James Harden Traded to Clippers

[tazzmaniac]

Bad decision by Philly. They should have tried harder to repair the relationship. They gave up on it too easily and settled for a terrible trade return instead.

How could Philly repair the relationship? I don't think that is feasible.

How could Philly have confidence going forward that he would play up to his contract? He already wasn't ready to go to work. Simple analysis. Harden had to go immediately, as he was willing to sit and poison the team's chance at success.

The Clippers were already heading down a dark path with aging, injured vets. Now they have one of the worst competitors in the NBA. Balmer must realize that they have made several mistakes.

Who is wrong on two counts.  The relationship was not going to be repaired.  They'd held onto Harden longer than many thought they should and were able to get a better deal from the Clips.  The only reason to hold on to him even longer was to get an even better deal; however that was extremely unlikely.  Another team wasn't all of a sudden going to show interest in him and the Clips wouldn't have a reason to improve their offer further again. 

As for the return, it was better than expected getting 2 firsts, a first pick swap and 2 2nds.  The players received are all on very tradeable 1-year contracts and will most likely provide more productivity than Tucker who was a 2-year contract that they wanted to dump.  That trade compares quite well to the trade where they got Harden and dumped Simmons.  Nets get: Simmons, Curry, Drummond, 2022 first-round pick (unprotected), 2027 first-round pick (protected); Sixer get: Harden and Millsap.

The Sixers are constantly going after guys and then dumping them.

Strange comment.  Let's say they dumped Harden even though it was him that forced the trade.  They drafted Simmons and he was with the Sixers for 6 seasons before they dumped him.  Who else have they gone after and then dumped? 

[BitterJim]

Apparently the 2027 pick swap that OKC got in the deal is more valuable than it first looked. OKC doesn't just have the option to swap the Clippers pick with their first, but they can swap it with the worse pick of theirs and Denver's. So that looks like a pretty safe bet to convey, and they're essentially just swapping their worst 2026 pick to upgrade a 2027 pick. 100% worth it when you already have so many firsts

[blink]

With Harden gone , I wonder how long Embiid will hang around with no serious star help.  I suspect he ‘ll jump to Heat eventually if he remains stranded on a go no where team.

I think that Maxey is a star, better than Harden currently is.  If the 76ers can add another star in free agency or via trade, they'll be well-positioned.

Maxey very well could be a star already, but his timeline is different than Embid who will probably start to have slight decline in the coming years. I do think they need a third star or very high quality player, the question is who is available? Lavine? Siakam? Not sure there is anyone out there that moves the needle for them to get to the tier of a healthy Celtics, bucks or
Nuggets team.

I also think Maxey is there already.  He has been borderline unstoppable in the two 76ers games that I watched.   Plus they are getting good production from Oubre Jr now off the bench.   I think that Philly loosing PJ Tucker hurts almost as much as loosing Harden.  Not sure if Lavine is the 3rd star they need?  His toolkit seems to overlap with Maxey a lot. 

The toughness, defense that PJ Tucker brought might be harder to replace than Hardens points/ assists.

I don’t say this as a positive, if oubre is the key to your season you are in a bad spot (and I do actually think he is a key for them, they need some scoring with ok defense badly). That being said he is on his fifth team and signed for the minimum for a Reason.

I really do agree with you.  I was just pointing out that he has started out the season well, playing better than I have ever seen him play.  For other nba teams he appears at times to have been a trainwreck and that might be the end result with him and the 76ers, but who knows.   With Oubre the talent was always there, I watched him in college (big12) when he played for Kansas.  But his bad attitude and selfishness has always trumped his talent since he was in the NBA.   I mean I hope Philly hasn't found a good 6th man too.  Time will tell.

[ozgod]

Harden says he doesn't intend to speak to Morey ever, ever, ever again.

On Tuesday morning, Morey had had just hours to reflect on what his life -- and franchise -- looks like now that Harden is not a part of it. If there are hard feelings, he's not indulging them yet.

"James changed my life," Morey says. "He's one of the all-time greats. As time goes on, people will think about him in much more historic terms. What he did to change the game and change the NBA will get recognized more as the Twitterverse and the people who don't understand how good he is fade away."

HARDEN FEELS VERY differently about the dissolution of their basketball marriage. He hasn't spoken to Morey in months, sources told ESPN. He has told associates he doesn't intend to speak to him ever again.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38790362/paintings-silence-history-final-straw-james-harden-daryl-morey-era

[Surferdad]

Harden says he doesn't intend to speak to Morey ever, ever, ever again.

On Tuesday morning, Morey had had just hours to reflect on what his life -- and franchise -- looks like now that Harden is not a part of it. If there are hard feelings, he's not indulging them yet.

"James changed my life," Morey says. "He's one of the all-time greats. As time goes on, people will think about him in much more historic terms. What he did to change the game and change the NBA will get recognized more as the Twitterverse and the people who don't understand how good he is fade away."

HARDEN FEELS VERY differently about the dissolution of their basketball marriage. He hasn't spoken to Morey in months, sources told ESPN. He has told associates he doesn't intend to speak to him ever again.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38790362/paintings-silence-history-final-straw-james-harden-daryl-morey-era

Have any other posters here beside me experienced being deceived by your boss? It's happened to me a couple of times.  What to do? Move on and DEFINITELY do not tell your new boss.  Harden is a big baby.

