It appears that the needle has swung back towards ” trade” in the James Harden saga. Furthermore, it appears that the Clippers are the primary landing spot for the 10-time all-star. Per Sam Amick and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Harden has identified the Clippers as his preferred destination. Furthermore, trade talks between the two sides are already underway. Additionally, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are both reportedly “on board” with the addition of Harden, per league sources.
With Harden essentially pushing for a trade, the Sixers can’t exactly push for a king’s ransom. However, the Clippers can’t exactly swindle the Sixers given the need to offset Harden’s $35.6 million salary. A package involving Norman Powell, another player with a big enough salary, and some picks would likely get the deal done. No formal trade has been agreed to yet, However, both sides will likely be eager to get the trade completed quickly so they can better focus on free agency. Now it appears that the Clippers are starting to make some moves to accommodate Harden.
Ivica Zubac Joins Trade Block
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Clippers have added Ivica Zubac to the trade block. Zubac put up 10.8/9.9/1.0 in 76 starts for the Clippers last season, marking career highs in ppg and pg. His 9.9 rebounds per game were 11th-highest in the league and overall, he was a solid contributor for the team. Furthermore, he has been a top-tier interior defender in his five seasons with the Clips. Zubac has played at least 70 games in each of the last four seasons.
It's not confirmed that Zubac would be part of the return for Harden. However, it's hard to see the Sixers needing Zubac, given he plays the same position as reigning MVP Joel Embiid. It's hard to see the Sixers agreeing to take on Zubac's $22 million for essentially a backup center. However, Zubac's trade availability may only be tangentially related to the Harden trade. The case could be that the Clippers want to build a superteam around Harden-George-Leonard and Zubac simply doesn't fit into that idea. This is a developing story and we'll have any updates here at HotNewHipHop.
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