TheHouston Rocketshave been a struggling franchise for a few years now, with the team simply finding it difficult to rebuild in the post-James Harden era.
Although there s a chance the team could land Harden in NBA free agency, as there have been rumors floating around about his interest in returning to the team, the narrative seems to have changed, with the expectation being that he ll re-sign with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer.
However, it appears there was a significant reason that Harden had an interest in returning to Houston, aside from the fact he has had most of his success with the team.
According to Keith Smith, via Spotrac, the Rockets have the most practical cap space in the league by far, beating the Utah Jazz by $15 million.
#NBA Teams with Practical Cap Space
(h/t @KeithSmithNBA)1. #Rockets, $59M
2. #Jazz, $44M
3. #Spurs, $37M
4. #Pacers, $32M
5. #Pistons, $27M
6. #Magic, $17M
7. #Thunder, $16MFull List: June 26, 2023
Clearly, Harden had dollar signs in his eyes when considering returning to the Rockets, as Houston could pay more than anyone else for his services and might be willing to do so.
The Rockets do have an intriguing situation in terms of all the young talent and Ime Udoka taking over as head coach, but it will likely be a few years of losing and rebuilding before the team reaches its true potential with or without Harden in the fold.
The Houston brass would be wise to spread that money out rather than go all in on Harden, who is arguably on the downside of his career and unable to produce like he used to in his prime with the Rockets.
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