In Los Angeles, the nation's premier big city, in fact, there are many NBA stars are here people, and currently in the top five teams in the East, the 76ers backcourt core Harden and the Bulls backcourt core DeRozan are also from the city of Compton, Los Angeles, the two met at a very young age, in Compton, which is full of violence, gangsters, robberies of the "hardest hit area", Harden was born 19 days earlier than DeRozan, the same environment, the same birth of poverty, these two children also accidentally and know each other, Mixed into a small hair. Because their homes were so close together that they were just one street away, Harden and DeRozan often played together on the community court as children.
The two supported each other, and finally met in the NBA, the time goes back to the 2009 NBA Draft, when Harden, who graduated from Arizona State University, was selected by the Thunder as Tanhualang, and DeRozan, who studied at his hometown team University of California, was favored by the Raptors with the 9th pick in the first round, although Harden's draft was in the front, but the Raptors who joined DeRozan just suffered from no one in the backcourt, and directly sat on the team's starting lineup, Harden in the case of durant and Westbrook, two potential new stars, It was a sixth-man role in the Thunder.
Although the status of the two teams is different, Harden, under the leadership of Westbrook and Durant, took the lead in tasting the taste of the Finals, and won the best sixth man in one fell swoop, but DeRozan, who sat firmly in the main force of the Raptors, was still struggling to impact the playoffs. After 13 years, neither of them was able to stay in their mother team, Harden left the Thunder, respectively, to the Rockets, Nets and now the 76ers, while DeRozan was ruthlessly traded to the Spurs after expressing his loyalty to the old Toronto, and after spending 3 years in San Antonio, he also chose to switch to the Bulls this season, becoming the top scorer of this potential team.
It is true that Harden has made great achievements in the Rockets, repeatedly selected for the best team, and even won the regular season MVP, but as he grows older, coupled with the league's rules for his best foul making rules, this season Ha has averaged 22.5 points, 8 rebounds and 10.2 assists, although rebounds and assists are at normal values, but the average score per game is 25+ compared to before, there is indeed a big decline, and this time to the fifth 76th Eastern Conference, who lacks a backcourt, joins forces with Embiid, the league's top big man Harden is not without a chance to regain his peak and lead the team towards the championship.
On the other hand, DeRozan, although the personal honors of these years can not catch up with Harden (the best is only a best second team won in the 17-18 season), but the tree to move the dead to move, after leaving the rebuilt Spurs this season, DeRozan also ushered in the peak of his career in Chicago, averaging a career-high 27.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, and in the past 6 games, he has scored 35+ with a 50% shooting rate in a row, successfully comparing Oxlade-Chamberlain, the best in the history of the league, and the Bulls are also under his leadership. Currently in second place in the East with a record of 37 wins and 21 losses, there is a good chance that it will return to the playoffs this season.
If the team led by the pair really meets head-to-head in the playoffs this season, it will have a great topicality, and the goal of both sides this season is to compete for the championship, as for who the deer dies, let's wait and see.