After 10 days away for what the team described as “personal reasons,” James Harden was back at practice with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday according to multiple reports, including John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
However, Harden will not be on the team plane to Milwaukee and will not play in the team’s season opener against the Bucks on Thursday.
Harden showed up at the practice facility with his bags packed for the trip, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic in some player-friendly spin. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has the 76ers front office spin on the events.
James Harden hasn’t practiced with Sixers since October 15 and plan is allowing him to stay at Camden practice facility and work with team development staff to get the live action necessary to get him playing games once Sixers return from Milwaukee-Toronto trip, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 25, 2023
Harden will “report to practice facility and work with development and medical staffs to get ready to begin season as soon as possible” Wojnarowski added. That implies he will not play in Toronto on Saturday, either.
There were limits to how long Harden could be away from the 76ers, which is undoubtedly part of the reason he is back. Under the terms of the CBA, if a player in the final year of his contract (which Harden is) “withholds services” for more than 30 days, he is seen as not having fulfilled his contract and loses his veteran free agent status. That means he would not be able to negotiate a contract next summer with another team without the 76ers’ approval.
Harden demanded a trade back in July — ideally to the Los Angeles Clippers — but those talks remain stalled. The Clippers want Harden and reportedly have offered one unprotected first-round pick (2028), one pick swap, and expiring matching salary (Marcus Morris and Robert Covington, most likely). Sixers president Daryl Morey reportedly wants Terance Mann in the deal at least — reportedly because he has a trade lined up to flip Mann into another first-round pick — and another pick or swap.
The Clippers are in the market for another playmaker and are more interested in Harden than the Trail Blazers Malcolm Brogdon, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his Lowe Post Podcast. However, league sources have told NBC Sports the Clippers are in no way desperate to make any trade, they want to see what they have to start the season with a healthy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Also, there’s no reason for the Clippers to bid against themselves and up their offer right now.
Meaning make yourself comfortable, the Harden trade saga is not close to ending.
It is unclear if and when Harden might take the court. After the Bucks on Thursday, the 76ers face the Raptors in Toronto on Saturday, then fly home to start a five-game homestand on Sunday taking on the Trail Blazers.
