Report: James Harden Has Finally Reported To Houston And Entered The NBA’s Testing Protocol

On Monday, Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas met with the assembled media and confirmed that James Harden had yet to report to training camp as the team expected he would on Sunday, calling it “a setback.” This came after videos circled around social media of Harden once again out and about in a club in Las Vegas, and with his lingering trade request there were legitimate questions as to when he would join the team, questions Silas simply couldn’t answer.

On Tuesday, word emerged that Harden’s trade request, which to this point had been focused on Brooklyn, was being opened up to Philadelphia and other contenders, with Harden seemingly recognizing the need to cast a wider net if he wants to find a new home. Later in the afternoon, he apparently arrived at the Rockets facility to enter the NBA’s COVID-19 testing protocol and, finally, begin the process of joining the team for training camp, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — although Stephen Silas still didn’t seem to know much about what it meant for Harden’s timetable.

What this means is that Harden can begin individual workouts at the team facility soon — something they anticipated happening late last week or this past weekend — and then join the team for full workouts once he’s cleared the appropriate number of negative tests. The Rockets open their preseason slate on Friday against the Bulls with two games in Chicago (the second on Sunday) and one would think Harden is unlikely to be available for Friday and probably not Sunday either. Their final two preseason games are at home against San Antonio on next Tuesday and Thursday, which seems like the target for Harden’s first action of the season, but that is of course all pending testing results and, you know, a trade happening or not.