James Harden Rumors

Keerthika Uthayakumar: Clippers were +10.4 points per 100 better on offence with James Harden on court this season. Their defensive rating was 8.6 points per 100 better with him OFF court.

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Ramona Shelburne: A few weeks ago James Harden was waxing poetic about his time in LA, telling ESPN how “blessed” he’d felt to play in his hometown. I believe he was genuine in those sentiments. But this is a business decision for all involved. Garland is 10 years younger and gives the Clippers more of a future. Harden gets a chance to play for a contender and a better chance to earn some long term security. Everyone involved knew this summer how tradable that partial guarantee on the second year of Harden’s contract made him. All in all, a very different kind of exit than his last few exits.

Twitter

Shams Charania: BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

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Fullcourtpass: James Harden would be interested in being traded the Timberwolves, per @JakeLFischer The Wolves have not entertained pursuing Harden yet and are aggressively pursuing Giannis

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Shams Charania: I’m told James Harden wants to go compete for a championship. That’s how he views it. The Clippers team obviously has come on strong the last couple months—this last month or so—but they’re still a play-in team. James Harden wants to compete for a championship. This is very fluid today, tomorrow, and into Thursday, potentially.

YouTube

Oh No He Didn't: Windy: "People I'm talking to there is real momentum for this. Darius Garland is getting in his head that he's gonna be a Clipper. James Harden is getting in his head that he's gonna be a Cav"

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Harrison Faigen: James Harden dropping a video where he says "scared money don't make money, let's get it on" the day his trade request leaks is why he's the goat

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The idea of this deal struck league executives as potentially awkward for both teams. While James Harden is having a strong season, his timeline does not match the rest of the Cavs' roster. Darius Garland is dealing with issues to both big toes and, while sources said he is making progress after missing the past two weeks with a right toe sprain and could return soon, there is some concern about whether the injuries could be a longer-term issue. The Clippers had won 17 of 21 games before Monday night, completely turning around their season. Harden potentially jumping ship now, and its potential effect on the Clippers' trajectory, certainly won't be burnishing his résumé.

ESPN

Grant Mona: Just 11 days ago, James Harden spoke highly of the entire Clippers organization after his shoe release: "The support has been high level since I've been here." "This entire organization from top to bottom is showing me love and I kinda want to reciprocate that."

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ESPN Cleveland: "The reason it got public is because it's close... while I do think there's momentum, I do not think it's absolutely a done deal," - @WindhorstESPN on the status of the Cavs and Clippers Garland/Harden trade talks.

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Chris Haynes: Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers have ramped up conversations on a James Harden, Darius Garland package with both sides motivated to executing a deal relatively soon, league sources tell me.

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The fact that Harden missed the last two Clippers games for what the team has labeled “personal reasons” sparked speculation that his absences were tied to the trade talks, but the sources close to him insisted that was not the case. Harden was not with the team during its loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Intuit Dome on Monday night, and it remains unclear if he’ll be back to play against — wait for it — the Cavs in a home game on Wednesday night. Garland, it should be noted, has not played since Jan. 14 because of a toe injury that has proven to be worse than originally believed.

New York Times

Brian Windhorst: The idea of this deal struck league executives as potentially awkward for both teams. While Harden is having a strong season, his timeline does not match the rest of the Cavs roster. Garland is dealing with issues to both big toes and, while sources said he is making progress after missing the last two weeks with a right toe sprain and could return soon, there is some concern about whether the injuries could be a longer-term issue. The Clippers had won 17 of 21 games before Monday night, completely turning around their season. Harden potentially jumping ship now, and its potential effect on the Clippers' trajectory, certainly won't be burnishing his resume.

ESPN

On Monday, the four-time champion took to Threads to blast a report suggesting he was arranging his departure from the Bay Area. It was alleged that Green was willing to be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks with a special caveat. “🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣who’s the source?” Green replied to a post detailing the trade report.

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