5 ways the James Harden trade could backfire bigtime for the Clippers
By Tyler Key
James Harden (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Way #5. James Harden will become unhappy with his role (again)
The Clippers are the epitome of a great team on paper and a bad team in reality. This is mostly due to the lack of availability of their two biggest stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. If the entire team is healthy, however, James Harden is the third, potentially fourth, option on the team.
In the first half of last season James Harden was a borderline All-Star caliber player and was an elite facilitator. Unfortunately, after not being named an All-Star, former Sixers coach, Doc Rivers, said how Harden was tired of the facilitator role and wanted to be able to get more shots up and play with the 2nd unit more to run the show like he used to.
Despite anything Harden says to the coaching staff of the Clippers or the media as he joins Los Angeles, his true colors have already been shown. He is a ball-dominant, shoot-first player and does not like the facilitator role.
He will want to have the last shot in games and Clipper fans will be forced to watch George and Leonard stand on the wings while the Harden isolation ticks down the final seconds of the game. On the other hand, the Clippers team could get to handle an unhappy Harden when he is forced to take the “stand and watch” role instead. It’s a lose-lose situation.