Now that John Wall is with the Houston Rockets, could that help keep James Harden on board?

Right now, the league’s worst-kept secret is that James Harden wants to be traded by the Houston Rockets.

Preferably, Harden apparently would like to land with the Brooklyn Nets, but other teams could interest the former MVP.

Regardless of where he prefers to land, the Rockets don’t seem interested in getting rid of their franchise player.

For weeks now, the Rockets have fielded calls from teams inquiring about Harden, but none have really seemed to gain any real traction.

When it came to Russell Westbrook, though, the Rockets actively shopped the star point guard. And on Wednesday, the Rockets finally found a deal worth their while.

In return for Westbrook, Houston received a 2023 lottery-protected pick and All-Star guard, John Wall. While Wall surely isn’t a significant downgrade from Westbrook, his recent injury history is quite concerning.

One could assume that the acquisition of Wall wouldn’t exactly convince James Harden to stay. But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden reportedly prefers Wall over Westbrook.

“He had a preference of John Wall over Westbrook,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday. “Although, in the last couple of years, Harden has moved teammates in and out. Brought Chris Paul in — moved him out.”

“And the same with Russell Westbrook. Now, whether [trading for Wall] is going to be enough to convince him to want to be there long-term, the Rockets aren’t sure about that. They do have a cushion to work with. . . So they are going to start this season with Harden and Wall.”

Justin Grasso covers the NBA for The Sports Daily. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_