In the summer of 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers created a duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets added Russell Westbrook to pair with James Harden. Both were seen as championship contenders, both were 2nd round flair outs. Early Tuesday morning, the Clippers traded for James Harden to pair all 4 players up in LA. In a 3-team trade, the Clippers acquired Harden, P.J. Tucker, and Filip Petrusev from the 76ers, the 76ers acquired Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected first round pick, a 2029 pick swap, and 2 future 2nd round picks from the Clippers, and a 2026 protected first round pick from the Thunder, and the Thunder got a 2027 pick swap from the Clippers. So what comes next for the Sixers and Clippers and why were the Thunder involved?
Let’s start with why the Thunder are involved and get that out of the way. According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, the pick Oklahoma City is sending out is the worst of their own, the Rockets, and the Clippers 2026 first round picks, top 4 protected. They are getting an unprotected pick swap the very next year from the Clippers. The most prevalent pick swap in recent memory is when the Celtics owned the Nets pick swap in 2017 and swapped the 27th pick in the draft for the 1st pick in the draft, in which they traded to draft Jayson Tatum. I am not saying that is what is going to happen here but for a pick that will likely be in the late teens or 20s at best, this is worth the risk because the Thunder have too many picks, the Clippers best players are old, and who knows what LA will look like in 2027.
The Clippers were not good enough as assembled so they needed to make a trade. They had the assets and the contracts to pull off a big one so when James Harden opted-into his contract in June, they set their sights on him, even if they shifted to Jrue Holiday for a quick minute before he was traded to Boston. This makes them better and they got the 2 best players in this trade, Harden and Tucker, but does it make them title contenders? I am not sure of that. They have a loaded roster. Kawhi, PG, Harden, Westbrook, Ivica Zubac, Terrence Mann, Norman Powell, P.J. Tucker, Mason Plumlee, Bones Hyland, and Brandon Boston Jr. are all capable NBA players and on paper, their top tier talent (Leonard, George, and Harden) is as good as anyone’s top tier talent. James Harden had two 40 ball’s in the Sixers second round series vs the Celtics last season, he won Philly 2 games in that series. If he can get the Clippers 2 wins like that, which is unlikely but maybe possible (but probably not), there is no reason they cannot win the NBA championship. They have a fully bought in James Harden, who needs a new contract so he should be extra motivated, maybe the best playoff performer of this generation, and Paul George, who might be their best player, this is an elite basketball team. The main concern is the injury history of the guys they have as both Leonard and George missed plenty of games since arriving in LA and Harden has had his fair share of hamstring problems. On paper, I believe the Clippers have the talent to win the championship, which they did not have before this trade, but I wouldn’t bet on them getting it done.
For the 76ers, this is the move before the move, what the move is and which way it takes them is the question. This has to be the move setting up the next move because they have the reigning league MVP on their team and this return is not one that puts the Sixers into title contention. Robert Covington has played well to start the season, KJ Martin is young and interesting, Nic Batum is a rotation player, and Marcus Morris is fine depth but those guys don’t elevate the Sixers into a tier with Boston and Milwaukee. The 2028 pick is a really good asset to have and one I expect they do not keep. There are a bunch of guys they could trade for as well. DeMar DeRozan will be a free agent this summer if they are so dead set on cap space, they could get him as a rental. Zach LaVine, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and others could also become available. They could also make a smaller deal for a player like Buddy Hield, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alex Caruso, or Malcolm Brogdan. The 76ers had to trade James Harden and while they got a good package for him, this trade does not make them a better basketball team in 2023. However, they are still a really good team with the reigning MVP of the league on it and they need to act like it. I know they want to hold out on cap space but they need to make some kind of move ahead of February's trade deadline, preferably a big one.
For the 3rd time since 2021, James Harden has been traded and this time he heads to Los Angeles to play for the Clippers. It gives the Clippers a chance to win a championship, the Sixers the assets to try and make another move down the line with either cap space or a trade, and, because of course it did, it gets Oklahoma City another draft asset. I don’t think anyone did too badly here but I will say it again, the Sixers cannot go into the playoffs without another trade so it will be interesting to see what else they are able to pull off.
コメント