Prior to putting James Harden in their rotation, the Clippers were rolling. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George finally healthy together, they had the league's fourth-best offensive rating and the fifth-best defensive rating. Only the Celtics and 76ers had a better net rating than their +11.6 points per 100 possessions.
Since Harden entered the rotation four games ago, all of that has changed. They're 0-4, plummeting to the No. 30 offense, the No. 25 defense and the third-worst net rating in the league during that four-game stretch.
Harden's entry into the lineup is certainly a part of those problems. Why has he faltered so much, and is there any solution in sight for the Clippers?
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Why Clippers' James Harden experiment is off to disastrous start
James Harden is adjusting his game too much
There was a lot of skepticism about a ball-dominant player like Harden fitting into a team with three other ball-dominant players in Leonard, George and Russell Westbrook. Perhaps in order to combat that, Harden has changed his game significantly since joining up with the Clippers.
One of the biggest complaints against Harden throughout his last few stops was that he refused to shoot catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. He's a great shooter, and that would make him fit much better as an off-ball threat on the star-loaded teams that he's been on.
Harden seems to have taken that to heart this season — he's shooting way more of those attempts, and he's nailing them.
| Year | Team | C&S 3 attempts | Shooting % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Clippers | 2.3 | 44.4% |
| 2022-23 | Sixers | 1.8 | 41.1% |
| 2021-22 | Nets/Sixers | 1.0 | 33.8% |
Off-ball, Harden has actually been pretty good! But on-ball, he's been a bit of a disaster. He's looked extremely passive, as stated by head coach Tyronn Lue after their loss to the Grizzlies on Sunday.
"He's being too polite," Lue told ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.
"I think he's doing too much to try to fit in. So that's on me. Just yesterday we had a talk amongst the team and just he has to be James Harden. He led the league in assists the last two or three years, and making plays and what he does in the pick-and-roll, he's great. So, we have to allow him to be himself.
"He doesn't want to step on anybody's toes, and I understand that just to have respect for PG, Kawhi, Russ, because they've been here. But we need James to be James, and so that's on me to make sure I make him be James."
Harden's unfamiliarity with his teammates is evident when watching the team try to execute their half-court sets. Their timing on plays is very disjointed.
This Clippers offense is a mess.
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 13, 2023
What is going on here? Where's the flow? Where's the urgency? pic.twitter.com/ljqu1SoHoN
Some of that was probably to be expected given the lack of practice they've been afforded. But as of now, none of these players look comfortable playing with each other.
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James Harden looks slow
Put aside the fit with teammates issue for a second. There is a question of if Harden is physically capable of reaching last year's modest level. His burst has been declining steadily for years.
This year is his worst yet in terms of driving — he looks like he has zero ability to get by players. Rather than taking players like Santi Aldama off the dribble, Harden is mostly settling for fadeaways or runners. Whereas in years prior, he was taking anywhere from a quarter to a third of his shots at the rim, he has incredibly not attempted a single shot within three feet all season.
This does not look anything like the old James Harden:
James Harden: “I AM THE SYSTEM”
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) November 12, 2023
the system:
pic.twitter.com/O5ue5ztdvz
Whether this is a permanent change or a result of having zero training camp is unclear. But Lue did mention that Harden had to "get in better game shape." His lack of conditioning has been readily apparent, where he's struggled to get back on defense or let his man right by him.
Despite the ugly possessions and losses, even an out-of-shape Harden is still a pretty good shooter. He's hitting 47.2 percent of his looks overall, 36.8 percent of his 3s and hasn't missed a free throw yet. There should still be some hope that the Clippers can make this work.
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The Clippers need a starting lineup change
The problems with Harden aren't solely related to him. The Clippers are playing too many non-shooters alongside him. Ivica Zubac is a very solid starting center, but he's only made one 3-pointer in his entire career. Westbrook is hitting 32.3 percent of his 3s and opponents let him shoot whenever he wants.
Westbrook and Harden both work best with four shooters around them. Westbrook is experiencing the same issues that he did with the Lakers when he was forced to play off-ball. The Clippers were fantastic with him before the Harden trade, outscoring teams by 16.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, per PBP Stats. In the minutes where he's shared the floor with Harden, they've been outscored by 21.1 points per 100 possessions.
There are moves that Lue can still make to salvage the situation. It would probably make sense to move Harden to a sixth-man role until he gets into better game shape given how the Clippers were rolling without him. More time familiarizing with teammates will also help.
There's no sugarcoating the problems with this team thus far, though. Four games are still way too soon to declare total panic mode, but early returns have been bad.
