From the start of the 2017-18 season through the 2019-20 season, James Harden was arguably the most unstoppable player in the entire NBA. While he's still a high-level talent and one of the best playmakers in the entire league, Harden has definitely regressed as a superstar since being traded.
Initially dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in 2021 and expected to play alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving long-term, Harden then requested a trade again and was sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022. Now, his time in Philadelphia appears to be in doubt after the 10-time All-Star has requested yet another trade.
With this request coming hours before the start of free agency, teams around the league, including the Sixers, were sent into a frenzy and left trying to figure out what would ultimately unfold in a short amount of time. Almost an entire month later, nobody seems to know how Harden's situation with Philadelphia is going to play out.
All signs point toward the Los Angeles Clippers being Harden's preferred destination in a trade, but the New York Knicks were also said to be a team with initial interest when this trade request first came out.
Could the Knicks sneak in and wind up landing Harden in what would be this offseason's biggest trade?
James Harden's arrival signals RJ Barrett's departure
The first thing to consider from the Knicks' point of view when contemplating a potential trade involving Harden is the financial implications of bringing in the All-Star guard. While he does have just one more year left on his contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, it is not that easy to trade for Harden because of his contract.
Set to make $35.6 million this upcoming season, New York would need to find a way to match Harden's salary and put together a good enough trade package to convince the Sixers to trade their star. As of right now, Philadelphia has not been eager to trade Harden and president Daryl Morey has made it clear they are going to take their time with this process, evaluating every single option available.
As far as what the Knicks have to offer, Evan Fournier is the first player that comes to mind not only because he's a useful salary-filler set to make $18.8 million this upcoming season, but because he'd help shore up the 76ers' depth on the wing. Including Fournier in a potential Harden trade definitely simplifies things financially.
On the other side of things, the New York would still need to part ways with value and it is unlikely they team would want to get rid of Josh Hart, Immanuel Quickley or Quentin Grimes. This leaves RJ Barrett as the odd man out, a player the Knicks could look to leverage in order to facilitate a trade for Harden.
Financially speaking, a package formed around Fournier and Barrett is more than enough in matching salary to get a deal done. In fact, Philadelphia would even need to attach another player to this trade to make it work since the Knicks would have $42.7 million in outgoing salary in this scenario. Trading Barrett does not seem to be something New York wants to do, though, a mindset that can even be tracked back to last offseason.
Before he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell was an All-Star on the Knicks' radar and they had engaged in trade conversations with the Utah Jazz on multiple occasions. Mitchell could have been dealt to the Knicks, but the organization was unwilling to include Barrett with Grimes and other assets, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. This led to Barrett receiving a new four-year, $107 million extension, a deal that begins this upcoming season.
New York has shown a willingness to include Barrett in a trade for an All-Star-level talent, yet there is nothing proving the front office wants to outright move on from Barrett. He's part of the Knicks' core alongside Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, which is why replacing the former No. 2 overall draft pick with a player in the final year of his contract is worrisome.
Still just 23 years old with already four seasons of experience in New York under his belt, Barrett is only going to continue getting better. Trading him now for Harden, who would have no long-term commitment to the Knicks, is a risk that New York's front office led by Leon Rose would not take.
Now, it is worth noting that the Knicks have serious interest in Joel Embiid and have been monitoring the reigning league MVP's status this offseason. The 76ers are not going to be trading Embiid, but if he was to request out in the near future, New York would be at the front of the line to try and land him.
This is why holding onto Barrett in order to potentially leverage him down the line makes more sense than making a rash move for Harden right now.
James Harden's fit in New York is questionable
There are always going to be questions about how any player fits with a new team, and it's no different with Harden and the Knicks—especially since things didn't exactly go well during his stays in Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
Let's just say the Knicks and 76ers did agree to some type of Harden trade revolving around a return package of Barrett, Fournier and draft assets. Assuming they held onto Grimes and Quickley in this scenario, New York would suddenly have a logjam in the backcourt.
While that's not the worst situation in the world, someone would be bound to get frustrated, risking the type of spiraling situation that leaves the Knicks having given up young talent for substandard on-court value. There is always the possibility of Harden leaving New York after one year as well, meaning the Knicks would lose two key talents for absolutely nothing.
Two things stand out about Harden's potential fit with New York, neither of which makes a potential trade worthwhile.
The first is that the Sixers' star is not a good defender and he's proven time and time again that he's unwilling to give his all on that end of the floor. Everywhere Tom Thibodeau has been, he's made sure his team is locked in defensively. This is why Grimes has been a key part of the Knicks' rotation, and is one of the main reasons why putting Harden on this roster would be puzzling.
The other reason revolves around Brunson, coming off a breakout, All-Star-like season in his New York debut. After signing a four-year, $104 million contract with the Knicks in free agency last summer to become the leader of their backcourt, Brunson averaged 24.0 points and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range. These were all career-high marks for the 26-year-old guard, who ended up ranking 28th in the league in Player Efficiency Rating.
By adding Harden to the mix, the Knicks would not only be taking the ball out of Brunson's hands, but they would lessen his role after he put together the best year out of any guard this organization has had since Allan Houston in the early 2000s.
This just seems like an extremely risky move for the Knicks to make seeing as they have no way to cover themselves if things go south. As a whole, this organization has operated with patience and despite being linked to several stars through the years, New York has stayed the course on its plan at hand.
It seems inevitable the Knicks will make a big move at some point, but as things stand right now, it's not realistic that Harden is their top priority when looking at potential upgrades. New York has good thing going right now, and bringing in the former league MVP truly would not improve their championship outlook both from a short-term and long-term perspective.
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