants to play basketball and wants to win,” one source with the team previously said. “If you can’t handle that, you’re in the wrong business.”
Morey and the Sixers, meanwhile, have evidence this new-and-improved Harden can lead and thrive in Philly. So is this pressure being applied by the Houston possibility merely a negotiating ploy, or a true sign of his affection for the Rockets life? There is, it seems, a blurring of the lines between leverage and love.
“Everything in this league is leverage,” one source close to Harden said. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t go to Houston.”
“他想打篮球，想赢球，”该队的一位消息人士此前表示。“如果你做不到，那你就入错行了。”
与此同时，莫狗和 76 人队有证据证明这个经过改进的新哈登可以在费城带领并茁壮成长。那么休斯顿可能性所施加的这种压力仅仅是一种谈判策略，还是他对火箭队生活的热爱的真实表现？杠杆和爱之间的界限似乎有些模糊。
“这个联盟中的一切都是杠杆，”一位接近哈登的消息人士说。“但这并不意味着他不会去休斯顿。”
Conversely, Harden will have a lot to consider by the time July rolls around. What the Sixers do in the playoffs, and how that leaves him feeling about what comes next? How healthy are the partnerships with Embiid and Rivers?
Did Sixers management put the full max on the table? What does the rest of the Rockets roster look like, and can they somehow find a way to go from cellar dweller to contender in one season? What does the rest of Harden’s market look like beyond the Sixers and Rockets?
The answers will come with time. And depending on what happens this summer, we’ll know if that final phone call between Harden and the Rockets was plot or prescient.
相反， 7 月到来时，哈登将有很多事情要考虑。76 人队在季后赛中做了什么，这让他对接下来的事情有何看法？与恩比德和里弗斯的合作关系如何？
76 人队管理层是否将全部顶薪摆在桌面上？火箭队的其他球员是什么样的，他们能以某种方式在一个赛季内从联盟垫底变成竞争者吗？除了 76 人队和火箭队之外，哈登的其他市场是什么样的？
答案会随着时间而来。根据今年夏天发生的情况，我们将知道哈登和火箭队之间的最后一通电话是阴谋还是有先见之明。
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