Why James Harden’s tenure — and an era — is over with the Clippers

Tyronn Lue smiled when she saw james harden But LA Clippers‘ Training facility Tuesday afternoon. This was just a few hours before the event agreed to trade 36-year-old, 11-time All-Star cleveland cavaliers For darius garland And a second-round pick.

Everyone in the building, including Harden, knew that a trade was imminent. And yet, there he was in Clippers gear, getting treatment from the training staff and working out with a group of teammates.

“When guys are traded, that doesn’t usually happen,” Lue told ESPN. “But we all love James… So, I walked over to the training table and started messing with him. I said, “You’re weird.” That’s his favorite word. Strange. And he started laughing.

“We’ll all miss him. Of course, his game. But just his personality.”

Unlike Harden’s previous messy exits, this one was cordial. There was no trade demand or extended purification as there was houston Or brooklyn or philadelphia.

Before leaving the facility Tuesday, Harden also said goodbye to a handful of staff and players.

Because this separation was as much a mutual recognition as it was an acceptance. Harden and the team realized that the team’s tough performance – the Clippers had been the NBA’s hottest team since Christmas Day, winning 71% of their games – was probably not sustainable. And That This Clippers EraWhich started with free agent signings in 2019 kawhi leonard and subsequent trade paul georgeis effectively over.

Harden was the last big swing.

Harden, who played 72 and 79 games in his two-plus seasons with the Clippers, and then played 44 of the team’s first 47 games this season before sitting out the last two amid trade discussions, was supposed to offset the weakness of George and Leonard. But still, that trio likes Harden’s time Kevin Durant And kyrie irving In Brooklyn, there was never a healthy one or enough available.

And now, Leonard, perhaps the most fragile of them all, is the last man standing in Los Angeles.

“Obviously, you need luck in this league,” Leonard said Wednesday night. “With the shots, with the injuries, with everything, so that’s the way it played out. I wanted to give it another run, but it didn’t work out that way, so here we are now.”

Asked if he feels like the era is incomplete, especially after the team’s latest performance, Leonard shrugged.

He said, “What was expected?…It is over.” “People are gone.”

Beginning of Harden’s tenure with the Clippers came to an end in the summer, when the team told Harden that it did not feel comfortable guaranteeing him more than the $39.2 million he was due to make this season due to his age (36) and the team’s preference to maintain financial flexibility starting this summer.

In turn, Harden felt he had re-established himself as an All-Star, sources close to him say, after averaging 22.8 points, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds and was named third-team All-NBA, and was entitled to a similar extension to the two-year, $111 million deal given by the Warriors. jimmy butlerWho is the same age as Harden.

Nevertheless, Harden wanted to remain in his hometown of Los Angeles and believed the Clippers’ roster had enough talent to compete, so he accepted a contract that would guarantee him only $13.8 million of the $42.3 million he would receive in the second year of the deal.

If the team played well, he thought the Clippers would likely receive the full amount. The deal included a player option and the opportunity to veto any trade as a protection.

But the team faltered badly on and off the court. The franchise, already dogged by allegations of salary cap circumvention arising from the Aspiration scandal, had to suffer more self-inflicted wounds: a Bad altercation with franchise legend Chris Paul.

The losses kept increasing and the pressure increased. On December 20, the Clippers were 6-21. Sacramento Kings And Indiana Pacersand beyond the bus New Orleans Pelicans And washington wizards.

Just then, sources involved in the negotiations say, teams around the league started calling the Clippers about their three players of interest — Harden, Leonard and Center. ivica zubacwho was traded to the Pacers on Thursday for a former lottery pick benedict mathurin, isaiah jackson And two first-round picks.

At the same time, trying to get ahead of potential trade discussions, Harden’s representatives began assessing which teams might be interested in him.

Harden was interested in reuniting with Houston RocketsSources say it’s a natural fit because their point guard, Fred VanVleetTore his ACL before the season. But the Rockets showed little interest in their former MVP.

However, Cleveland did. The Cavaliers were eager to see how Harden could top their two standout big men, evan mobley And jarrett allenAnd take some of the load off the dynamic shooting guard Donovan Mitchell.

Discussions between the teams softened as Harden and the Clippers attempted to revive their season, and the Cavaliers evaluated whether their current roster was built to compete for a title.

Reality finally set in for both: The Clippers couldn’t do it, and the Cavaliers’ roster couldn’t do it either.

Last weekend, Sources say that as the deadline approached, talks between the teams progressed rapidly. Harden sat out Sunday’s game at Phoenix and a game against philadelphia 76ers The discussion intensified on Monday.

Officially, the team placed Harden on the opt-out list for personal reasons – a common way to deal with players who are about to be traded. But it showed the rest of the league that Harden might be available despite the Clippers’ recent surge.

That became even more evident when Harden was seen on the sidelines at his alma mater, Arizona State, as it hosted No. 1 Arizona on Saturday night, about 20 minutes from where his teammates will play a game against the Suns without him the next night.

By Monday, the league was abuzz with speculation about Harden’s unexpected entry into the NBA trade landscape, which created an awkward scene — and not in the way Harden used that word — at Monday’s game in Los Angeles.

Players from the Clippers and 76ers barely concealed their views that Harden might be dealt before the deadline. When reports of negotiations with Cleveland broke during the game, open negotiations also appeared to take place on the court.

However, that’s not all they were talking about. After several months of dormancy, the possibility of an update or resolution in the NBA’s investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the NBA’s salary cap due to Leonard’s endorsement deal with former team sponsor Aspiration is looming.

Although sources close to Harden deny that the potential outcome of the investigation will be factored into his decision to accept a trade, it is hard to ignore the leaguewide interest in the outcome of the investigation.

Harden knew by Tuesday that a trade was likely to happen and had decided that he would not veto it when it happened.

“It made sense for both parties,” Harden told ESPN. “I didn’t want to feel like I was holding the Clippers out of their future. I wanted them to have a chance to really rebuild and get some draft capital.

“And in Cleveland, I see an opportunity to win in the East. They have a really good team, coaching staff, all of the above. So, as much as I wanted to stay in L.A. and try it — I’ve never won before. And as a basketball mind, I think we have a little better chance.”

Harden said he will always wonder what would have happened in L.A. if Leonard and George had been healthy during the playoffs.

“In life, even just in basketball, when things don’t work out, there are ways to work things out without hurting each other in relationships,” Harden said. “Maybe we don’t see a future together. Maybe we’ve outgrown each other.”

Harden saw a better future for himself in Cleveland. The Clippers saw a better future for themselves with the 26-year-old two-time All-Star Garland. The Cavaliers decided their future must begin now.