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he Cleveland Cavaliers recorded a franchise-record 16th consecutive victory in their 133-124 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. The Cavs will put their win streak on the line when they take the court against the Orlando Magic on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Cleveland is scoring 122.8 points per game, which leads the NBA, but Orlando is holding opponents to just 106.0 points per contest, the fewest in the league. According to the latest NBA odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, the Cavs are 11-point favorites, while the over/under for total points scored is 220.5. Other notable matchups on Sunday’s NBA schedule include Suns vs. Lakers (-3.5, 228), Hornets vs. Clippers (-13, 223) and Thunder vs. Bucks (+5.5, 232.5).

SportsLine’s proven model has simulated every Sunday NBA game and revealed its best NBA picks. Combining these three picks into an NBA parlay would result in a payout of nearly 6-1.

The model simulates every game 10,000 times and is on a 148-107 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season. Now, here are the best bets for NBA parlays on Sunday, according to the model.

NBA best bets for Sunday, March 16
Nets (+6) to cover vs. Hawks (-108 at DraftKings)
Score prediction: Nets 110, Hawks 109

The Nets are coming off a disappointing 115-113 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday, but Brooklyn easily covered the 11.5-point spread. The Nets saw several players step up to the challenge, including Cam Johnson, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Johnson is averaging 18.8 points per game and knocking down 40.2% of his 3-point attempts this season. Atlanta, meanwhile, suffered a lopsided 121-98 loss at the hands of the Clippers on Friday. The Hawks have struggled defensively all season long and are giving up 119.6 points per game, which ranks 27th in the NBA. The Hawks are also 0-7 against the spread in their past eight games against the Nets. DraftKings has the best price on this line at -108.

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Under 228 points in Raptors vs. Trail Blazers (-110 at FanDuel)
Score prediction: Trail Blazers 110, Raptors 109

Both of these teams have been inconsistent on the offensive end of the floor all season. Portland averages 110.6 points per game while Toronto scores 111.1 points per contest, both of which rank in the bottom third of the NBA. Both teams will also be missing critical pieces on Sunday. The Blazers are expected to be without Jerami Grant (knee), who’s listed as doubtful, while the Raptors will be without Immanuel Quickley (rest). Grant ranks fourth on Portland’s squad with 14.4 points per game, while Quickley scores 17.3 points per contest for Toronto. The Under has also hit in five of Portland’s last six games at home. FanDuel Sportsbook is currently offering the highest total for this matchup at 228.

Thunder (-5.5) to cover at Bucks (-108 at FanDuel)
Score prediction: Thunder 116, Bucks 106

The Thunder enter Sunday’s showdown full of confidence after picking up a 113-107 road victory over the Pistons on Saturday. Oklahoma City is now 9-1 in its last 10 games thanks to the brilliant play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The NBA MVP front-runner scored 48 points in Saturday’s win at Detroit and leads the NBA in scoring with 32.8 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points, six assists and three rebounds in Oklahoma City’s 125-96 victory over the Bucks on Feb. 3. The Thunder are 10-2 in their last 12 games played in March and 5-0 against the spread in their past five games on the road. FanDuel Sportsbook has the best price on this line at -108.

The Los Angeles Lakers will host the Phoenix Suns for a Western Conference clash in the NBA on Sunday. Los Angeles is 40-25 on the season and currently fifth in the conference standings while Phoenix is 31-36 and sits 11th, 1.5 games behind the Dallas Mavericks. This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams in the regular season. The Suns have won two of the first three matchups, but the Lakers have covered the spread in two of those three games. LeBron James (leg) remains out for the Lakers, while Grayson Allen (foot) will miss today’s contest for Phoenix.

