James Harden landing with the LA Clippers could be a good thing for the Utah Jazz

How does the LA Clippers landing James Harden help the Utah Jazz?

The LA Clippers finally landed one of the most toxic players in NBA history with the arrival of James Harden. Harden arrived via a trade that saw the Philadelphia 76ers land Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, a ’28 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks, a ’29 pick swap, and another first-round pick, this time from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

All and all it was, fine. If you want to win now that is. Morris and Martin (Kenyon Martin Jr.), are the best players in the trade, while Batum and Covington are about as done as players as you can be. It’s not a great trade for the 76ers but it gets the headache that is Harden off their team and onto the Clippers.

This sounds great for the Clippers until you realize two things – one, you now have to deal with Harden and two, this now means Russell Westbrook’s fate with the team is up in the air. Westbrook is an up-and-down player emotionally. Sometimes he’s a bit more egocentric than you’d like, but other times he seems sincere, down to Earth, and a genuine team player.

So if the arrival of Harden seems to send Westbrook to the bench, it’s very likely that he won’t take that lightly – but it’s also possible he fully embraces a move to the bench if it’s the best thing for the team. We have no idea. If it goes sour, however, and he is soon released from his contract, the Utah Jazz need to bounce on him.

We don’t know who the Jazz’s point guard of the future is, but we do know who it isn’t; Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker, and sadly, Collin Sexton. Kris Dunn was never in the running, not really, even if we wish he were. So that just leaves Keyonte George.

And George could be that guy. We don’t know. He’s four games into his NBA career, it’d be unfair to pass judgment on him. We do know, however, that he isn’t the point guard right now. If the goal is to win this season, and we’re all told that it is, then the Jazz need to go after someone like Westbrook should he become a free agent.

He’s someone with an incredible amount of potential in the system with the Jazz, and with Horton-Tucker and Clarkson playing a putrid brand of basketball at the moment, someone like Westbrook would solidify some issues that the position has; namely better passing and an improved defensive presence.