Sixers trade James Harden for picks and 4 players

Not long after James Harden and P.J. Tucker walked into their new locker room with the LA Clippers, Russell Westbrook greeted his former Houston Rockets teammates with a handshake and embrace.

While the proposed trade between the Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers had not become official as of late Tuesday night in Los Angeles, Harden and Tucker were welcomed by the Clippers the moment they got out of their SUV in the Crypto.com Arena loading dock.

Team president Lawrence Frank was there to greet both players and walk them to the Clippers' locker room. Not long into their walk, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer came over to shake hands with both Harden and Tucker.

The Sixers are dealing Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers along with PJ Tucker and Filip Petrušev, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news.

In the trade, the Sixers are getting back Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, KJ Martin, Marcus Morris Sr. and draft compensation that includes a 2028 unprotected first-round pick. The team is waiving Danny Green to open the roster spot necessary to complete the deal, Wojnarowski reported.

Harden’s departure marks the latest development in the 76ers’ attempts to surround reigning Kia MVP Joel Embiid with adequate and willing talent to advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2001. The Sixers acquired Harden in 2022 in exchange for a similarly discontent former All-Star in Ben Simmons.

For the Clippers, who are completely committed to chasing the championship this season and face massive question marks after that, this was likely the best trade they could have made. They have never been a particularly good passing team in the Leonard-George era, so they acquired the guy who led the league in assists last season and finished second the season before that. In 2022-23, for all their supposed depth, they only outscored opponents by 1.3 points per 100 possessions when Leonard was on the court without George and were outscored (-1.4) when George was on the court without Leonard, per Cleaning The Glass. Harden should ease the playmaking burden on both of them and, ideally, get them more open looks.

This trade also would not have been possible next season under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement; Los Angeles being above the second apron would have disqualified the Clippers from aggregating four players’ salaries to match Harden’s deal. We will continue to see more multi-team trades as the next CBA takes hold of the league. And we will continue to see franchises stocked with draft picks, like Oklahoma City, benefit from those machinations.

The Thunder traded a 2026 first-round pick for the mere chance that swapping 2027 first-rounders with the Clippers nets some greater return. That math may not math on its face.

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Sarah H 

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