As a Celtics fan I should definitely be focusing my time on our run but stuff like this helps me get my mind off the stress of these big games and who doesn’t love a fun mock trade?

This mock should be thought of in three ways:

• Blazers trade Lillard for Harden, Maxey, a 1st, and a swap.

• Blazers dump Hardens unwanted contract in a sign and trade to Houston with said swap for Porter Jr/to free cap.

• Sixers dump Harris’ unwanted contract to the Blazers and give them an additional 1st for it.

Why:

• For the Sixers: Time to move on from Harden. Time to offload Harris’ contract. Time to put a real superstar next to Embiid before he enters his early-30s and contemplates leaving. You lose Maxey but along with Dame you also free cap space to build the rest of the roster out and remain a top dawg in the East (and potentially become the best offensive team in the league overnight).

• For the Blazers: The team is going nowhere with Dame. Love his game but by the time they develop any more homegrown players to be somewhat competitive, Dame will be out of his prime. Get yourself a future all-star in Maxey along with a pick and a swap for Dame, take on a bad contract for another 1st on top, and rebuild the team/culture. They’ll virtually be a lock for a top-3 pick for the next few years to continue getting homegrown talent (who is all they can ever get unless they offshore mass picks in a trade).

• For the Rockets: Bring back a guy beloved in Houston who will have his jersey retired one day and make the team somewhat watchable as the young players continue to grow. Porter Jr is just as much a detriment to the young guys development as Harden could ever be and this will still be a cellar team in the West with high picks coming in each year. In a few years, when they development into a competitive/fringe playoff team again, Harden will be on his way out anyway.

Feel free to provide feedback, love talking hoops/trades.