Former Lakers Champion Guard Waived to Make Room in Philadelphia Following James Harden Trade

Full details have emerged in this developing late-night blockbuster deal that will see now-ex-Philadelphia 76ers not-quite-superstar guard James Harden coming west, to join your Los Angeles Lakers' Crypto.com Arena neighbors/nemeses, the L.A. Clippers.

Harden, a seemingly perennial NBA malcontent, infamously opted in to the final $35.6 million-salaried season of his current contract with Philly over the summer while simultaneously demanding to be traded away from the team, after finding a lack of interest for his services in a chilly free agent market.

The Sixers are trading the 10-time All-Star, now 34 and clearly not quite his MVP self anymore, in addition to longtime teammate P.J. Tucker and little-used center Filip Petrusev, to the Clippers. For its part, L.A. is sending Philadelphia its unprotected 2028 first round pick, a future pick swap, another club's future first, two second round selections, and intriguing young wing Kenyon Martin Jr. Those are the quality pieces the Sixers are receiving now, plus the contracts of aging veteran forwards Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, and Robert Covington to make the money work. One would hope that new Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse can get at least one of those three vets, all 33 or older, to recapture some level of their past glory.

Otherwise, from a present-day basketball perspective, reigning MVP Joel Embiid just got James Harden swapped out for... Kenyon Martin Jr., while the Batum/Morris/RoCo group hopes to replace Tucker's output as a key defensive forward piecemeal.

Unfortunately, a beloved former starter on the Lakers' most recent title team, Danny Green was a casualty of the deal. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Green was waived tonight in a related move. Sixers GM Daryl Morey had to accommodate his new influx of veteran forwards somehow, and the 36-year-old Green, on a non-guaranteed contract, was the first to go.

The 76ers are waiving veteran guard Danny Green, sources tell ESPN. Philadelphia needed the roster spot to complete the trade with the Clippers. https://t.co/ZqnoYH5ZiB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023

The three-time champ (with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and the Lakers in 2020) has had a tough go of it during the twilight of a decorated pro career.

Green inked a one-year, non-guaranteed $3.2 million veteran's minimum deal to return to Philadelphia this offseason (only $200K of which was guaranteed), after a pretty epic season away.

He tore the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral cruciate ligament in his left knee during the Sixers' second round 2022 playoff series against the Miami Heat, which Philadelphia would eventually lose. He was flipped to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a 2022 draft night deal, and then was moved to the Houston Rockets at the February trade deadline. The rebuilding Rockets bought Green out of his remaining money so he could be free to join a contender for the season's home stretch. He chose the Cleveland Cavaliers, who initially drafted him in 2009 out of North Carolina with the No. 46 pick.

He didn't do much for the Sixers this season, in his most reduced role since his 2009-10 rookie year. Green never scored a bucket across his lone two games with Philadelphia in 2023-24, averaging one attempt a night. He averaged one rebound, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, in nine minutes minutes per bout.

But don't cry for Danny Green, friends. Even if he never plays in the league again, he's been a starter for the three aforementioned championship teams, has his own hit podcast already, was named an All-Defensive Second Teamer in 2017, and has made $103.6 million on the court over the course of his NBA career.

That said, I do expect him to pop up somewhere, at some point this season, on a team with title aspirations but without quite enough perimeter shooting. Who knows? Maybe an LA reunion is in order.

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