[BlueWaffleIronParticipant]

I’ve been mulling over a lot of rosters and a lot of potential 3 team trades for Harden given the demands and the rumors. The only team realistically that seems to have a young asset that might (but seems unlikely given how they started the season, is the Sixers holding Ben Simmons. I don’t think Miami, Brooklyn, Toronto, or Milwaukee has the assets. I can’t see the Nuggets giving up Porter or Murray nor can I see the Celtics giving up Brown or especially not Tatum. Given that the Rockets want to play hard ball and asked the Sixers for Simmons and 3 first round picks this seems to be getting ugly. Contending teams don’t have the assets and non contending teams probably won’t have the assurance that Harden will stay or put them over the top anyway. I think at a certain point Harden may just have to suck it up and get traded somewhere else regardless. The Rockets hold all the cards here given how much time is left on his contract and that’s the reality. Minus a whacky three or four team trade I can only really see one franchise going after him though they aren’t really know for making blockbuster deals anymore, and that’s the Chicago Bulls.

Rockets get:
Zach Lavine
Patrick Williams
Lauri Markkanen
Tomas Satoransky
Bulls 1st Round pick 2021 (projected top 5), 2022 1st round pick, 2023 2nd round pick

Bulls get:
James Harden
PJ Tucker
Danuel House

The Bulls have a lot of room here to potentially swap in or out players like Otto Porter Jr, Thaddeus Young, Coby White, or Wendell Carter. They could get a high draft pick this year plus multiple picks, and established young raising player in LaVine, a potential multi year all star in White, or a guy like Williams who looks like a potential stud. Meanwhile, the Bulls could keep some of their core veterans if they wanted to surround Harden with and will still have more young assets to flip potentially if they keep any of those young guys, or a decent amount of cap space still if they renounce the rights to all their free agents. It might not be what Harden wants but it seems like it could benefit the Rockets long term, and the Bulls short term which seem currently like a team that’s ready to try to get back in to contention after so many down years recently.

What do you guys think? I’d also throw in Atlanta in as another dark horse given a similar collection of young players and assets but I think Chicago beats them by a small bit.

[jmackParticipant]

I have thought about Harden to the Bulls too. I don’t hate it, but I would change it up a bit. Chicago is a big market, going to have some cap space next year, and have a good coach.

If I were the Rockets, I would ask for a few changes to the trade however. Instead of Markkanen, I would ask for Wendell Carter Jr. Better interior defender, which Houston has zero of, and has one more year on his rookie contract. Markkanen is a free agent next year and is going to want to get paid. I would also want to include the Pelicans in a 3-way and move Gordon and the 2023 Bulls pick for Bledsoe. He is boys with Wall and Cousins and Gordon is a 6-3 gaurd who can not shoot the 3. He sucks and is on a bad contract. I would also want the protection taken off the 2021 1st rounder.

Other than that, I do think the Bulls could make a strong offer and should be in win now mode. Good thinking.

[BlueWaffleIronParticipant]

Thats not a bad swap idea either, allows the Rockets to still stay competitive now and push for the future. Thats why I dig this trade idea it seems like theres a lot of options for both teams to play around with. Plus I’d like to see the Bulls competitive and in the East I think Harden could do a lot more.

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