Aug 24, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) takes a break during the second half in game four of the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder at AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
5.
Are you tired of the James Harden trade saga yet? You better not be because the drama was ratcheted up a few notches Thursday when The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the Rockets superstar added two more teams—Milwaukee and Miami—to his list of desired destinations as he attempts to force his way out of Houston.
Despite numerous reports and anecdotes over the past eight years how the Rockets have catered to the whims of the 2018 NBA MVP, Harden appears to be making life difficult for the Houston front office, its revamped roster, and new coach Stephen Silas by wanting out and reporting late to training camp. He already had Brooklyn and Philadelphia circled as the two cities he'd like to relocate to. Throwing Milwaukee and Miami into the mix—however far-fetched it those destinations might be—undoubtedly adds heat (no pun intended) to an already spciy situation as Harden reportedly wants to chase a title outside of Houston. After all, it appears the Rockets' championship window has closed.
While we can debate how realistic it is that Harden actually ends up on one of those four squads this week, next week, or when the season starts December 22—let's put the odds right now at slightly above a snowball's chance in hell for a litany of reasons—that doesn't mean we can't wade into the hypothetical waters and imagine the potential fun of seeing Harden in a new locale with a superstart teammate or two.
4.Nets
Based on all that's been reported, there's little chance Harden ends up with the Nets in the foreseeable future since Brooklyn isn't willing to give up either Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving for Harden and Houston's demanding a star in return for dealing its star. For our purposes, let's say Brooklyn gives in and deals Irving for Harden and we get a KD-Harden reunion in Brooklyn. That would be fun, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun as what Harden ideally wants to go down in the County of Kings—a new big three.
Obviously the appeal of Harden forcing his way to Brooklyn was to play with those two perennial All-Stars and form a trio that would dwarf any the NBA has seen since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh teammed up in Miami starting in 2011. In a 2K world, it would be nuts to watch those three offenisve geniues percolate since defenses, theoretically, would have no answers. In real life, I have my reservations KD-Kyrie-Harden would work and be ultra-successful because of usage rates and how ball dominate Harden and Irving are—not to mention the defensive issues that trio would present and how thin the Nets' depth would be after trading for the Rockets franchise player.
Harden, who has been known to spend extended time in New York during Fashion Week every September, would be the king of the city's notorious nightlife scene when NYC returns to its pre-pandemic ways. Harden could do some serious damage in Manhattan's nuermous exclusive clubs and would be a fixutre in the gossip pages.
3.Heat
Out of all the teams Harden has targeted, arguably the Heat might be the most realistic one to make a trade with since they have future draft assets and could package enough young players (Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and mix in some veteran contracts) to make it work. We all know Pat Riley will forever be aggressive keeping the Heat as competitive as possible. Two questions: 1. Is Harden a good fit for the vaunted Heat Culture? That's debatable. 2. Would Riley make this move and potentially sacrifice his chances of going after a superstar in free agency next offseason like Giannis Antetokounmpo as everyone perpetually speculates? Highly debatable.
Pairing Harden with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami's franchise cornerstones, would make for a helluva threesome. And let's not forget previously there was rumored interest in the Rockets acquiring Butler via trade or in free agency. Harden, Butler, and Adebayo all bring different things to the table and could potentially complement each other nicely on the court. Plus, if you're going to argue the Heat, despite their run to the Finals this past postseason, is still a player away from being considered among the Eastern Conference's truly elite teams, a Harden-Butler-Adebayo trio would undoubtedly put them at or right near the top.
Off the court, we know Harden, a noted nightlife connossieur, would absolutely love living in Miami as opposed to boring Milwaukee. If you really want to see Harden thrive, get him to Miami. If Harden's a questionable fit with Heat Culture, we have no doubts how he'd fit in Miami's nightlife scene.
2.76ers
Another far-fetched scenario—as of right now—since new Philadelphia GM Daryl Morey has said he's rocking with the Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid duo for the foreseeable future. And any proposed trade between the Rockets and 76ers would seemingly involve Harden and Simmons, one of the best players 24 and under.
But should it somehow happen, that means its Harden and Embiid teaming up and those two would instantly become one of the NBA's most dynamic offensive duos. Harden's outside shooting would be a massive upgrade for the Sixers who addressed spacing and shooting issues during free agency. Embiid could get his big body closer to the basket more often for easier baskets and a Harden-Embiid pick-and-roll would be beautiful to watch. Defensively, Philly would obviously take a hit shipping out Simmons, one of the best defenders in the NBA, but I bet enough Philly fans would justify it since Harden's such a deadly outside shooter—he'd hit more 3-pointers in the opening minutes of his Sixers debut than Simmons has in three seasons.
Philadelphia will never be confused with New York or Miami—it can't compete with the scene in those two cities. But if Harden did indeed relocate to the City of Brotherly Love, he wouldn't be far from either of those destinations, a quick two-hour ride or trip on the PJ away so he can enjoy a breather from the pressures of Broad Street.
1.Bucks
The most intriguing destination. Pairing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Harden together, arguably two of the top five players in the game right now and winners of the past three NBA MVP Awards, feels like a cheat code. If you allow yourself to dream about it (disclaimer: it's pretty god damn far-fetched), it's one of the most tantalizing duos fathomable in the NBA.
Sharing the ball would be an issue since Antetokounmpo and Harden ranked Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, in usage rate last season. But for those wowed by analytics, the duo finished Nos. 1 and 2 in box plus/minus, win shares per 48 minuntes, and value above replacement player—off the cuff, the Bucks' offense would be a nightmare with those two running the show and defending a Harden-Antetokounmpo pick-and-roll would be borderline impossible. Now we're not going to say the Greek Freak and Beard would be a perfect pairing, but why can't they could play well off each other? Especially since Harden is an elite outside shooter and the kind of offensive sidekick Antetokounmpo kind of needs in Milwaukee after two straight disappointing playoff exits.
All that being said, it feels impossible that the Bucks—who have so little to offer in a trade to Houston following free agency if the Rockets are adament about getting back future draft picks and a star to replace their franchise player—could deal for Harden. Plus, Harden would be so bored in Milwaukee he'd be jetting out every chance he gets to go to Vegas or Atlanta or LA or New York or any city way more poppin' than Wisconsin's premier metropolitan area.