Reaction: James Harden traded to Clippers

While everyone was asleep in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia 76ers front office was wide awake.

After an excruciatingly irritating off-season saga between James Harden and the Sixers front office, the team finally traded the 10-time all-star to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Final trade:

Clippers receive:
James Harden
PJ Tucker

76ers receive:
Nicolas Batum
Marcus Morris
Robert Covington
KJ Martin
draft picks

(Via Shams) pic.twitter.com/TJeZlP3o2p

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 31, 2023

The Sixers Grade.

I’ve voiced my frustration with the Sixers in previous podcasts (subscribe to the YouTube), but am pleasantly surprised with what the front office was able to do here. Daryl Morey and Co. were able to flip Harden, P.J Tucker, and reportedly Filip Petrusev into a massive haul including some solid role players and picks.

As we know all to well after witnessing “The Process”, you can never have enough picks. I’m most intrigued by the unprotected 2028 first rounder.

Paul George is 33, Kawhi Leonard is 32, Russell Westbook is 34, and James Harden is 34 and continuously unhappy. The Clippers are old and injury prone. Their core won’t make it 3 more years together, let alone 5. That first rounder will be a top-5 pick in five years.

More importantly than any pick or role player, this trade moves the distraction of James Harden all the way to the west coast, far away from any of the 76ers.

The move also opens up flexibility in the upcoming offseason, as Philadelphia is projected to have around $60 million in free cap space. With Harden gone, Embiid is the CLEAR alpha and Morey can focus on building a winning team around him. 

Sixers Trade Grade: B+

The Clippers Grade.

As I stated above, the Clippers have an older roster full of all-stars. Steve Ballmer and his front office are clearly in absolute win-now mode .

This trade works out for them if they win a title this year or next. If not, morgatging the future on a year or two of a clear diva of a player (who’s best years are behind him) is not very wise.

We saw a Los Angeles team in another sport trade away insane amounts of draft capital to win a Super Bowl a few years ago, so this model can definitely work.

I just don’t believe in the health of players like Kawhi, Paul George, and even Harden, but time will tell all.

Clippers Trade Grade: C