The long awaited James Harden trade finally took place, as the 10x All-Star is headed to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a multi-player deal.
Philadelphia will send Harden, alongside P.J. Tucker, and 23 year old Filip Petrusev to Los Angeles in exchange for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected 1st round pick, 2024 and 2029 second round picks, a 2029 pick swap, and an additional 1st rounder via Oklahoma City.
The Thunder will receive a 2027 1st round pick swap from the Clippers, in exchange for them giving Philadelphia their protected 2026 1st rounder. In order to make the salaries work, the 76ers will be waiving veteran guard Danny Green.
Philadelphia is likely simply happy to put the Harden saga behind them at this point. However they also managed to add serviceable NBA level rotation pieces, and perhaps more importantly acquire several expiring contracts, giving them up to $65M in cap space next summer.
On the Clippers side of things, they’re feeling good about the deal as they acquire a veteran guard with something to prove, while managing to hold onto Terance Mann whom Philadelphia was adamant about including in a potential deal throughout the summer.
Harden is a California native, made it known that he never intended to play for the Sixers again, so long as Daryl Morey was involved with the franchise. He also made it clear that his preferred destination throughout the process was Los Angeles.
LA is set to kick off back-to-back games vs. the Magic and Lakers this week, before having a few days off. It’s highly likely that Harden could be making his Clippers debut on Monday November 6th when Los Angeles takes on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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