Yes, it's been about three weeks since Watch first reported James Harden wishes to be traded out of Houston.

And yesterday a dreamer, Danowski and Ramona Shelburne reported.

The Rockets are increasingly expanding trade discussions beyond Hardens preferred destinations of Brooklyn and Philly.

According to sources, several playoff caliber teams are becoming more comfortable, including the high level players in the packages they are presenting in return for Harden Now.

By the way, Harden had a great showing.

Last night's preseason game.

20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, 27 minutes of action.

Richard.

Nobody.

Nobody doesn't think James Harden can't play right.

How quickly do you expect them to move him?

Or how much longer would you say is gonna be a rocket if I phrase it that way?

Well, I think it's a good sign that they're opening it up.

Like I think when you limit yourself to two or three teams and you don't like and it's like, Look, James Harden has, I believe, two more years left on his contract.

So you're not even just getting him for one like you have an opportunity and we saw with Kawhi Leonard you saw with Paul George.

You see, these guys have the opportunity to really kind of convince you that this is a great place to stay.

And but it's not just like Milwaukee or Brooklyn Nets or Philly.

It's like there's other teams that I think they might have an opportunity to convince.

And I think two years is better than one year to convince a player when you talk about trying to add James Cook, James Harden, you have to think about a few things.

You know, now that you're opening it up to not only contenders, but how does he fit?

How does he fit into our culture?

Or if he's not going to a team that has championship aspirations or just a team with playoff aspirations?

How does he fit with our young guys?

You know, you have to ask yourself these questions because the things you've heard out of Houston, the party doesn't really fit our culture.

Yeah, James Harden is a great player, but we're talking about building some here for the long run.

Is that really fit with what we're trying to do moving forward and that's what you have to ask yourself.

So I believe he's gonna be a Houston for the duration for the whole season.

Pass the trade deadline.

We don't know if I go that far, but I will say this.

I don't know if this is going to get resolved quickly because as much as I think the Rockets were seeing from woes and remote is reporting increasingly are trying to get a deal done.

It really depends on what the marketplace demands.

It doesn't depend on how much you want to sell.

And look, if he doesn't want to go to another team, who's to say that he won't act on that other team?

Exactly how he's been acting in Houston that has made them feel like, Oh, man, maybe we do have to deal the member.

Welcome to McMahon's reporting.

At the beginning of all this was that the Rockets were quote willing to get uncomfortable.

Well, James Harden has certainly made them uncomfortable, and all of a sudden it sounds like they're making more phone calls.

Well, if I'm on the other end of one of those phone calls, I wanna know that James isn't gonna be like that to such a degree that you rto tricks e new trick.

I agree.

But if we learned anything from the CO Y situation, why, I never did think I was not in to strip to.

I'm gonna okay what it is that makes high time establishment.

I don't know what he was not into.

Two different, but when he was supposed to be in train But there was rumors that call, why not that he quit but that he would want it out of San Antonio and that his injury and how they handled there was all the stuff.

And so San Antonio was historically famous for taking care of their players and and literally extending the careers of Manu and Tony and Tim Soto have co.

I said at the time that he did it.

You're like, That's not on brand.

There's something else here and Toronto still took that on.

And so I'm just saying that people have taken on.

I don't wanna say controversial, but guys that they weren't sure what they were going to get from or how they were going toe handle being in that environment and quiet is a champion.

Agree finals M v p.

And he comes for us from a San Antonio Spurs culture, but he was trying.

So yeah, yeah, that's fine.

But who doesn't want to deal with a coup?

I you know, he understands the urgency of practice and being on time doing what's right.

He's not a guy you're going to see in the streets.

He does his work and he goes home like you can live with.

That s so you have to ask yourself these questions of James Harden comes aboard.

Can we live with that?

There's only like two or three coaches doctors.

They can deal with him in the league.

Doc Popovich and I think about the third right.

Here's the Here's the other complicating factor and all of this.

The Rockets are looking at what other teams have gotten in trade for guys that they think aren't frankly, as good as James Harden.

What Milwaukee just gave up for Drew holiday, for example.

So I've heard that, well, Milwaukee just got three picks about Cuba, what Paul George took on the trade market, that kind of thing.

But here's the difference.

The difference is that the Clippers specifically needed Paul George to get Kawai that the Bucks specifically needed Drew holiday to help keep you honest.

I don't see a team right now, right now, right now, at the start of the season that specifically needs James Harden and therefore will over pay or pay, at least to that level, even though it's a lesser player that has commanded that level before now.

What might change is when we get to the trade deadline, because both of these conferences are pretty stacked this year and you have a lot of teams that think that they can make it.

And James might be a piece that a team that maybe loses its own superstar due to injury or something else happens where they suddenly are.

As desperate as the Clippers were or the Bucks were, I don't know if anyone's that desperate right now.

Can they can He signed an extension and then be traded like could they could they extend?

They just offered him another two day, But I'm saying years, $103 million.

No.

And by the way, it's not in his interest to sign an extension unless he is really sure of where he wants to go on that they're going to trade him because then he's just locked into wherever they trade him for longer.

So what?

The extension scenario is more that he would get traded to a team that he approves and then sons an extension with that that would actually increase the value of what of what you're creating.

Yes, but that's where his quote preferred destinations comes in.

Because if you're listening to this reporting that Houston is expanding beyond his quote preferred destinations, you're probably then Onley getting him for those two years.

At least, it the start there certainly proved that it was worth the gamble with Quiet.

The only one year with the Y E made account.

It's a year and a half.

Well, that's why I say he's not going anywhere this year.