Report: The Boston Celtics Are Interested In Trading For James Harden.

From the moment that James Harden declined a 50 million dollar extension by the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics emerged as a top candidate for the former MVP. With his three-point scoring and pass IQ, a trio of James Harden, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would be an incredible team while still having notable defenders available such as Marcus Smart. However, according to an article written by Conor Roche of the Weekend Sports Producer, it is revealed that the Celtics have advised against the idea of trading for James Harden. In addition to this recent headline, reports suggested that the trade package centered around Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker. Due to Hayward declining his player option, this trade can no longer happen regardless of whether the Celtics were interested. The top candidate most likely receiving Harden is none other than the Brooklyn Nets despite that potential trade slowly dying down. The Houston Rockets wanted to acquire Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving for James Harden, which is too high of a price for the Nets to give. While rapper Meek Mill is attempting to convince James Harden to consider a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, what if the Boston Celtics successfully traded for Harden? 

Although James Harden is focused on being traded to the Brooklyn Nets eventually, the Boston Celtics already presented a better offer than what the Nets ever proposed. A trade of Kemba Walker and Gordan Hayward holds much more value than any trade Brooklyn would have offered unless it contained either Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving. Depending on the direction that Houston wants to head towards, claiming an All-Star calibre point guard and a former All-Star in Gordan Hayward (who would have only been in Houston for one season if he accepted his player option) would have been a playoff team in the Western Conference. Houston would also have Russell Westbrook on the roster, meaning that he would most likely be traded for other assets like an actual center and not PJ Tucker! This could have been an option for Houston as they would have also received a 2021 unprotected first-round pick from Boston. However, if Houston is headed towards a complete rebuild, then this trade is a disaster for what this organization is aiming for.

If this trade were ever to happen, the Boston Celtics would attain one of the greatest shooting guards to ever play in the NBA. With his unguardable step-back and impossible three-point shots, James Harden is the definition of an offensive threat. While his strengths are unguardable, his playoff record and selfishness on the court would hinder the Boston Celtics in success as Harden tends to disappear in the playoffs due to the style of basketball James Harden plays. Instead of playing as a team, most of his career has been isolation basketball, which Brad Stevens never promotes and instead focuses on including everyone on the roster. A player like Daniel Thies, for instance, made a name for himself this season as Brad Stevens insisted on starting him over Enes Kanter, who came off a great playoff run in 2019 with the Portland Trailblazers. Having James Harden in Boston would have a great fit on paper but would be a bigger disaster than Kyrie Irving as conflict would occur in the locker room. James Harden is a superstar in the NBA while still being in his prime, which means that he would most likely refuse to literally take a step back for the betterment of the organization. Boston has two excellent young players who are unselfish and root for one another. Suppose the Celtics traded for James Harden and focused on pleasing his demands over their organization’s future. In that case, the chances are that both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum would be unpleasant and would leave the organization as soon as possible. With that being in mind, trading for James Harden is a terrible move!

After examining both organizations, if this trade ever happened, the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets would be setting themselves up for failure. With no clear winner in this trade, the Celtics would have a slight edge in this trade as they would possess a former MVP and one of the best players to ever play in the NBA. Boston could also succeed with Harden if he played the point guard position and focused on playmaking and shooting off the ball. The reality is, James Harden would be joining Jayson Tatum’s team and not the other way around. Even though on paper the Boston Celtics would be one of the best teams in the NBA, James Harden would most likely ruin what Boston has built since 2014!