This time around, tipoff from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The Lakers are 2.5-point favorites in the latest Lakers vs. Suns odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 228. Before making any Suns vs. Lakers picks, make sure to check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters Week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 148-107 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 19-10 (65%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Now, the model has simulated Lakers vs. Suns 10,000 times and just revealed its coveted NBA picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and NBA betting lines for Suns vs. Lakers:

Lakers vs. Suns spread: Los Angeles -2.5
Lakers vs. Suns over/under: 228 points
Lakers vs. Suns money line: Los Angeles -139, Phoenix +118
LAL: The Lakers have covered the spread in their last five home games
PHX: The Suns are 5-1 against the spread over their last six games
Lakers vs. Suns picks: See picks at SportsLine
Lakers vs. Suns streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
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Why the Lakers can cover
Los Angeles enters Sunday on a four-game losing streak and is now facing pressure from the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves that could drive the franchise back into the NBA play-in tournament. LeBron James is out with a leg injury and Luka Doncic is listed as probable with a calf injury but should be in the lineup after taking the second night of a back-to-back off on Friday against the Nuggets.

Without Doncic and James, the Lakers still covered as 15.5-point underdogs against the Nuggets in a 131-126 loss. Austin Reaves stepped up to make the Lakers competitive with 37 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and four steals, while rookie Dalton Knecht had 32 points. Doncic and Jaxson Hayes (knee) likely returning to the Lakers’ lineup should give Los Angeles a boost on Sunday. See which team to back at SportsLine.

Why the Suns can cover
Meanwhile, Phoenix faced some understandable criticism for standing pat at the NBA trade deadline but is still fighting to give its veteran core a shot at making a playoff run by getting into the NBA play-in tournament picture. The Suns earned a critical 122-106 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday to aid that pursuit and it was Kevin Durant and Devin Booker leading the way in the victory.

Booker had 22 points and 13 assists while Durant added 22 points of his own. The Suns shot a blistering 55.8% from the 3-point line (24-of-43) and Tyus Jones went 6-for-6 from beyond the arc to supply 20 points off the bench. Phoenix has covered the spread in five of its last six games and has covered in each of its past seven games against Pacific Division opponents. See which team to back at SportsLine.

How to make Lakers vs. Suns picks
SportsLine’s model has simulated Suns vs. Lakers 10,000 times and is leaning Under the total, projecting 225 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations. You can head to SportsLine to see the model’s NBA picks.

So who wins Suns vs. Lakers on Sunday, and which side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Lakers vs. Suns spread to back, all from the model that has returned well over $10,000 on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.

The Denver Nuggets (42-25) travel to play the Golden State Warriors (39-28) in a Western Conference matchup on Monday evening. The Nuggets dropped two of their last three outings. The Washington Wizards defeated Denver 126-123 Saturday on a game-winning 3-pointer by Jordan Poole. Meanwhile, the Warriors have strung along a seven-game win streak. Golden State took down the New York Knicks 97-94 on Saturday. Nikola Jokic (elbow/ankle) and Jamal Murray (ankle) are questionable for Denver, while Steph Curry (back) is questionable for Golden State.

Tipoff from Chase Center in San Francisco is at 10 p.m. ET. The teams have met once this season, with Denver securing a 119-115 on Dec. 3. The Warriors are 5-point favorites in the latest Nuggets vs. Warriors odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 236.5. Before locking in any Warriors vs. Nuggets picks, make sure to check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters Week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 148-107 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 19-10 (65%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Now, the model has simulated Nuggets vs. Warriors 10,000 times and just revealed its coveted NBA picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and NBA betting lines for Nuggets vs. Warriors:

Nuggets vs. Warriors spread: Golden State -5
Nuggets vs. Warriors over/under: 236.5 points
Nuggets vs. Warriors money line: Denver -201, Los Angeles +167
GS: Warriors are 34-31-2 against the spread this season
DEN: Nuggets are 32-35-1 against the spread this season
Nuggets vs. Warriors picks: See picks at SportsLine
Nuggets vs. Warriors streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
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Why the Warriors can cover
Curry, if he’s able to go, continues to be the engine of this group, using his vision as a passer and a soft touch on his jumpers. He leads the team in both points (24.3) and assists (6.1), while shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc. In his last outing, Curry racked up 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists and made four 3-pointers. He’s knocked down 4-plus 3-pointers in five of his last six games.

