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Hello, guys. I’m back with a thread on my #4 Shooting Guard of all time: James Harden. This is going to be an in-depth analysis of Harden’s career and 3-year peak.
I hope you enjoy it! If you do so, I would appreciate a follow or RT, as always.
I hope you enjoy it! If you do so, I would appreciate a follow or RT, as always.
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First things first: James Harden is known for his insane ball handling and isolation moves. Every opposing player fears The Beard’s step back and knows about his insane scoring ability.
How good is James Harden, really? Is he really one of the best scorers of all time?
How good is James Harden, really? Is he really one of the best scorers of all time?
To show James Harden’s impact without any impact metrics, let’s look at his on-off numbers in the regular season (rs) and postseason (ps).
Over the stretch of his 3-year peak, Harden has a 7.22 On-Off OffRtg and a 0.31 On-Off DefRtg, combining for a 6.91 On-Off NetRtg. This shows that James’ teams improve strongly on offense with him on the court, but slightly improve on defense with him off the court, in the rs.
In the ps, the numbers change: The On-Off OffRtg increases to a 9.74. The On-Off DefRtg also increases to a -3.01, which leads to an improved 12.74 On-Off NetRtg. This suggests that Harden’s impact in the ps increased by a good margin, on which I am going to comment soon.
Impact metrics disagree with that thesis. According to RAPTOR, Harden only improved once (2017/18), from the rs to ps, by a little margin (+0.3), but declined in the ps the 2 other years of his peak. Overall, The Beard’s RAPTOR fell from the rs to the ps by an average of -0.87.
Another impact metric, Ben Taylor’s BPM, suggests that Harden’s play decreases by an average of -1.26. This is not as big of a drop-off as most people think there is or should be displayed, but it certainly shows Harden’s decline from the rs to the ps.
In my opinion, Harden’s best attributes are his scoring and creation for teammates: Harden is an all-time great creator, averaging a 17.27 Box Creation over his 3-year peak. This means, he created 17.27 shots for his teammates per 100 possessions.
Additionally, James is an underrated passer. His Passer Rating lays at a 7.73, on a scale from 0 to 10. The Beard’s variety of passes and his effectiveness on those, is very underappreciated.
Harden’s best attribute is his scoring ability. He holds the record for the season with the most Points/75 possessions with 36.2 (2018/19), 1.4 more points than 2nd place MJ (1986/87). His average points per 75, during his peak, is an insane 33.7!
This insane volume paired with James’ well above average efficiency makes him an all-time great scorer: 6.23% rTS is very good and even incredible, considering his scoring volume.
Harden being considered an all-time great offensive weapon makes complete sense, in my opinion. Looking at his pure scoring and playmaking value, the numbers are insane! Over the discussed 3-year stretch his ScoreVal is a whopping 1.83, with his PlayVal laying at a 2.01.
This shows that Harden’s playmaking would be more valuable than his scoring, on which matter I would disagree. ScoreVal is highly focused on incredible efficiency, which is almost impossible to achieve on Harden’s volume (highest ScoreVal ever: 3.3, highest PlayVal ever: 2.9).
You may ask now, why I do not have The Beard higher all-time. The reasoning is easy. His longevity is not good enough, yet. According to PIPM, James played at an All-NBA level (or better) for 7 seasons, with 4 of those being at an MVP-Caliber level (excluding 2020/21).
Also, James Harden is not a good defender. Although he improved tremendously as a defender, in recent history, he is not remotely close on the defensive end compared to my following 3 SGs on my all-time list.
Overall, Harden is an underappreciated player and deserves more praise than he is given. His insane usage (he has many of the highest Offensive Load seasons ever), which results from his iso-ball playing style may inflate some of his stats, though.
Many people like him, many people hate him, but in the end of the day, he is my number 4 SG ever.
End of Thread.
End of Thread.
