I hate threads like this where people say outlandish things on BOTH sides of the argument. Very few objective posts in here. You have guys putting Harden in a group that would make him a top 5-10 player then you have guys who are either incredibly biased or don't watch as much basketball as they claim saying they're not even close and it's a ridiculous comparison.
As for the topic at hand, I think it's too premature to put Harden up with Melo. There has to be some type of sliding scale that balances out regular season and post season performance. Harden is balling now but I think we need to see him as the lead dog in the 'offs before we start saying which top 10 players that he's better than. At the end of the day, in the NBA your tier/status is determined by what you do in the playoffs. It's not a knock on Harden. Let that man earn his respect. He'll get his shot soon enough hopefully.
And if he doesn't I bet it would make for a great day for some of the people on this forum. Guys in this thread talking about "Lets see him take his team to the playoffs", I agree but so what if he doesn't? The Rockets where supposed to win about 20 games (hopefully) before the trade and I don't recall hearing/seeing one person make the comment that the Rockets would/should make the playoffs even with Harden. I don't remember anyone (on here, other sites, radio, tv, etc.) picking the Rockets to win over 35 games. This guy leads the youngest team in the league. I think the Rockets are the only team under the cap in the entire league. The Rockets are definitely overachieving and there are a lot of ya'll that are moving the goalposts on your arguments acting like they aren't.
Lastly I keep seeing some of the same ridiculous arguments to discredit Harden. How does he get "lucky" foul calls if he has an intended plan (driving to the basket) and proceeds to carry it out? That's not luck, it's skill. Phantom fouls? Go to a game and hear the loud slaps then come and tell me he wasn't fouled. Too many foul shots? Are there even 3 players in the entire league that attack the basket like Harden? Some of ya'll must think you have to drive and then make some acrobatic, reckless attempt at a dunk or layup to get a foul call. Dude's eurostep is the best I have EVER seen and is designed to bait clumsy post players into fouling him in a way that he doesn't take hard collisions. Some of ya'll make the most ridiculous comments...