Basketball – Sport Microcosm

The Houston Rockets are now putting James Harden at the tip-off for NBA games. The one thing we know about winning jump balls, is that having a big guy up there helps. Basic sense. This is a league that has Shaq at the top of jump ball wins (stat recording does not go as far back as Wilt unfortunately). Shaq’s game is as far away from Harden’s as you can think of.

Rocket’s starting line-up will have an average height of 6’4

But the Rockets have no choice. They have embraced the small ball completely and now the tallest player they put on court to start the game is Robert Covington. The 6’7 Robert Covington. Who was the 2^nd biggest starter, a mere 18 months ago, when the Philadelphia 76ers started Saric, Embiid and Ben Simmons. Putting Harden at the center for the jump ball is Rocket’s probably believing that he has more hops than Covington, or its an opportunity for Harden to draw a foul. You never know with the Rockets.

The tip off is fun to watch. But there are deeper things at play here. James Harden was an All-Star in his first couple of seasons with the Rockets. But he was not an MVP candidate. Not a serious one. Harden’s shooting ability was always a known factor, even to the Thunder who decided to pass on him. It was his passing ability that really unlocked his game, once Mike D’Antoni came into town and decided to play Harden as the Point Guard. Harden now had more and more space to operate at the opponents couldn’t double him with as much ease, leaving big men open for an easy lob finish. Clint Capela made his name on the back of catching lobs from Harden and earned a $90 Million contract from it.

Harden’s scoring averages went from 25-27 pts per game before D’Antoni to 30+ points along with a big bump to his assist numbers, with career high 11.2 AST per game in 2016-17 season, which was Mike D’Antoni’s first season as the Rockets coach. There is a reason the Rockets basketball was fun to watch (before all the flopping became a daily occurrence), and that reason was watching Harden create something different on every possession, whether it was through driving to the basket, shooting or creating from the perimeter or off one of his drives. There were just far too many choices. Over the past few years, Chris Paul moved to the Rockets and the style had to change. The offense became my-turn your-turn, with Harden and Paul splitting ball handling duties while the other man stood in the corner waiting his turn. It wasn’t the most fun offense we have seen. But it is what Rockets thought would propel them to the title. But alas, the Warriors just wouldn’t let slip their hold over the Western Conference and Chris Paul was moved by the Front Office to OKC Thunder.

In return from CP3 and a thousand first round picks, the Rockets got themselves Russell Westbrook and the Rockets identity changed forever. Chris Paul might have wanted to and acted like Alpha dog on every team he has ever been on, but the Rockets were always Harden’s team. CP had great stretches, even long periods where he took over games and Harden took a smaller role, but no one ever questioned that the team was Harden’s and when push came to shove, Harden would be the man with the ball in his hands. Throw all of that away. This team might finally not live and die by James Harden.

It all starts with Mike D’Antoni and his contract extension talks at the end of last season. With a long summer of discussions and debates, there was no agreement and D’Antoni was happy to go through the last year of his contract and move on and the Rockets decided the asking price was far too high to prevent that from happening. Then there was Daryl Morey. Daryl Morey is considered to be the Albert Einstein of General Managers in the NBA. He was an advocate for statistics years before they became a norm in the NBA. Morey’s love for 3 point shooting and shots at the rim are an affair unlike any other. Morey was the man who signed both Capela and CP3 to the mega money deals. The set up in the past seasons was as Morey like as possible. Russell Westbrook has spent the last few years, since Durant’s departure, shooting mid rangers and 3 pointers, despite being extremely inefficient at both those shots. He is still fast and explosive enough to get his shots at the rim, but at some point all the bouncing around and absorbing all the contact, takes a toll on your body and the jump shots seem so much more appealing. Russell Westbrook is as un-Morey like player as a player can get and yet that is who ended up on the Rockets team.

Whether his fans want to believe it or not, this was a power move by James Harden. He had had enough of CP3 and wanted his friend Westbrook on the team, and the team owner penny-pinching billionaire, Tillman Fertitta backed his franchisee’s on court star and not his front office star and now Daryl Morey has had to make a major shift to his basketball philosophy to steady the ship after they began the season 29-18, a much worse figure than their past 2 years with CP3 on the team (and most of their 1^st round picks intact). Having a non-shooting big in Capela and a high usage non-shooter in Westbrook was everything that minimized Harden’s impact and needed him to score 40 points per game with his iso-heavy shooting style on a nightly basis. It was good for Harden and his quest for another MVP award, but it wasn’t proving to be the best thing for the team.

Matchups like this have become familiar for Rockets and will be exploited in the playoffs

The decision to move Capela to the Hawks in the 4 team mega-trade that landed them Robert Covington has made the Rockets the first NBA team ever to go center-less completely as an organizational policy. This benefits the Rockets because they now have 5 people on the perimeter opening up the lanes for both Westbrook and Harden to drive at the rim. This is a nice idea, but once the teams figure out they need to be patient on offense and they can exploit the size advantage in the paint. In the playoffs, they will come up against the likes of Anthony Davis, Kristaps Porzingis, Rudy Gobert, Steven Adams, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jusuf Nurkic/Hassan Whiteside, LaMarcus Aldridge and if God has a heart, Zion Williamson! This is a path that can not be overcome with the likes of PJ Tucker. He is a player who can capably switch on to big men in the league. But to expect him to do that 30+ minutes a game over multiple play-off series’ is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention, PJ Tucker is 34 years old!

