This Rockets-Raptors trade sends James Harden to Toronto

Houston Rockets, James Harden, NBA Rumors, Philadelphia 76ers, Nuggets, Knicks
Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Raptors Receive: G James Harden

Houston Rockets Receive: G Kyle Lowry, G Norman Powell, TOR 2021 1st Round Pick, TOR 2023 1st Round Pick, TOR 2025 1st Round Pick (Lottery-Protected)

Any team would have to give up a lot in order to trade for James Harden, especially since he has won the scoring title for three consecutive seasons and is owed close to $130M through the 2022-23 NBA season if he was to opt into his player option. This is the case with the Toronto Raptors, as they would have to trade Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell to make the financials of this trade work. 

James Harden is coming off a season in which he won his third straight scoring title, averaging 34.3 points while shooting 44.4% from the floor and 35.5% from three-point range. He has consistently proven to be one of the NBA’s all-time greatest scorers, but in his 11-years, has yet to win an NBA championship.

Toronto, even though they have started the season 2-7, are a championship caliber team and not only have the players, but the proven coaching staff to be able to make a championship run with Harden calling the shots. 

While they have been a very balanced organization for years now, Toronto’s championship success came by having a “go-to” guy in Kawhi Leonard lead this team on both ends of the court and be “the guy” for this organization. When he left, the Raptors still found success, but come playoff time, they lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell have been fantastic players over the years for the Raptors, but in the end, James Harden gives them the best chance to win now and potentially make it back to the NBA Finals this season. 

The last 6 seasons, Kyle Lowry has been named an NBA All-Star and he has been the leader for the Raptors on and off the court, but his age is definitely something that needs to be taken into consideration for this franchise moving forward. Lowry will be turning 35 years old this season and with Toronto struggling to find success early on in the year, they really need to ask themselves how many more years Lowry can still contribute at a high-level.

This is definitely something that could factor into Toronto pulling the trigger in a trade to acquire James Harden and while they would be giving up a lot of draft assets in the process, Harden is one of the best players in the entire league and can change this Raptors organization for years to come. 

Let’s take a closer look at why exactly this trade would make sense for both the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors.

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