[SparzWizard]

I heard today Harden said he is THE System and not a system player.

Think Metta World Peace may have knocked his head really hard some 10 years ago and it's starting to affect his thought process and what he says. What a load of baloney Harden is.

[Goldstar88]

What an egomaniac. Wow…

James Harden said he sacrificed millions along with his playing style, which he felt was "on a leash" during his stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harden said he tried to do what was needed to win in Philadelphia, but that the 76ers front office did not want him. Now with the Clippers, Harden is hopeful he can change some of the negative narratives surrounding him following rocky exits from Brooklyn and Philadelphia and prove that he is still an elite star who can fit in with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook and win a championship.

At his introductory news conference Thursday at the Clippers facility, Harden described what he felt went wrong in Philadelphia.

Taking $26 million less to sign and make the team better. Changing my role, which media [felt] is ball dominant, which my ball dominance is really effective. But changing my role, trying to change the narrative, trying to sacrifice and do whatever it takes to win at the highest level," Harden said. "That's not talked about. It's the other BS.

"So me leaving Brooklyn and thinking I'm going to retire as a Sixer. And the front office had other plans. They didn't want me. ... There's a lot of narratives and people think they have an opinion. ... But none of that is true."

"I think the game and I'm a creator on the court," Harden said. "So if I got a voice to where I can, 'Hey, Coach, I see this. What you think about this?' Somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that understands me. I'm not a system player. I am a system. You know what I mean?

"So somebody that can have that dialogue with me, understand, move forward, figure out and make adjustments on the fly throughout the course of games, that's all I really care about. It's not about me scoring a basketball, scoring 34 points. I've done that already."

[Who]

I heard today Harden said he is THE System and not a system player.

Think Metta World Peace may have knocked his head really hard some 10 years ago and it's starting to affect his thought process and what he says. What a load of baloney Harden is.

Harden is correct. Guys like him. Guys like LeBron. They are a one man offense. They are the system. They define the system more than the system defines them. The system revolves around what they do.

[moiso]

I heard today Harden said he is THE System and not a system player.

Think Metta World Peace may have knocked his head really hard some 10 years ago and it's starting to affect his thought process and what he says. What a load of baloney Harden is.

Harden is correct. Guys like him. Guys like LeBron. They are a one man offense. They are the system. They define the system more than the system defines them. The system revolves around what they do.

Harden hasn't been the system for a couple of years, and if he thinks he's going to be the system on a team with Kawhi, George, and Westbrook, he's delusional.

[Kernewek]

I heard today Harden said he is THE System and not a system player.

Think Metta World Peace may have knocked his head really hard some 10 years ago and it's starting to affect his thought process and what he says. What a load of baloney Harden is.

Harden is correct. Guys like him. Guys like LeBron. They are a one man offense. They are the system. They define the system more than the system defines them. The system revolves around what they do.

This is true, but Harden's problem is that he's lost a step, so how good is his system now?

[Vermont Green]

It will be interesting.  Harden seems to be saying that he thinks he made a mistake to change his game and defer while in PHI and that he isn't going to do that again.  He seems to think he can be the focal point of the offense, that it should be schemed based on him, that he is the system.  That is probably not going to be the case.

So long as Kawhi and George are healthy, what this team needs is someone to keep the ball moving, not to dominate the ball.  That could change if one or both of Kawhi and George don't hold up.  Based on his comments, I have my doubts that Harden is going to adapt his game in the right way.

[Phantom255x]

I'm a little confused. Harden says he wanted to be the system, not "part of" a system. How the hell does he expect to have that change with the Clippers and already having PG13, Kawhi and Westbrook 

Even assuming Westbrook sacrifices, it's not like Westbrook will be happy being relegated to a full-time 6th man or something. I doubt it. Those two are ball-dominant and you also need to appease Kawhi + PG13

[gift]

so philly had the system and the process on the same team and couldn't get consistent results

[gift]

I'm a little confused. Harden says he wanted to be the system, not "part of" a system. How the hell does he expect to have that change with the Clippers and already having PG13, Kawhi and Westbrook 

Even assuming Westbrook sacrifices, it's not like Westbrook will be happy being relegated to a full-time 6th man or something. I doubt it. Those two are ball-dominant and you also need to appease Kawhi + PG13

unstoppable if 4 balls find their way on to the court at once

[Celtics2021]

I'm a little confused. Harden says he wanted to be the system, not "part of" a system. How the hell does he expect to have that change with the Clippers and already having PG13, Kawhi and Westbrook 

Even assuming Westbrook sacrifices, it's not like Westbrook will be happy being relegated to a full-time 6th man or something. I doubt it. Those two are ball-dominant and you also need to appease Kawhi + PG13

unstoppable if 4 balls find their way on to the court at once

Honestly I think watching White, Holdiay, Brown, and Tatum guard Westbrook, Harden, George, and Leonard with each of them having balls while Porzingis protected the rim and Zubac was out there rebounding could be entertaining to watch.  There may be some new form of basketball to invent — call it multiball.