Houston Rockets: 5 goals for James Harden in 2017-18

5. Improve on defense

Despite being regarded as one of the premier offensive talents in the game, Harden has yet to fully escape the criticism of his play on defense.

Last season, Harden proved to be worse on the defensive end of the floor compared to his previous campaign, finishing 65th among shooting guards with a Defensive Real Plus-Minus of -1.57.

And while he has shown shown signs of improvement, Harden has yet to put it all together on this side of the floor in his career. There are times where he shows little to zero focus on his individual assignments.

In order for Harden to take the next step within his career, he must find a way to become a better defender sooner rather than later, as all of the league’s marquee stars — from Kawhi Leonard to LeBron James — have managed to become versatile, two-way players en route to guiding their respective teams to a championship.

Should Harden seek to accomplish this, then he must show the desire to become an all-around player, and prove to his skeptics that he can play defense consistently once and for all.