James Harden has changed the course of the Houston Rockets, bringing the franchise from playoff hopeful into a championship contender. It all started with general manager Daryl Morey’s pursuit of Harden after three years with the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Morey’s aggressive tactics resulting in the acquisition of the young star, one who would soon become one of the league’s highest scoring supernovas.
Looking back at where it all started, Morey reflected on how far this franchise has come along since first netting Harden’s services in 2012:
“I’m very thankful that he was even available,” Morey told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “I mean, that was the culmination of a lot of work and not fun years. Like “The Little Engine That Could,” that didn’t have a chance to win the title. But we tried to make decisions that set us up for that.
“Now, having James be available requires a decent aspect of luck. But you also have to be ready, and there were many teams ahead of us that could have gotten him and didn’t. It was very fortuitous for him and us that we found each other. Like it was meant to be.”
Harden’s had his share of fortuity himself, as the Rockets landed Mike D’Antoni in 2016. D’Antoni had been known as a master of ball movement and quick-fire offense, but ultimately was able to transform his basketball philosophy to make Harden into a ball-scoring machine, birthing the iso-brand of basketball so many teams fear to this day.
The post Rockets GM Daryl Morey reflects on acquiring James Harden from Thunder appeared first on ClutchPoints.
