A these days is that winning is an incredibly complex puzzle, the result of hundreds of factors coming together.

How good is your team at working the salary cap toe?

Optimize that ninth slot on the roster?

Is the travel schedule set up to improve player sleep patterns?

What's the philosophy of the teams shooting coach?

And look, Those details are important.

The good teams air typically the ones that execute those things well.

But to be a great team, the truth is much simpler and much more harsh.

The teams that have the best players tend to win.

That's it.

This is a league built on stars, and there aren't that many of them to go around.

And if you miss out, you're not going to be the one who ends the season holding the trophy.

That's why Kawhi Leonard had helicopters following him around as he made his free agency visits.

That's why the Lakers were willing to risk tampering, finds the court Anthony Davis, and that's why there was two years of league wide hand wringing over whether Yannis and to decompose was going to sign the Supermax in Milwaukee It's also why now, in the wake of Yannis announcement that he is indeed re upping with the Bucks that the attention of the entire MBA is now shifting back Thio Houston and disgruntled superstar James Harden.

You can have an opinion on whether you like Harden style of play or not, or whether his approach to being a teammate corrodes locker rooms and those air, not small things.

But when it comes to actual straight skills, there's no argument.

James Harden is a basketball badass period.

He is one of the most prolific scorers in the 74 year history of the N B A.

He has finished Top five and M v P voting six of the last seven years.

If you are a team in need of a superstar, James Harden fits the bill in a way that few other humans on Earth can.

It is why, as soon as Yanis is pen hit paper in Milwaukee, the price of acquiring James Harden from Houston went right up.

And it's also why, despite all that Harden has done in the past few weeks, toe act out the Rockets air, still tiptoeing around, hoping Harden will change his mind and want to stay.

The thought has been that maybe if James actually got out there with John Wall in Boogie Cousins, he'd start having fun.

And last night they at least got their first taste of what that looked like.

Sort of.

It was his first pre season game, and Hardened looked like a player who, well, hadn't really been through training camp, scoring 12 points on three of 10 shooting.

And while he was not actually as out of shape is an unflattering screenshot circulating Twitter made him appear more than once.

Cameras did catch him catching his breath with his hands on his hips.

Still, there were a few flashes of what might be late in the first quarter.

We saw a sequence where Hardened hit a trademark step back.

Three Booth.

He drew a foul on another.

Then he found P.

J.

Tucker in the corner with a nice pass that leads to a bucket.

So did any of that feel encouraging to James Harden?

We still don't really know.

Less than an hour ago, James made his first public comments in months.

Take a listen.

Do you still want the rockets to trade you And if so, why?

All right now, I'm just focused on being here.

Um, you know, today was good.

Yesterday, I felt really good being out there.

Uh, in the first time in its just the bubble, I hadn't really had an opportunity to do about 55 work, James.

What was the point that you were trying to get across when you went to Atlanta and Vegas?

When training camp was starting, I was his training.

What were you training for, uh, started NBA season.

How did go into Atlanta in Vegas help you there when the rockets were starting training camp in Houston?

Just, you know, my personal trainers, James, you obviously had a close relationship with Darryl for all those years.

And I think you had a lot of trust in him.

Do you have that same trust in Raffle Stone that he could put pieces around you?

We have had a conversation so haven't had a conversation front office despite that.

Still hopeful that the more James plays with this group, the more he likes it, or at least the more his trade value will go up and they could get another legit star in return.

After all, winning in the MBA is indeed a puzzle.

But no matter how well you put everything together around the edges, you can't complete it if you don't have that peace in the center.

So, Zach, what is your biggest take away from the first pre season game last night and then listening to Harden Just now?

Uh, you saw the press conference.

He does not exactly look excited to go back to Houston, And other than that, he's dodging questions like Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix.

Uh, it seems that the toothpaste is out of the tube, and But, you know, again, Houston has time on its side.

He has two years left, plus a player option, and it's a big player option in the third year.

They don't have to rush.

They haven't rushed.

I think they've played this right.

James is with the team.

He's a proud guy.

You just mentioned a top five and M V P.

Six of the last seven years.

It's not.

It's not like he's gonna go out there and not compete.

Might not be happy.

You might pout a little bit.

They have time, but look, we've seen the situation before, and rarely does it turn the other way where they start winning enough and his dreams to go into Brooklyn or Philly or wherever.

Go away.

So it seems like delaying the inevitable to May.

Yeah, well, kudos, by the way, when listening to that press conference to our colleague Tim MacMahon, because just the inflection on training for what was phenomenal.

Shout out Tim.

Um, but it is interesting.

How much do you think he is going to sort of blend with his teammates?

Because we know on the court, you and I both said it right.

James Harden is gonna be James Harden.

He's going to try, but how much do you think in the locker room on the team playing that kind of thing?

Do you expect him to try to develop some chemistry with guys like John Wall in Boogie Cousins?

I mean, I think off the court is one thing.

I think James is generally seems pleasant to be around off the court.

I don't think he's been a huge problem in that regard on the court.

I mean, let's face it, he hasn't blended with teammates in five years.

He plays James ball, not basketball, and as long as he's and by the way, it's been massively effective.

They almost won the championship.

They almost got to the finals playing that way.

He's one of the greatest offensive players in the history of league play.

James Ball you want.

But in Houston, he's going to continue to play that way as long as he is there.

It's his franchise.

It's his team.

They've catered everything to him up until now.

He's gonna play that way.

That's the most interesting question.

Let's say he goes to Philly.

He's got Joel and beat on his team.

Joel Embiid.

He's the incumbent guy in Philadelphia.

He doesn't wanna play James Ball.

Say he goes to Brooklyn.

Kevin Durant.

Kevin hasn't played a real game for Brooklyn yet.

Kyrie Irving has.

They didn't sign up to play James Ball, so he goes to Miami.

Jimmy Butler, Bam!

Out of bio.

They have this offense where shooters air, running around, doing crazy stuff, a lot of dribble handoffs.

They don't wanna play James ball, and that's gonna be the interesting question is how willing is he to adapt if and when he gets to another team.

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