Golden State Warriors: Would a hypothetical trade for James Harden work?

A Verdict

The biggest drawback of all is that the Warriors as a whole would potentially lose their identity which has partly defined the recent era of basketball. Steph and Klay have been joined at the hip since entering the league for a reason.

They are a perfect match that has helped the Golden State Warriors to three NBA titles over the last decade. They are synchronized. They know where the other player is going to be at all times and they have a certain level of trust in one another that is damn near impossible to replicate.

That is incredibly hard to replace and the Warriors if they were ever to make a deal to send one of Klay or Steph to another team should tread carefully. Harden while an amazing player and one of the leagues best, does not fit what the Warriors do. Harden to be truly effective needs to be the focal point of everything his team does.

He needs the ball in his hands at all times and needs to be the person to dictate the team’s offense. That would not fly on the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors preach an unselfish brand of basketball that promotes numerous players getting touches in the flow of the offense. Yes, players like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson get a lot of touches and in turn get lots of points but the point of the Warriors style of play is to pass up a good shot for a great shot and if Draymond Green has a great shot and Steph a good shot, the ball stays in Draymond’s hands.

The Warriors would be better off staying with Klay Thompson and the second overall pick which could land them another piece on a team-friendly contract or they could use the pick and someone like Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green to land another star who would make the team even better without handing over Klay or Steph.

The Rockets would arguably get better with Klay on the roster as he would promote ball movement and would play defense. So even while the trade seems to be floating around, it would not make much sense for the Golden State Warriors to take a risk on James Harden.