Deandre Ayton vs. James Harden Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Harden and Deandre Ayton, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Deandre Ayton played 7 years in the NBA, 9 less than James Harden, who played 16. Deandre Ayton had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while James Harden had his rookie season in 2009-10. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2018-19	2009-10
Team	Phoenix Suns	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Thunder Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	71	30.7	16.3	3.1	7.1	10.3	1.8	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.9	7.2	12.3	.585	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	2.7	.746
difference:	+5	+7.8	+6.4	+2.5	+4.5	+7.1		+0.2	+0.6	-0.4	-0.3	+4.1	+4.7	+.182	+1.2	+3.2	+.375	+0.6	+0.5	+.062
James Harden	76	22.9	9.9	0.6	2.6	3.2	1.8	1.1	0.3	1.4	2.6	3.1	7.6	.403	1.2	3.3	.375	2.6	3.2	.808
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	6	20.0	7.7	0.2	2.3	2.5	1.8	1.0	0.2	0.5	2.3	2.0	5.2	.387	1.0	2.7	.375	2.7	3.2	.842

Season 3
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2020-21	2011-12
Team	Phoenix Suns	Oklahoma City Thunder
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Suns Lost NBA Finals	Thunder Lost NBA Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	69	30.7	14.4	3.3	7.2	10.5	1.4	0.6	1.2	1.5	2.8	6.2	10.0	.626	0.1	0.3	.200	1.9	2.5	.769
difference:	+7	+0.7	+2.4	+2.8	+3.6	+6.4	+2.3	+0.4	+1.0	-0.7	-0.4	+1.2	+0.1	+.135	+1.7	+4.4	+.190	+3.1	+3.5	+.077
James Harden	62	31.4	16.8	0.5	3.6	4.1	3.7	1.0	0.2	2.2	2.4	5.0	10.1	.491	1.8	4.7	.390	5.0	6.0	.846
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	22	36.4	15.8	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.1	0.8	1.1	1.3	2.9	7.0	10.6	.658	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.4	.736
difference:	+2	+4.9	+0.5	+2.3	+4.3	+6.7	+2.3	+0.8	+1.0	-0.8	-0.5	+2.3	+0.1	+.223	+1.6	+3.9		+3.6	+3.9	+.121
James Harden	20	31.5	16.3	0.7	4.5	5.1	3.4	1.6	0.1	2.1	3.4	4.7	10.7	.435	1.6	3.9	.410	5.4	6.3	.857

Season 4
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2021-22	2012-13
Team	Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	58	29.5	17.2	2.6	7.7	10.2	1.4	0.7	0.7	1.6	2.4	7.6	12.0	.634	0.1	0.3	.368	1.8	2.4	.746
difference:	+20	+8.8	+8.7	+1.8	+3.6	+5.3	+4.4	+1.1	+0.2	-2.2	-0.1	+0.1	+5.1	+.196	+2.2	+5.9		+6.8	+7.8	+.105
James Harden	78	38.3	25.9	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.8	1.8	0.5	3.8	2.3	7.5	17.1	.438	2.3	6.2	.368	8.6	10.2	.851
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	13	30.5	17.9	2.5	6.4	8.9	1.7	0.4	0.8	1.5	2.6	8.1	12.6	.640	0.2	0.3	.500	1.6	2.5	.636
difference:	+7	+10.0	+8.4	+1.7	+0.6	+2.2	+2.8	+1.6	+0.2	-3.0	-0.4	+0.6	+6.6	+.249	+2.3	+7.0	+.159	+7.2	+8.5	+.167
James Harden	6	40.5	26.3	0.8	5.8	6.7	4.5	2.0	1.0	4.5	3.0	7.5	19.2	.391	2.5	7.3	.341	8.8	11.0	.803

Season 5
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2022-23	2013-14
Team	Phoenix Suns	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	67	30.4	18.0	2.6	7.4	10.0	1.7	0.6	0.8	1.8	2.8	7.8	13.2	.589	0.1	0.4	.292	2.3	3.0	.760
difference:	+6	+7.6	+7.4	+1.8	+3.5	+5.3	+4.4	+1.0	+0.4	-1.8	-0.4	+0.3	+3.3	+.133	+2.3	+6.2	+.074	+5.6	+6.1	+.106
James Harden	73	38.0	25.4	0.8	3.9	4.7	6.1	1.6	0.4	3.6	2.4	7.5	16.5	.456	2.4	6.6	.366	7.9	9.1	.866
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	10	31.9	13.4	2.9	6.8	9.7	1.0	0.6	0.7	1.7	3.5	6.1	11.1	.550	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.3	.522
difference:	+4	+11.9	+13.4	+2.1	+3.0	+5.0	+4.8	+1.4	+0.5	-1.8		+2.2	+11.1	+.174	+2.7	+9.0		+6.3	+6.0	+.378
James Harden	6	43.8	26.8	0.8	3.8	4.7	5.8	2.0	0.2	3.5	3.5	8.3	22.2	.376	2.7	9.0	.296	7.5	8.3	.900

Season 6
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2023-24	2014-15
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf Finals

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	55	32.4	16.7	3.2	7.9	11.1	1.6	1.0	0.8	1.8	2.0	7.8	13.6	.570	0.0	0.2	.100	1.2	1.4	.823
difference:	+26	+4.4	+10.7	+2.3	+3.2	+5.4	+5.4	+0.9	+0.1	-2.2	-0.6	+0.2	+4.5	+.130	+2.6	+6.7	+.275	+7.6	+8.8	+.045
James Harden	81	36.8	27.4	0.9	4.7	5.7	7.0	1.9	0.7	4.0	2.6	8.0	18.1	.440	2.6	6.9	.375	8.8	10.2	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	17	37.4	27.2	0.7	5.0	5.7	7.5	1.6	0.4	4.5	2.9	7.6	17.3	.439	2.4	6.3	.383	9.6	10.5	.916

Season 7
	Deandre Ayton	James Harden
Season	2024-25	2015-16
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Houston Rockets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	40	30.2	14.4	3.1	7.1	10.2	1.6	0.8	1.0	1.7	2.2	6.6	11.7	.566	0.2	0.8	.188	1.0	1.5	.667
difference:	+42	+7.9	+14.6	+2.3	+1.8	+4.1	+5.9	+0.9	+0.4	-2.9	-0.6	+2.1	+8.0	+.127	+2.7	+7.2	+.171	+7.8	+8.7	+.193
James Harden	82	38.1	29.0	0.8	5.3	6.1	7.5	1.7	0.6	4.6	2.8	8.7	19.7	.439	2.9	8.0	.359	8.8	10.2	.860
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Harden	5	38.6	26.6	1.4	3.8	5.2	7.6	2.4	0.2	5.2	2.6	8.2	20.0	.410	2.6	8.4	.310	7.6	9.0	.844

Additional Years
* James Harden played 9 seasons more than Deandre Ayton in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 16, from 2017 to 2025—James Harden played in 9 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over Deandre Ayton, James Harden got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 Scoring Leader 2 Assists Leader 7 All-Star Game