The Los Angeles Clippers, in one last-ditch effort to bolster the team's championship hopes in the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era, swung for the fences, trading away their few remaining draft assets, along with four versatile forwards, in exchange for James Harden. Harden, for all his shortcomings as a player, remains an All-Star caliber guard, a nightly 20-10 threat who immediately slots in as the team's best shot-creating playmaker at the point.

Harden himself hasn't been bad per se for the Clippers, especially when it comes to shooting the basketball. He has shot 55.6 percent from the field with his new team in two games, which is a strong number, but Harden, after failing to have a proper training camp with the Philadelphia 76ers, appears to be all out of rhythm in the playmaking front. Against the Brooklyn Nets, Harden gave away the ball five times, contributing to the Clippers' lackluster offensive output in a 100-93 defeat.

Nevertheless, James Harden took responsibility for the part he played in the Clippers' struggles in his first two games with his new ballclub.

“Tonight was on me as far as letting the ball get away,” Harden said, per Law Murray of The Athletic. “Think it's really the 4th quarter… tonight, I turned the ball over, they get easy points.”

James Harden's addition should have enabled the Clippers offense to reach great heights. But so far, that has not materialized. In Harden's two games for the Clippers thus far, they have inexplicably had some troubles when it comes to putting the ball through the hoop, mustering a putrid 100.1 offensive rating in losses against the New York Knicks and Nets, a figure that would rank dead last in the league by quite a mile should it hold. (It won't.)

Some of their troubles on the offensive end have been due to a lack of familiarity with each other, and with a lack of familiarity comes a lack of noticeable offensive hierarchy. The Clippers seem to more firepower for their own good, and as a result, there seems to be a bit of cluelessness as to who must commandeer the offense on a given possession. But in time, Harden and company should jell together to form one of the most unstoppable scoring attacks in the league.