Top 3 Landing Spots for James Harden

James Harden decided to exercise his player option for the 2023/24 season, and immediately requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. The Beard will earn $35.6 million in the upcoming season, and despite such a high salary, he is still one of the most desired players in the league.

His decision to pick up the player option means that he wants to get out of Philly, sacrificing a potentially bigger and longer contract possible to sign this summer.

After an early exit in this year’s playoffs, the 76ers changed the head coach, firing Doc Rivers and signing the former Raptors’ leader, Nick Nurse. It seems that Harden wasn’t too pleased with the overall situation in the City of Brotherly Love and decided to leave.

Woj implies the hiring of Ime Udoka changed the #Rockets pursuit of James Harden: "I think once Ime Udoka came in as head coach, they started looking at their roster and what they wanted to do in free agency — I think Fred VanVleet has moved to the top of the list in Houston." pic.twitter.com/9UK3de8zfq

— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) June 30, 2023

Here are the top favorites for his next destination.

LA Clippers

The Clippers are the frontrunners for Harden’s services, according to all the experts. The player himself has a strong desire to come play in one LA team, and the Clippers, who are also one of the title contenders, emerge as the logical choice.

They have enough assets to make the trade done, regardless of its form and the package, plus, they would have enough money in the salary cap to cover the expenses.

LAC needs a dominant point guard who can orchestrate the game and make assists. Also, their two stars, George and Leonard are constantly injured, and a reliable scorer and leader is needed. The time window is too small for the Clippers to react and try to make something out of this team who was very expensive, yet unproductive.

Miami Heat

The Heat is desperate to acquire a point guard. We’ve seen them in the finals struggling to get things going precisely because they didn’t have a playmaker that could create situations for teammates. It all came down to Jimmy Butler, who was trying to solve everything with one-on-one actions, but that eventually didn’t bring any results.

Miami has more than enough assets to make this deal, and they are actively exploring various options on the market, and according to some of the sources from Florida, Harden is one of them.

James Harden wanted to be a Sun before the Bradley Beal trade, but the Sixers never engaged in trade talks with Phoenix, pic.twitter.com/PfelCECYXy

— LEEZUS (@AndrewLeezus) June 30, 2023

With him onboard, the team would not only get a fantastic playmaker but a top scorer, able to average 20+ points each night. Also, Bam Adebayo would get a playmaker who would feed him with assists, and play two-on-two with him, which would also open enough space for fantastic Heat shooters.

New York Knicks

The Knicks have enough money for Harden, but their trade potential might be a bit lower than the rest of the rivals. NYK is desperate for a superstar, and no matter what everyone thinks, both Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson aren’t the elite echelons of players in the NBA.

The lack of superstar power was something that prevented the Knicks from becoming a relevant team not only in the playoffs but in free agency as well. No matter the hype and the large market, big names didn’t want to come to the Knicks. With Harden, that would change.