The NBA offseason is now in full swing now that there is a date to begin the 2020-21 season and there is a date for the draft as well as free agency. This is a league that is known for drama and there has certainly been a lot of it recently.
The Houston Rockets have been a team that has undergone some changes this offseason after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals. They lost coach Mike D’Antoni, then lost general manager Daryl Morey who is now with the Philadelphia 76ers, and now their stars want out.
It started on Wednesday when Russell Westbrook requested a trade out of Houston and now James Harden reportedly wants out as well. While Harden hasn’t gone public with his request like Westbrook has, there is a report that he wants out and he has a few teams on his trade destination list.
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 2008, hopped on First Take and had this to say about Harden’s trade route via Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice:
My understanding from a reliable source [is] that James Harden hasn’t been talking with the organization for the last two weeks, hasn’t been taking anybody’s phone calls. Same with Russell Westbrook, no communication there except for last night when he told them he wanted to be out.
Now here’s the thing. Russell Westbrook is a guy that never jumps the gun like this. This is not Russell Westbrook, he always stays private, he never comes out public and requests a trade in the manner he did last night. So that goes to show me, the sources that are telling me James Harden could possibly be joining the Brooklyn Nets with [Kevin Durant] and Kyrie Irving or going to the Philadelphia 76ers, has some truth behind it.
If the Sixers could pull off a trade to bring in a scoring machine like Harden, that would put the Sixers among the favorites in the Eastern Conference. However, it would also mean that they would have to give up one of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
The Rockets have already said that they are not interested in a Simmons for Harden swap which would mean they have their eyes set on Embiid. Morey has gone on record saying how much he loves the big man so that is a swap that will likely not happen either.
Unless both sides back off their stances on Simmons and Embiid, it is most likely not going to happen right now. It is hard to pull off a trade of this magnitude, but on the flip side, Morey is a guy who is not afraid to make big moves so this should be worth keeping an eye on. [lawrence-related id=39044,39028,39005]