James Harden is coming off easily the best season of his career where he finished second to Stephen Curry in MVP voting and although this offseason he has been in the news more for his shoe deal with Adidas and his relationship with Khloe Kardashian, he has been resting up and preparing for the2015-16 season. The Rockets believe that this season can somehow be even better for Harden than last season as they reportedly hope to get him more catch-and-shoot opportunities, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
While Harden was incredible last season, and he was definitely incredible, he wasn't the most efficient he has ever been shooting the ball. Last season Harden shot 44 percent from the field after shooting 46 percent the year before and 49 percent in his last season with Oklahoma City. 44 percent is not a bad shooting percentage, especially for a guy like Harden who gets to the line so much, but there is always room for improvement.
The way the Rockets plan to increase Harden's efficiency is by having him shoot less off the dribble. Harden took more than 75 percent of his shots a season ago off the dribble, which is an extremely high number, and the Rockets want him to be able to catch and shoot more often this season. The addition of Ty Lawson should help with this as Lawson finished third in the league with more than nine assists per game and with him on the floor Harden likely won't have to handle the ball as much as he did a year ago.
Harden will still have his moments where he gets the ball at the end of the shot clock or at the ends of games and Kevin McHale tells him to go make a play but the hope is that doesn't happen for entire games. With Lawson in the fold the Rockets should have better ball movement all around and allowing Harden more catch and shoot opportunities will only make him more efficient. Aside from Curry, who is rare in a lot of ways, most players shoot the ball better off the catch as opposed to off the bounce.
Harden averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 36.8 minutes per game last year. This season Harden hopes to play less minutes to keep his body fresh and also made that a focus of his offseason preparation. Harden said his offseason regimen was light on the knees as he did a lot of spin classes and boxing to stay in shape. Harden playing less minutes this season may bring his numbers down a little bit but having a fresher body at the end of the season and Lawson's presence could possibly lead to, believe it or not, a better individual season than a year ago.
