Harden s best team selected, why did Paul, Leonard and Howard lose?

Recently, Harden was asked by the host on the show: "Among all the teammates you have partnered with, you choose the best starting five players, including yourself."

Harden said: "This is crazy, this question is good. Center Embiid, I also considered Howard. Are you talking about their peak period? Oh, then I will say it again. The competition for point guards is too fierce, there are Paul, Westbrook, and Irving. It's too difficult to choose. That I choose Irving. Irving, Westbrook, me, KD, Embiid, I like this lineup. The lineup is very small, but we can play fast break, run, have the ability to control the ball, and shoot. "

The choice of Harden has also attracted some attention. First of all, Harden's teammate level may be on the same level as James, and he himself is also a little difficult to choose in the selection. After all, there are other options in some positions. This time we will analyze why Harden did not choose Paul, Leonard and Howard, and these three stars are also qualified to be selected.

In the backcourt position, Paul, Westbrook and Irving are mainly Paul, Westbrook and Irving. Although they have not worked together for a long time, Harden finally chose Westbrook and Irving. Among them, Harden and Westbrook have served as teammates in the Thunder, Rockets and Clippers, and their relationships are very harmonious. At the same time, Westbrook can bring impact and counterattacks to this lineup, and also have excellent athletic ability. In the peak season, he can average 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game, a phenomenal performance.

Let's take a look at Irving. According to historical rankings, Paul will definitely be ahead of Irving, but if he only has more offensive ability, Irving will definitely be in the forefront. In the ball control technology announced by 2K26, Irving is the only player with 99. His offensive talent is really outstanding, which may be the reason why Harden chose him after partnering with him for more than a season. During the 20-21 season with the Nets, Irving averaged 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage even entered the 180 club. The three giants (Durant + Harden + Irving) that year really brought unlimited imagination to fans.

Paul is definitely at the historical level in point guards. Unfortunately, this time he met Westbrook and Irving. If both were in the peak state, I believe that the majority of the two will be chosen, which will bring greater threats on the offensive end. Paul and Harden joined forces to create many beautiful memories, once dragging the universe into a desperate situation. At that time, the Rockets were really the Warriors' biggest enemy. From Harden's remarks, we can see that when he chooses a lineup, he pays more attention to offensive ability, which also makes Paul regretfully lose the election.

Because you have to add yourself, there is only one choice on the front line, Durant and Leonard appear on the list, but this is a completely unsuspecting multiple-choice question. As a scorer at the NBA's historical level, even if Leonard has both offense and defense, he still cannot compete with Durant. The reason why Harden wanted to join the Nets was to join forces with the former big brother again, but unfortunately he failed to bring good results in the end. Leonard's defeat was reasonable, just like putting him and LeBron James together, the historical level is different. In the center position, Embiid and Howard are both of them at different levels, while Harden still chose to be offensive. Howard has poor independent offensive ability and relies more on assists from his teammates, and directly dunks or all-connections at the basket. At the same time, the defensive end can also bring enough deterrence. He was elected the best defensive player three times, won the rebounding king 5 times and blocking king 2 times. This also made Harden hesitate, but in the end he gave up Howard and chose Embiid, comparing the latter's offensive ability to better.

After joining forces with Harden, Embiid showed his offensive talent better, averaging 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in the 22-23 season. While winning the scoring champion, he was also elected as the MVP of the season. For this reason, Harden also gave him a gold watch. Unfortunately, Harden and Embiid did not join forces for too long. Due to the management's deception, Harden was disheartened and chose to leave directly and eventually joined the Clippers. Embiid has not been smooth in the past two seasons, and has suffered injuries one after another, and has only played 58 games in total. However, his performance on the offensive end is still very strong, and it is not a big deal for Harden to give up Howard and choose him.

Of course, this is just Harden's own choice. Just a brief analysis, but if this lineup is really based on this set of lineup, the offensive performance is definitely at the historical level. If this lineup is in its peak period, how many wins can you win and how many championships can you win?