What led to James Harden demanding a trade from Philadelphia 76ers?

As recently as six weeks ago, league sources were telling NBC Sports to expect James Harden to be a Houston Rocket next season. Then the momentum swung and it looked like Harden would return to Philadelphia to play with Joel Embiid. Then Thursday came the bombshell: Harden opted into his final season with the 76ers, but only to facilitate a trade out of Philadelphia.

What changed along the way to produce the wild swings that led to Harden pushing for a third trade in two-and-a-half years?

For months, the talk had been with Houston that owner Tilman Fertitta was one of the backers of a Harden return (as improbable as that sounds). Momentum away from Houston seemed to begin after the NBA regular season ended, but what changed in Houston in that time? Ime Udoka was hired as head coach. From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski appearing on SportsCenter.

I think once Ime Udoka came in as head coach, they started looking at the roster [and] what they wanted to do in free agency. I think Fred VanVleet has moved to the top of the list in Houston.

The Rockets likely will deny this, but the timing seems more than coincidental. They can also argue this is the smart basketball move. The Rockets have impressive young talent — Jalen Green, Kevin Martin Jr., Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün — and a two-way floor general point guard in VanVleet is better suited to lead the team longer.

That may have swung the momentum back toward Philadelphia, but what fell apart there was the expectation game.

This part of the story starts a year ago, when Harden opted out of the $47 million he was owed and blatantly said he told Sixers GM Daryl Morey to sign whoever the team needed so they could contend, and he would take the rest. Philly reached deals with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, then traded for De’Anthony Melton, and when that was done Harden re-signed with the 76ers for $33 million on a 1+1 deal, allowing him to opt out this summer and become a free agent.

The belief around the NBA was Harden and Morey had a “wink-wink” deal where Harden sacrificed last summer to help the team, and Morey would make it up to him this summer. Whether that was explicitly spoken between the two sides or not, Harden believed that was what would happen. Then it didn’t, something Sam Amick reported at The Athletic.

While free agency doesn’t officially begin until Friday evening, a player of Harden’s caliber could typically expect to have some clarity about the incumbent franchise’s intentions long before that time arrives. But in recent weeks and days, sources say, all indications on Harden’s side pointed to the Sixers forcing him to test the market before they would make an offer of any kind. The understandable concern for Harden, sources say, was that Philadelphia was preparing to offer him the kind of short-term, team-friendly contract that wouldn’t come close to reflecting his stature in the league or the level of his current play (he averaged 21 points, a league-leading 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds in the regular season; 20.3 points, 8.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds in 11 postseason games).

Harden’s only strong play was to force a trade to a team that did want him. That team appears to be the Clippers, although with all the twists and turns in the road to get to this point there certainly could be another.

The Clippers (or any team) cannot extend Harden if/when they trade for him. He will become a free agent in the summer of 2024, heading into his age 35 season. And that will be the next saga in James Harden’s well-traveled career.