Sports
NBA Rumors: Clippers Seeking to Add Draft Capital from Teams for James Harden Trade – Bleacher Report
James Harden is taking part in the Philadelphia 76ers’ training camp practice despite his clear and public displeasure with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey.
As Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic noted, Harden wants to avoid losing millions for sitting out a la Ben Simmons, but he’s also playing because he’s “hopeful” a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers can go down.
For the Clips’ part, they want to make that happen as well, per The Athletic.
“League sources say Harden also is taking part because he remains hopeful that a trade to the Clippers is still in the works and believes, for now, that it would be wise to not be a distraction. And the Clippers, league sources say, are going to great lengths to make it happen.
“League sources say the Clippers have been talking to several teams about ways to move pick swaps for additional draft capital with the intention of bolstering their offer and getting a deal done.”
L.A. offered an unprotected first-round pick, a pick swap and multiple salaries to the 76ers for Harden last July, but Philadelphia rejected the deal, per The Athletic.
Harden and the 76ers were unable to come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension. The guard then picked up his option with Philadelphia for this season with the understanding that the 76ers would honor his trade request. That hasn’t happened, leading to Harden publicly calling Morey a liar.
It’s safe to say all bridges may be burned in Philadelphia, but Harden is still under contract with the team for at one more season. The Clippers may be searching for ways to obtain more assets to eventually land Harden, but it’s clear Morey hasn’t been interested in what L.A. has to offer.
Per The Athletic, the 76ers value Terance Mann as well as “multiple first-round picks” in a potential trade.
As far as what’s next, Charania and Amick provided some thoughts:
“If the Clippers are able to add to their offer in the kind of meaningful way that the two teams have previously discussed, then the next phase in this Harden saga will unfold from there and the ball, so to speak, would be in Morey’s court. But for now, with Sixers camp concluding on Friday and a preseason game in Boston on Sunday, it appears likely that Harden’s participation will continue.”
If a trade does go down, Harden would form a new big three in L.A. alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as the Clippers seek their first NBA title in franchise history. A move would also let the 76ers slink past the Harden era and into a potentially more harmonious future with the guard clearly no longer wanting to be in Philadelphia, in turn allowing Tyrese Maxey to take a stronghold on the backcourt.
In the meantime, though, Harden is a 76er, and Philadelphia’s regular-season debut on Oct. 26 against the Milwaukee Bucks looms.