The Clippers are finalizing a deal to acquire James Harden from the 76ers

With NBA title hopefuls in Milwaukee and Boston fortifying their rosters in recent weeks and days, the Clippers arrived at training camp with a roster virtually unchanged from the end of last season.

That began to change late Monday, when the Clippers and 76ers, after months of discussions with Philadelphia, began moving toward finalizing a deal that would see All-Star guard James Harden land in Los Angeles, according to people familiar with the deal. Unauthorized discussions. To disclose it publicly.

In addition to Harden, the Clippers are receiving pj tucker, A 38-year-old defensive tackle and power forward with a career 36% three-point shooting percentage.

Cost: Future draft pick, trading away Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris Sr. And Robert Covington – Their trio are veteran strikers, all of whom are out of contract – plus young striker Kenyon Martin Jr., who was acquired from Houston during the offseason. Draft picks are perhaps the most important element in attracting a deal. The Clippers will send Philadelphia their 2028 first-round pick, another first-round pick drafted from another yet-to-be-selected team, two future second-round picks and a pick swap. Terms of the deal were confirmed by a person familiar with the trade discussions.

Philadelphia is said to be interested in selecting a pair of future picks in the first round, with the intent of rotating them and using them to bolster their roster.

The Clippers sought to keep Terrence Mann, a former second-round pick who has developed into a starter this season, out of the deal and ultimately succeeded. Mann has yet to make his first appearance of the season while recovering from an ankle injury. In the new version of the roster, the 27-year-old is certain to feature as a substitute.

The move was made with clear championship intentions — team owner Steve Ballmer and team president Lawrence Franke hoped that Harden’s future Hall of Fame and playmaking credentials would complement Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to give the Clippers a long-awaited NBA title. Their fan base as the team prepares to move to their new arena in Inglewood next season.

Leonard and George have long been supportive of such a move, and Harden and point guard Russell Westbrook previously played together in Oklahoma City and Houston. How four future Hall of Fame players, all of whom were focal points of the team’s offense at different stages of their careers, became intertwined within a highly insular offense becomes one of the most unknown subplots in the NBA.

“Who would sacrifice what would be great,” one league executive said recently when asked about the combination. It is difficult to guarantee a smooth finish.

Doc Rivers, the Clippers’ coach from 2013-2020, who coached Harden last season and is now an analyst for ESPN, said when asked before the season about the potential of adding Harden.

“Adding talent doesn’t always make it happen, if you know what I mean,” Rivers said at the time. “They play a certain style, they run a lot of things with Kawhi and then with PG, so if you look at James and James’s style, it fits. But if there’s a third guy stopping the ball, is that right?” be good or bad? I’m not sure.”

In 2021, Harden requested an exit from Houston, the franchise where he blossomed into the league’s most valuable player in 2017-18. Two seasons ago, he asked out of Brooklyn. In late June, he asked from Philadelphia when a long-term contract offer to his liking did not come along. Harden, 34, will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

The deal ends a campaign of discomfort that Harden has waged against the 76ers since June, when he opted out of the final season of his $35.6 million contract, with a trade requested and with the Clippers his preferred destination. When talks between the 76ers and interested teams, including the Clippers, failed to meet Philadelphia’s stated and steep price for either a star to pair with 76ers center Joel Embiid or assets that could eventually help them acquire such a talent, Harden’s frustration became public.

In August, Harden was in China on tour with Adidas when he called 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” For this, the league collected $100,000 from Harden. That’s what Harden was up against Morey, the executive who helped him rise to stardom a decade ago by trading for a sixth man to Oklahoma City and building a Houston franchise around all his wishes and shots.

But this relationship did not prevent Harden from backing down. In September, shortly before Philadelphia opened training camp, a video surfaced Tik Tok Which showed Harden celebrating in Houston while a woman held a sign that read, “Daryl Morey is a liar.” Harden did not appear at media day in Philadelphia nor the first practice before attending the second day of practice. He spent a week away from the team before returning back to Philadelphia in recent days.

Although the Clippers were Harden’s favorite, they were not into Harden’s philosophy or failure. When highly touted defenseman Jrue Holiday became available in a trade from Milwaukee to Portland, the Clippers tried to pry him away from Portland. Some inside the team believed the team came very close to winning the bidding war for Holiday, who ultimately went to Boston.