If you're entering fantasyland, why not: Harden Jimmy Butler Porter Jr Tucker/ Markannen Capela/ DeAndre It's a helluva lot better than the team you flagged!
Forget names. Would you trade second best player ever who actually won against gsw to play with his best NBA friend who happens to be a point god for top20 ever hof iso genius guard with broad history of choking in playoffs?
If I thought we could win a championship by doing that, yes I would. I don't believe we would win a championship with Lebron James and Chris Paul at this stage. I also don't believe we would secure home court advantage in the West. Harden is simply better than Lebron and that has been the case for 2 years now. If Lebron really wants to play with Paul, we can trade Paul directly into their cap space for nothing in return. Then we could send Capela to the Kings for WCS and now we can pursue a Max FA like Butler, Kemba, etc. Plus bring back House and Shumpert. Plus use the room exception to add depth. Plus we still have Gordon, Tucker, Clark and Hartenstein. Let's do it, see where it gets them lol.
If you can trade 2019 Harden for 2012 LeBron, you do that in a second. LMK if you figure out how to pull that one off.
I'd do that . Then keep cp3. Then see if can get Davis to get pelicans to force trade to Houston for Clint , Gordon, fillers, and future picks. But that's a pipe dream .
No. But if the Losers (opps, I mean LOLakers) were interested in Paul, EG, CC or whatever I’d do it in a heartbeat.
3 years ago? Easily yes. Now? Easily no. That's not even a slight on LeBron, Harden has become IMO the best floor raiser in the league rivaling Cleveland athletic prime LeBron. Maybe LeBron dominates more in the playoffs, but Harden guarantees you playoffs and he'd probably be able to do more with this roster.
35 year old Lebron vs. 29 year old Harden? Nope. 29 year old Lebron vs. 23 year old Harden? In a heartbeat.