James Harden Requests Trade: Who May Acquire Him?
James Harden Requests Trade: Who May Acquire Him?
A whole bunch of potential Harden suitors.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Sixers point guard James Harden officially picked up his $35.6M player option for the 2023-24 season, Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported, in order to help the Sixers facilitate a trade that will end his tenure with the team.
We don’t have a lot of time on our hands, so let’s talk about some options:
Los Angeles Clippers
There had been odd whispers in recent days about Harden opting in and forcing his way to the Clippers, and now several reporters have indicated they are the most likely team to acquire the former MVP.
A dream scenario for the Sixers is one in which they take back All-Star wing Paul George, who is a much different player than Harden, but one of a similar caliber. George would give the Sixers another go-to scorer on the perimeter as well as a stifling defensive wing, though he lacks the kind of playmaking Harden brought to the table.
The Clippers surely want to put Harden with George and Kawhi Leonard, though, and so there is a chance they use any combination of their role players and younger pieces. The most commonly-mentioned Clippers in trade talks have been wing Norman Powell and veteran Marcus Morris Sr., whose contracts add up to $35.1M, nearly exactly matching Harden’s salary. Morris Sr. is on an expiring deal, while Powell has three years left under contract.
Since 2018-19, Powell has shot above 40 percent from three on nearly five tries per game, the numbers of a true marksman. Powell is an extremely gifted scorer, though his defense and playmaking are far from ideal. Morris Sr. is not much more than a spot-up shooter at this stage of his career, though his track record as a three-point shooter is impressive.
The Clippers’ roster also includes Robert Covington and Nicolas Batum, who have both been extremely helpful depth wing pieces for Los Angeles. They each make about $11.7M next season on expiring deals. Covington would offer interior versatility and defense to go with quick spot-up shooting; Batum is an inferior defender but is more skilled as a passer.
26-year old Terance Mann is about to begin a two-year, $22M contract with the Clippers. He is someone the Clippers have long valued too much to include in a trade, but he could be a piece the Sixers insist on acquiring in a deal. Mann can fit into just about any role requested of him and will continue to grow.
The Clippers have two other young players who could intrigue the Sixers in 26-year old wing Amir Coffey and 22-year old scorer Bones Hyland, who each have two inexpensive years left under contract.
One other wrinkle worth mentioning here: it seems unlikely, but the Clippers (and some other teams, potentially) could craft a package in which they are able to take both Harden and Tobias Harris in a trade with the Sixers.
New York Knicks
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Knicks are another team expected to reach out to the Sixers about Harden, as they seemingly continue their quest to add every left-handed player in the NBA.
I’m not entirely sure why the Knicks would want Harden after the tremendously successful year that was just had by their guards like Jalen Brunson and even Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes, but apparently they do!
One would imagine Brunson is off the table, and Julius Randle, while friends with reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, is a suboptimal fit in Philadelphia, to say the least. This means New York’s package would be built around young players like Quickley, Grimes, Obi Toppin and/or RJ Barrett, the lone Knicks youngster making considerable money (relatively speaking, of course).
The Knicks would love to use Evan Fournier as salary filler in a trade like this; he is entering next season making just over $18M on what is essentially an expiring contract. Josh Hart just opted into the last season of his deal, and he would surely help the Sixers, but he could have opted in as part of a wink-wink agreement with the Knicks that he wouldn’t be dealt.
Phoenix Suns… and others
This one would be weird as hell -- but the Sixers and Suns are two teams interested in that kind of thing, aren’t they? The Suns could make this work financially by moving Deandre Ayton and someone like Cameron Payne, which means there would have to be at least one more team in on Ayton, who the Sixers would not value because he is a center.
The Indiana Pacers attempted to sign Ayton last summer and could offer players like Buddy Hield and TJ McConnell to the Sixers, who could reroute Ayton to them.
Devoid of a long-term answer at center, the Charlotte Hornets could offer the Sixers players like Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and Cody Martin in an Ayton deal.
The Dallas Mavericks do not have a long-term answer at center either and could offer up any combination of Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock, JaVale McGee and Josh Green, who all could somehow fit into the Sixers rotation.
If the Portland Trail Blazers could find a new home for Jusuf Nurkic -- within this deal or not -- they could want to further balance out their roster by trading Anfernee Simons for Ayton, giving them a new center and making way for incoming rookie Scoot Henderson.
If the Washington Wizards like Ayton, they could look to buy low on a talented young player the way they did with Jordan Poole last week. Daniel Gafford is a talented big in his own right, but their most obvious trade pieces are veteran guards Monte Morris and Delon Wright.
Miami Heat
The Heat appear to be waiting for Damian Lillard to request a trade, but they have enough salary to put together a compelling package if lead shot-caller Pat Riley deemed Harden worthy of being their major reinforcement.
Tyler Herro would become superfluous -- at least as much as perimeter scoring can be -- on a team with Harden, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. His inclusion seems natural here. Kyle Lowry nearly became a Sixer a few years ago, his expiring contract at just over $29M would help facilitate this deal. Caleb Martin, who starred in the postseason, has two cheap years left on his contract. The Heat also have a few young players at varying levels of intrigue -- rookie Jaime Jaqeuz Jr., prospect Nikola Jovic and Sixers legend Haywood Highsmith could all be included.
Be assured that we’ll have constant coverage of the Harden trade talks and all other Sixers offseason storylines here on the site.