Will Any Teams Trade For James Harden?
With the recent news of Daryl Morey, GM of the 76ers, reportedly gauging the price of Harden, and his stunt to try to send Tobias Harris to Cleveland for Evan Mobley and Jarret Allen, it made me question if the value that he is setting for his players are way too high for a second round exit team. Whatever Harris was when the 76ers brought him into Philly, is completely gone. He used to be a rising star in this league. When teams gave him the proper minutes, he knocked down every shot he took. It seemed like when Harris got to Philly, things started taking a turn for the worst.
In his last 10 games of the playoffs, he averaged 12.4 points per game (PPG), 4.4 rebounds per game (RPG), and one assist per game (APG), while shooting at 52 percent field goal percentage and 34.8 percent from the three. In the majority of these games, Harris was stuck in the corner with nobody passing the ball to him, however, his numbers show that he can still shoot well. With all this being said, in game six versus Boston, he scored two points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Pretty good defensively but bad offensively, shooting at a whopping 14.3 percent. I don’t think Harris is worth Mobley, Allen, and some picks. The trade offered was a laughable excuse for an attempt.
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With all that being said, what is Harden’s worth? I find myself a little confused here. No doubt that Harden is one of the best ISO scorers in this league and can shoot the three ball well. However, in the past three years, he’s asked for three trade requests, all from different teams he wanted to help win. Even from the outside looking into the NBA, I can tell you that I don’t want Harden on my favorite team because of the drama he brings off the courts; scuffles with teammates, leaving training camp to party in LA, wearing a fat suit to tank his trade value, and asking off of teams where he will not be able to win. There’s no I in team, and to be completely honest, it looks like Harden only thinks about what is best for him and not what’s best for his team to win.
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I don’t think any team will trade for Harden with the current price the 76ers are asking for. The only team I can see being really seriously interested in him is the Los Angeles Clippers. Even at that, they will not trade Paul George to the 76ers for Harden, that’s too high of a price for the player and person that James Harden is. The 76ers need to lower their asking price because he is not the player he once was in Houston. I don’t think teams want to go into next year with an unhappy star. I think Harden will at least stay for the rest of the year until he hits free agency again because I don’t think any team will pay him over $20 million, let alone $34 million. Also, he is 33 years old, and I personally think he is currently exiting his prime, while others may think prime Harden was with the Houston Rockets. It’s hard to give a player of his age that type of money, especially someone who is clearly regressing. It's very clear that Harden is getting worse year by year.
