Rockets Rumors: HOU All-In on LeBron James Pursuit Despite James Harden Comment

The Houston Rockets are reportedly "all in" on pursuing LeBron James in free agency this offseason.

According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Rockets have heavy interest in James despite a comment made by guard James Harden at the NBA Awards on Monday.

When asked about what Houston needs to win a championship, Harden suggested that they can do so by standing pat:

"We were a half away from the Finals, so I don't think there is a piece that we need to bring in or take away. We're great with what we have, from top to bottom, from the front office to coaching staff to players, personnel. Our main focus is just getting better, getting healthier, and doing what we do.

"You've got to realize—like it's Chris [Paul] and PJ [Tucker] and Luc [Mbah a Moute] and all those new guys, it's their first year. Look where we got to. Imagine a little bit more time together, it can get pretty scary."

James finished second to Harden in the MVP voting Monday.

The Rockets had the NBA's best record last season at 65-17, and they pushed the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

If not for Paul missing Games 6 and 7 of that series, Houston may have met James and the Cavs in the NBA Finals.

For the Rockets, Paul, Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza are all set to hit unrestricted free agency, while rapidly improving center Clint Capela will be a restricted free agent.

James has until Friday to decide whether to opt in or out of the final year of his deal with the Cavs.

As pointed out by Brad Botkin of CBS Sports, the Rockets would likely need LeBron to opt in before completing a trade, much like they did with the Clippers for CP3 last season.

ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton noted that such a trade would probably include the Rockets sending Eric Gordon, Aaron Jackson, Nene, Chinanu Onuaku, Tucker and Zhou Qi to Cleveland.

In March, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer reported that James would consider re-signing with the Cavs or joining the Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers or Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.

OddsShark tweeted last week that the Lakers are 4-13 favorites to sign James. The Cavaliers are the second choice at 13-4 and Houston is third at 15-2.