Houston Rockets: Was the Nets offer the best one for James Harden?

Whose deal was better?

While both the Nets and 76ers deals had positives and negatives, Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone made the right move by accepting Brooklyn’s offer.

If the Rockets had shipped Harden to Philadelphia, they would certainly be more competitive this season. But even with Simmons, Houston still had no shot at winning the title in 2021 considering how stacked the West is, especially the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers who got even better over the offseason by bringing in guys like Dennis Schröder, Pau Gasol and Montrezl Harrell.

The thing that would have pushed the 76ers offer past the Nets offer is if Philadephia included Tyrese Maxey in its package for James Harden.

The 20-year old rookie has tons of upside and is already proving his value just a few games into his career. In just his 10th ever NBA game, Maxey showed what he is capable of, scoring 39 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists to keep a depleted 76ers roster competitive against the Nuggets.

If Maxey was included in the Harden package then it would have been a no-brainer for Houston to take Philadelphia’s deal, but the fact that he was not included makes the Rockets’ decision to accept Brooklyn’s offer for Harden the right move.

The bottom line is that if Houston decided to trade Harden then they would no longer be legitimate title contenders for the next few years so it makes perfect sense that Stone chose to prioritize setting up the Rockets for the future when negotiating the Harden trade.

While Houston does not currently have the franchise cornerstone on its roster, it does have nice young pieces like Christian Wood and Jae’Sean Tate who along with the abundance of draft picks and swaps puts the Rockets a step in the right direction.