Will James Harden Win a Ring Before He Retires?

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James Harden is entering his fifteenth year in the league and has yet to win a championship. Harden has been one of the best players for the past ten years and arguably one of the best players still in the league yet to win a ring. Harden does have one finals appearance under his belt all the way back in 2012, however, this was way before his prime and was before he was the best or even second-best player on his team. Harden has not reached the finals since, although he has had multiple conference finals runs. Is Harden too past his prime to make it back to the NBA finals and win his first championship?

Harden is currently a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, who have struggled recently to have long-term playoff success. He has requested a trade, and it is still yet to be determined if he will start the season as a Philadelphia 76er. Harden’s goal is to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers to play alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. If this trade were to go through, it would certainly increase Harden’s chances of a championship run, but there are still too many question marks to consider a championship likely. The Clippers have failed to stay healthy year after year and have not had playoff success because of this. Adding Harden would certainly help in terms of having more star power and increasing the likelihood that the Clippers will have at least one healthy star on the court, however, trading for Harden will hurt the Clipper's depth too much for this to be a net positive. The Clippers would likely lose both Norman Powell and Terrance Mann in a trade, meaning that if some of the stars for the Clippers miss games, there will be fewer complementary players to step up when it matters. Due to this, joining the Clippers will likely not give Harden the ring he desires. If this is the path for Harden, it is highly unlikely he will win a ring before his career comes to an end.