Raptors Considered Surprising Team That Should Risk James Harden Trade

The Toronto Raptors are considered a surprising team that should risk a James Harden trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. NBA writer Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report wrote about the Raptors possibly trading for Harden, who has requested a trade from the Sixers.

“There’s also the obvious observation that this version of Harden is not the playoff killer that Leonard was when Toronto acquired him in 2018,” Bailey wrote in his NBA trade column. “Masai Ujiri may not deem Harden worth that kind of risk, but he could provide him with a runway to a rebuild while also giving the Raptors a short-term direction. They had a middle-of-the-road offense last season and lost Fred VanVleet for nothing in free agency. Harden would, at the very least, elevate them on that end. And again, if it just blows up, his contract expires after this season. Toronto could move on with a new core built around Scottie Barnes after watching Harden walk.”

Harden becomes an unrestricted free agent next offseason. He wants to get traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, but since Harden doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, he can’t control his trade request.

In the summer of 2018, the Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs despite Leonard making it known behind the scenes he wanted the Spurs to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers. Masai Ujiri took a huge risk trading for a player who didn’t want to play in Toronto.

The gamble paid off, as Leonard guided the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship over the Golden State Warriors in six games. Even though Leonard left for the Clippers in the summer of 2019, the 2019 title lives on forever.

The Raptors would likely have to trade Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby to the Sixers to acquire Harden, who led the NBA in assists per game last season. Toronto tried to trade for Damian Lillard, but the Portland Trail Blazers sent the superstar point guard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

It will be interesting to see if the Raptors try to acquire Harden, who averaged 21.0 points and 10.7 assists last season.