By Mykell Mathieu
It’s been over 72 hours since the Clippers acquired future Hall of Fame guard James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers.
There have been mixed reviews on the deal but the LA Legend is finally back home.
The Clippers are coming off a heartbreaking loss 130-125 to hallway rival the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team now has four days off giving them more then enough time to get their latest addition up to speed.
How smooth will the transition be? Harden’s former teammate with the Thunder and Rockets, Russell Westbrook, wants us to all be patient.
“Give it a break. It’ll be a process,” Westbrook said following the Clippers’ loss to the Lakers on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. “I don’t have the answer. I don’t predict the future. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know, bro. But it’s going to be a process. It’s going to be ups and downs. There are going to be good games and bad games. It’s not going to come together and mesh, and we’re going to be perfectly fine. That’s unrealistic expectations for everybody. The realistic expectations is that it’s going to be a process. I don’t have an answer for what that is.”
Westbrook offered a stark contrast to how Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and the team’s core players addressed that same topic.
All parties including Lue, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard individually brought up the word “sacrifice.” Lue will plan to spend the Clippers’ next few days of practices before Monday’s game in New York to talk with his core players to add more definition to that word. But generally, Lue already said that involves shots and minutes. Though Lue has not yet committed to a starting lineup, here’s a safe bet that Harden’s arrival will most directly impact Westbrook.
It will be very interesting to see the affect this will have on Westbrook who has played really well to start the year.
“I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to compete every night and do my part,” Westbrook said. “I can’t control what other people do. How it meshes, I don’t really know. I don’t have that answer.”
The Clippers will be back to work Monday night in New York and it will be the first look with Harden as a Los Angeles Clipper.
