With rumors circulating around the NBA for months that James Harden was torn between playing in Philadelphia or Houston next season, Harden has chosen Door No. 3.
In an unexpected move, Harden has opted into his $35.6 million player option with the 76ers for next season to help facilitate a trade, according to multiple reports. Philadelphia’s spin on how things got to this point comes from Shams Charania at The Athletic.
Take that with a grain of salt. Or maybe a couple of handfuls. While some in the 76ers organization were ready to move on from Harden the sides did talk about the future and his possibly staying with the team. However, with Harden entering his age 34 season, league sources told NBC Sports the 76ers were hesitant to give Harden the years he wanted. There was always a number (dollars and years) Philly would have brought Harden back at, but Harden likely felt he wasn’t being rewarded for the sacrifices he made for the team a season ago. Harden’s camp has played the entire offseason process close to the vest.
Harden cannot be extended by whatever team trades for him, he is a one-year rental and then he will be a free agent for his age 35 season.
The Clippers are suitors, according to multiple reports, with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN also mentioning the Knicks. The Clippers have been looking to trade Marcus Morris and Nicolas Batum — and their salaries combined match with Harden’s — but the win-now 76ers are going to want more than that. Still, this is not a hard deal to put together and easy to understand for an all-in Clippers team bringing back Kawhi Leonard and Paul George (the Clippers could send George to Philly in a trade, too).
I'm told that momentum for James Harden to LA is escalating. Whatever teams are interested... the Clippers appear to have an edge at the moment.
— Law Murray 🥷🏾 (@LawMurrayTheNU) June 29, 2023
Expect wild ideas to fly around in the coming days, with even some three-team Damian Lillard trades getting in the mix.
The Kings would be interested in a one-year test drive with Harden, but if they weren’t going to put all their chips in a year ago on a younger Donovan Mitchell, don’t expect an all-in move now.
This trade puts a lot of pressure on 76ers GM Daryl Morey — what he gets back in this trade will have a big influence on Joel Embiid’s future with the organization. Embiid wants to win now and is in his MVP prime, Harden was Morey’s first big swing at someone to pair with Embiid, and that was a miss. What Embiid thinks of this second swing will be huge.
