The Waiting Game Continues For a James Harden Trade
If you’re wondering why the Philadelphia 76ers haven’t traded James Harden since the latter picked up his player option for next season, it’s because the Sixers are willing to play the waiting game to hopefully convince the one-time league MVP to stay in Philly. Unlike other franchises, Philadelphia has shown that they aren’t afraid to go into the season while they wait for a better deal to materialize, rather than flipping assets for cents on the dollar.
That was their approach with Ben Simmons, and it appears to be the same route they’re taking with Harden as well.
Sixers Hoping to Keep Harden?
It’s been several weeks now since James Harden requested a trade from the Sixers. However, the latest reports seem to indicate that the Sixers President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey is in no rush to usher James Harden out of town.
While theoretical Damian Lillard trades have been dominating social media and talking head shows for the last few weeks, all has been quiet on the Harden front. Pictures of Harden bonding with teammates, including Joel Embiid, at lavish parties circulated online, and Embiid himself publicly stated he hoped the former ASU point guard would change his mind about the trade request.
As explained by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “The signals right now are that he will be back with the Philadelphia 76ers…as of right now, with no momentum appearing on a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Philadelphia still needing what [Harden] does without finding a replacement for him, it looks like there’s a pathway for him to come back to the Sixers next year.”
Harden averaged 21 points, 10.7 assists (led the NBA), 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 38.5% three-point shooting last season. In the 2023 playoffs, Harden posted 20.3 points, 8.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals, on 37.8% shooting from three.
However, the Sixers blew a 3-2 series lead in the conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics, and in Game Seven of that series, Harden finished with only nine points on three for 11 field goal shooting across 41 minutes. Last season Harden signed a two-year deal with the Sixers worth $69.6M and can become an unrestricted free agent next year.
With rumours of a potential return to Houston a distant memory at this point, a reconciliation between the two sides appears more likely than not.
Philly Demonstrating Patience
Not rushing into trades is a smart move from the Philadelphia front office. While Harden hasn’t rescinded his trade request, the two camps appear to be working towards an amicable solution. Simply put, Philadelphia is in win now mode, so selling off Harden for picks or prospects isn’t going to keep their window to compete open. Meanwhile, there are no “sure fire” contenders with ample trade assets out there for Harden to jump ship to, in the hopes of capturing his first NBA championship either.
The Clippers appeared to be a potential landing spot for Harden if he were to be traded, but those rumours have largely died down over the last few weeks. But with little in the way of enticing trade chips, and OKC owning virtually everyone of their picks from the Paul George trade, it seemed far-fetched that Morey & Co. would pull the trigger on that deal.
Despite his playoff struggles, the 33 year old remains one of the elite guards in the league today. And while the Sixers haven’t had the kind of deep playoff run their fanbase has been yearning for, they still have the pieces in place to be a top seed in the East year in year out.
If Philadelphia were to trade Harden for future assets, one can safely assume that franchise pillar Joel Embiid wouldn’t be overly thrilled, and could make a request of his own in short order thereafter. And losing both Embiid and Harden would almost assuredly signal a full scale rebuild. One which would see the front office gutted as the franchise opts to hit the reset button.
That future may still be in the cards. But for now, it seems as though it’s at least another year away as Philly attempts to build around their ageing core.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Game Face. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.