In the brief part of the season before the Clippers acquired Harden this year, George was the best player in the league, leading the league in WS/48. Kawhi was pretty high up there too. Both have plummeted since Harden's acquisition.
The Clippers have put a hat on a hat with this Harden deal. They didn't need to do it, they just needed to continue to see what healthy PG and Kawhi + role players together actually looked like in 2023.