It seems like a lifetime ago that James Harden was a perennial top-five player in the league.
In reality, it was only back in the 2019-20 season that Harden finished third in MVP voting, leading the league with 34.3 points per game.
Harden certainly isn't that guy anymore, but his demise has been greatly exaggerated. He's still an All-Star caliber player who, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, would have made last year's team as an injury replacement had he told commissioner Adam Silver sooner that he would attend.
At the age of 34, Harden's game has declined in certain areas and remained elite in others. Here's a scouting report for him entering his 15th year in the league.
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How good is James Harden?
Harden remains one of the best passers in the league
Harden has never really gotten his due for how brilliant a passer he is. He's led the league in assists twice, including last season when he averaged 10.7 per game.
Harden recorded over 20 assists twice last season, including a 21-assist masterpiece that tied a franchise record for the Sixers. He's a creative passer who has had some beauties.
Those aren't empty assists, either. Harden's teams have been top-five offenses over the past three seasons, and he's recorded double-digit assists in all of those years.
Harden's finishing at the rim has declined considerably
The biggest area where Harden's game has declined is in his driving ability. He's lost a step, and his finishing at the rim has dropped around seven percentage points from his MVP days, per Basketball-Reference.
That lack of separation has led to decreased aggression on Harden's drives. He was noticeably passing out of layups during the playoffs rather than trying to challenge defenders at the rim as he would have done in his younger days.
Harden's free throw rate has also declined precipitously as he's moved further out towards the perimeter. He was routinely in double-digit free throw attempts per game in his prime but dropped down to 6.2 attempts per game last season. His scoring was also down to 21.0 points per game. Both of those marks were his lowest since his Oklahoma City days as a sixth man.
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Harden's defense is as up-and-down as ever
Harden has a poor defensive reputation, and for good reason. His effort level can be atrocious at times, and he has a tendency to give up blow-bys during the regular season.
Harden does have some positive skills, though. He's a decent defensive rebounder and has the strength to hold up surprisingly well in the post. That has led teams to use him as much as possible in switching schemes. And when he does lock in mentally, as he did for parts of the second round of last year's playoffs against the Celtics, he can rise above the level of total liability.
Harden is still a top-25ish player
Harden still ranks in the top 30 range according to most media. The Sporting News had him ranked 22nd on our most recent top 30 players, Hoops Hype had him 23rd and The Ringer had him 36th.
Advanced metrics place Harden in a similar range. LEBRON had him as the 16th-most impactful player in the league last season and Estimated Plus-Minus had him 17th.
That range suggests that Harden is a borderline All-Star, which voters agreed with. He ranked fourth in fan voting, fifth in player voting and fifth in media voting among Eastern Conference guards last season.
The obvious caveat here is that while Harden has remained a great regular season player, he has continued to have some of his worst moments under the harshest spotlight in the playoffs.
Harden did win some very important games for the Sixers last season, scoring 45 and 42 points in Game 1 and 4 wins against the Celtics. But his lasting memory will be disappearing yet again in the Sixers' Game 7 elimination, where he shot just 3-of-11 with five turnovers and nine points.
That's the only set of statistics that matters for many when building Harden's narrative. But over the course of an entire season, he is still capable of shooting well from 3, serving as the engine for elite offenses and being one of the best distributors in the game.
