Should we be preparing for James Harden to end up with the Clippers?

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The NBA’s free-agent marketplace can shift at a moment’s notice. James Harden picking up his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season Thursday afternoon, with the goal of Philadelphia finding a trade partner for Harden to leave the 76ers, counts for a clear disruption.

For months, Harden’s future seemed to hang in the balance between staying alongside MVP center Joel Embiid and rejoining Houston, where Harden once blossomed into an MVP in his own right. But as this final week before free agency melted down, the Los Angeles Clippers canvassed the league for trade opportunities regarding Norman Powell and Marcus Morris, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and contacted the Sixers about various targets that included Harden and Tobias Harris. It’s difficult to parse the exact sequence of events from there, but Harden and his representation were clearly not confident in the All-Star guard’s pending contract scenarios with the Sixers. His decision to opt in and seek a trade aligns quite perfectly with Los Angeles’ long quest to land a premium lead guard to run the Clippers’ offense with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. And Harden, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation, prefers to land with Los Angeles.

There has been league-wide pessimism surrounding Philadelphia’s appetite for lavishing Harden with a long-term deal dating back to his contract talks with the Sixers last offseason — which resulted in the two-year agreement with a player option that Harden exercised this week. Many front-office personnel believed Harden’s flirtations with Houston were always just that: an attempt to draw a full financial commitment the 34-year-old wanted from Philadelphia all along, particularly after taking a perceived pay cut for this season in order for the 76ers to add P.J. Tucker and Danuel House. No matter the truth there, the Rockets appeared to move away from their possible approach for Harden — a shift that seemed to begin with the hiring of new head coach Ime Udoka — and Toronto’s Fred VanVleet emerged as Houston’s primary point guard target. Udoka, sources said, has…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-06-30 17:18:32

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