Houston Rockets: 3 goals for James Harden in 2018-19 season

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SANTA MONICA, CA – JUNE 25: James Harden, winner of the 2017-2018 MVP award, poses with his mom Monja Willis in the backstage photo room during the 2018 NBA Awards at Barker Hangar on June 25, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) /

2. Win the MVP Award again

James Harden has been in the MVP conversation for years now. In the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons, Harden finished as the MVP runner-up, but he could have won the award in either season, especially in 2017.

Next year, Harden will be in the mix for MVP once again and he has a good shot at repeating. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry will be in the conversation, but they’ll have to share some of the offensive spot light with not only Klay Thompson but now DeMarcus Cousins, too. LeBron James will have the numbers, but without an All-Star teammate, the Lakers may not win enough games to warrant a fifth MVP for LeBron.

Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kyrie Irving will also likely be in the MVP conversation. Although, Kyrie has to remain healthy for enough games to win the award.

Obviously, the season hasn’t started yet, so the MVP race is wide open, but Harden has as good of a chance as any player to win the MVP next season.

Next: No. 1