Lakers News: Former Celtics Center Believes James Harden will End Up in LA
James Harden will turn 34-years-old in about two months and after yet another second round exit with the Philadelphia 76ers to go with the firing of head coach Doc Rivers, he may be on his way to yet another team. When he teamed up with reigning MVP Joel Embid, everybody thought they would be an unstoppable duo in the pick and roll and that the two would complement each other tremendously.
The results did not exactly pan out in that manner as the Boston Celtics took care of them in seven games and neither Embid nor Harden cracked 20 points. It was clear ever since The Beard arrived in Philly that he no longer possessed the same lightning-quick first step that he did during his prime years in Houston, but he still showed flashes of it like with his 45-point outburst in game one against Boston.
But as he packs on more miles to his 14-season career, it's evident that these types of performances will become more rare and he's found a more comfortable role as a facilitator and playmaker versus a go-to scorer.
Harden is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer and just completed a contract with Philly that saw him get paid $68 million over two years. The Houston Rockets, his former team, have been slated as the favorite to sign him if he doesn't return to the 76ers and it makes a lot of sense. He was very active in the night life during his time there, no city loved him more than them, and they have a young core that could use a veteran like him to guide them to success.
However, I could really only see this happening if the Harden is comfortable with the fact that he may not get a legit shot at a ring again. Unless Jalen Green or Kevin Porter Jr. come into next season playing at an MVP level, Harden will strictly be there for their development and to have fun playing in front of the same fans that saw him grow into a star.
But let's say the former Arizona State guard wants to remain in contention but on a different squad. The Phoenix Suns have come up in conversations seeing that Harden has a close friendship with Kevin Durant but former Celtics champion big man and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins has a different opinion.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been a dark horse team mentioned regarding Harden's next destination and Perkins is sold.
Other than New York, the market really does not get bigger than LA. Harden will be able to suit up with a squad that just made the Western Conference Finals and will most likely be running it back with majority of their guys.
Even though it may take some extended some money conversations, it would be quite hard to turn down suiting up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.