A giant trade proposal has the San Antonio Spurs landing a future Hall of Famer to complement rookie and generational prospect, Victor Wembanyama.
The Spurs were the lucky winners of this year’s NBA Draft lottery. That allowed them to take a player widely viewed as the best basketball prospect since LeBron James, who went first overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003.
The long-term future is promising in San Antonio. But after missing the postseason for the fourth straight year, what if the front office decides to make a win-now move to help Wembanyama?
At NBA Analysis Network, James Piercey proposed a blockbuster trade that has the Spurs landing 2018 MVP winner James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Doug McDermott, Devonte’ Graham, Reggie Bullock and a 2025 first-round pick:
“This isn’t complicated on the Spurs’ end. They’re trading for an NBA superstar at a cost that would normally net them a quality role player.
In other words, they’re capitalizing on the Sixers’ misfortune. They’re also looking to ease Victor Wembanyama into the NBA. That’s as critical as anything else here. Harden may have his flaws, but he remains one of the best playmakers in the NBA.
Wouldn’t Wembanyama benefit from playing alongside a player with Harden’s floor vision? He’ll get Wembanyama easy looks in the pick and roll. He’ll find him in transition. The Spurs need a point guard, and Harden is one of the best in the NBA.”
Harden requested a trade from the 76ers earlier this offseason, even opting into his $35.6 million player option for 2023-24 in hopes it would help facilitate a trade.
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So far, the 76ers have yet to receive a Harden trade offer for their liking. The odds of getting equal value for a perennial All-Star is low, especially because teams won’t want to offer a king’s ransom for Harden given his age (34 on Aug. 26) and status as a pending free agent.
The 76ers are in win-now mode with reigning MVP Joel Embiid, so they’d likely want assets that could help them in the short term. They would be giving up the best player in this trade proposal, but the 76ers would be getting three serviceable scorers plus a first-round pick.
