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Harden or Westbrook: Who will have to adjust their game more next season? | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

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Houston’s newest superstar pairing already has FS1’s loudest voices picking sides.

Nine days after the Rockets flipped Chris Paul and a stack of first-round picks to reunite James Harden with Russell Westbrook, “First Things First” spent a full segment picking apart how two ball-dominant MVPs are supposed to share one backcourt. Cris Carter, Nick Wright and Chris Broussard worked through the numbers, the habits and the egos involved, landing on a surprising verdict about who actually has the harder adjustment ahead.

• The July 11, 2019 trade sent Westbrook from Oklahoma City to Houston for Chris Paul, first-round picks and pick swaps.
• Harden led the NBA in scoring in 2018-19 at 36.1 points per game running Mike D’Antoni’s isolation-heavy offense.
• Westbrook averaged a triple-double for three straight seasons, posting 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game in 2018-19 while shooting just 29% from three.

The Case Against Harden

Broussard’s argument ran counter to the easy assumption that Westbrook, the erratic shooter with the shaky jumper, is the one who needs fixing. Instead, he told Carter and Wright that Harden carries the bigger burden of change, since Houston’s entire half-court identity has been built around him walking the ball up and cooking a defender one-on-one. Handing even a portion of that control to Westbrook, Broussard argued, means Harden has to learn to move without the ball, spot up off penetration, and let someone else initiate in transition — none of which has defined his game in Houston under D’Antoni.

Harden’s the one who has to change, because he’s had the ball in his hands nonstop — now he has to learn to play off of Westbrook.

That’s not a small ask for a player who just won back-to-back scoring titles doing things almost entirely his own way. Harden’s step-back three and stepback-heavy isolation package thrive on total control of the shot clock; ceding possessions to Westbrook, even in bursts, means fewer of those reps for the reigning scoring champ.

Westbrook’s Own Baggage

The panel didn’t let Westbrook off easy, either. His 29% mark from three in 2018-19 remains the single biggest question mark hanging over the fit, and his turnover-prone, downhill style has never been mistaken for efficient. Carter and Wright weighed whether a player who’s operated as a lead ball-handler for a decade can genuinely function in catch-and-shoot or cutting roles for stretches of a game, something Westbrook has rarely been asked to do at volume.

Still, the panel pointed to precedent: Westbrook already proved he could subordinate his role once before, deferring to Kevin Durant as Oklahoma City’s alpha for several seasons — a dynamic not unlike the shifting alliances covered in pieces on stars who started out as teammates and later drifted apart. Whether he can summon that same flexibility with Harden, rather than Durant, was the open question Broussard left on the table.

Harden Holds Superior Professional Experience

Broussard’s strongest point centered on precedent Harden already has under his belt. Before becoming Houston’s primary engine, Harden played a complementary role next to Chris Paul, sharing playmaking duties in a way he hasn’t had to since Paul’s health and the Rockets’ late-season collapse pushed him back into full-control mode. That prior stint, Broussard argued, gives Harden a blueprint for coexisting with another ball-dominant guard — he’s simply chosen not to use it as often as he could have.

The segment, which aired on FS1 as part of the network’s ongoing NBA offseason coverage, is the kind of debate-driven format the show has built its identity around, sitting alongside other high-volume sports-talk breakdowns.

Panel Reaches Final Binding Decision

No one on the set claimed the fit was doomed. The consensus leaned toward Harden needing to bend more, given the sheer gravity his isolation game has had on Houston’s spacing and shot selection since D’Antoni took over. But Broussard, Carter and Wright all agreed the real answer won’t show up in a studio debate — it’ll show up on the floor once Houston’s transition game, D’Antoni’s spacing principles and two MVP-level usage rates collide for real minutes.

Houston opens training camp with exactly one proven track record to lean on: Harden and Westbrook already won together in Oklahoma City before Durant’s arrival changed everything. The Rockets are betting that chemistry resurfaces faster than either guard’s bad habits do.