When all is said and done in his career, James Harden will go down as one of the greatest players of his generation. Not too long ago, when he was with the Houston Rockets, no player in the league could stop Harden on the offensive end of the floor, as he led the league in scoring from 2017-20. He also led the league in assists during the 2016-17 season.
A 10-time All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA performer, the only thing Harden has yet to do in his career is win a title. He came close to winning a championship when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012, but they ultimately fell in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
The James Harden that was with the Thunder and the Rockets is not the same James Harden we tend to know nowadays though. Since requesting a trade from and leaving Houston in 2021, Harden has taken a step back as a primary scoring weapon, and he's embraced his role as his team's primary facilitator. He's averaged double-digit assists every year since the start of the 2020-21 season, and he even led the league in assists per game this past season.
Over this three-year span, Harden has played for three different franchises. Going from the Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers, it appears as if The Beard's next team could be the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite opting into his player option with the Sixers for the 2023-24 season, Harden has made it clear that he wants to be traded, and the Clippers remain his desired destination.
The Sixers and president Daryl Morey have made their intentions of keeping the All-Star clear, but they will be willing to work through what the former league MVP ultimately wants. If they are to trade him, the Sixers are going to want to get as much value as they can, something Los Angeles may not be willing to offer up for a veteran player in the final year of his contract.
As things stand right now this offseason, there appears to be no immediate traction on any trade in which Harden would go to the Clippers. This does not mean a trade will not occur, though, as The Athletic's Shams Charania recently reported that the two teams are expected to engage in trade discussions once more this offseason.
Even though they would have to give up a handful of value, including their last few draft picks, there is no better time for the Clippers to pull off a trade for a player like Harden than right now before the start of the 2023-24 season.
Harden's fit with Clippers
For years, the Clippers have been looking to climb out of the shadow cast down upon them by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers have always been “that other team” in Los Angeles, and owner Steve Ballmer has been doing his best to change this narrative through the years.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are the two All-Stars that headline this roster, and last season, Russell Westbrook joined the team after the Utah Jazz waived him. This offseason, Westbrook re-signed with the Clippers on a new two-year contract that contains a player option in Year 2.
While they've been on a path to winning the last few seasons, even reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time in team history in 2021, the Clippers have come up just short of their ultimate goals due to injuries.
With Kawhi and George fully healthy entering the new season and the Western Conference being wide open, Harden would fit in perfectly. Not to mention, the Clippers have been searching for a lead guard through the years that can command their offense and take pressure off of their two All-Stars.
Bringing in Harden really wouldn't change much for Westbrook either, especially since the two played alongside one another years ago on the Thunder and since they can both take on a primary facilitating role. It is worth noting that the two stars are still friends with one another, and Harden was the leading voice for the Rockets to acquire Westbrook in 2019.
There's no telling what the rest of this roster would look like if the Clippers were to trade for Harden, but a starting lineup of him alongside Leonard, George, Westbrook and center Ivica Zubac is certainly enough to immediately contend for a title.
As far as starting rotations go across the league, this would be arguably the best five-man group in the NBA, and even with one of their stars out, the Clippers would still have enough firepower to keep up with any other team.
What the Clippers' financial future looks like
As much as it makes sense to trade for Harden from a fit and lineup perspective, the most important factor Ballmer and the Clippers would consider in a possible trade for the Sixers' star involves their financial future.
After Leonard and George first decided to join the Clippers in 2019, they each agreed to four-year, $176 million contracts to remain with the team. Both deals contain a player option for the 2024-25 season, meaning that these two stars could become free agents together next summer. At this time, neither player appears to be in a rush to sign a new extension. For Westbrook, he signed a two-year contract this offseason, as mentioned previously, but he could also become a free agent in 2024 due to his player option.
The Clippers are in a fantastic spot right now, especially when you bring up the topic of potentially targeting Harden. His contract will expire at the conclusion of the upcoming year, meaning that the Clippers would theoretically have Harden, Leonard, George and Westbrook on possible expiring contracts if they were to strike a deal with Philadelphia right now.
That's $130.6 million in potential expiring salaries,and by trading for Harden, the Clippers would also likely be able to move Norman Powell, who has close to $40 million remaining on his contract past the upcoming season.
Striking a deal with the Sixers is a risk given that Harden has jumped around from team to team through the years. Then again, this is truly a win-win scenario for the Clippers because their future is so uncertain right now.
Leonard and George remaining in Los Angeles seems like the likeliest of scenarios, but you never know in this league, and either one or both stars could jump ship this offseason should the team fall short in the postseason yet again. By acquiring Harden, Ballmer and the Clippers put themselves in a position where they are protected from all angles.
This addition would surely be a championship statement by the Clippers, and it would not be hard to imagine them finishing the season with one of the best records in the league, that is, assuming everyone stays healthy. They could then have contract talks and discussions about restructuring contracts based on the success of the organization.
Should trading for Harden not work out and everything begins to fall apart, this organization would have no long-term commitments. They could execute at least one sign-and-trade in the offseason involving one of these star players, and they would suddenly have a ton of options on how to build their roster in free agency moving forward seeing as they would have the most cap space out of any team in the NBA.
The option to go through a “soft reset” would present itself in this scenario, and after five years of things not working out and failing to meet playoff expectations, that is assuming nothing changes during the 2023-24 season with or without Harden, this may not be the worst thing to happen to the Clippers.
They are currently one of the oldest teams in the league. Their tax bill is only going to increase with new contracts on the horizon, and Ballmer wants to win a championship sooner rather than later. By trading for James Harden, the Clippers can put themselves in a position to win right now as well as setting up options for the future if they don't find success.
There's no better time for Los Angeles to get this deal done than right now.
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