James Harden has found himself at the center of trade rumors once again as the Clippers struggle to meet their goals. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there is a belief among some teams in the league that the Clippers would be willing to shop Harden near the trade deadline or at least take calls from teams on offers for their veteran superstar.
Upon further feedback from his initial report, Stein also confirmed from an anonymous veteran executive that teams are hoping the former MVP could be shopped as early as the trade deadline, despite Steve Ballmer’s reported fondness for their current core.
“One veteran executive read my recent item about James Harden’s potential availability between now and the Feb. 5 deadline and said his front office, to name at least one, indeed projects the NBA’s last American-born MVP (from the 2017-18 season) to wind up in trade play at some point this winter,” wrote Stein in his recent substack.
The league is worried about the Clippers’ result this season due to its impact on the value of their first-round draft pick that the Thunder currently has. As a result of the Paul George trade, the defending champions are still reaping the benefits of the Clippers’ downfall.
Therefore, the Clippers are at a juncture where they have the evaluate their next steps in the league carefully. Their problems can be simplified into two aspects: the short-term and the long-term.
In the short term, with aging stars on a team that is constantly riddled with injuries, they have a very limited timeframe to bounce back from this form. Therefore, the Clippers need to decide whether to blow it all up or stick with their “insane addiction” to this core.
In the long term, they need assets to organically build talent. James Harden is currently averaging 25.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 37.3% from beyond the arc. Cashing in on Harden when he still has value in the trade market could be the right path for the Clippers to acquire some assets.
Moreover, at age 36, James Harden is at a phase in his career where he could be seeing his last few chances at winning a championship as a key contributor on a team.
Harden has never been shy about asking for a trade when the situation is getting out of hand. With Ivica Zubac now injured, the Clippers look further away from the 41-41 objective that Tyronn Lue had set for them a few days ago.
Just weeks before reaching this abysmal 7-22 record for the season, Harden reportedly took over as the vocal and emotional leader of the team. Going from that to being the favorite to eventually ask for a trade shows how much your reputation matters in terms of people’s expectations from you.
If the Clippers continue to look like a bottom-tier team in the league, how long do you think Harden will wait before he pulls the plug on this situation and asks for a trade? Or will the front office take the first step to push Harden out?
The league executives seem to be favoring a timeline that suggests it could happen as early as the February trade deadline. Uncertainty looms large over the Clippers’ future. Do you agree with these executives? Let us know in the comments section.
