The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly interested in trading for Philadelphia 76ers star point guard James Harden, but at least one NBA source hopes that Harden doesn’t join the Clippers.
“I hope not,” the source said, according to NJ Advance Media. “The Clippers are dangerous enough without him.”
Harden was selected with the No. 3 overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2009 NBA Draft after spending two seasons playing college basketball at Arizona State University. He averaged 17-plus points, five-plus rebounds and three-plus assists per game in each of his two seasons as a member of the Sun Devils.
The 34-year-old floor general has played for four teams — the Houston Rockets, Thunder, Brooklyn Nets and 76ers — across his 14 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and a league-best 10.7 assists per game in 58 games played with the 76ers franchise during the 2022-23 regular season.
Harden also shot the ball with impressive accuracy from behind the three-point line, seeing as how he knocked down 38.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
The point guard had a hard time scoring the ball efficiently during Philadelphia’s 2023 playoff run, however. In the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against Mikal Bridges and the Nets, Harden converted just 34.3 percent of his field-goal attempts for the series. But despite his efficiency woes, the 76ers made quick work of the Nets, as they eliminated them in four games.
Against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics in the second round, Harden shot the ball a bit better from the field. He converted 42.2 percent of his field-goal attempts against Boston and 34.7 percent of his three-point attempts.
The Celtics proved to be too much for Harden and the Sixers to handle, though, considering Boston rallied back from a 3-2 series deficit to eliminate Philadelphia in seven games.
Only time will tell if Harden will be traded to the Clippers before the start of the 2023-24 regular season later this month. But if he doesn’t end up on the Clippers, hopefully the 76ers will trade him to a title contender in need of a starting point guard.
