http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-harden-recruiting-free-agents lock if posted already When the Houston Rockets acquired James Harden last offseason, they were excited to finally land a star player. The Rockets immediately signed Harden to a five-year deal worth $80 million and he proved to be worth every penny. The 23-year-old became an All-Star, finished with the league’s third-highest scoring average (26.3 points per game) and led the Rockets to the playoffs. JamesHarden_InsideOnly2While Harden’s on-court production was outstanding, his biggest contribution may come during the offseason. That’s because Harden has already started recruiting big-time free agents to Houston, including unrestricted free agent Dwight Howard among others, according to sources close to the situation. If Houston is able to land Howard or another high-profile free agent this summer, they would instantly become a contender in the Western Conference and Harden would deserve much of the credit. In recent months, Harden made it clear that he was planning to recruit free agents this summer. Now, with free agency still roughly six weeks away, he’s already starting to call and text some potential targets for Houston to sell them on the city, situation and future. Most free agents, including Howard, are big fans of Harden’s game and have a lot of respect for the up-and-coming shooting guard. On Wednesday afternoon, Harden confirmed via his Twitter account that he has been recruiting some players. Lol yup! RT @ARankin11: @JHarden13 You been doing some recruiting big dawg? about 14 hours ago via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite @JHarden13 James Harden Harden is allowed to recruit free agents and sell them on Houston, according to NBA rules. After LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh agreed to sign with the Miami HEAT in the summer of 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern addressed the topic of players recruiting one another. “The three players are totally, as our system has evolved, within their rights to talk to each other,” Stern said of James, Wade and Bosh. “That is not tampering or collusion that is prohibited. That’s our rule, right now.” In the past, the Rockets struggled to attract notable free agents. They swung and missed on Chris Bosh and Nene among others. They also expressed interest in trading for Carmelo Anthony and Howard, but neither player was interested in signing a long-term deal in Houston at the time. However, that all changed when they acquired Harden. Now, other stars around the league see that the team is close to contending in the West and that they wouldn’t be the only star in Houston. There’s no question that the Rockets have an intriguing pitch for free agents, which is why some of the top players on the market are already planning to sit down with Houston for a meeting once July 1 arrives. This season, the Rockets made the playoffs and managed to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder twice, despite being the youngest team in the NBA. They’re only going to continue getting better and they have more financial flexibility than most teams. However, even if they do eventually run out of cap space, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and his staff have shown that they can find cheap talent to fill out the roster, as evidenced by second-round pick Chandler Parsons (who is also recruiting free agents for Houston) and midseason signee Patrick Beverley. Both players made less than $1 million this past year, but emerged as key contributors during the season. Houston is also a great place to live, especially if you’re a professional athlete, since there is no state income tax. There’s also no millionaire tax like there is in L.A. When you consider that most superstar players opt out of a five-year deal after the fourth year anyway to test free agency and secure a new long-term deal, the fifth year and extra $30 million that the Los Angeles Lakers can offer to Howard are pretty insignificant. Factor in Los Angeles’ state income tax, millionaire tax and exorbitant cost of living and Howard isn’t leaving much, if any, money on the table at all. However, Harden’s presence is clearly the biggest draw for potential free agents and he has been doing his job recently to make sure they know he’d welcome them with open arms in Houston.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Lol yup! RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/arankin11">arankin11</a>: @<a href="https://twitter.com/jharden13">jharden13</a> You been doing some recruiting big dawg?</p>— James Harden (@JHarden13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JHarden13/status/337305996332523520">May 22, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Another interesting tidbit. Harden is definitely doing work this offseason, love this guy.
It's great that James is so well liked around the league that he can be a force in attracting top tier free agents to the Rockets even though the current team despises him according to the mind readers on CF.
LMAO, I remember the link used to read poopsworld when you posted it in a thread, I guess the mods adjusted that. But besides that, I'm pretty sure Harden knows who to target, it's not like the organization walks around without communicating with its players (especially it's best). There's only 2 worthwhile free agents this year to "recruit" anyway.
I wonder who else he is recruiting... Howard is all I hear about. I wonder has he been talking to Josh Smith.
An entire article is based on a Tweet of "Lol yup!" #journalism Anyway, I figured Harden would do some recruiting since he's said as much before. Here's to hoping it's better than the Rockets previous attempts at wooing FAs!
This is the first year it's been fun for me because we actually have a chance to get someone and if we don't _ I won't be disappointed...
I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Asik would be gone. He would be a little high at $8mil per year against the cap for a backup, but how deep would we be and it is great insurance for injuries to have someone of his talent to step in.
Harden isn't writing the checks. Just like assistant NCAA coaches aren't the ones handing out the scholarships. Let the man do his thing.
Why not Paul and Howard? You know Harden is pushing that agenda and honestly the Rockets could make it work while keeping Parsons and at least one of the young PFs. Under the cap teams like the Jazz or Hawks would love Lin and Asik for a pick. The Jazz need a pg and the Hawks would love Asik next to Horford. A core of Paul, Howard, Harden, and Parsons would be the only team on a talent level equal to the Heat. It just would not surprise me as competitive as Paul is to really consider it.
