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Bill Simmons floats wild Clippers theory amid James Harden to Cavs speculation
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- Bill Simmons floats wild Clippers theory amid James Harden to Cavs speculation
Bill Simmons floats wild Clippers theory amid James Harden to Cavs speculation appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Recently, the NBA world was shook when Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and Shams Charania of ESPN reported on the Los Angeles Clippers ' sudden trade talks regarding James Harden , with the Cleveland Cavaliers being named as a possible landing spot. A trade with Cleveland would likely land the Clippers point guard Darius Garland , and it seems that no one in the basketball world saw this coming.
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While the prevailing theory seems to be that Harden approached the Clippers about wanting out, recently, Bill Simmons of The Ringer floated another interesting theory on social media.
"Are we sure Harden asked out? Or… Did LAC actually agree to a Garland/Harden trade, then asked a surprised Harden to waive his 15% trade kicker to make it work cuz of Cleve's 2nd apron? Then Harden said 'Fine, but I want an extension.' Cavs said no. So Harden said, 'I'm out!'" wondered Simmpons on X, formerly Twitter.
Fans in the comment section had thoughts on the idea, with one pointing out a problem in Simmons theory.
"Harden is not extension eligible at all. Cleveland can't extend him now, or 5 days from now, or even at the end of the season. Only way to 'extend' Harden is to have him opt-out of his mutual option this Summer and then extend him from there," noted one user.
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"Yes we're sure because this literally cannot occur," joked another.
Whatever the true reason is for the sudden trade talks, it's safe to say that Clippers fans were blindsided by the news, especially considering that the team has been playing some excellent basketball for over a month now, and is slowly climbing the standings in the Western Conference as a result.
While Garland is a solid player who theoretically is just hitting his prime, Clippers fans had generally come to love Harden for his career resurgence in Los Angeles , and the prospect of losing him is not something that anyone saw coming.
Related: Kevin Durant snaps back at fan's James Harden "empty legacy" take
Related: Why Cavs might trade Darius Garland for James Harden, and why it would be a mistake
