A huge trade that everyone knew would eventually happen has finally happened. We can stop hearing about how James Harden wants to be traded to the Clippers, because James Harden has been traded to the Clippers.
The Sixers are acquiring Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, multiple draft picks and a pick swap for James Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/fSOkgO5xd3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023
The Clippers are sending the Sixers a 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks and a pick swap, sources tell ESPN. The Clippers are also routing the 76ers an additional future first-round pick from a third team.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023
And with that the Pacific Division adds yet another big star, and theoretically gets a little bit tougher. I say theoretically because the fit and team success for the Clippers is especially tenuous on health. The health of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is always a question mark in LA, and now the Clippers have further depleted their depth to allow them to play through any missed time from their oft-injured superstars. The team, much like the Phoenix Suns, is top-loaded with stars but lacks any real depth.
The other fascinating note from the Sacramento Kings perspective is that the entirety of the Pacific Division other than Sacramento is all-in on the present. The names are big, but the stars are aging. In another couple seasons many of these players will be shells of themselves if they’re even still in the league. Sacramento can compete with any of these teams today, but is still set up to be good for years to come.
Meanwhile, poor Korkmaz can’t escape Philly. I think this is like his 3rd trade request in the past 5 years.
“Sit your Furkan ass down – you’re staying.”
That’s hilarious.
I appreciate the “other teams in the pacific are all-in on the present” viewpoint, with the hope the kings will be the last domino standing in 2-4 years. However, I have been around long enough to know that the lakers (and maybe the others in the division) will land at least two future hall of famers/former MVPs via trade or free agency after maybe one bad year (and a top-5 pick) and be contenders again. It is a cycle that has gone on as long as I have been alive.
Hopefully we are so good it doesn’t matter.
Also, hopefully, the whole is less than the sum of the individual parts.
Any time I think of the clippers i remember that game in LA last year with the LTB chants and Paul George and others were like “what are they chanting?”. Priceless. Could somebody make a gif of that? Beyond my skills.
Go Kings!
This trade is no bueno for all those hoping for OG.
Chris Mannix on X: “Some of the early chatter on names to watch with Philadelphia: Zach LaVine and OG Anunoby. LaVine is the kind of scorer/ball handler the Sixers could use. Anunoby is the versatile defender Philly needs against Boston/MIL in the playoffs.” / X (twitter.com)
I thought the same thing. Philly now has some assets to go get someone to put on the court with Maxey and Embiid. OG makes a lot of sense for them. They have completely cleared their books. Amazingly, the only guaranteed deal they have next year is Embiid! Of course they are going to pay Maxey and likely keep their rookie deal with Springer, but that’s all they have. Even Paul Reed’s deal is unguaranteed.
Just seems like the annual LAL and NKY trade deadline wish-list where they tell everyone they want some team’s best player while having zero assets.
What assets do they have now Toronto would want in exchange for OG? Toronto doesn’t need Covington or Tucker, they need a lead guard. Is Maxey going to Toronto? If not, there is no deal for OG.
Life is always all about right now so I still like where we’re at. Also right now the team everyone is looking up at is Denver, so until the Clips pass Denver in the standings I’m not impressed.
Strip clubs in LA are thrilled with the trade, I’m sure.
Also:
Man, to have a job where I opt into $35.6m and then demand to be traded. Unfortunately, the whole biscuit in the basket thing was never my specialty.
If there is a list of NBA players that I like less than Harden, it is a very small one. A good battle between him and Draymond Green for the #1 spot.
He’s on the right team if we’re talking unlikeable players, PG and KL just play when they feel like it.
He’ll come off the bench—just like in OKC. Remember how much he loved that?
He’s whined his way off of four teams, the Clips will be the fifth in no time and he’ll end up on the Lakers with the chief whiner Lebron.
Harden doesn’t do much for locker rooms, but he can still spread the floor and get ten assists in his sleep. It’s not difficult to argue that he had an all-star level season in Philly last year, so I do think LAC did get better.
This obviously puts a lot more pressure on their bench, but they still have some pretty good pieces there, especially if one of PG, Harden or Kawhi are on the floor with them. Doesn’t really matter in the larger scheme of things, Sacramento was going to have tough games with them no matter what.
Yup. I think the Kings are going to have a hard time with every (healthy) team in the Pacific. I’m not sure the Kings can beat any of them in a 7 game series. Crazy to think that all of them are rolling out 3 to 4 legitimate all-stars.
3-4 past their prime all stars. Some of them are so self absorbed at this point that they are culture destroyers waiting to happen. I like what the Kings have and what they are building.
Sure, but those teams a playing to win now. The Kings are not there…yet.
It’s not going to matter what the Kings do if the teams in the Pacific keep spending into the tax and selling their future to win now. The Lakers have proven they will just keep kicking that can down the road and ignore the draft all together. The Warriors will continue to far out spend the Kings and it looks like Clippers and Suns will do the same.
The Warriors, Clippers and Suns are 3 of the top 4 spenders in the NBA. Each are spending a minimum $50M than the Kings. The Warriors are spending over $80M more!
