James Harden and the LA Clippers will apparently be riding out the storm together.
The Clippers continue to send out the message that they will not be trading away their former MVP guard Harden ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline, veteran NBA writer Jake Fischer reported to Substack on Saturday. Fischer notes that this is despite rival teams continuing to whisper about Harden’s supposed availability.
At 9-21 on the season, the Clippers have had a nightmare year thus far, leading to questions over Harden’s status in Los Angeles. The bearded 11-time All-Star is also having a superb individual season (26.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per game), which is only serving to increase his hypothetical trade value.
That said, the Clippers have actually now won three games in a row and thus sit just 2.5 games back of the play-in tournament zone. With the Thunder owning their first-round draft pick in 2026, the Clippers do not have any reason to bottom out this season either.
Trade enthusiasts will point to the fact that Harden is 36 now and is notorious for becoming discontented whenever the going gets tough with his current team. But on the other hand, Harden is an LA native and could foreseeably leave in the summer anyway if things get really bad (he holds a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27).
With Kawhi Leonard healthy again (for now), the Clippers could make some noise out West once they get fellow starters Derrick Jones Jr. (knee) and Ivica Zubac (ankle) back from injury as well. So while there have been some legitimate contenders recently mentioned in connection with Harden, it sounds like the Clippers still have every intention of standing pat with him.
