NBA: James Harden and 5 other players who most need a trade

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NBA Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA landscape has been shaken with players like John Wall and Russell Westbrook getting traded. These 6 players are in need of trades themselves, and the sooner the better.

We expected a quiet offseason, and as usual when we expect the NBA to pass on the opportunity for fireworks, we were wrong. John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford were all traded. Christian Wood, Montrezl Harrell, Gordon Hayward and Mason Plumlee changed teams in surprise moves, and we learned that teams are more willing than ever to get around the pesky cap space issue with sign-and-trades.

That creativity opened the door for more creative move-making as the NBA season goes on. There are never any shortage of players who need to be traded in this league, whether it be for personal or financial reasons, or to satisfy their own ends or their team’s, and this year is no exception. In fact, it may be the season where the most deck-clearing, reset-button deals need to happen.

We’ll take a look at the eight players most in need of a trade in the coming season, and we’re not going to waste any time before we get to our first and most obvious player:

1. James Harden – Houston Rockets

That’s right, James Harden needs to get out of Houston, and the Houston Rockets need to get him moved. Harden hasn’t yet reported to camp and will require several days of protocol clearing once he reports before he can do any on-court team activities with his teammates.

Instead of reporting, he’s spent much of the past few days in Las Vegas, celebrating rapper Lil Baby’s birthday among other possible events. The celebration itself isn’t the issue, and it’s barely even the fact that Harden isn’t in camp and ready yet.

After all, it’s long been known that he’s a bit of a slow starter who ramps up as the season goes on. Whether James Harden is in Houston or Las Vegas in the first week of December will have very little bearing on the 60-point triple-doubles he’s likely to drop this season. However, he has a new coach, a new star teammate in John Wall, and the outlook for this team is drastically different than Rockets teams in the past.

The fact that he’s choosing to spend his time elsewhere (and make no mistake, for a player on Harden’s level, it is indeed his time) is an indication that he’s done with this team and organization, and a move is needed for both sides.

Next: Blake Griffin

NBA to pass on the opportunity for fireworks, we were wrong. John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford were all traded. Christian Wood, Montrezl Harrell, Gordon Hayward and Mason Plumlee changed teams in surprise moves, and we learned that teams are more willing than ever to get around the pesky cap space issue with sign-and-trades.</p> <p>That creativity opened the door for more creative move-making as the NBA season goes on. There are never any shortage of players who need to be traded in this league, whether it be for personal or financial reasons, or to satisfy their own ends or their team’s, and this year is no exception. In fact, it may be the season where the most deck-clearing, reset-button deals need to happen.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="Heat: Creating a trade proposal for James Harden" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2020/11/15/miami-heat-a-trade-proposal-for-james-harden/" data-call-to-action="Related Story" > <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/12/07/nba-8-players-trade-season/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/11/15/miami-heat-a-trade-proposal-for-james-harden/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> Heat: Creating a trade proposal for James Harden </a> </div> </div> <p>We’ll take a look at the eight players most in need of a trade in the coming season, and we’re not going to waste any time before we get to our first and most obvious player:</p> <h2>1. James Harden – Houston Rockets</h2> <p>That’s right, <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/12/07/nba-8-players-trade-season/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">James Harden</a> needs to get out of Houston, and the Houston Rockets need to get him moved. Harden hasn’t yet reported to camp and will require several days of protocol clearing once he reports before he can do any on-court team activities with his teammates.</p> <p>Instead of reporting, he’s spent much of the past few days in Las Vegas, celebrating rapper Lil Baby’s birthday among other possible events. The celebration itself isn’t the issue, and it’s barely even the fact that Harden isn’t in camp and ready yet.</p> <p>After all, it’s long been known that he’s a bit of a slow starter who ramps up as the season goes on. Whether James Harden is in Houston or Las Vegas in the first week of December will have very little bearing on the 60-point triple-doubles he’s likely to drop this season. However, he has a new coach, a new star teammate in John Wall, and the outlook for this team is drastically different than Rockets teams in the past.</p> <p>The fact that he’s choosing to spend his time elsewhere (and make no mistake, for a player on Harden’s level, it is indeed his time) is an indication that he’s done with this team and organization, and a move is needed for both sides.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/12/07/nba-8-players-trade-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Blake Griffin </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_416207" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/12/07/nba-8-players-trade-season/"http://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/13818197.jpeg"> "NBA"