76ers

Clippers No Longer Trading For James Harden

The James Harden plot thickens with news revealing the Los Angeles Clippers are shutting down trade talks for the aging superstar.

Per Brian Windhorst of ESPN, it was the Clippers who walked away from making a deal happen. The Philadelphia 76ers were open to trading Harden, but it appears Los Angeles didn’t like their complicated return demands.

“The Clippers tried to trade for James Harden, and that deal didn’t happen,” Windhorst said. “And from what I understand, it was the Clippers who said, ‘Okay, there’s no deal here. We’re gonna move on.’ And while I assume that they could certainly make a deal midseason, I assume that this is what they’re gonna go with.”

Philadelphia wanted Los Angeles to give up win-now players, and draft capital and had other demands related to future trades and salary cap that became too overwhelming for the Clippers to even keep talking about this potential deal.

Harden wanted to go the Clippers, this was his number one trade destination. With them ruled out now, many are speculating he either sits out until traded or gives in and returns to Philly.

Given what we know about Harden since his Daryl Morey China comments, not many are expecting him to return to the franchise – even if it means losing some money in the process.