Sometimes I feel like we’re the A’s stuck in a division wi the Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers, and Phillies. We may get some good players and punch above our weight but when it comes down to bringing in and paying for the talent, we just can’t compete.
The Clips and Suns are top heavy with no depth, they’ll only last so long in the playoffs.
I can think of only 2 teams that I’d pick over them in a 7 game series an that’s Denver and the Warriors.
You really think those four will stay healthy? Not a chance, first round exit.
Yep. Maybe those teams get healthy at the right time, but history isn’t on their side. The Clippers don’t have enough basketballs for all those needy shooters.
The Kings are playing to win now. The ongoing narrative is they don’t have enough to win it all. I’m not so sure about that.
it’s a purple glasses homer take for sure but I don’t think it’s that unreasonable.
I know the kings can beat the warriors in a 7 game series if they shoot better than 25% from deep.
I know the Kings can beat the lakers in a 7 game series. They’re simply better than them right now.
The kings have more depth than the Clips and the Suns and I think that might show its fruit over a 7 game series.
the nuggets… The kings might have the only player in the west that can compete on the same level at the center position with the reigning MVP. The Kings vs Nuggets matchup from 1-10 rotational players is very similar. Very similar meaning they have a respectable chance to beat them in 7 games.
I like the Kings now as they are and I like their chances to compete for a championship now. Are they underdogs? Yes. Are they scary as hell to play against as underdogs? Yes
I see a couple of guys here who are on max contracts or close to. I don’t think that there is any reticence to spend, the main thing is getting superstar players to believe that this is real.
We could have shelled out Brink’s trucks to get Kuzma or Jerami Grant, but the team wouldn’t be much better, if at all. If Sacramento has a lighter payroll than other Pacific Division teams, I’d consider that the gap is less our problem than it is theirs. None of them won the division last season despite outspending the good guys.
Or you can look at it as the Kings having the capacity to add a $50 million per year player without a lot of eyebrows being raised. Those guys can be tough to find, and unfortunately it would need to be a free agent since anyone worth max money would wreck the roster coming in via trade.
It’s a problem. Maybe Murray becomes a legit superstar, and things fall into place. In any event, there’s no point in throwing big dollars at the wrong guy for the sake of “competing” in the salary game. McNair has been very astute, and if another solid season comes to pass, all-star level guys are going to give Sacramento a long think. The money here spends just as it does in godforsaken Phoenix.
The kings have two plus one that’s budding.
Fox + Ox + Spock
the entire west was difficult before this trade. The entire west is still difficult after this trade and the clips I would argue got better but not drastically.
Kings are winning the chip this year. Fox is unstoppable and Spock will be a dominate force once the playoffs arrive.
Checking the clips roster, their bench looks like hot trash.
Russ is a regular season guy, as is beard and KL and PG will be injured. The clips are not a threat.
I remember liking this kid at #9 for the Kings in 2021. Man was I wrong.
I think there may still a player there, but Davion taking all of his lunch money in Summer League may have really shook him. It was thisclose to being a hate crime.
Declining that option is like breaking up with your girl on a plane to India where you still have to spend twenty-three hours sitting right next to her.
Sounds like you broke up with your girlfriend on the way to India back in 2017.
Unfortunately, all of my breakups have come on domestic flights.
“Boukmorning, Boukafternoon, aaaaaand Bouknight!”
Having watched a ton of Kings and Sixers games, this gives the Kings even more reason to play as fast as possible vs. the Clippers.
I did not expect the Sixers to get this much back. Good breakdown here…
https://www.libertyballers.com/2023/10/31/23940162/james-harden-trade-creates-ample-flexibility-for-sixers-philadelphia-76ers-nba-los-angeles-clippers
Bunch of has beens. I’m much happier rooting for the up and comers.
Exactly, I just wish Steph would join the list of has beens. He’s one stubborn dude.
He used Dillon Brooks like a Shake n Bake bag last night. He may continue killing for another ten years.
With those four players on the court together and there only being one ball, I can see some chemistry & locker room issues arising by mid-season.
There are some seriously different approaches at work here:
Kings in middle- no build with old stars and ahead of the slow build. I don’t know what to think. It just seems that the price of talent is “not much”- like what did the LAC give up for Harden? As with all the teams in category one, they have traded away the future and the bench. In theory, not a long term strategy but do they think they will just keep adding because they are LA?
the 3 guys LAC gave up, would not see the court in Sac.and they get Harden out of that.
No bench, aging injury prone stars who want and need “rest” for a 2 year “all-in”.
I don’t see the clips, suns or lakers winning a title with these old stars. As long as Den is healthy, the three said teams have no shot. Depth and continuity matters.
You mean like what the Kings have? 😃
Yep, the media and many of our own fans seem to underestimate what’s brewing in SacTown.
Super team, just 2015.
Subtraction by subtraction.
I actually thought the Clips were dangerous as they were, with Harden now on board I am much less concerned about them. He is a cancer and team-culture killer, look how quickly and easily he wasted Embiid’s best years. He ruined the Rockets, Nets, 76ers, and soon the Clips. Nice trade Balmer.
He was good in OKC 😜
I would ask you to consider the fact that Embiid won his sole MVP award playing next to James Harden.
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