Harden's smart enough to know the timing is wrong to ask out. If he lasts through the upcoming shitshow of a season, nobody will blame him for wanting to go.
Gonna need him to decommit. Can't stand to watch him waste another year here when it's clearly rebuild time.
Correction - Harden, locked in, complying with Harris County voluntary COVID19 stay-at-home order for duration of season.
I believe both Harden and Russ will be gone. Harden wants out, but is likely playing the media so that he doesn't hurt his trade value, or in essence, remove any leverage the Rockets would have in trade talks by saying he wants to leave. He knows how these things work. He doesn't want to do the Rockets dirty (or hurt his image with Houston), plus if the Rockets aren't able to get anything good back in return, he knows he'll be stuck here longer. Russ on the other hand knows all of this but has no loyalty to Houston, nor does he care to play any of these games with the media. It's simple, if Harden is trying to find a way out, then he doesn't wanna be here either (which has been reported).
