James Harden is still desperate to leave Houston, and is once again expanding his list of preferred trade destinations to try to make something happen.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Harden has added the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers to his list of preferred landing spots. They join Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Miami, and Milwaukee as teams Harden has named as his preferences. There is no indication significant progress has been made with the Celtics or Trail Blazers on any deal.
The Rockets remain slow to make any progress with teams on Harden’s trade list. Most are unwilling to launch a pursuit, and those that are simply have not put together a package good enough to entice the Rockets yet. Houston is not bound by Harden’s preferences, as he has little leverage here. Doing so would simply be an act of making the process as smooth as possible for all involved.
At the very least, this is a signal that Harden hasn’t let up on his trade demands despite the other issues he’s created for himself.
