James Harden Trade Rumors: Rockets' Asking Price for Star Remains Unchanged

The newest drama surrounding James Harden reportedly hasn't shaken the Houston Rockets' resolve when it comes to what kind of return they'll demand in a trade involving their best player.

The Athletic's Sam Amick reported the Rockets expected Harden to arrive in time for training camp and were "surprised" by his continued absence. However, acquiring the eight-time All-Star will require paying a steep price:

"As for the prospects of him being traded, sources say the Rockets' demands remain unchanged even after these past few days: An All-Star/All-NBA level player in return, as well as a treasure trove of other assets (young prospects, first-round draft picks, etc.). But as of Monday afternoon, sources say, the trade market wasn't responding to these demands in the kind of way that would inspire a move."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Nov. 16 that Harden had turned down a two-year, $103 million extension from the Rockets and "made it clear to ownership that he's singularly focused on a trade to the Brooklyn Nets."

Per Wojnarowski, Harden no longer feels he can realistically chase a championship in Houston. According to Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated, the issues may go deeper than that:

The problem for Harden is that he has fewer levers at his disposal to force the team's hand. He can't opt out until 2022, so he can't even hang his impending free agency over general manager Rafael Stone's head for another year.

Staging a holdout is the most straightforward play, but it will mean burning a lot of the goodwill he has built up during his first eight years with the Rockets.

One could argue Harden should at the very least make a good-faith effort to see whether this is truly the end for Houston as a title contender for the foreseeable future.

Multiple reports surfaced in July 2018 about how Kawhi Leonard didn't want to play for the Toronto Raptors following his trade from the San Antonio Spurs.

Toronto reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016 before losing in the conference semifinals the following two seasons. The Raptors had a first-year head coach in Nick Nurse, too, so it seemed like the acquisition of Leonard probably wasn't enough to get the franchise over the top.

Then the Raptors won a title.

These aren't parallel situations since the Western Conference is tougher from top to bottom than the East, and Toronto had a more complete roster around Leonard than Harden has in Houston.

Still, the Rockets might be better after having swapped Russell Westbrook for John Wall. Maybe Stephen Silas has different ways to maximize a squad that appeared to reach its ceiling with Mike D'Antoni. Are those two things likely to happen? Probably not, but nobody can say for sure right now.

Based on Amick's report, it doesn't look like a Harden trade is right around the corner, leaving the 2017-18 MVP with little choice but to grin and bear it for the time being.