Forward Jimmy Butler has made a serious impact since landing on the Warriors. Golden State is 14-1 when he plays. This season, Butler is averaging 16.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. He’s recorded double-digit points and 4-plus assists in six of his last seven games. On March 10 against the Trail Blazers, Butler had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. See which team to back at SportsLine.

Tomorrow
Denver
Golden St.
+4.5 -110
-4.5 -110
+152
-183
O236.5 -110
U236.5 -110
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Why the Nuggets can cover
Denver has some important injuries to monitor, but the Nuggets are tough to beat when healthy. Jokic continues to put his fingerprint all over the game. He’s an MVP candidate again, ranking third in the NBA in points (29.1) and rebounds (12.8) while being second in assists (10.3). The 30-year-old has scored more than 30 points and 8-plus rebounds in three of his last four games. In Saturday’s loss to the Wizards, Jokic had 40 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

Murray is another shot creator for Denver. He logs 21.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. On Friday against the Lakers, Murray finished with 26 points, four rebounds and five dimes. The Kentucky product had 24-plus points in three of his last four matchups. See which team to back at SportsLine.

How to make Nuggets vs. Warriors picks
SportsLine’s model has simulated Warriors vs. Nuggets and is leaning Under the total, projecting 227 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in nearly 60% of simulations. You can head to SportsLine to see the model’s NBA picks.

So who wins Nuggets vs. Warriors on Monday, and which side of the spread hits in nearly 60% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Nuggets vs. Warriors spread to back, all from the model that has returned well over $10,000 on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.

The Orlando Magic will head out on the road to face off against the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ET on Monday at Crypto.com Arena. The Magic will be strutting in after a victory while the Lakers will be stumbling in from a loss.

Last Friday, even if it wasn’t a dominant performance, Orlando beat Portland 102-97. The team accrued 63 points in the first half and coasted on those for the win.

Meanwhile, the Lakers fought the good fight in their overtime contest against the Kings on Sunday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 132-127 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Kings.

Despite the defeat, the Lakers got a solid performance out of Anthony Davis, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 16 rebounds. Davis is on a roll when it comes to blocks, as he’s now blocked two or more in the last three games he’s played.

The victory makes it two in a row for Orlando and bumps their season record up to 2-0. As for Los Angeles, they now have a losing record at 1-2.

The Magic are hoping to beat the odds on Monday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss. They finished last season with a 45-34-3 record against the spread.

The Magic came up short against the Lakers in their previous matchup back in March, falling 111-105. Can the Magic avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.

Odds
Los Angeles is a slight 2-point favorite against Orlando, according to the latest NBA odds.

Bettors have moved against the Lakers slightly, as the game opened with the Lakers as a 3.5-point favorite.

The over/under is set at 218.5 points.

See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History
Los Angeles has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Orlando.

Mar 19, 2023 – Los Angeles 111 vs. Orlando 105
Dec 27, 2022 – Los Angeles 129 vs. Orlando 110
Jan 21, 2022 – Los Angeles 116 vs. Orlando 105
Dec 12, 2021 – Los Angeles 106 vs. Orlando 94
Apr 26, 2021 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Orlando 103
Mar 28, 2021 – Los Angeles 96 vs. Orlando 93
Jan 15, 2020 – Orlando 119 vs. Los Angeles 118
Dec 11, 2019 – Los Angeles 96 vs. Orlando 87
Nov 25, 2018 – Orlando 108 vs. Los Angeles 104
Nov 17, 2018 – Orlando 130 vs. Los Angeles 117

MILWAUKEE — Damian Lillard had one of the worst games of his career on Sunday in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 127-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, finishing with six points and six turnovers on 2-of-12 shooting. The good news is he’ll have to wait less than 24 hours to take the court again when the Bucks square off against the Miami Heat.

That is, of course, a loaded matchup for Lillard, who requested a trade to the Heat during the offseason, but was instead dealt to the Bucks in a blockbuster deal, ending his 11-year run with the Portland Trail Blazers. The veteran guard insisted, however, that despite his hectic summer and friendship with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, it will be just another game.

