Atlanta Hawks: The pros and cons of trading for James Harden

Atlanta Hawks con No. 3)  James Harden would cost too much to get.

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Harden will come with a massive contract. As it stands he is due $40.8 million this season and $43.8 million next season. The final year of his contract is a player option worth $46.8 million which is a significant portion of the team’s salary cap.

However, on top of this Harden has a 15 percent trade kicker associated with his contract. This means that his contract becomes $46.9 million, $50.4 million, and then $53.8 million in his final season.

To match these salaries, the Hawks would have to give up one or two of Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, or Capela. They would also need to add another player or two on top of this just to match salaries. To get him to the Hawks it would gut their roster.

Atlanta Hawks con No. 4) James Harden has a perceived party lifestyle.

The Hawks also want to have a team leader who is going to guide the younger players both on and off the court.. Harden has been shown to have a party lifestyle even before this season’s issues at the strip clubs.

Looking at this, it seems the cons far outweigh the pros of trading for Harden, The Hawks would be far better off focussing on getting the best result from the John Collins situation, hopefully cleaning up in the wake of the Harden situation.