The James Harden trade talks between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers have been paused, and the situation between Harden and the Sixers has turned into the NBA’s version of a daytime soap opera. Speaking from an Adidas media event in China, Harden said, “Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” He then repeated it for emphasis, as though delivering a climactic revelation in a cliffhanger episode. His performance, while theatrical, may be directed at an unreceptive audience.
Harden opted into his $35.6 million contract for the 2023-24 season and demanded a trade in June, and in July the Sixers said they’d do their best to deal him. This past weekend, however, ESPN reported that trade talks were over and that the Sixers plan to bring Harden to training camp.
Now, with his latest comments, Harden seems to be doubling down and suggesting that he and Morey had a handshake agreement on a new contract extension last offseason, when Harden opted out of a $47 million player option and took a $14 million discount to re-sign, which enabled the Sixers to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. The NBA conducted a tampering investigation and docked the Sixers second-round picks in 2023 and 2024 for early talks with Tucker and House, but from all the confiscated phones and emails, the league found no evidence of an agreement on a long-term contract between Harden and the Sixers.
If Morey truly made a promise, why would Harden start angling to leave two months into last season? Beginning with a Christmas Day leak to ESPN, Harden was playing footsie with the Rockets for a potential reunion in free agency. Who would do that if they felt confident about a forthcoming deal?
All season long, the Sixers weren’t even sure that Harden wanted to stay. Philadelphia’s messaging was that Harden would be rewarded with a new contract if Philly won the championship or made a deep playoff run, since everyone benefits when the team wins. But the Sixers lost in the second round and Harden struggled. Aside from a 45-point night in Game 1 against the Celtics and 42 points in Game 4, in his other nine playoff games he averaged 15.1 points on 14.4 shots, shooting 29.6 percent from 2 and 30.5 percent from 3. It was by far the most disappointing postseason run of Harden’s career.
Throughout the playoffs and in the lead-up to free agency, Harden’s camp tried to begin talks on a new contract with the Sixers, but Philadelphia refused to negotiate until free agency actually began. It’s fair for Harden’s camp to be angry about being left on read when contract talks are so rampant, but the Sixers were sensitive to starting talks early due to their prior penalty. Harden’s off-court antics and on-court decline drove his market value into a nosedive, and the one team he thought would want him didn’t: Houston instead signed Fred VanVleet to $83.6 million over two years with a team option for a third year. So Harden opted in with Philly for the money. And now, Harden’s new preferred destination, the Clippers, aren’t offering anything of acceptable value to the Sixers, so how badly do they actually want him? At age 33 with a million miles on his body, Harden is a fading star that no one else wants to cast. And looking ahead to summer 2024, only the Spurs, Magic, Jazz, Raptors, Pistons, and Wizards project to have significant cap space—and none of those make any sense as potential Harden landing spots.
Harden’s actions—from declining a three-year, $161 million extension with the Nets in 2021, to the Christmas Day leaks about Houston, to the decision to opt in to his contract and then demand a trade—all suggest he’s been misled or misguided. Harden is already on the only team that really wants him, which could actually give him a huge payday next summer and is run by the executive who has long been his most staunch believer. And yet, he’s blowing it up.
Morey and Harden have accomplished just about everything a GM and player could hope for in a long career, except win a championship. At this point, they’re two desperate actors, with Morey trying to maximize the core around Joel Embiid, and Harden hoping to make the most of his waning years. At this point, could Harden stay away from the team as a measure to force a trade?
There’s a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that protects the Sixers from Harden holding out. Will Harden resort to old tactics by loafing through training camp and the start of the season? It could be counterproductive for him to take those measures again, or take any other drastic measures against the Sixers when other teams have long been turned off by these antics. No matter what he does, the Sixers weathered these sorts of storms before, and Morey’s handling of Ben Simmons’s trade request—which ultimately brought Harden to Philly in the first place—suggests he’ll stand firm until the right deal comes along.
“If we do look at a trade, it’s going to be for one of two things,” Morey said last month in an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic. “It’s either going to be for a player who continues to help us be right there like we were last year. Or we’re going to do it for something where we get enough draft picks and things like that in a deal that we could turn those into a player who can be a running mate with Joel Embiid. If we don’t get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we’re just not going to do it.”
This sort of deal doesn’t exist right now. Maybe it will down the line though, just like the right trade came along for Simmons. During the season, maybe a team like the Bulls desires an expiring contract and trades some quality supporting pieces to the Sixers. Harden could then become a buyout candidate, or just play the year out with his new team. Or maybe, the Clippers feel like they have a shot to win it all then make their best offer to the Sixers with a mixture of players and picks.
But the pressure on the Sixers is immense. No matter how things play out with Harden, this could be another year wasted for Embiid. Embiid has been through tanking, drafting busts, a GM running a burner account, a no. 1 pick forgetting how to shoot, a lottery pick with a peanut allergy, acquiring then trading Jimmy Butler, and now a second All-Star demanding a trade. Embiid has turned himself into an MVP, one of the game’s most dominant forces, but the circumstances around him could lead him to becoming another one of the greats to never win it all.
It felt poetic for Embiid and Harden to have a chance to erase those questions about their legacies together. But it’s only poetic in a tragic type of way, something Morey couldn’t have seen coming to this extreme with Harden potentially going all out to make this a miserable situation.
The NBA sent a memo to teams regarding Damian Lillard’s trade demand out of Portland, saying any comments made privately or publicly suggesting Dame wouldn’t play for his new team could lead to discipline. Executives around the league wonder what could be coming next involving Harden if things do get worse. But no matter what stunts he pulls, Harden’s remaining leverage lies in his on-court performance, whether it’s to get out of Philadelphia or sign a lucrative contract next summer.
“If he got the MVP this season I wouldn’t be surprised,” Harden’s agent Troy Payne told the Hidden Gems basketball podcast. “That’s what kind of hunger he has in him right now from the disrespect, the free agency stuff which I won’t really get into … His discipline right now is impeccable. We got a whole month of August and September to get him in the best shape of his career.”
If Harden sticks with Philadelphia to start the season, then new Sixers head coach Nick Nurse will seek to capitalize on the existing synergy between Harden and Embiid, running a load of pick-and-rolls while adding a twist with more motion and movement. Excelling in his role could rejuvenate Harden’s appeal, whether with the Clippers, on a sleeper team, or in free agency. But after he was enabled by coaches and Morey himself to dominate the ball and ignore doing all the little things for years, asking Harden to change now would be like asking a seasoned actor to play a background role.
The Sixers’ cap situation is a looming factor in this saga. A growing number of teams will be hard-capped next summer, and the restrictions on teams above the apron will become even tighter. Philadelphia is one of few organizations that could have cap space or flexibility in trades, so any decisions involving Harden will have consequences for next season too.
“What we’re attempting to do is have the best team possible this year, but also have the ability that, if we get into a next-season situation, to be a very unique team with the most cap room of a team that’s as good as us,” Morey said in his radio interview. “Us being the only team with a top player that a player can join is gonna put us in a very unique situation.”
Embiid is 29 years old and in the prime of his career, so punting on 2023-24 to build for 2024-25 would be unappealing. Not to mention Philly could also strike out in free agency. Right now, Harden’s return appears to be the best option for everyone. Embiid, for one, enjoys playing with Harden, and the Sixers are keenly aware of Harden’s actions and tendencies; Harden has changed agents as often as he’s changed teams, so perhaps he’ll also change his mind on leaving.
For now, the situation is ugly and both sides appear to be digging in their heels. The curtain may have fallen on the trade talks, but the drama is far from over.
