Why Clippers needed to pull trigger on James Harden trade

You know what L.A. Clippers fans dealing with the anxiety of wondering if Kawhi Leonard or Paul George will play each and every single night needed?

More anxiety.

All those viral reactions that Steve Ballmer has had watching his team play are about to reach full tilt off the court after the Clippers swung for the fences (again) by acquiring perennial all-star and malcontent James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers.

James Harden has made an All-NBA team seven times but he’s also demanded a trade from three teams in three years. He has been one of the greatest scores of the past decade but also has major blemishes on his playoff resume. Daryl Morey is the man who handed the keys to the Houston Rockets to Harden and set the platform for him to be recognized as the 2017-18 regular season MVP and yet Harden had no problem trying to publicly shame him with accusations of being a liar and the reason he wouldn’t play for the Sixers ever again.

The Clippers are well aware of all of this and still pulled the trigger. Why?

Before we delve deeper into the deal from a Clippers perspective, here’s the deal itself:

Clippers acquire: James Harden, P.J. Tucker, Filip Petrusev

76ers acquire: 2028 unprotected first-round pick (FRP), 2029 FRP swap rights with Clippers, protected 2026 FRP via OKC, Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, KJ Martin, 2024 second-round pick (SRP), 2029 SRP.

Philadelphia also waived Danny Green to create roster space.

Thunder acquire: 2027 first-round pick swap rights with Clippers.

By making this trade, team president Lawrence Frank is making an admission that the regular season has become too much of a crapshoot as far as depending on the health of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is concerned. Neither Leonard nor George has played at least 60 games in a single regular season since putting on a Clippers uniform and they are in their age 32 and age 33 seasons, respectively. Now into Year 5 of the Leonard-George era, the Clippers have won fewer series in the last four years than the Toronto Raptors did during its lone year with Leonard.

For all the injury concerns they’ve dealt with, the fewest number of games Harden has played now entering his 15th season (excluding one lockout year and the 2020-21 pandemic-impacted year) is 58. He’s played at least 72 games nine times and at least 80 three times. Harden should provide some much-needed traction in a conference where the standings are always slippery.

The Clippers needed to win 11 of its final 16 games to clinch the fifth seed and avoid the Play-In tournament last season. The team missed the playoffs entirely the year prior. This trade gives the “other” L.A. team a legitimate shot at home court for at least the first round.

On the court, the Clippers finally have the point guard they need. Russell Westbrook can be effective if he commits to a specific role but last year’s decision to sign him off waivers was borne out of desperation as the previous absence of a point guard made life far more difficult than it needed to be. Harden is a better scorer, a more natural playmaker, and his shooting threat will give Kawhi Leonard and Paul George the space they need to operate with as well.

What immediately becomes untenable is Westbrook in a starting role. A starting backcourt of Harden and Westbrook would render the defensive excellence of Leonard and George useless. The acquisition of P.J. Tucker is notable here as he should slot right into a starting spot and give the Clippers arguably the best trio of switchable wing defenders in the league in Leonard, George, and Tucker. Ivica Zubac will remain the team’s starting centre and Harden’s ability in the pick-and-roll should help the Croatian big man.

When either or both Leonard and George have to sit, Harden can take on the increased scoring load without an issue. That’s his bread and butter and Westbrook should also benefit from having Harden around to carry the load with. They are both ball-dominant players, though, and that’s where some chemistry issues could creep in. The two played together for a season in Houston and that resulted in a second-round exit to eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

For Harden, this could be a match made in heaven with the Clippers pairing up a regular-season king and a playoff king. Harden certainly has playoff accomplishments worth boasting, none bigger than being the best player on a Rockets team that pushed the Kevin Durant-infused Warriors to seven games and six games, respectively, in consecutive seasons. As he remains without a championship, it’s the playoff duds that remain attached to the hip.

In 2017, the Rockets were on the ropes trailing the Spurs 3-2 in the Conference Semifinals and at home for Game 6. In the biggest game of the season, Harden appeared listless and finished with just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting and fouled out of a humiliating 39-point loss. In a Game 7 at home against Golden State in the 2018 Conference Finals, Harden led an incredulous barrage of three-point misses by the Rockets shooting 2-of-13 from deep himself as the team shot 7-for-44 from three and had 27 straight misses at one point. Houston was up 11 at halftime but was outscored by 20 the rest of the way.

In last year’s playoffs, Harden looked to be changing the narrative. Going into Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics, league MVP Joel Embiid was ruled out with a knee sprain and so Philadelphia was given little chance. Harden delivered 45 points and six assists in a stunning victory. He came up clutch again with the Sixers trailing the series 2-1, scoring 42 points including the go-ahead three-pointer to go along with eight rebounds and nine assists in a one-point victory.

Then the ghosts of nightmares past reared their ugly heads again. With a 3-2 series lead and on the cusp of Philly’s first Conference Finals since 2001, Harden scored a combined 22 points on 7-of-27 shooting to go along with 10 turnovers as the Celtics roared back and won the series.

Leonard at his peak may still be the highest level any current player has in the post-season. There is no player in this league better suited to make what Harden has struggled to do in the playoffs a moot point. He is a cyborg with a Bamm-Bamm from the Flintstones-esque nature of beating you into submission. He scores at will and takes the ball away from opposing superstars like candy from a baby. He is a two-time Finals MVP that has taken down LeBron James’s Heat and Steph Curry’s Warriors.

With this trade, Leonard will say to Harden: Get me to the post-season unscathed and I’ll take it from there.

The biggest question mark regarding the Clippers remains the biggest question mark: Will Leonard be healthy for an entire Clippers playoff run? While that remains unknown, the Clippers have taken their best bet and perhaps the only one considering their available assets at having his body ready for it. Leonard said there’s no NBA rule that can help him play more games, but Harden could be the best load manager he’s had since Alex McKechnie.

There are no more failures this Clippers era can afford without major consequences. Falling short in the biggest moments once more may be the final nail in the coffin of Harden’s playoff resume. Yet, all it takes is one title. Win four series through April and June and history will be rewritten for a player, a franchise, an era.