“I’ve never played on their team,” Lillard said. “I mentioned that [it] was the destination for me when I asked to be traded last year, but I was traded here. I’m excited to be here, I’m happy to be here, I fit in great here. For me, personally, that was the end of it. I never thought about it again after that.

“So I’m not going into [tonight] like ‘this the team that I was supposed to be playing for’ or none of that. I know Jimmy, I know Bam, we’re cool, but I play for the Bucks. I’m not going into it like ‘that’s my former team’ or ‘we was tied in’ or nothing like that. It’s another game.”

At the morning shootaround, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra likewise downplayed the idea that his team would have any sort of extra motivation on Monday after everything that happened during the offseason.

“It’s beyond all that,” Spoelstra said. “It’s more about respect for Milwaukee and the battles we’ve had. It’s great competition in this building and it’s always a challenge, and they’re coming off a tough loss last night. Our guys love to compete, they love to compete against other really good teams. We expect it to be a tough battle.”

As for Lillard’s relationship with the Heat and star plays such as Butler and Adebayo, he emphasized that they didn’t have much contact throughout the trade process this summer.

“On the outside people made more of it than what was taking place,” Lillard explained. “It’s not like I was calling him every day or nothing like that. I said what I needed to say to the team that I was on at that time, and I went on about my time. I did my training, I spent time with my kids, and that was it. I’m telling you the real when I say it’s not that deep. Bam was my boy before I asked for a trade. He still is, and that was the extent of it.”

Speaking of Adebayo, he will not play due to a hip injury sustained in the Heat’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. “He just went through his warm-up and routine and does not have enough movement,” Spoelstra said pre-game. “We’ll give him a bunch of treatment and see what happens when we get back to Miami.”

The Bucks and Heat will tip-off at 8 p.m. ET on Monday on League Pass. Lillard will be looking to bounce back after setting a record for the biggest point differential between a first and second game with a new team in NBA history: 33 points. He had 39 points in an opening night win over the Philadelphia 76ers before scoring just six against the Hawks.

James Harden has been angling for a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers for months. Such a deal has been rumored since June, when Harden opted into the final year of his contract with the Philadelphia 76ers hoping to return to his hometown and partner up with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in an effort to win his first NBA championship. Now, that deal is all but complete, and according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Harden is “ecstatic” to be joining the Clippers.

In fact, according to Shelburne, Harden could be in attendance when the Clippers face the Orlando Magic on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He won’t be playing in that game, of course. There are still plenty of details to be worked out. As of this writing, details on a third team joining the deal and sending the 76ers another first-round pick have not been revealed. When the specifics are squared away, there will need to be a trade call with the league office and all of the players involved will need to undergo medical testing. Playing on Tuesday given that tight turnaround is simply not feasible.

However, if everything goes as planned, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Harden suits up for Wednesday’s marquee matchup with the rival Los Angeles Lakers. After that, the Clippers have a four-day break before facing the New York Knicks on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

That Knicks game is probably Harden’s likeliest debut date for the Clippers. The 76ers had been holding him out of games for the sake of conditioning, and it is not yet clear what sort of shape he will be in when he joins the Clippers. If he needs a few more days to get up to speed, the Knicks game offers him that time.

Whenever he does ultimately suit up for Los Angeles, he will give the Clippers the point guard they’ve been seeking for the entire Leonard-George era. They paid a steep price to generate that trio, but with Harden joining the two established stars, the Clippers believe they have a genuine chance to win their first championship.

Today’s a big day for the NFL, followed by a big night for college football: The first College Football Playoff Rankings of the season are set to be released. Ahead of that reveal, we have Dennis Dodd’s Power Rankings — with a new No. 1 and No. 2!

Georgia (previous: 2) — “Nine weeks in, Georgia looks fully capable of winning three in a row.”
Ohio State (4) — “Fully armed and ready, the Buckeyes won a Big Ten classic at Wisconsin by bowing up and wearing down the Badgers.”
Michigan (1) — “Will Jim Harbaugh make it until the end of the season?”
Florida State (3) — “This is the most complete FSU team since Jimbo Fisher days.”
Washington (6) — “Are the Huskies slipping? Their last four wins have come by a combined 27 points.”
We also have a new CBS Sports 133 where Michigan remains on top. Clemson tied for the biggest drop in our full FBS rankings, falling from 35th to 44th after consecutive regular-season losses in the same season for the first time since 2011. In “The Monday After,” Tom Fornelli says Dabo Swinney and his team are at a crossroads.

