When the Los Angeles Clippers acquired the 10-time all-star James Harden at the beginning of this season, Harden made it clear during his introductory press conference that, “I’m not a system player; I am the system.” While that statement may have come off as arrogant, there was a lot of truth in this revelation.
Since winning the sixth-man award in 2012, when he came off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden has made a career of controlling the pace of the game and getting quality shots for each of the guys he plays with. Things are no different for his new Clippers teammates, including the perennial NBA all-stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
Starting with his 2018 MVP season, Harden has led the league in scoring in three consecutive years. He has also led the league in assists in two of his 15 years in the NBA. Likely, more importantly, Harden has helped the guys he’s played with to have the most productive seasons of their careers.
In the six seasons that center Clint Capela played with Harden, he led the league in field goal percentage during his most productive season while seeing his points per game total increase in five of those six seasons. While Harden played in Philadelphia, his teammate Joel Embiid saw his points per game stats soar to career heights, 30.6 and 33.1 points per game. Which also aided Embiid in winning the league’s MVP in the final season of their pairing.
“Every day after practice, Harden and Zubac spend 15 minutes picking and rolling, seeing how he wants him to set the screen how he wants him to roll,” head coach Ty Lue said about how Harden works with Clippers center Ivica Zubac. “Those two guys working together every single day has really helped (Ivica) Zubac. Especially around the basket and being able to finish around the rim.”
“After every practice and shootaround, James grabs me and Zu(Zubac), so we will know what kind of passes he throws and what he likes to do. These guys get so much attention on the court that playing against a big, it just playing off them,” says newly acquired center Daniel Theis. “It’s just about trying to figure out what guy’s preferences are on offense. Spacing wise and pick and roll wise, all this comes from repetitions in practice.”
For his career, Harden has averaged 24.4 points per game, 44.2% FG%, 36.4 3P%, 86% FT%, and 7.1 assists. Whether they admit it or not, the Clippers have needed a point guard to ease the burden of their leading scorers, Leonard and George. It’s expected Harden’s scoring average would be down, yet his numbers are above his career average in every meaningful category. Harden is currently averaging 17.0 points per game, 45.6% FG%, 41.9 3P%, 87.3% FT%, and 8.4 assists per game in his short stint with the Clippers.
“It’s a process,” Harden says about developing chemistry with the bigs on this Clippers squad. “Every single day when we get an opportunity to be in the gym with each other, we work on our pick and roll. We work on our communication. So, in the game, there’s carryover.”
Though the season is still young. The Clippers longest tenured player Ivica Zubac, is already benefiting from the addition of Harden. So far in this season, Zubac has played with Harden in 34 of 39 games, and as compared to his career Zubac’s numbers are up in multiple statistical categories. Zubac’s scoring average is up from 9.0 points a game to 12.4 points per game, FG% is up from 61% to 65.5% this season. Along with his rebounds (7.3 to 9.7) and assists (1.1 to 1.3).
In comparison to last season, even though the season is young and they have played without James Harden for the first five games this season, they have seen significant improvement in critical metrics. According to Statmuse, the Clippers offensive rating is up from 16th to 6th (115.0 to 119.9). Their defensive rating is up from 18th to 13th (114.5 to 114.3), their net rating is up from 17th to 6th (0.5 to 5.6), and their three-point shooting percentage is up from 3rd to 1st (38.1% to 39.4%).
“Defenses are going to guard us in different ways. Throughout the year, you are going to see five or six defensive coverages,” Harden says. “In the postseason, we will be able to say, ‘We’ve seen this defense before, and this is how we attack it,’ and the bigs know as well. That’s what we are all preparing ourselves for.”
The former MVP and self-proclaimed “system,” Harden has been the only major addition to this team this season. To get Harden, they sent away glue guy and fan favorite Nicolas Batum, tough guy Marcus Morris Sr., versatile swingman Robert Covington, multiple draft picks, and young player KJ Martin. Along with Harden, the Clippers received veteran P.J. Tucker and rookie Filip Petrusev. Petrusev is no longer on the team, and the team is working with Tucker to find him a satisfactory landing spot.
