If you're like me, you woke up and said "WTF?!"
But yes, James Harden was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers after 2 a.m. Eastern Time.
The full deal was as follows:
The Sixers are acquiring Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, multiple draft picks and a pick swap for James Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/fSOkgO5xd3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023
I'm sure some of our already asleep west coast homies woke up and said the same several hours later, but with more hate in their tone since the Lakers run 90 percent of that area.
The other 10 percent are feeling … rejoiced? Enthralled? Confused? Pissed? Indifferent? As a Tyrese Maxey fan, I'm feeling like one of the good adjectives, and you should too if you have any of the winners as a result of this deal.
Harden Trade Fantasy Winners
Philadelphia 76ers
G Tyrese Maxey
Duh. The season-opening Eastern Conference Player of the Week might not average north of 30-6-6 on 50/56/91 as he did these first three games, but we can undoubtedly expect his 2023-24 campaign a career-best one.
Maxey averaged around 20-3-3 last year on 48-43-85. I don't know that I'm expecting season-long efficiency to even that degree, but if so, consider it a bonus to a possible All-Star season from the speedy creator out of Kentucky, who is still playing for a max contract.
Philadelphia 76ers
G De'Anthony Melton
Now we know that Melton, who started alongside Maxey for the first three games of the season, will continue to play an important role for the Sixers all season long, even if he's eventually supplanted in his starter role — though, he shouldn't be anytime soon.
Melton won't fill up the scoring, but he should do better than eight points per game on 31 percent shooting and 25 percent from three. He'll give you decent to good three-point volume as a catch-and-shoot threat next to Maxey and Embiid. Melton averaged 10 on about 43 and 39 last season. He won't get to the free throw line a ton, but he makes 77 percent for his career. More important, his assists are way up (from 2.6 to 5.3) and he's ikely to hover near two steals per game for the season.
Harden Trade Fantasy Losers
Los Angeles Clippers
G Norman Powell
Harden on the Clippers means some uncertainty for both Powell and Bones Hyland, but we'll focus on the former because the latter is likely available in your league unless it's an especially deeper one.
Powell will be a solid streamer when Harden and or Russell Westbrook inevitably miss time, but on a game-to-game basis, it'll be challenging to replicate his 17 points per game last season — which already didn't come with much in terms of other categories — on 48/40/81 splits.
Powell logged 26 minutes last season and began at 22.3 this year. Now, there's a full season of Westbrook to worry about, plus Harden, who may hover around 30 minutes per game or so, as Westbrook currently is.
I try staying away from guys who are mostly just points in fantasy, moreover if they're coming off the bench, moreover if they're behind two stars, even if it's in name only in 2023.
Philadelphia 76ers
F Kelly Oubre
Unfortunately for Oubre, who is off to a sensational start, the Sixers acquired four new forwards. Marcus Morris will always look to shoot, Nicolas Batum is a reliable minutes eater who can play next to Embiid on both ends, and Robert Covington is more or less the same but not French.
KJ Martin has variance into how he'll be used, if he even will be, but his boom potential — if he reaches it — could cut into Oubre's production.
None of this is to say Oubre will be bad this season, he can still get buckets, but even when he does, he's not a huge threat anywhere but points and threes, and so far has averaged 19 points, four rebounds and two steals on 50/31/93 (on five free throw attempts per game) in 29 minutes per game. Tobias Harris feels entrenched as a starter, so therefore, Oubre is the risky fantasy guy here.
