Boston Celtics: 3 multi-team blockbusters involving James Harden

Why the Boston Celtics do it

Given the state of the Boston Celtics bench, a 34 year-old Lou Williams would be a welcomed recipe to the second unit smorgasbord. Robert Covington’s sharpshooting would more than likely join him there, as would Ivica Zubac’s shot-blocking and rebounding and Landry Shamet’s two-way wing presence.

Four first-round picks–that would likely be late first-round picks anyway–might not pan out like Covington, Williams, Zubac, and Shamet already have in the association. A more proven thing is extra nice to have when you are on the doorstep of the NBA Finals, and that’s what Boston gets here.

Why the Houston Rockets do it

We’ve said it time and again, but the Houston Rockets need a treasure trove of draft picks to make any deal worth it for Harden. Four future firsts get it done, and Hayward and Patrick Beverly could be nice pieces to reroute in a future deal.

Why the Los Angeles Clippers do it

In this trade scenario, the Los Angeles Clippers don’t give up any draft capital (they gave up most of their future assets in the Paul George trade) but dismantle their entire bench and their non-superstar members of their starting lineup to bring on the most dominant offensive player in the game, James Harden, on board in Tinseltown.

A Harden-Kawhi Leonard-Paul George trio would be the immediate favorite in the Western Conference.