5 dark-horse trade suitors could enter James Harden sweepstakes

The Houston Rockets have made the Western Conference Semifinals for four straight seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2018, but have fallen short of their goal of reaching the NBA Finals over the years. The Rockets just did not have enough alongside James Harden to get over the hump and as a result, have decided to take the organization in a new direction.

After parting ways with Mike D’Antoni after four seasons and GM Daryl Morey the Rockets have decided to hit the refresh button and rebuild this roster, starting with their star players. Russell Westbrook has made it very clear that he has no interest in playing for the Houston Rockets anymore and wants to be traded as soon as possible. James Harden has also made it clear that he wants out of Houston, but the Rockets may take their time to trade their two All-Star players. 

When the James Harden news broke, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers, who recently brought in former Rockets GM Daryl Morey to serve as the team’s President of Basketball Operations, became the heavy favorites to land the former league MVP. Harden also turned down a $50M/year contract extension with the Rockets earlier in the year, making it clear that he wanted to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets to reunite with the former Thunder teammate, Kevin Durant.

We know the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers are obvious potential destinations for James Harden to be traded to, but what about the other 27 teams in the NBA? The vast majority of teams likely will not show any interest at all in Harden because of his iso-style of play that will not fit their system with the players that they have, but there are a select few who may take this opportunity to go “all-in” on contending for a championship by acquiring the 8x All-Star from the Houston Rockets. 

There are opportunities around the league for numerous teams to make this trade for James Harden work and while some of the teams may come as a surprise to some, the one thing you can never count out is a management’s drive to win a championship, which is actually what adding a player like Harden can do for any roster.

Let’s take a look at five potential dark-horse trade suitors that could swoop in and enter the James Harden sweepstakes using a trade with the Houston Rockets.

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