James Harden trade: 8 players the Houston Rockets could get

Houston Rockets players to target in James Harden trade: 1. Jaylen Brown

Heading into the season not many people would have thought a swap of James Harden and Jaylen Brown would be an even exchange, as Brown wasn’t even on Harden’s stratosphere. It’s not to say that Brown wasn’t a good player, as he averaged 20.3 points on 15.6 shots per game, in addition to making 38.2 percent of his threes, but after all we are talking about James Harden, who is a walking bucket.

Brown was continued to progress throughout the season, as he produced his highest level of play during the Eastern Conference Finals, where he averaged 23.2 points per game and made 50 percent of his threes, which was the best clip on the Celtics. The 24-year-old Brown entered the 2020-21 season with a vengeance, as he clearly worked on his game during the offseason and surfaced as his best version of himself.

Brown has averaged 26.3 points per game, which is ninth-best in the league and has scored the sixth-most points this season. Brown is also fourth in the league in steals and has made a career-best 42.1 percent of his threes.

Brown is under contract long-term, as he agreed to a deal in 2019 that pays him $106 million and keeps him under contract through 2024. With Brown making an annual salary of $25 million and having developed into a star, he presents one of the best returns that the Rockets could get for Harden.