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It took more than the entire offseason, but James Harden was finally granted his latest trade demand. After months worth of back-and-forth, including several shots taken at Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey from the Beard, the Sixers have finally decided to trade Harden to his preferred destination, the Los Angeles Clippers.
It appears that Philadelphia was the side that compromised on the deal, as it turns out that the Clips will get to keep Terance Mann as they wanted. Instead, Los Angeles traded away Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Kenyon Martin Jr., an unprotected first-round pick in 2028, two second-round picks, and a potential pick swap to the Sixers in return for James Harden, P.J. Tucker, and Filip Petrusev.
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For the third time, the Beard has forced his way off of a team he was no longer content with to his exact team of choice. The first time, Harden grew tired of carrying the Houston Rockets to deep runs in the playoffs, only to fall short over and over again. He wished to play with his old pal Kevin Durant and his new sidekick, Kyrie Irving, on the Brooklyn Nets. Harden was granted his wish.
Then, after a few short months of historic offensive excellence with the Nets and just two playoff series, Harden found himself mired in behind-the-scenes drama between him and his superstar cohorts, mainly, Kyrie Irving.
It was rumored that the Beard grew tired of Irving’s off-court antics, believing that Kyrie and the rest of Brooklyn’s roster weren’t as serious about winning a championship as he was. After all, Irving’s refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine had already kept him off of the court.
James Harden stats 2023-24 Projection
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| Season | Age | Lg | FG | FGA | 3P | 3PA | FT | FTA | ORB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | FG% | 3P% | FT% | WS/48 |
| 2023-24 | 34 | NBA | 6.2 | 14.5 | 2.5 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 0.8 | 6.5 | 9.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 20.6 | .428 | .360 | .866 | .178 |
Ultimately, the Beard requested out of Brooklyn as well, wanting to move on to another contender. The Nets granted his wish, moving him to the Philadelphia 76ers to play with All-NBA center, Joel Embiid. He lasted less than 90 games with Brooklyn, and his tenure with his new team, the Sixers, wasn’t much better either.
In fact, his last game with Philadelphia will stand as a Game 7 flameout against the Boston Celtics, a meltdown in which he put up just nine points on 3-11 shooting. This flop came after he and the Sixers failed to close out the Cs in Game 6, a game in which he scored just 13 on 25 percent marks from the field.
Harden may have gotten his way again in landing with another preferred destination, but his postseason troubles will continue to haunt him everywhere he goes.
Welcome to #ClipperNation, James Harden! pic.twitter.com/ff6fut11yW
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 1, 2023
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| Title: James Harden victorious yet again against his former team
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: November 1st, 2023
