NBA Trades: 76ers and Clippers add stars in potential deal with Raptors

NBA Trades: Would the Clippers agree to the deal?

Thus far, the Clippers have been the only team linked to Harden, but that could change. Instead of upping their offer, they appear to have dug in by apparently offering up Robert Covington, Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, and possibly two first-rounders. In this deal, that is basically what they’d be giving up, but with their two picks instead going to the Raptors as opposed to the Sixers, getting Toronto to ship Siakiam to Philadelphia.

In turn, the Sixers would ship Harden cross-country to LA, where he would join a team with two all-stars, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and another fellow former MVP winner and teammate, Russell Westbrook.

Hopefully, changing teams, conferences, and coasts will help revitalize Harden, who has declined from his MVP peak but is still of all-star caliber. That would be what the Clippers would be betting on, at least. If they were to acquire him and he were to pan out, he could be a big boost to LA’s title chances and help them go from a possible play-in team to a top-four team in the West.

Still, the Clippers have already used up most of their draft pick assets in the George trade, and sending out two more is incredibly risky. But they are already in deep when it comes to payroll, and swapping three players on expiring deals and two firsts is worth the risk for a possible difference-maker. Therefore, LA would probably agree to the swap.