NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on James Harden-Rockets Turmoil, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Compelling NBA plot lines aren't hard to uncover, which should be expected after a truncated offseason and with a rapidly approaching 2020-21 campaign.

And yet, this is a superstar-driven league, so all eyes inevitably fall on the two superstars making the most noise in the recent news cycles.

They exist on opposite ends of the spectrum. While James Harden is seemingly nearing a divorce from the Houston Rockets, Giannis Antetokounmpo just made a massive commitment to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The latest offerings from the rumor mill paint clearer pictures of both situations.  

The modern NBA is known for many things, but player empowerment might top the list. Even still, the level of influence Harden reportedly has in Houston seems like a heightened degree of this relatively recent development.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon deep-dove into Harden's suddenly messy situation in Space City and uncovered many eye-opening details. The former MVP was essentially given control of the club's scheduling, resulting in the team staying longer in cities he enjoyed and even working in off days for Harden to charter a private jet to party somewhere else.

On the court, Harden also "could call the shots on personnel moves," MacMahon noted, which he utilized "to push for the firing of head coach Kevin McHale and departures of co-stars Dwight Howard and Chris Paul." Harden also made annual calls for offseason upgrades and said "he would want to be traded if they couldn't contend."

While some of these measures might fall under the umbrella of perks afforded to an elite, this seems like an extreme example of bending over backward for a player. With things apparently not going the way he planned out, it's hardly surprising he's now searching for the closest exit.

After previous partnerships with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul went awry, James Harden thought he'd identified the perfect acquisition: Russell Westbrook, who teamed with Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder club that made the 2012 Finals.

"Harden insisted the Rockets get the deal done, saying he'd demand a trade if they didn't find a way to bring his childhood friend and former OKC teammate to Houston," MacMahon reported.

Houston apparently saw little choice but to comply, so it sacrificed Paul, two future first-round picks and swap rights in two other drafts to acquire Westbrook. Paul would go on to finish the 2019-20 season fifth in ESPN's real plus-minus—nine spots ahead of Westbrook.

The Rockets' new duo never proved quite as dynamic as the old one, which some feared could happen—including then-coach Mike D'Antoni. The skipper "privately [expressed] his concerns" about the Harden-Westbrook fit ahead of the trade.

Now, Westbrook and D'Antoni are both gone from Houston—as is Daryl Morey, the executive who orchestrated the exchange—and Harden has one foot out the door.

The Bucks had high hopes of getting Antetokounmpo's signature on a supermax extension, but they had to prepare for all possible scenarios.

Yes, that even included the doomsday option of fielding trade offers for the two-time MVP if worst came to worst, as Shams Charania, Eric Nehm and Sam Amick reported for The Athletic:

"If Antetokounmpo had given some assurance that he was likely to re-sign in Milwaukee as a free agent, perhaps indicating that he'd be back so long as their season didn't end before, say, the conference finals, then sources say Bucks officials likely would have taken their chances and moved ahead with the partnership. But if there were no assurances given, with Antetokounmpo simply stating that he planned on being a free agent and that he'd figure out his future when that time arrived, it's clear the Bucks would have seriously considered whether they needed to take trade calls on him."

While Antetokounmpo ultimately agreed to ink the new pact—a monumental victory for Milwaukee and inspirational development for small-market teams everywhere—the idea of a Giannis megadeal still boggles the mind.

What, exactly, would the asking price have been for a 26-year-old who had recently secured his second straight MVP in the same season he was named Defensive Player of the Year? Only folks in Milwaukee know that answer, but it was probably in the neighborhood of everything plus the kitchen sink.