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Ramona Shelburne
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The LA Clippers and guard James Harden are working through whether the sides can find a deal by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the teams expressing serious interest in Harden, sources told Charania.
Harden, 36, has veto power over any trade because he’s technically only under contract for this season. The second year of the two-year, $81.5 million deal he agreed to this past offseason is a player option, which isn’t fully guaranteed.
Harden sat out Sunday’s game in Phoenix and Monday’s home game against the Philadelphia 76ers for personal reasons, according to the team. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before Monday’s game that Harden was at his home in Phoenix.
Harden has helped lead the Clippers back into contention for a play-in spot after a dismal 6-21 start to the season. He recently told ESPN that he felt «blessed» to be playing in his hometown of Los Angeles and was confident the Clippers could «come all the way back» from their poor start to the season.
The Clippers are Harden’s fifth team following stints in Oklahoma City, Houston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. LA acquired Harden from the 76ers in 2023 to pair with superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
George left for Philadelphia as a free agent in the summer of 2024 and was recently suspended 25 games for a violation of the NBA’s drug policy.
Harden recently passed Shaquille O’Neal for ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
