A blockbuster trade proposal has the Los Angeles Clippers landing another future Hall of Famer to complement the All-Star duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
Earlier this month, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that 2018 league MVP James Harden is “determined to” play for the Clippers next season. Harden opted into the $35.6 million player option on his deal in 2023-24 with the hopes of helping the Philadelphia 76ers facilitate a trade.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes proposed a massive blockbuster trade that has the Clippers landing Harden and Furkan Korkmaz from the 76ers in exchange for Norman Powell, Nicolas Batum, Amir Coffey and Terance Mann:
“The Clippers would be taking a massive risk here in adding another aging star with durability concerns to a roster that already has two in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. It helps the plausibility of this deal that L.A. is only giving up role players, even though losing the versatile Mann will make a bigger impact than most think.
For Philly, this is about getting off a player whose value will only diminish with time and then selling fans on the idea that the litany of guards and wings coming back for Harden make more sense around Joel Embiid. It isn’t a ridiculous claim to make, and Morey can argue that point while also emphasizing Tyrese Maxey’s expanded role with Harden gone.”
The 76ers and Clippers are annual playoff teams, but both have consistently underperformed in the postseason. Philly hasn’t once gotten past round two in the Joel Embiid era, while the Clippers have won just three total playoff series since landing Leonard and George in the summer of 2019.
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So this trade proposal makes sense for both parties. The 76ers get some quality pieces to complement Embiid, while the Clippers get that much-needed third star to help out the Leonard-George tandem.
A 10-time All-Star, Harden is coming off another productive season in which he averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game. The 76ers were one game away from the Conference Finals this past season, but the Boston Celtics eliminated them in seven games.
