Rockets: 3 trades that would send James Harden to the Celtics

1. Celtics send Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis, draft pick to Rockets

In this trade proposal, the Rockets wouldn’t get back as much draft capital as the previous two, because they would get back another big man in Daniel Theis, in addition to the aforementioned Brown and Smart. To make this deal work financially, the Rockets would have to include Danuel House, which they’d gladly do for the haul they would get back from the Celtics.

In Brown, the Rockets would have their young cornerstone, who is still developing and improving, as evident by the tear that he’s been on this season. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Brown has the size to play guard or forward, and at 24, he and the newly signed Christian Wood, who just turned 25-years-old, would provide the Rockets with two young building blocks for the future.

Brown has turned himself into one of the best 3-point shooters in the league in the early 2020-21 season, as he’s shooting a scorching 42.1 percent from deep, on 5.7 attempts per game. Brown is also averaging 6.2 rebounds and a career-best 3.5 assists, while also posting 62.6 percent true shooting.

In Smart, the Houston Rockets would be getting a tenacious defender who has become a steady contributor on the offensive end, as he averaged 12.9 points in 2019-20 and is currently averaging 12.2 points this season. Smart has improved from long-range throughout his career, as he made just 29 percent of his threes through his first four seasons in the league, but has made 35.5 percent of his 3-point attempts through the last three seasons.

Smart has been named 1st-Team All-Defense in each of the last two seasons, and is currently averaging 6.4 assists, which ranks 11th in the league. For Boston, they would get back the best player of the deal in Harden, and it’s been said that the team that acquires the best player in a trade almost always wins the deal.

The Celtics would also have a trio of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Harden, which would catapult them to the best team in the Eastern Conference. This deal figures to be win-win for both sides.