James Harden may have a lifeline out of Los Angeles if the Clippers continue to plummet.
Harden’s status is being monitored closely by various rivals amid the Clippers’ horrific start to the season, veteran NBA writer Marc Stein reported to Substack on Thursday. Stein further mentions the Minnesota Timberwolves specifically as a team known to be in the market for a true playmaker.
The Clippers have been perhaps the single most disappointing team in the NBA this year at a brutal 6-21, which ranks 14th in the Western Conference. That may not be the fault of Harden, who was an All-Star just last season and is now averaging even better individual numbers this season at 26.0 points per game on 44/38/89 shooting splits. But with Harden now 36 years old and infamous for quickly growing unhappy with teams once the going gets tough, he looks like a very real trade candidate ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
As for Minnesota, they are a modest 17-10 this year, which is seventh in the West. But they have earned themselves a reputation as a legitimate contender after making back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals over the last two seasons.
With 38-year-old Mike Conley currently injured, the Timberwolves are relying on natural wing Donte DiVincenzo and flawed playmakers like Bones Hyland and Rob Dillingham to carry the load at point guard right now. As such, pairing franchise player Anthony Edwards in the backcourt with Harden might do real wonders for both of their respective workloads.
In order to match salaries with the $39.2 million Harden is making this season (with a $42.3 million player option for next season), Minnesota would likely have to break up their Julius Randle-Rudy Gobert-Naz Reid frontcourt one way or the other. But perhaps the ex-MVP Harden could be a match for a Timberwolves team that has also sniffed around some other big names at point guard in recent weeks.
