Oklahoma City Thunder
It would make perfect sense for the Oklahoma City Thunder to bring back James Harden and reunite him with the organization that gave him his start for a couple of reasons. Not only does Oklahoma City have plenty of first-round draft picks over the course of the next several years to be able to put together an irresistible trade package for Harden, but they have a young core of players without an identity.
Bringing in James Harden and pairing him up in the backcourt with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a player the Thunder are extremely high on and intend to build with for years to come, could give Oklahoma City the blueprint for a very successful future. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and shot 47.1% from the floor last season and in just his second-year in the league, looks to be an impact player moving forward.
Not only could James Harden help revitalize the franchise that he began playing for in the NBA, but be the face of the Thunder until he is ready to retire. It is a “feel good” story for NBA fans to dream about and would give OKC one star player to attract another star to them.
The Thunder now have the rights to 18 first-round draft picks through the 2027 NBA Draft and if they were to package say five or six of them to acquire James Harden, they would still have another to go after another one or two big name players in the NBA, as well as hold on to some draft picks to build their core of the future. If they were to trade a total of 10 first-round picks to bring in James Harden and two players like Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be right in the thick of things in the Western Conference.
Not to mention, they would still have a lot of first-round draft picks to build their team for the future through the draft at the same time as being legit championship threats. Whether or not James Harden is the star player the Thunder have in mind in their future plans for success, there is no chance that they hold onto all 18 first-round picks and will likely make a groundbreaking move over the course of the next year.
