James Harden, who plays next to Embiid, is very happy, and although the only player around Harden who can be called a superstar is Embiid, Harden seems to be far happier playing for the 76ers than when he played with the Nets. Harden took the initiative to establish a good relationship with Embiid as soon as he went to the 76ers, and now Embiid is the main attacker, Harden is the main catcher, and the two have also taken the 76ers to a new height. Harden is a better player for the 76ers than Simmons.
So is there any hope for the Rockets to welcome Harden "home"? Because when Harden was sent to the Nets by the Rockets last year, the Rockets management reportedly had such an idea - when Harden is older after winning the championship, he will recall Harden to Houston to lead these young players to play. Unfortunately, the Rockets don't have a place for Harden now, and Harden himself may not want to go back to the Rockets.
All along, the Rockets have been their guard Porter Jr. as Harden to cultivate, unfortunately 2 seasons have passed, Little Potter's progress in the Rockets is limited, not only failed to become a Harden-style player, but also became one of the biggest shortcomings of the Rockets in the eyes of fans. Porter Jr., who changed to the No. 1 position, is not Harden's kind of player who can attack and pass, on the one hand, Porter Jr.'s talent and ability are limited, on the other hand, the Rockets forced Porter Jr. to play point guard, which does not seem to be suitable for him.
Porter Jr. did have his own explanation, saying of his personal positioning: "I am a point guard, I am not a traditional point guard, but I am a point guard. It's 2022 now and I feel like Curry got rid of the label of a traditional point guard, and since he's been there, I don't feel like the traditional point guard role is still moving forward, except for Paul and a handful of players. ”
In other words, Porter Jr. has "drawn a line" between himself and a traditional point guard like Paul, and he thinks that his benchmark is Curry's "scoring first, passing as a supplement" point guard, not Paul's type that averages few points per game but has super first-class passing and control ability. We know that the Warriors' Curry has not only won the league scoring title, but he is also the first person in the Warriors' firepower output, with three-point, mid-range shooting, breakthrough layups and other abilities.
Curry has averaged 25.4 points per game this season, but he has averaged just 6.3 assists per game. In fact, Curry's performance on the offensive end this season is not good, and looking at the previous seasons, Curry's average score per game is basically above 25 points, and even the performance of averaging more than 30 points per game in the season. But Curry has never averaged more than seven assists per game these seasons — which is probably the new type of point guard that Porter Jr. is talking about.
Porter Jr. compares himself to Curry, and they're all the kind of point guards who are good at scoring themselves, but their passing and possession aren't as good as their scoring ability. Just this little Porter, can he really be partnered with Jaylen Green, a rookie? We know that Green needs Paul's traditional point guard around him, even when he pairs Jaylen Green with Schroeder.
But paired with Porter Jr., who is first in attack and second in passing, Jaylen Green always plays awkwardly on the court. If the Rockets are still vigorously cultivating Little Potter and forcing him to partner with Green, the two who do not match the style of the ball may be difficult for the Rockets to go further. Jaylen Green, on the other hand, will waste his talent and will hardly have a head start around Porter Jr.