Keeper: James Harden, Arizona St

Gordon Bombay
On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:54am, Gordon Bombay elected to keep James Harden, Arizona St. As a likely top-five pick in the upcoming NBA draft, it was only a matter of time for Harden to make it official. The first team All-American shooting guard from Los Angeles declared for the NBA draft on April 8, 2009. Harden already signed with an agent, thus ending his career at Arizona St after his sophomore year.

This Sun Devil's skill set is through the roof, but his consistency is nearly non-existent. Harden's unorthodox southpaw style has drawn numerous comparisons to Manu Ginóbili. But the streaky slasher disappeared for long stretches at a time. Many NBA scouts have brought up this very issue in terms of his draft position. Does he have that drive to be a franchise player, worthy of a top-five pick? Unselfishness is one thing, but becoming invisible when the game is on the line is another. Case in point, Harden struggled mightily in two NCAA tournament games, going 3-18 from the floor.

While finishing 34th overall in league scoring, Harden spent most of his time driving Gordon Bombay insane. In 11 starts, he averaged 16pts, 5reb, 4ast and 2stl. He was a "do-it-all" type of player, with the potential to explode on any given night. Unfortunately, Gordon Bombay missed most of Harden's bigger games. It wouldn't be fair to put all the blame on Harden, but he definitely let Gordon Bombay down when it mattered most.

In the end, Gordon Bombay had to see this one coming. And to be honest, losing Harden shouldn't hurt his team terribly bad. When looking up and down the roster, the alternative choices clearly were not worthy of "keeper" status. Looks like off-season evaluations will start pretty early for the Gordon Bombay franchise. We'll see if he fares any better next year, after ending the season on a five-game losing streak and finishing 4-9 (9th overall).