REPORT: James Harden wanted a Rockets reunion, but Houston wasn’t interested

Before he was ultimately traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, new reports indicated that Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden liked the idea of a trade back to Houston—where he would reunite with the team he reshaped with isolation basketball and became one of the game’s all-time great scorers.

The Rockets reportedly did not share this enthusiasm.

On Friday—the day after the NBA trade deadline—a report from ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne said Harden “had interest” in a trade back to Houston, but the Rockets “showed little interest.”

MORE ON THE TRADE DEADLINE: Rockets remain uninvolved as NBA trade deadline passes

Now, I’m not going to sit here and act like this rejection was actually made with any consideration of Harden’s less-than-amicable exit from Houston.

If Rockets general manager Rafael Stone believed Harden could help this team win this year—and liked the deal Los Angeles was offering—there’s no doubt in my mind his private jet would be landing at Bush as we speak.

However, as a follower of the Rockets before, during, and after the James Harden era, I think it’s fair to put aside the rational outlook of a successful NBA front office for a moment and view this through a more emotional lens.

The Rockets gave James Harden everything a superstar could ask for.

They dealt away future assets at the drop of a hat in an effort to build a roster to help him win, pairing him with then-superstars like Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Russell Westbrook. They hired the perfect coach to maximize his skill set in Mike D’Antoni.

They marketed his personal brand beyond “The Beard”—he was arguably the entire face of Houston sports in the 2010s.

As the decade wound to a close, though, cracks began to show in the foundation the Rockets had built.

The team’s playoff exits piled up year after year, and the annual Western Conference invitational against the Kevin Durant-fueled Golden State Warriors proved to be a hurdle the Rockets just couldn’t clear.

They came painfully close in 2018, when the best iteration of the Harden-led Rockets held a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. But a tragic hamstring injury to Chris Paul—and an inopportune poor shooting night in Game 7—sent the Rockets packing on their own home floor. For how far this team had come, that moment was a tragedy beyond measure.

Even with the playoff gut-punches, that’s not to say things got worse for Harden specifically.

In fact, he played the best basketball of his career statistically during his final three full seasons in Houston, immortalizing himself with the 2018 MVP Award—and many fans still argue he should have won it over Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2019, too.

Even so, from the moment it became clear the Rockets had fallen out of real contention for a ring in 2020, Harden wanted out.

With a very public trade demand—and a presence that can best be described as “bad vibes”—he created a media circus that showed no regard for the interests of the team that had prioritized his for years.

In January 2021, he got his wish, shipped to the Brooklyn Nets superteam to play alongside Durant and Kyrie Irving.

From there, the Harden story gets complicated.

It’d be too much of a diversion from the topic to describe his post-Houston career in a way that does justice to every party, but I’ll tell you this: the Cavaliers will be Harden’s fifth team in the last six years.

Since his departure from Houston, he has played alongside the aforementioned Durant and Irving, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey (who hadn’t reached his ceiling yet, to be fair), Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George. He is still looking for his first championship.

So what were the Rockets up to while Harden was teaming up with superstars, you might ask?

They bottomed out, missing the playoffs in 2021 after the trade and failing to return over the next three seasons. They went from a casual Western Conference Finals pick to a regular in the NBA Draft Lottery. Watching the post-Harden Rockets became an indicator of strong fan loyalty—because, honestly, why else would you watch that team?

During those years of squalor, though, the Rockets’ front office patiently acquired assets, turning their ugly records into high draft picks—and benefiting mightily from the haul of draft capital they got from the Nets in exchange for Harden.

After finding the right coach in Ime Udoka, the team was ready to make its return to the playoffs as the West’s No. 2 seed in 2025. Even though that run was cut shorter than many hoped (again, those damned Warriors), the rebuild was clearly complete.

That summer, they added Durant, creating a full-circle moment between Houston and its former playoff nemesis.

So in summation: Harden bailed on the Rockets when things got difficult and enjoyed the fruits of that choice while the Rockets quietly rebuilt from the mess he helped create.

Then, guess who came knocking when the Rockets returned as frontrunners?

This time around, though, the Rockets said, “We’re good.”

Don’t get me wrong—I love James Harden.

Growing up in Houston, he was my favorite athlete, and I still look back on those years fondly. His generational offensive talent is undeniable, and I have no reason to believe he isn’t a great guy off the court.

Even after his trade to Brooklyn, I’ve rooted for him every step of the way, and I would be the loudest one celebrating if he finally won a ring.

And in his defense, there aren’t many guys in the NBA who wouldn’t have asked out of Houston if they were in Harden’s position—although his behavior through that process certainly made the breakup more awkward than it needed to be.

With all my respect for Harden established, I still can’t help but feel like this is the ending scene of a cheesy coming-of-age high school movie.

The popular clique didn’t give the nerdy girl the time of day… but here comes the star quarterback after she gets a makeover and is crowned prom queen—and she’s having none of it. I don’t know if that analogy totally lands, but it made sense in my head.

It’s still hard to say what the future holds for these Houston Rockets, but one thing is certain:

The Rockets have moved on.