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James Harden came out of Arizona State after just his sophomore season, but he has the feel of an elder statesman in this draft. He has a mature presence and a throwback game, with enough skill at the shooting guard position to start on most teams.

But Harden also has limitations that suggest he will struggle to be the kind of scorer he was in the Pac-10.

Much of Harden?s scoring came off the dribble, where he has great control and cunning to get high quality shots. He loses his man fairly easily with a array of pre-dribble moves and zig-zag, between the legs shakes. Once Harden has his man on his hip, he is quick enough to not be caught and nimble enough to sharply split defenders if there is a help defender on the perimeter.

He?ll hit floaters, lay-ups and frequently use the glass. Though not explosive, he is agile and elusive in the air.

When weak side defenders are quick to cut him off, especially defenders with size, his efficiency rate goes down dramatically. He falls into the mistake of throwing up prayers with the hope of drawing a foul, something he does do well.

In all the games and tape I?ve watched of Harden, I?ve never seen him use a spin move in the paint, which forces him to try to climb the elevator too frequently.

One thing Harden does extremely well when penetrating into the lane is his vision to pass to an open big on the weak side or to kick out to a spot-up shooter. Even though he is a true shooting guard, he has a lot of the same characteristics of a point guard when he is a passer.

Harden is a good perimeter shooter, but his approach will almost certainly need to change at the next level. He has a good stroke, good arc, good touch and a consistent, compact form. He has really good range, able to successfully extend out to the NBA three. But Harden?s perimeter shot is more set shot than jump shot, where he barely elevates off the ground. He has been able to get away with this because of how much defenders respect the way he puts the ball on the deck and also because he has a fairly quick release with it.

The claims that Harden isn?t especially athletic are overstated. His game is primarily played very close to the ground, but he actually has sneaky quickness and can truly elevate to the rim when he gets a little space. Not dismissing several of his Hornets-era facials, Harden compares to Baron Davis in terms of athleticism and the way he applies that to his game. He?ll finish alley-oops and finish open floor dunks.

Defensively, Harden was never too tested at Arizona State due to their propensity to play so much 2-3 zone. Similar to the way he plays on the offensive end, Harden will rely on his body more than his quickness to be effective. His lateral quickness and effort are both clearly in the average area of the conspicuous bell shaped curve.

Harden has very good intangibles and is the kind of high character player that teams like Portland, Oklahoma City and Chicago have gone out of their way to acquire. If the expectations of Harden are to be a secondary scorer, who can create his own shot, then he will unquestionably meet those, but he won?t have enough variety in his offense to be a Brandon Roy/Kevin Durant type of focal point.

Click here to read RealGM's draft reports on other members of the '09 class.