If this is not a move that makes the Rockets better in the playoffs, what is the point of this move? Maybe it is to salvage a bad situation while trying to do something new. Or is it more sinister than that? Is Daryl making a point here? This move makes some sense for Harden, but it makes a lot more sense for Westbrook, who is always looking to drive, now that he has decided to cut out the 3 point attempts from his game. Harden loses his lob targets and gets doubled a lot more, but he can pass out of the double team and the ball can swing around till it find one of the open shooters, or Westbrook drives to the rim. All of this helps the team in the regular season and will also help Westbrook look a lot more efficient, but it does take away from Harden’s passing game.

Ever since Rockets signed Harden, its been his team. Whatever he wants, happens. Harden wants to win, we know that, but he also wants to play his way. This change in personnel and style is helping Westbrook at the cost of Harden and that may not be what Harden wants, but maybe it’s not completely his team anymore. Maybe accommodating Russell Westbrook is more important for the Rockets success than playing to each and every strength of James Harden and that is a shift that has come whether Harden likes it or not. What it means for the future of the franchise? Only time will tell.

The Los Angeles Lakers have gone all in on the 2019-20 season. It all began when they finally managed to pry Anthony Davis from the clutches (Klutches?) of New Orleans Pelicans, that sent pretty much all the Lakers not named LeBron James to the Pelicans along with a ton of picks and pick swaps. The only young player left in the aftermath of the trade, was the oldest of the lot; Kyle Kuzma. The Lakers have always liked Kuzma. He is the late 1^st round pick that made the 1^st team all-rookie and on the nights that he has it going it feels like he has Ingram-like potential on a team better suited to his style.

This Laker team however can not and will not play as per Kuzma’s style. They have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, so Kyle Kuzma has to play the role of a slasher or corner shooter, both of which he can be decent at (slashing more than shooting, which has been on and off), but are roles that do not exploit the 3^rd star potential that he really has. So, it was both surprising and not surprising that Kuzma was the Laker most discussed during the trade deadline, but also was the player to not move, as the Lakers made no moves at the deadline.

Kyle Kuzma among the Laker fans is known as a non-evil version of the Little Finger ala Game of Thrones. The front office believes him to be their big achievement, thanks to the value they got from a lowly 27 pick. Kuzma has also embraced LA completely with his dressing styles, his grooming habits and the holy grail – training over the summer of 2018 with Kobe Bryant. He has also been pictured having private dinners with Jeanie Buss and that can’t hurt. None of this is to say Kuzma is untradeable, but he has done everything right in the eyes of the Front Office for them to not sell low on him, as they have done in the past with other young players they have drafted.

The best targets the Lakers had this window were Marcus Morris and Robert Covington, but the Lakers valued Kuzma higher than Covington and at least on par with Morris, but given his extremely low salary of $2 million, the Lakers would have to attach the likes of Danny Green, Avery Bradley & DeMarcus Cousins with Kuzma for salary matching purposes and the Lakers were definitely not going to give an asset they valued highly (Kuzma) for another parallel asset (Covington/Morris) while also having to give up other assets (Green, Bradley, Cousins).

So Kyle Kuzma stayed a Laker and the Lakers will look to the buyout market for retooling the squad, which is in need for a positive on-ball creator for when LeBron rests and a defensive wing to throw at Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the playoffs. Darren Collison would have been an ideal candidate to take on that first role, with his well rounded game, where he could be a spot up shooter with LeBron on the floor, while being the primary ball handler with LeBron off the court, while also providing solid defense. Rajon Rondo is an abject failure on most nights in filling this role and the Lakers play like a non-playoff team when LeBron sits.

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Kuzma’s value to the Lakers team is in a unique position. His contract is locked up through the 2020-21 season when he will be making only $3.5 million, making his value very high to the Lakers next season. If Rondo, KCP and Avery Bradley pick up their player options and the Lakers re-sign Anthony Davis, they will already be over the cap, so unless they make a big trade (unlikely given their lack of assets), Lakers best shot at finding help for Davis and LeBron, if they don’t win the title this season, is to hope Kuzma takes a big step up. Without that, they will be stuck in the same position. Keep holding on to Kuzma and hope to get the best out of him at some point, without tailoring much of the offense around his game. Or move him to a different team with a couple of important role players in an attempt to land a 3^rd star next to LeBron and AD, which does not seem easy without the addition of some picks, that Lakers do not possess.

It is fair to say the next 30 odd games and the play offs will be crucial in deciding where Kuzma ends up. Despite all his dinners with Jeanie and all the love from Pelinka, Kuzma knows this is LeBron James’ team or Anthony Davis’ team when he re-signs over the summer. And if the team feels there is a player better suited to the strengths and weaknesses of Davis and LeBron, the Lakers won’t hesitate to move Kuzma; especially if the third star is the reason the Lakers end up losing the NBA title this season.