Golden State Warriors “tried” to make a move for James Harden

The Golden State Warriors were not in the last few contenders for superstar James Harden, but they did apparently attempt to get in the mix.

James Harden is now in Brooklyn. After being a rival of the Golden State Warriors for several seasons, Harden’s left the Western Conference and turned to team up with former teammate Kevin Durant.

The two played with each other in Oklahoma City where they reached one NBA Finals, losing to LeBron James‘ Miami heat. Harden’s move to Brooklyn forced the Nets to deal a plethora of players include Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.

Numerous picks were also involved as the Rockets look to rebuild their franchise. The start of the team’s collapse came when Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni opted to leave this past offseason. Russell Westbrook was then traded for John Wall.

Harden looked completely uninterested in being the star he had been the previous few seasons, and after scoring 30-plus points per game for three seasons, it was obvious he was disengaged when he put up under 25 per game to start the season.

Harden wanted out, and the Warriors needed an elite two-guard following the injury to Klay Thompson. The Warriors apparently reached out to the Rockets yet no offer was made and nothing ever truly materialized.

“The Warriors tried to make a move on Harden early on, however no official deal was put on the table and eventually the Warriors backed off completely as they lost Harden’s consideration,” Heavy.com’s Tia Hairston wrote.

The Warriors still looking to improve, despite nothing truly coming to life, is important. Golden State still has life in the trade market and could opt to target a player like Bradley Beal later in the season.

Currently sitting at 6-6 and in playoff position, the Warriors have shown with wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers that they have championship potential. They still need more, so to truly be considered one of the best, they’ll need another player.

By not truly targeting Harden, the Warriors won the situation. They didn’t need to mortgage their future on a player that wanted to force his way out of a franchise, especially with Klay Thompson likely to return at full strength next season.

I do not expect a big move from Golden State, at least in the near future. It doesn’t seem like anything with Harden truly made sense, one reason they didn’t give everything they had for the superstar.

That said, it’ll be interesting if this team turns to the free agency market to find more talent or if they continue to engage in trade talks with big-name stars.