Los Angeles Clippers Received: James Harden, Filip Petrusev, P.J. Tucker
Oklahoma City Thunder Received: L.A. Clippers' 2027 first-round pick (swap rights; can send out their own or Denver's top-five-protected pick)
Philadelphia 76ers Received: Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, Marcus Morris Sr., 2026 first-round pick (least favorable from Oklahoma City, Clippers and Houston, via Oklahoma City), L.A. Clippers' 2028 first-round pick (unprotected), 2024 second-round pick (via Clippers, from Indiana, Toronto, Cleveland or Utah), L.A. Clippers' 2029 first-round pick (swap rights), L.A. Clippers' 2029 second-round pick
Clippers: A-
Skepticism rained down upon the Clippers when they burned a chunk of their (barely) remaining first-round equity to pair the ball-dominant, age-34 Harden with the "Will they even be healthy?" Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. That concern is now entirely dissipated.
Hovering around the bottom 10 of offense and defense since just before the trade deadline isn't great. Ditto for having to swallow the money owed to Tucker, who is neither happy nor playing and who also holds an $11.5 million player option for next season. But the current iteration of the Clips has established itself as a bona fide contender.
L.A. has a top-five offense and top-10ish defense since the trade, a basically full-season sample that includes its recent trough and an 0-5 start to the Harden era. Certain lineup combinations involving (the now injured) Russell Westbrook still won't fly. Whatever. He has embraced his role off the bench, and the Clippers are hammering opponents by over 10 points per 100 possessions when The Beard, PG and Kawhi play together.
Harden, for his part, has never seemed more adaptable. He's posting the third-lowest usage rate of his career, and the share of his shots coming as spot-up threes is at its second-highest since NBA.com's database began tracking these looks in 2013-14.
Two questions must still be answered for L.A.'s grade to approach peak peachy-keenness: Will Harden's arrival pay dividends in the postseason given his, uh, shaky playoff track record? And what does his next contract look like? For now, though, this move is a certified home run.
Thunder: A
Forking over a real first-round pick to facilitate Harden's relocation back to the Western Conference and only bagging a swap in return doesn't appear so hot at first glance. But the Thunder have fortified their spot among contenders even with the Clippers righting their own title stock, and they quite literally have too many inbound first-rounders relative to roster spots.
Exchanging a lower-end selection for the prospect of a higher-echelon swap that conveys a year later is an excellent dice roll.
Sixers: B+
Joel Embiid's left meniscus injury is threatening to derail the Sixers' season, and of the players they acquired, only Nicolas Batum and KJ Martin (in smatterings) have gone on to emerge as rotation staples.
That's fine under the circumstances.
If you want to ding the Sixers for letting the Harden saga reach critical mass, that's your prerogative. But scooping up multiple firsts for a publicly disgruntled player and clearing next summer's cap sheet positions them to make a seismic splash or two. Philly was also able to use Morris' salary and one of the seconds it received in this deal to snare Buddy Hield at the deadline.
Anyone who has studied the 2024 free-agency class understands the option of chiseling out $60-plus million in spending power isn't so sexy. Emphasis on option. The Sixers have levels to their flexibility. They can look to retain Hield and De'Anthony Melton, carry Tyrese Maxey's restricted-free-agency hold and still potentially have a max slot to burn.
More importantly, as Keith Smith of Spotrac likes to wisely remind us all:
Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA<a href=""> <a href="">
This is the persisting TBD element of the trade for Philly. We have to see what the Sixers do with their newfound flexibility and assets. In the meantime, they get a a thumbs up for the short- and long-term optionality coming out of a bad, if slightly self-designed, situation.
