With the NBA free agency negotiation period officially underway, the Los Angeles Clippers came to terms on a new contract with James Harden as per Shams Charania of The Athletic. This was the first time in Harden's career that he experienced unrestricted free agency. Harden was acquired by the Clippers in an early season trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
With Paul George's future with the Clippers still up in the air, they turned their priority towards James Harden during the beginning of the free agency negotiation period. According to Charania, Harden's new contract with the Clippers will be for two years worth $70 million and will include a player option for the second year.
Harden had requested a trade from the 76ers ahead of the 2023-24 season with the Clippers being at the top of his wishlist. He got his wish a couple of weeks into the regular season. Harden appeared in 72 games for the Clippers at a little over 34 minutes per game.
He averaged 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 42.8 percent shooting from the field, 38.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 87.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line. In the playoffs with Kawhi Leonard hampered and sidelined with knee swelling, Harden stepped up as best he could to lead the Clippers.
During the Clippers' first round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, Harden averaged 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 44.9 percent shooting from the field, 38.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 90.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Clippers could lose Paul George in free agency ahead of move to new arena
With the James Harden situation out of the way, the Clippers can now turn their attention to deciding what to do with Paul George. George opted out of his contract at the onset of the free agent negotiation period after failed trade talks involving the Clippers and Golden State Warriors. George is expected to take free agent meetings with the Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic.
Even if George decides to leave the Clippers, they still wouldn't have a ton of money to work with in terms of cap space. Russell Westbrook made the decision to opt-in to his contract for next season, and so did P.J. Tucker.
Last season, the Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs in six games by the Mavericks. Since the Clippers paired up George and Leonard, their time together has been marred by an unfortunate bout of injuries, ruining their playoff chances. In 2021, they reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost Leonard due to a knee injury.
The Clippers are set to move to the Intuit Dome for the 2024-25 season.
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