Getting To Know The Clippers' James Harden Trade Package
Learning about some potential Future Sixers.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
If the Sixers ultimately do honor the trade request made by star guard James Harden last week, one suitor stands out as especially likely to make a deal for the former MVP: the Los Angeles Clippers, who have a bevy of interesting role players to offer, and more importantly, are Harden’s preferred destination.
To learn more about the many Clippers who could soon be Sixers, I chatted with my good friend Robert Flom, the Managing Editor of 213Hoops and cohost of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast. Be sure to follow Rob for any and all Clippers content.
Terance Mann is widely regarded as the Clippers’ most valuable trade asset, as he’s established himself as an excellent role player early in his career. While Mann is already a helpful player, do you think there is more upside that can be tapped into?
Terance was an old rookie, so even though he’s only played four seasons in the NBA, he will turn 27 in October. That said, I think upside varies for each player, and considering Mann has played just 6400 minutes across the regular and postseason I think he has room to grow. Specifically, he’s been a very good three-point shooter across his career, but on very low volume due in equal measure to a slow-ish shot release and overall hesitancy. If he can speed up his release and, more importantly, just be more aggressive in shooting and attacking the rim, I think he could be a true starting-level wing. Per 36 minutes, Terance has been at about 13.5, 6, and 3 the past three seasons, but I think he has a 16, 6, and 4 season in him while maintaining plus defense and excellent efficiency, which would be an awesome player. I doubt he ever makes an All-Star team, but there’s definitely more upside to Terance.
Last time Sixers fans watched Robert Covington on a nightly basis, he was one of the best defensive players in the NBA. How would you characterize Covington’s defense these days as he has aged and dealt with injuries?
Honestly, it’s a bit hard to say because Covington unfathomably played just 779 minutes all of last season and a bunch of those were in garbage time or short stints where he barely got a chance to get his feet under him. But defensive metrics all still love RoCo, and he remains an absolute stocks machine, averaging a ridiculous 1.9 steals and 1.2 blocks per 36 minutes (he was at 1.5 blocks most of the season). His point of attack defense, which was never a huge strength, has slipped significantly, which is one of the reasons Ty Lue didn’t play him much. I’d still say overall he’s a significant plus on defense – his help and off-ball defense remain excellent. He’s probably not a starting-level player anymore but in a 20-25 minute per game role off the bench he’s still quite helpful I think.
Norman Powell is unquestionably a talented scorer on the wing, but he is under contract for three more seasons. How worried are you about his contract potentially aging poorly?
Under the old CBA, not at all. Under the new CBA, paying a large chunk of change (3 years, $57.7M) to a non-star, especially one over 30, is more limiting. Still, Norm is a good player who scored 17 points per game on an excellent 61.2% True Shooting efficiency last year in just 26 minutes per game. His ability to score probably won’t diminish too much over his remaining years – maybe he will get to the line slightly less two seasons from now. I’d be most worried about further slippage on defense, where he’s already bad. He will undoubtedly be overpaid by the 2025-2026 season, but I do think he’ll probably still be a useful rotation player at that time.
Nicolas Batum was about to fall out of the league before having a late-career resurgence with the Clippers. What did Batum do to reestablish his standing as a great role player and how might those things impact the Sixers?
It’s more like what Nic Batum didn’t do to have a late “third career” role on the Clippers. After an injury-ridden 2020 season on an abysmal Hornets team (that resulted in their landing LaMelo Ball), Nico has been fairly reliable for the Clippers, playing 67 (out of 72), 59, and 78 games over the last three years as a Clipper. In terms of on-court performance, however, the key to Nico’s resurgence has been three-point shooting. In his five seasons in Charlotte, Nico had only one year where he shot over 34% from three (after mostly being a very good shooter in Portland). For the Clippers, he’s shot 40.4%, 40%, and 39.1% from three on decent volume. Combine that with Nic’s still effective defense across multiple positions and “connective” style of play and you have a highly useful 3 and D role guy. Nico will turn 35 in December and can no longer be relied on for more than 24 minutes per game on most nights, but he would be extremely helpful as a true two-way forward on the Sixers.
I have long viewed Marcus Morris Sr. as a ball-stopper on offense who is largely harmful to his team outside of his spot-up three-point shooting. Am I off base here, or is it fair to question Morris Sr.’s actual impact on winning?
Followers of mine on Twitter will know I hold zero love or affection for Marcus Morris. However, in his prime, I think he offered a bit more than that – he was a mostly competent big forward defender (though overrated), and could generate some offense for bench units through midrange jumpers. At this point, he’s BBQ chicken on defense and can’t get by anyone on offense, so you’re spot on – he offers nothing but bricked midrange jumpers and ball-stopping on offense unless he’s spotting up. He’s cooked.
Mann is the Clippers’ most notable young player, but they also have two interesting prospects in Amir Coffey and Bones Hyland. Which of those two should intrigue the Sixers more, and why?
Bones. Amir is a solid back-of-the-rotation player and would be useful to a lot of teams as a guy who can feasibly play either wing position, but he’s already 26 and there’s not much upside left to squeeze there. Bones is turning 23 in September, and while he has some attitude (locker room) and decision-making (on court) issues, his ability to shoot the ball from three is incredible. Bones is also an underrated playmaker. If he could just get a bit stronger to help his two-point shooting and defense, I think some of the improved decision-making will come via reps, and he’d be a dynamite player. He’s like a more evolved Terquavion Smith, who dazzled in the Sixers’ first Summer League game.
Thank you so much to Rob for lending his expertise!