After the bogus trade rumors surrounding Klay Thompson emerged, James Harden of the Houston Rockets has now become the center of speculations involving the Boston Celtics. However, by looking at different factors, one can easily assume that a trade for Harden between the Rockets and Celtics will never happen, at least for this year.
With just a couple of months before the NBA's trade deadline, the Internet has started going wild with various rumors about team's exchanging players. Recently, the target of these rumors was Thompson. Now, it seems they're going after Harden.
According to the recent rumors, the Celtics, which reportedly have been on the lookout for a star player for some time now, are interested in making a deal with the Rockets for Harden. As stated in these reports, such as the one published by Inquisitr, the team is willing to give away Jaylen Brown, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, a couple of draft picks and even Amir Johnson for Harden.
However, NESN pointed out that aside from the fact that these reports solid basis for these speculations, the rumored trade will turn out to be a lop-sided deal for both the Celtics and Rockets.
For one, Harden signed a four-year contract extension with Houston during this year's offseason. The deal amounts to $118.1 million, and he is slated to receive $26 million for this year alone. Aside from the fact that Harden can't be traded until January, the Celtics' offerings, namely Bradley, Smart and Brown only make a combined $16 million this season.
In order to even out the deal, the Boston would have to give up Johnson too, as stated in the rumors. The problem here is that the Celtics will actually be the loser in the deal even if they get Harden. For one, they will be sacrificing their roster by giving away their best defensive players. In exchange, they'll be getting a guy who is known for his offense, not defense.
This, however, doesn't mean that a trade between the Rockets and Celtics will never happen. If the deal does pushes through, it will most likely happen by next year once the Boston franchise comes up with the proper trade offers and a lineup that can actually support Harden.
