James Harden spent a lot of time trying to get himself out of the Philadelphia 76ers during the summer. There was a lot of chaos between the player and the franchise. Even though the Sixers had potential, the 10x All-Star wanted out solely based on a botched backdoor deal. He initially expected a max deal, which was probably what Daryl Morey promised before acquiring him.
Unfortunately, Morey couldn’t give him a max offer and agreed that he would trade Harden if he opted in for a player option. Morey further added fuel to the fire by closing trade talks involving Harden. But the guard did not give up, ultimately forcing Morey to comply with his request and trade him. By the beginning of November, the Los Angeles Clippers and Morey’s team came to an agreement and shipped Harden.
Tyronn Lue claims James Harden wants to show everybody that he’s still elite
James Harden jumped right into action shortly after being acquired by the Clippers. However, LA did not have a great start with him on the roster. They lost five games in a row before finding a groove. However, their consistency has still been very shaky. The media and fans began to question whether pursuing Harden was a good idea. Turns out, Harden just needed some time to figure out his place.
“I think James wants to prove to y’all that he is James Harden. He can do that on a nightly basis… It’s coming around.”
Clippers head coach Ty Lue on Harden and the team’s performance last night vs. the Kings 🗣️
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— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 30, 2023
“Just the constant conversation, constant dialogue and I think James just wants to prove to y’all that he is James Harden. So he can do that on a nightly basis. So we’ve just got to get more pick and rolls. We’ve got to get more and more comfortable,” said coach Tyronn Lue after being asked about Harden’s form. These comments came shortly after the Clippers pulled off an impressive victory against the Sacramento Kings.
James Harden is making great progress with the Clippers
Coach Lue also gave a small update on how things were between James Harden and his teammates. It seems like Harden is starting to understand how to work with his teammates he has at the moment. Coach said, “You know he’s working with Tyson and Zu(bac) after every practice, just showing them the angles of pick and rolls. When they get off of it, where to be when he’s coming downhill. So they’re starting to get a great combination. So it’s coming around.”
Lue added, “We had a tough loss against Denver, everybody’s talking about that. But I still got positivity in this team and I just like our team. And once we start figuring out having more games like tonight, we’re making quick decisions, making the right pass, the right play, getting to the paint, spraying out the threes. And that’s how we’ve got to play.” Lue seems determined to get a system fixed for the team. This is going to be hard especially since LA is currently dealing with four future Hall of Famers.