2. James Harden
James Harden is coming off one of the most explosive seasons we have seen since the prime Kobe Bryant days. Harden had sort of a rocky start to last season, but somewhere in late November, everything clicked for The Beard. The way Harden performed was something out of a movie which lead him to be must-watch television for all basketball fanatics.
Harden put the pedal to the metal and never took his foot off the gas for a second. The rest of the year he put up jaw-dropping numbers including a fourteen game stretch through January in which The Beard was averaging an unbelievable 43.6 points a game.
Harden’s arsenal is limitless and I expect nothing less from him as he enters year eleven. His offensive toolkit has it all. A deadly step-back three, a nasty floater and his strength allows him to finish through anybody. Let’s not forget that the Harden owns real estate at the free-throw line where he shot eleven attempts a game last year.
The only thing stopping me from crowning James Harden the scoring champion once again is the fact that his new partner in crime is Russell Westbrook. The pairing of these two ball-dominant guards could lead to trouble as both of these superstars are extremely high in shot attempts and turnovers.
No matter how the addition of Westbrook alters the way Harden plays he will still put up an unreal amount of points every time he steps on the hardwood.