James Harden Traded to the Clippers
Image Credit: Derik Hamilton/Associated Press
The James Harden saga is finally over as he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers alongside PJ Tucker and Flip Petrusev for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected pick, a 2029 pick swap and two second round picks. This trade is seemingly a win for the Clippers as they get to keep both Norman Powell and Terrance Mann as well as only giving up one first round draft pick. The Clippers add another elite scorer to their roster and on paper become one of the best teams in the league. There are still question marks for this Clipper team as both Harden and Westbrook need the ball in their hands in order to be successful. Westbrook has looked great in his limited stint with the Clippers and adding Harden to this roster may change that. Will Westbrook come off the bench now that Harden is on the roster? It will be interesting to see how everything plays out but regardless this move is a no brainer for the Clippers and pushes them closer to championship contention.
For the 76ers side of things this move was clearly just to end the Harden drama and to start the next chapter of their franchise. The 76ers certainly would have liked more in return, however, given the circumstances it makes sense that they took the best offer they could and ran with it. The 76ers depth definitely gets stronger after the trade as they acquired many guys who have played key roles for championship contenders in the past. Losing Harden unfortunately does severely hurt their start power though. Tyrese Maxey has looked fantastic in his limited play without Harden, even earning himself player of the week for the first week of the season, but come playoff time this team will definitely be worse off than they were last year. Embiid will have to put up an all time playoff performance for the 76ers to stand a real chance in the east. Overall this is a trade that neither side will regret given the outside factors, but one that the Clippers clearly won in my opinion.