Kawhi Leonard and Paul George want the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers, according to NBA insider Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
Harden has requested a trade from the Sixers and only wants to get traded to the Clippers. The 10-time All-Star has spoken to Leonard and George since requesting a trade from Philadelphia.
Harden was born and raised in Los Angeles. He has a rapport with Leonard and George and is close friends with Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook. Harden and Westbrook were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
The Sixers agreed to search out a trade upon Harden’s request after the talented guard picked up his $35.6 million player option for next season in June. However, Philadelphia’s asking price for Harden was steep and no teams were willing or able to meet it.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers Updates
The Sixers believe they will be a championship contender with Harden’s return alongside Joel Embiid and the team is determined to find a way to make it work with Harden next season. However, according to NBA insider Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Harden will never play for the Sixers again and has no plans of taking part in training camp if he’s still on the team.
In 58 games for the Sixers last season, Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists while shooting 44.1% from the field, 38.5% from 3 and 86.7% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in assists per game for the second time in his career.
Harden was fined $100,000 by the NBA for calling Sixers president Daryl Morey “a liar” during his Adidas tour in China. Harden no longer has a relationship with Morey. The 2017-18 MVP called the exec a liar since he wasn’t traded quickly after opting into his 2023-24 player option.
If Harden isn’t traded before training camp starts and he holds out for more than 30 days, the Sixers can prevent him from entering free agency in the summer of 2024, according to NBA insider Zach Lowe of ESPN. Since Harden is in the final year of his contract, different NBA holdout rules would apply to him if he decided not to report to training camp and play.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers Updates
The Clippers and Sixers discussed the framework of a Harden trade, but the two sides never got close to a deal, according to NBA insider Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Want the latest NBA analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click Here. Follow NBA Analysis Network on Twitter and Facebook.
