NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on James Harden Trade Suitors, Chuma Okeke's Injury
Though it's fair to expect James Harden will be a member of the Houston Rockets for a while, the list of interested teams is ever-changing.
After all, he's an MVP-caliber talent. Players of his ability are rarely available on the trade market.
Harden has a group of preferred destinations, but Houston probably isn't all that interested in satisfying his requests. If the Rockets part with Harden, they will be seeking the best offer available—no matter if the team is on Harden's list.
And the Eastern Conference has been busy.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors have "at least made a courtesy call" about Harden.
That description of the communication is important.
Brooklyn's interest in Harden can seemingly best be classified as limited, while Miami is "no longer engaging" the Rockets, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. For good measure, Windhorst recently said on The Jump the Sixers are "farther away" on a Harden trade than in previous weeks.
Nevertheless, the NBA vultures will continue circling. Windhorst added the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets are also monitoring Harden, who's averaging 37 points and 11 assists in the early moments of the 2020-21 season.
There will be no shortage of teams keeping an eye on his status. Given that, Houston has no reason to panic and drop the asking price. Harden is still under contract through next season with a player option for 2022-23.
If he's absolutely set on leaving, Houston will likely find a landing spot for Harden eventually. But the Rockets—as they should—are patiently trying to extract max value for a superstar.
Elsewhere in the NBA, the Orlando Magic need a different kind of patience as Chuma Okeke deals with another injury.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Okeke has a bone bruise on his left knee and is expected to be out for several weeks. He missed all of 2019-20 because of a torn ACL, but Woj noted this injury showed no damage to ligaments.
While the latter point is reassuring, it's understandable why Orlando might err on the side of caution.
Okeke has appeared in five games this season, providing 3.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists while logging 18.2 minutes. Considering he hadn't played a competitive game in 21 months, Okeke had an encouraging start to the season.
In his absence, the Magic will likely turn to Gary Clark as the backup to Aaron Gordon. Clark averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 24 games with Orlando last season.
