Star players get a lot of minutes... but how often do they win playing like that even on back to backs? Harden isn't yet at the level we can call him a superstar because he hasn't won anything, so why ruin his health early or risk him breaking down later when we might need him like McGrady, Yao and other star level players that because of health issues or the make up of their organizations never got to the point they could actually use their talent for more then just staying .500? The current group think is that he HAS to be out on the court, but if you can't give your top player rest in games there is no way he will be 100% in the post season. Is the fanbase that desperate for some moral victories that we are willing to accept obvious failures in management for a potential of being a one and done post season team or one with a player that has upper level stats?
My guess- I think they want to give this current team a good stress test for the first half of the season. See how good this core of Harden/Lin/Asik/Parsons can be, and after the all-star break they will evaluate further. Meaning, if they are clearly not going to be in the playoff hunt, I wouldn't expect Harden to be asked to carry the team for 40+ minutes nightly. They might be thinking further into the future rather than just trying to win as many games as possible when they clearly aren't going to make the playoffs. Harden is still only 23 years old. He should be able to handle heavy minutes for the next few seasons, but I dont expect him to carry so much of the scoring load once this team takes the next step to either improve drastically, or the hit a period in the season where they are looking more towards the future than just winning every game at all means necessary.