Fornelli: “There isn’t one thing you can point to as the fatal flaw here, nor does this seem like an outlier season. While I wouldn’t anticipate Clemson fighting for its bowl life in years to come, its grip on the league has loosened, at a minimum, and may have been lost entirely. … If Swinney wants a quick fix, he’ll have to break character this offseason and utilize the transfer portal. It’s something he’s been allergic to doing until this point, but this approach has undoubtedly played a role in his team’s struggles the last few years.”
In more news on the coaching front, Brian Ferentz will not return as Iowa’s offensive coordinator next season; he will continue in his role through the end of this season. Yes, that kind of makes him a lame duck, but to be honest, his offense has been lame for a long time. The Hawkeyes are dead last in yards per game this year. Per his latest contract, Ferentz needed Iowa to average 25 points per game to keep his job. It was 14% below pace of that goal after Iowa’s to Minnesota.

Iowa ranks 131st in yards per game since Ferentz took over in 2017, but his status on staff was never really challenged because his father, Kirk, is the coach. This move away from Brian is long overdue.

The Philadelphia 76ers are trading James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The Clippers will receive Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev while the 76ers will receive an unprotected 2028 first-round pick, two second-round picks, a first-round pick swap, Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington and KJ Martin. Another first-round pick will be rerouted to the 76ers from the Thunder, Wojnarowski added Tuesday morning. The 76ers are waiving Danny Green to clear the roster space necessary to make the trade.

The deal ends a saga that began in June, when Harden was an impending free agent. Once it became clear that the Houston Rockets preferred Fred VanVleet with their maximum cap space, Harden had nowhere to go and was forced to opt into the final year of his deal with the understanding that 76ers general manager Daryl Morey would eventually trade him.

That trade came slower than Harden had wanted, and in August, Harden responded by saying at a camp in China that “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” Harden ultimately reported to 76ers camp, but now, he gets the trade he seeks, and, in the process, positions himself for the contract Philadelphia was not ready to give him.

Rather than extending the 34-year-old Harden for the long haul, Philadelphia is planning to generate max cap space in the summer of 2024. To that end, they also have not extended young star Tyrese Maxey, though they will be able to retain him next offseason as a restricted free agent without significantly affecting their cap space. The four players that the 76ers acquired in this deal all have expiring contracts, but Tucker did not. At this moment, the 76ers only have two guaranteed salaries for next season: Joel Embiid and the fourth-year option on Jaden Springer.

The Clippers, on the other hand, are so far above the salary cap that they almost have to retain Harden beyond the season using his Bird Rights. They would have no means of replacing his salary slot if he were to leave for nothing, and the new CBA makes it significantly harder to sign-and-trade him elsewhere.

Of course, the Clippers wouldn’t be making this trade if they didn’t expect to keep Harden. Ever since they landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the 2019 offseason, they’ve sought a traditional point guard to make their lives easier on offense. They’ve tried just about every low-end option from Reggie Jackson to Rajon Rondo to Russell Westbrook, but nobody has worked. Harden, who led the NBA in assists last season, would immediately become the best playmaker the Leonard-George duo has ever had, and with the Clippers set to open a new arena in time for the 2024-25 season, they could now potentially bring this star trio into their new building.

But the 2024-25 season is a year away. The goal is to win the championship right now. With Harden, the Clippers would be right back in the mix for the Western Conference crown. The 76ers, meanwhile, will now attempt to regroup and reload before reigning MVP Joel Embiid starts to get antsy. Neither Harden nor Simmons were suitable championship co-stars for Embiid, and now, it’s up to Morey to get it right on the third try.

James Harden was reportedly finally traded to the Los Angeles Clippers early Tuesday morning in a deal four months in the making. Interest between the former MVP and the aging contenders was first established in June, when Harden could have become a free agent but chose to opt into the final year of his deal with the Philadelphia 76ers hoping to get dealt to his hometown team.

