The James Harden era with the Clippers will begin soon, as the superstar guard will make his debut with his new team against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
Harden was traded to the Clippers in the early morning hours on Oct. 31, when he was sent with PJ Tucker to L.A. from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Robert Covington, Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, KJ Martin, an unprotected 2028 first-round pick, two second-round picks, a first-round pick from the Thunder and a first-round pick swap. Harden initially requested a trade from Philadelphia during the offseason, with the Clippers as his preferred destination. After months of on-and-off trade talks, Harden finally got his wish last week and joins his fifth team.
Here's information for how to watch Monday night's game:
Knicks vs. Clippers
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET | Date: Monday, Nov. 6
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV channel: MSG, Bally Sports SoCal | Live stream: fubo (try for free)
Shams Charania reports that the Clippers are planning on a starting lineup that will feature Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Ivica Zubac. Harden immediately becomes L.A.'s best facilitator and playmaker, as he led the league in assists a season ago (10.7). He'll be able to control the pace of L.A.'s offense and ease the playmaking load off of Leonard and George's shoulders.
On the surface it may seem like a backcourt of Harden and Westbrook may not work, but in the one season the tandem played together in Houston, the Rockets had a plus-5.6 net rating when those two shared the floor. That team went on to make the Western Conference semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.
That's a positive stat as the Clippers try to make this core of players work after years of falling short of their championship goals. With Leonard and George becoming free agents this summer -- as well as Westbrook and Harden -- there's a significant amount of pressure on this team to make a run in the postseason.
Oddskeepers aren't high on Hardens's scoring upside, as his points total is set at 14.5. His career scoring average is 24.7 points and he hasn't averaged less than 21.0 points per game since his final full season with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2010-11. Harden won't be the offensive engine that powers the Clippers with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the fold and there's no telling what his workload will look like considering that he hasn't played in a real game since May. The uncertainty surrounding Harden's probable minutes limit should make bettors wary about wagering on him.
