NBA: Seven Teams That Nearly Traded For James Harden In 2012
Toronto Raptors
Finally, we come to the team that I personally find very intriguing when it comes to why they didn’t make the deal for Harden.
According to Chris Broussard and Bill Simmons, Toronto was actually Presti’s first call and he proposed a trade centered around young big man Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas would be shipped to OKC along with Jose Calderon. One of either DeMar Derozan and Terrence Ross would also be traded away in exchange for Harden.
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Surprisingly, Toronto quickly dismissed the proposal and it had nothing to do with the contract they would have to have paid him.
In actual fact, it was the common belief amongst the organisation and some media members that the long-term health of the organization was in much better hands now by keeping Valanciunas.
Looking back, it is almost laughable that the Raptors valued Valanciunas over James Harden. They could’ve had Harden at $80 million from 2012-13 till 2016-17.
But many things never happen how you expect them to so it’s hard to really blame the Raptors
I mean just take the Thunder for example – many predicted them to have won multiple championships by now. Instead, they haven’t even reached the Finals since 2012, in partial thanks to the departure of James Harden.
James Harden changed the fortune of a lot of teams in one offseason. By joining the Rockets, he increased their fortunes but dashed the future hopes and dreams of eight other franchises, including Oklahoma City’s.
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Which trade do you think would have benefited one of the seven mentioned teams the most? Which trade do you think the Thunder would have favored in hindsight?