It took until the beginning of the season, but Harden got his wish. He will now join Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with the Clippers while the 76ers reload around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The deal has not yet been finalized and there are still details that need to be confirmed, but for now, here is the trade as it has been reported.

Unprotected 2028 first-round pick (via Clippers)
Two second-round picks (via Clippers)
First-round pick from Thunder
First-round pick swap (via Clippers)
Deals of this magnitude are rare during the season, when matching salary and fitting players within roster limits becomes more difficult. But the Clippers and 76ers have seemingly pulled it off, and now it’s time to figure out how both sides did in their massive trade. Here’s how both the Clippers and 76ers did in their long-awaited trade.

Clippers: C-
The Clippers did well on the margins of this trade. Getting P.J. Tucker was enormous. Remember the whole “let the power forward defend Nikola Jokic so the center can focus on playing help” scheme the Lakers popularized in the Western Conference finals? No power forward played that part better than Tucker a year ago. Keeping Terance Mann is a win as well. Someone on this roster needs to be able to push pace besides Russell Westbrook, who probably shouldn’t be on the team when the playoffs roll around if his history of fitting poorly next to Harden holds up. The Clippers probably made the best version of this trade that they reasonably could have made.

But their grade for the deal as a whole comes down to how much Harden ultimately increases their championship odds. The answer, on first glance, is not very much. The notion that the Clippers needed a point guard to organize their offense in big moments is significantly overstated. In four seasons with Leonard and George on their roster, the Clippers have ranked fourth, second, 10th and third in clutch offense. They made the Western Conference finals three years ago with Reggie Jackson as their primary ball-handler. The Clippers have never really had a ball-movement offense, but Harden’s teams never do either. Last season, the Clippers ranked 17th in passes per game while the 76ers ranked 13th. Leonard is the big shot taker on this team. He always will be.

The real value here for the Clippers is Harden’s durability. Clipper lineups featuring both George and Leonard ranked in the 91st percentile in terms of offensive efficiency last season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Remove Leonard and you see a sharp decline down to the 43rd percentile. Remove both and the Clippers fell all the way down to the sixth percentile. Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season and an additional 65 games in three Clippers seasons on top of that. George has missed an average of around 32 games per season as a Clipper. They’re never healthy. Harden is an insurance policy against their inevitable injuries. He is still among the NBA’s best generators of regular-season offense. Aside from the 2021-22 season in which he was traded, no Harden offense has ranked lower than seventh since 2015.

Of course, Harden can only insulate the Clippers against brief, regular-season injuries to Leonard or George. If either is knocked out for the season or at any point in the playoffs, the Clippers are still out of luck. This is especially problematic in Leonard’s case, who has not played in the final Clipper game of any season since the Orlando bubble in 2020. The odds of both Leonard and George making it through six months of regular-season basketball and four playoff rounds is still relatively low.

The Clippers might be better-suited to weather such a loss if Harden solved any of their more tangible issues, but there’s little evidence suggesting he’ll do that. The Clippers have ranked in the bottom-four in fast-break points in Leonard’s last two healthy seasons. Harden’s teams have at times fared well on that front, but largely because his front offices have had the foresight to pair him with a faster guard. Philadelphia ranked eighth last season, but had Tyrese Maxey. Harden isn’t exactly going to inject pace into the Clipper offense. The Clippers ranked 22nd in offensive movement, according to NBA.com tracking data, but the 76ers ranked 28th. It’s not exactly clear what Harden will do when Leonard has the ball. He’s never averaged even two catch-and-shoot 3’s per game. The Clippers are still going to be a slow, isolation- and pick-and-roll-focused offense.

The Clippers probably needed a significant offensive upgrade to justify what they’re giving up on defense here. Harden’s foibles on that side of the ball are well-known, but the more pressing issue here is all of the versatility the Clippers sacrificed. They swapped out two rangy forwards that could capably play small-ball center in Covington and Batum for one in Tucker, and, at 38, Tucker is the second-oldest player in the NBA. Leonard and George can defend guards, but are better-suited on wings. That might not be an option given their current personnel. Harden doesn’t chase opposing guards. Norman Powell is tiny. Bones Hyland is disinterested. Westbrook can get invested in playing on-ball defense against high-profile matchups, but is inattentive off of the ball and his effort is incredibly inconsistent. There are going to be weak spots to attack here.

