James Harden Traded To LA Clippers: Reports

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Philadelphia 76ers will trade James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers, multiple outets, including ESPN and NBC Sports Philadelphia, reported Tuesday.

The Sixers will get back Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, KJ Martin, and Marcus Morris in the blockbuster, while also shipping PJ Tucker and Filip Petrušev to Los Angeles.

LA is also sending over draft compensation that includes a 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks, and a future first-round pick from a third team, ESPN reported. Philly is waiving Danny Green to open a roster spot.

The move brings an end to the era of Harden in Philadelphia and perhaps an end to the Sixers front office efforts to add an an outside superstar to pair with Joel Embiid. Instead, Philly will turn to young guard Tyrese Maxey as their number two, and will supplement with perhaps the strongest core of role players they've had in years.

Covington, an ex-Sixer from the dawn of "The Process" era who was traded for Jimmy Butler, will likely move straight into a role as the team's starting power forward. Martin and Morris can each line up as power or shooting forwards and likely to compete as the sixth man.

Harden's public dispute with longtime ally and current Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey clouded the offseason all the way up to opening night, when team officials denied Harden at the airport when he tried to board the team plane for their trip to Milwaukee.

The off court drama and the lack of Harden's on-court presence were all too reminiscent for Sixers fans of the Ben Simmons scandal of a few years ago, when their homegrown star soured his relationship with the city and then refused to play in a months-long back and forth carousel of conceits and excuses from both sides. It only ended when the Sixers shipped Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets to get Harden in one of the league's biggest blockbusters in years.

The Sixers were minutes away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals last year for the first time in the Joel Embiid era. The Boston Celtics staged a Game 6 comeback and sealed the deal with a Game 7 blowout, stunning a Philly team that boasted arguably the best ever supporting cast for Embiid. For all the drama, Harden led the NBA in assists in 2022-23, and fueled Embiid's first MVP award.

Despite Harden's absence, the Maxey-Embiid-led Sixers are off to an impressive start to the season, battling the powerful Bucks down to the wire and winning their next two contests handily to start off 2-1.