The Philadelphia 76ers are not competing for a championship if they trade James Harden
The Los Angeles Clippers, Harden’s preferred destination, have nothing of substance to offer for Harden. No combination of middling, overpaid role players and draft picks you spit out from the Clippers’ roster is going to be enough for Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey to justify a trade.
Morey has been steadfast in saying the team will not trade Harden without receiving an offer that allows the 76ers to compete for a championship this season. Norman Powell, Marcus Morris Sr. and draft picks so far in the future they’re currently attending middle school aren’t getting the job done.
The Heat could be a player, but there’s a reason Damian Lillard is in Milwaukee and not South Florida: Miami doesn’t have much to offer. Unless, of course, the right to pay Tyler Herro $30 million a year floats your boat.
With Morey having nowhere to turn for a blockbuster and Harden seeing his NBA star has dimmed, there’s only one logical solution remaining: Stay together and win.
Harden is well within his rights to be upset with Sixers management.
Last July—back when the Sixers were still in that six-month honeymoon period—the 2018 MVP took a $14 million pay cut to help facilitate the signings of PJ Tucker and Danuel House. The two-year contract gave Harden an out in 2023, when most presumed he would hit free agency and re-sign with the Sixers on a new long-term contract.
Whether Morey promised it or not, multiple sources indicated Harden was under the impression he would opt out and re-sign with Philadelphia on a max deal this summer.
An investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing between the Sixers and Harden but did find the team tampered with Tucker and House.
It’s easy to read between the lines. Harden sacrificed his money to play with friends and negotiated the deal in good faith with a general manager whom he’s known for more than a decade. He trusted Morey to do the thing everyone thought he would.
One issue: Somewhere along the way, Morey realized Houston Harden was not coming back.
This is a different, lesser player who spent most of last season clashing with coach Doc Rivers. Harden failed to make the All-Star team for the first time since 2012 and missed out on All-NBA honors for the third straight season. Then he floundered in back-to-back games as the Sixers failed to close out the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs.
That left Morey with two options: hand Harden the money he expected or risk alienating the future Hall of Famer.
What Morey has never seemed to grasp as a general manager is that all moves are not done in a vacuum. Declining to commit max money to Harden past his 35th birthday is objectively the right call. He’s taken a noticeable step back as a scorer, has never been a great defender and will retire with a reputation as a playoff underachiever.
There is no question there is an objectively correct call here, and Morey made it.
But being objectively right doesn’t always work when dealing with human beings. Harden was Morey’s guy and vice versa. The two were seen as being in lockstep with one another in NBA circles, closer than any general manager and player in the modern era. Morey blew that relationship up because it was the “right” decision.
“James felt like Daryl was ghosting him,” a source close to Harden told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “He felt betrayed.”
Embiid is undoubtedly aware of how Morey turned his back on Harden the second the star started to decline. Tyrese Maxey, who will not be offered the max contract extension he’s earned because the “smart” play is to keep his cap hold low to maximize cap space next summer, is no doubt uncomfortable making $4.3 million when nine figures are on the table.
Other star players will look at the Harden situation—and Morey’s history of cutthroat moves—and rightfully wonder if they can trust him.
With Embiid already sending subliminals via social media all summer, Harden might not be the only one exiting Philadelphia if Morey’s tactics keep backfiri
The only solution, for Morey’s and Harden’s reputations, is to stay in this uneasy marriage.
The Sixers aren’t on the level of the Milwaukee Bucks or Celtics, but they’re the East’s third-best team on paper. They’re one or two good breaks away from winning the conference outright. If Miami’s run to the Finals last season proved anything, it’s that the margin between the top and bottom playoff teams is thinner than ever.
The only way Harden recoups his money is to suck it up and play—and do so well. If he drags his feet and makes life a living you-know-what in Philly, he’s only going to torpedo his own stock.
Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double two seasons ago and now he’s making $3.8 million in his own attempt to revive his value with the Clippers. It does not take long for the NBA to tire of a declining star.
What’s more: Trading Harden makes no basketball or financial sense.
Every Harden trade that’s been rumored would make this season a wash and waste another year of Embiid’s prime. That should be a nonstarter. Harden alone, even in an unhappy and declining state, is more valuable than the group of fundamentally average role players they could get in return.
Morey made this bed. He could have handed Harden the money, made a splashy move with Tobias Harris’ expiring contract and had a roster capable of competing with Boston and Milwaukee.
Instead, Morey chose the sound analytical tact and ignored the human one. The Sixers are in an excellent position with their 2024 cap space if they hold down the fort and ride out this storm. Harden and Tobias Harris are set to come off the books, and Maxey’s cap hold will be low enough that Philadelphia could attract a max-level talent.
The Sixers will also have the option of using Harden and Harris as bait for sign-and-trades. The ship Morey set out to captain is taking on water, but the port to safety is not far off on the horizon.
He just better hope the faith of Embiid and Maxey doesn’t fall overboard in the process