And then there are the picks involved here. Yes, the Clippers overpaid to build this team when they gave up the world for George. That’s a sunk cost. What gave the Clippers a relatively bright future before this trade was how close they were to regaining control over their future drafts. They owe out picks to Oklahoma City through 2026, but none afterward. In a world in which Phoenix controls none of its picks for the rest of the decade, that’s not half bad. Leonard and George are on expiring contracts. If the Clippers hadn’t made this trade, they could have subtly pulled the plug on this roster if they’d so chosen, taken their lumps for two years and then been right back in the fray with their full complement of first-round picks and the Los Angeles market at their disposal.

That option is gone now. This is their team. For better or worse, the Clippers are now married to a 32-year-old Leonard, a 33-year-old George and a 34-year-old Harden until the wheels fall off. All three will almost certainly sign contracts next offseason that wind up aging poorly. Their rebuilding window has been pushed back even further now that the 76ers control two of their four picks between 2027 and 2030. There is no escape hatch here. The Clippers have to win a championship to justify this trade. The odds of actually doing so are relatively low. The odds of a very grim period beginning a few years from now are exceedingly high.

76ers: A-
The 76ers were, at best, the third-best team in the Eastern Conference with Harden on their roster. They were the No. 3 seed in last year’s playoffs. They were 0-3 in three playoff series against the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown Celtics and lacked the championship pedigree of the newly upgraded Milwaukee Bucks. After back-to-back playoff meltdowns in two postseasons with Harden, it was reasonable to assume that this version of the 76ers were never going to win a championship.

It is also reasonable to suggest that the 76ers have just gone from being the third-best team in the East to being, uh, the third-best team in the East. That’s no certainty, of course. But Maxey is averaging more than 30 points this season. He seems more than ready for primary ball-handler duties. They’ll benefit from that two-for-one wing swap the Clippers will struggle with. Philadelphia is 41-20 with De’Anthony Melton in the starting lineup since acquiring him last offseason, and he is now presumably a full-time starter. Daryl Morey now has some extra chips to seek out an upgrade if he so chooses. Cleveland, New York and Miami have all underwhelmed this season. There is no obvious challenger to the Milwaukee-Boston Eastern Conference hegemony. At the very least, it’s hard to imagine Philadelphia slipping out of the second tier.

The real benefits here are of the longer-term variety. Philadelphia was never going to build a championship team around Harden, but it now has two realistic chances to do so without him in the relatively near future. The likelier path here revolves around 2024 free agency. At this moment, Philadelphia has the capacity to create more cap space than any other team in the NBA. The projected salary cap for next season is roughly $142 million. Embiid is owed $51.4 million. Maxey will have a $13 million cap hold. If the 76ers clear every other player off of their roster as they easily could, they’d be looking at roughly $65 million in space. That’s enough for one max player in any salary bracket with plenty of room to spare on supporting pieces.

The quicker path involves turning around and using some of the assets they just received to find an immediate Harden replacement. The Sixers just got two picks from the Clippers, one of which, as we covered, is a very valuable unprotected pick down the line. They can trade their own 2030 pick and offer a couple of swaps on their own picks as well. Toss in some of their new expiring salaries and they have the chips to land someone reasonably significant. No such player immediately exists on the trade market, but history suggests one will become available soon enough. How does Zach LaVine sound as a long-term running mate for Embiid and Maxey?

No matter what they wind up doing with this newfound flexibility, its mere existence is probably a best-case scenario for a 76ers team that was trending down even before this drama. In the grand scheme of things, isn’t getting assets for Harden now a better outcome than keeping him and losing in the second round would have been? Isn’t this non-championship season better spent spotlighting Maxey as a legitimate All-Star to possible free-agent targets?

