By Justin GrassoShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberJames Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers are struggling—there’s no other way to put it.
The same team that had championship aspirations at the beginning of the 2025-2026 NBA season is sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference with a 5-16 record.
Outsiders are pounding the table for the Clippers to hit the reset button, which would more than likely involve a James Harden departure. While Harden has embraced returning to his home state to play for the Clippers over the past few seasons, we’ve seen the superstar guard grow disgruntled enough times to believe that he might have a lack of patience with the Clippers’ current situation.
Say the Clippers wave the white flag and start reaching for the reset button. Would a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies work?
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale attempted to craft a trade projection, which swaps two stars.
...James Harden-Ja Morant Trade Places
In this mock trade scenario via BR, the Clippers would part ways with Harden, Brook Lopez, a 2030 first-round pick, a 2031 first-round swap, and a 2032 first-round pick. They would land Ja Morant on his own.
“If a change of scenery rejuvenates Morant, the Clippers have a basis for their future,” Favale explained. “He infuses much-needed athleticism into the current rotation, and they'd still be on track for oodles of cap space in 2027, at which time they can use him as a magnet to lure in other big names (assuming free agency becomes cool again).”
The Grizzlies haven’t had a happy Morant in quite some time. Last season, the star guard was reportedly disgruntled, unhappy with the system they were running. The head coach was moved out, and the new situation hasn’t been any better. Earlier this season, the Grizzlies suspended Morant for his public comments, which suggested that something was very off between him and the coaching staff.
...Lately, Morant hasn’t been landing in hot water with his organization, likely due to the fact that he’s not playing. Dealing with a setback, Morant has missed the last seven games.
But before he went down, Morant was off to an underwhelming start. In 12 games, he averaged 17.9 points while shooting 35 percent from the field. While his assists (7.6 APG) have been on par with last year, his scoring is under 20 PPG for the first time since his sophomore effort in 2020-2021.
The Clippers go younger with Morant, but does their situation actually improve? In this scenario, they are spending future assets just to move off Harden, who could be a free agent as early as next summer. If not, then he’ll hit the open market in 2027. There’s no real long-term attachment to Harden.
LA already has draft assets on the move. Parting ways with more in an attempt to toss a Hail Mary on turning this season around is just another massive gamble they can’t afford. Unless the Clippers are totally confident in Morant’s ability to bounce back and lead their franchise as an MVP candidate, this scenario just feels too risky.
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