Ranking The Players The Clippers Can Trade For James Harden

In case you haven’t heard, James Harden is back to causing commotion.

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.

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In case you haven’t heard, James Harden is back to causing commotion. Fun! Harden did not show up for Sixers practice Wednesday morning. It puts back into focus the Sixers’ trade talks surrounding the 10-time All-Star with the team he has long wanted to play for: the Los Angeles Clippers.

Harden wants to be a Clipper, and the Clippers appear to want Harden. There’s only one problem: the Clippers’ offer is just not a good one. That will be established here as we perform this exercise, ranking the team’s most valuable trade pieces.

#8: Marcus Morris Sr.

Morris Sr. is on an expiring contract worth just north of $17 million. While no longer a multi-year commitment, it is a massive number for a player who does more harm than good for his team’s chances of winning in 2023.

Morris Sr. is a ball-stopper on offense whose defense is not close to what it once was. Perhaps his sole NBA-level ability at this juncture is spot-up shooting, which can be important, but not that important.

#7: Amir Coffey

Coffey had a breakout of sorts in 2021-22, emerging as a rotation player for a Clippers team in need of an infusion of youth as a two-way player. It earned him a multi-year NBA deal that has two years remaining. But with newfound expectations last season, his minutes and production went into the tank.

Coffey did not look like an NBA player last season. It doesn’t look like he has a place in Tyronn Lue’s rotation to begin this season, and I’m not sure how many NBA rotations he would crack after the season he had last year.

#6: Bones Hyland

Hyland is a fun player to watch when he’s at his best, a level he once reached to swing a Nuggets-Sixers game when he was a rookie for Denver. He is a Clipper now, and he has yet to be an efficient NBA scorer. 

When you weigh 173 pounds and your primary skill is scoring, you just need to have a stronger track record as a scorer than Hyland actually does right now. There is no question that there is talent there, but it has yet to translate to consistent rotation-level play.

#5: Kenyon Martin Jr.

Acquired from the Houston Rockets this summer, Martin Jr. is the Clippers’ most exciting young player to me. He is still just 22 years old, younger than Hyland and much younger than Coffey, is an absolutely incredible athlete and can be deployed in creative ways that would excite Nick Nurse.

Martin Jr. is likely going to top out as an average shooter at best, but he isn’t going to be a terrible one. Despite being listed as 6-foot-6, Martin Jr. is essentially a big thanks to his outstanding physical gifts. He truly is a stunning athlete -- when many of the best young athletes in the league are in Philadelphia to play the Sixers, I try to observe their pregame routines to witness how dynamic they are up close. Martin Jr.’s athleticism is right with some of the craziest leapers and dunkers in the NBA.

#4: Norman Powell

Powell is good. In fact, he is very likely the best player who is going to be on this list. Over the past five seasons, he is shooting over 40 percent from three-point range on considerable volume. A couple of times, he’s been within shouting distance of 50/40/90. He is a tremendous offensive player.

So, why is he #4 on this list? Well, the guys ahead of him are on low-risk, one-year contracts. Powell is owed over $57.7M in guaranteed money over the next three years. Acquiring him would be a massive financial undertaking which would then make the Sixers’ considerably less flexible moving forward. There is no doubt that Powell would give the Sixers’ offense a noteworthy jolt of life, but it could very well end up not being worth it.

#3: Nicolas Batum

Batum is a fantastic connective passer, has one of the quickest three-point releases in the NBA, and is accurate from beyond the arc. These qualities make him a high-caliber role player on any team with championship hopes. 

However, Batum, who will turn 35 in December, is widely-expected to retire from the NBA after the upcoming season. He would be higher on the list if there was a good chance he could stick around for another year or two.

#2: Robert Covington

Our old friend! Covington is far from the star-level role player he once was, but he can still help teams win, the Sixers included. He would bolster the team’s wing depth and serve as an alternative to PJ Tucker at times -- a big, strong wing who can defend bigs in very small lineups -- with the added element of high-volume three-point shooting.

#1: Terance Mann

Mann is clearly the Clippers’ most valuable somewhat realistic trade piece as far as players go, though they appear unwilling to offer him in a Harden deal so far. That is a bit confusing to me. Mann is thought of as a good young player, which is… kind of true. He is certainly a helpful contributor for the Clippers, a solid all-around role player without any noteworthy weaknesses (though his three-point volume could be higher). But he also turned 27 years old on Wednesday. If the Sixers traded Harden for a package centered around Mann, he would likely be the team’s fourth- or fifth-best player. I do not believe that is his optimal standing on a championship contender.

Herein lies the issue. These players are not good enough to make the Sixers championship contenders. They do not possess enough potential to give them a chance to become that in the future.

Trading James Harden to the Clippers has always been a move that simply allows the Sixers to wash their hands of Harden, rather than make a trade that in any way bolsters their championship prospects, now or in the future.