If the 76ers had re-signed Harden to a multi-year deal in the offseason or simply kept him and let his contract expire, they may not have had a path to rebuilding a new, stronger contender around Embiid down the line. Now they do. They have a lot of work to do in order to traverse that path, but at least it exists. As ugly as this whole situation was, the 76ers have come out the other side of it in a far stronger position than they would have had they simply kept their aging, declining superstar.

Just as he did with Ben Simmons, Daryl Morey waited, and waited, and waited, for the right James Harden trade package to show up. It happened late Monday night, or early Tuesday morning depending on where you live, when the Clippers sent Robert Covington, Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, KJ Martin, their unprotected 2028 first-round pick (plus a 2026 first-round pick from OKC), and two future second-round picks to the 76ers in exhange for Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev.

I’m going to tell you right now, the Sixers just became a better team without Harden than they were with him, if only because Tyrese Maxey is about to officially explode with Harden out of the way. This was an addition-by-subtraction move for the Sixers even without the awesome package they got back, which is now primed to be repackaged and shipped elsewhere should Morey want to put the pedal down on this season.

He may choose to stand pat. The Sixers are now positioned, if they drop everyone but Maxey and Joel Embiid, to have more cap space than any team on the market next summer. Perhaps Morey won’t want long-term money coming back this year.

Then again, next summer’s free-agent class isn’t star studded. Should the Raptors show interest in dancing for impending free agent OG Anunoby, that would be very intriguing for a Sixers team that still feels just one right piece away from real contention given how good Maxey has looked in Harden’s place.

Through three games, Maxey is averaging better than 30 points, six assists and six rebounds, He’s making half the shots he takes, including a 58% clip on over eight 3-point attempts per game.

He’s been insanely good, and he’s juicing the typically stagnant Sixers’ offense as Nick Nurse has replaced the paint-drying Harden probes and pick and rolls with more cuts and dribble handoffs with Maxey running a free-flowing system that is involving everyone and moving quickly.

Less a week ago, after Maxey picked apart the Bucks on opening night, I wrote the following:

If Morey wants to free his team of the drama and let it move forward with a fair chance of competing with a clear head, there’s a legitimate addition-by-subtraction case to be made here. Harden is still good, but he’s not doing anything anymore, for the most part, that is irreplaceable. He’s surely not the only point guard in the NBA who can score 20 points a night or drag defenders with him and hit a roller or kick to a shooter.

Hell, even at his peak, Harden was never as good a 3-point shooter as Maxey, and he has never offered anything close to Maxey’s full-court, straight-line, or even corner-turning speed.

Against Milwaukee, Maxey put up 31 points and eight assists. He didn’t commit a single turnover. He made three 3-pointers and got to the free-throw line 10 times. He lived in the paint. Drew defenders and dropped short-roll passes to Joel Embiid. Created an ocean of space on his step-backs.

Nobody is saying Maxey is, or ever will be, the force Harden was at his peak (he’ll never be the playmaker that Harden was or even still is today, to say nothing of the volume shooting/scoring). But this had the look of a peak Harden performance, and if you’re playing the “it’s only one game” card, you clearly haven’t been watching Maxey these past three years.

This was a performance in keeping with his immense talent and career trajectory. The Sixers have seen this from him before. A lot, actually. But they’ve never been able to fully utilize, or benefit from, Maxey’s abilities with Harden commanding so much control of the ball and offense.

Doc Rivers, who of course coached Maxey for the first three years of his career, told Bill Simmons as much: “Sam Cassell [former Sixers assistant coach] said it to me all last year: ‘[Maxey is] ready now, but you know, we’ve got two guys.”

Do you know how you fix a two-guy problem? Get rid of one of them. It’s going to require Morey to swallow a little pride and accept what he surely believes to be a lowball offer, but again, it’s addition by subtraction if nothing else. Give this team, and Maxey, an honest chance. They deserve it more than whatever it is that Harden thinks he deserves.

As it turned out, Morey didn’t have to accept a lowball offer. He waited, and he won big. As did Maxey, who now has an uninhibited opportunity to fully blossom into the All-Star player it’s obvious he can be.