The Los Angeles Clippers made a bold move when they traded for James Harden.
He was aging, had a history of insubordination and walking away from teams, and they had to give up a lot of depth to get him, not to mention make some major tweaks to their lineup and rotation.
The early returns weren’t good at all, and it took some time before he settled in.
Fast forward to today, and it looks like a match made in heaven, with Harden finally embracing and thriving in a lesser role, knowing and appreciating the fact that he doesn’t need to do all the heavy lifting.
Harden is 34 years old and knows this might be the last lucrative deal of his career.
With that in mind, he talked to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints about how he wants to finish his career with the Clippers:
“I thought the same thing last year, the last team I was on. That’s why I did all those sacrifices, but I’m here, home. We have an opportunity. I want to be able to keep the core together for a few years and I haven’t had those opportunities the last few years so things are going well and I’m happy,” he said.
James Harden on reports that he wants to retire with Clippers:
“I thought the same thing last year, the last team I was on. That’s why I did all those sacrifices, but I’m here, home. We have an opportunity. I want to be able to keep the core together for a few years and I… pic.twitter.com/iyy8sIFKoH
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 17, 2024
Harden admitted that he also felt that way when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers before his fallout with Daryl Morey.
Now, however, he thinks that the opportunity of being at home and the fact that they could keep their core together for years to come is something he wants to make the most of.
The Clippers have already extended Kawhi Leonard’s contract, and Paul George admitted that he’s optimistic about reaching an agreement soon as well.
Harden is about to become a free agent, so the Clippers would be wise to lock him up for the future as soon as possible.
He’s said this way too many times, but it seems like, finally, he’s at peace and at home.
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