A potential James Harden trade could significantly boost the Thunder's future draft assets, impacting the Clippers' rebuilding efforts.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are not expected to make any big moves at the trade deadline this season. But the defending champs could still see a fruitful deadline due to deals made by other teams.
The Los Angeles Clippers specifically could make this an interesting week for OKC fans. And buzz spread across social media late Monday night that the Clippers may indeed be eyeing a major pivot that could see ripple effects for the Thunder in the 2026 and 2027 NBA Drafts.
While Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the superstar that every NBA show, podcast, blog and Twitter account has spent weeks speculating about in regards to his future home, a new big name has shockingly emerged all of a sudden. According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, 11-time All-Star James Harden may be on the move.
Mannix reported that the Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers have had advanced discussions on a James Harden for Darius Garland swap. ESPN's Shams Charania shortly followed with a tweet confirming the Clippers and Harden were working together to find a deal before the deadline.
So how's all this relate back to the Thunder?
Oklahoma City owns the Clippers' unprotected 2026 1st round pick and the swap rights to the Clippers' unprotected 2027 1st round pick.
No offense meant towards Garland, a very good young player who has made two All-Star appearances, but present day 36 year old Harden is still the better player. Not to mention, Garland is presently hurt and has a history of injuries while Harden rarely misses games. And implementing a new player into an established system with defined roles and chemistry always takes time and incurs some bumps and bruises along the way.
All to say, it's likely that exchanging Harden for Garland will make the suddenly red hot Clippers a worse team the rest of this season. And possibly next season as well. Which means those two unprotected picks owned by the Thunder have a bit of a higher ceiling while capping how high the Clippers can climb up the West standings.
Long term, this signals a possible pivot with an eye towards the future for the Clippers. Trading an older superstar for a star one decade younger is a wise move for the oldest team in the league. But that also begs the question of what to do with Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac.
The answer to that one could have a bigger impact on the Thunder than any deadline deal that Sam Presti does or does not make by this Thursday at at 3pm eastern time.