Harden Freed from Philly

 

    This week in the NBA, James Harden finally got what he wanted, a trade out of the Philadelphia 76ers organization. The trade came in the form of a package from the Los Angeles Clippers including, Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected first round pick, two second round pics, a 2029 pick swap, and an additional first round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Harden, PJ Tucker, and Filip Petrusev. 

    After a tense offseason and beginning of the 2023-24 NBA season in Philadelphia, the organization was finally able to find someone to take guard, James Harden, off their hands. 

    The former MVP expressed major discomfort with the organization and specifically the organization's President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, saying earlier this summer during an Adidas campaign in China, "Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of."

    Now in LA, the former MVP, Harden, has now joined 2019 champion, Kawhi Leonard, 2016 MVP, Russell Westbrook, and 8-time All Star, Paul George. While the Los Angeles Clippers were already in the upper echelon of teams in the Western Conference competing for the Finals trophy, this new acquisition of last year's assist leader in Harden may be the last big push that they need to secure a championship. With competing against so many other 'big threes' and 'fours' such as the Lakers, Suns, Warriors, and Nuggets, Harden's presence in LA might just be enough to shift the landscape in their favor. After all, this is a scorer's league now and the Clippers officially have four scorers that could potentially be on the floor all at once now. Not to mention that besides Paul George and Kawhi, they now have another elite wing defender in PJ Tucker who will certainly be needed when it comes time to defend against some of the Western Conference's best such as, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. 

    In addition to this, the big four in Los Angeles are all nearing the end of their primes, and with three out of the four of them not yet having won a ring, it is safe to say that they are all in a win now mindset. Winning a championship with Los Angeles would be monumental for them as individuals, and for Clippers fans around the world. With already Hall of Fame level careers for Westbrook and Harden, a ring would elevate them into a new category of some of the best to ever play their respective positions. And for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, a ring with Los Angeles would solidify them as some of the best two-way players of the modern era. 

    Although the potential upside for the Clippers since this trade went through on Tuesday night of Oct. 31 is tremendous, championship caliber even, the risks are just as great. With Russell Westbrook having a player option this summer, and James Harden being an unrestricted free agent, coupled with Harden's unpredictable behavior when it comes to team loyalty, the Clippers could potentially lose out on both of them In addition to possibly letting the two walk away for nothing, as a result of their many trades in the past few years, specifically the trade to acquire Paul George from OKC, the Clippers will not have a first round draft pick until 2030, meaning that their prospective rebuild following this experiment would take much longer than expected.

    What do you think about the Harden trade? Will this gamble work in favor for the Los Angeles Clippers? Are these four aging stars enough to get it done in a stacked Western Conference and can they get past some of the new super teams from the East?