Recently, it was announced that star point guard James Harden was being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden had grown discontented with the Sixers in recent months and will now join a Clippers squad for which talent has never been an issue, featuring the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and some solid role players.

The move has also caught the attention of NBA pundits who have their eyes on which teams have the best chance to win the championship next June. According to ESPN analytics, the acquisition of Harden boosted the Clippers' chances of winning it all from 8% to 12%, the best in the Western Conference, as well as the highest odds to win the Western Conference at 22%, per ESPN Stats & Info. This comes after it was revealed that the Clippers' odds of winning their division also received a slight bump, per BetOnline.

On paper, the acquisition of James Harden would certainly seem to make the Clippers better, at least in the short term. Of course, stat sheet watching does not account for Harden's well-documented playoff struggles (which manifested in a major way once again this past season with the Sixers), or the Clippers' storied injury history, primarily regarding Leonard and George, who have only gone on one healthy postseason together since joining forces in 2019.

For the Clippers to actually compete for an NBA title, essentially everything would have to go right, which hasn't happened yet during the Leonard-George tenure. However, their ceiling is certainly immensely raised by the Harden trade.