James Harden’s time with the Philadelphia 76ers appears to be over. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden is picking up his $35.6 million option, and sides are beginning to work together in exploring trade scenarios.
The Clippers and Knicks are expected to be among the teams that’ll engage with the Sixers on a trade for Harden, according to the report.
Harden, who joined the 76ers before the trade deadline in the 2021-22 season in the deal that sent Ben Simmons to the Nets, signed a two-year, $68.6 million deal with Philadelphia last summer. The deal included a player option in the second year of the contract. He took a deal below market value, which helped Philadelphia sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House last offseason. Harden was looking to win a title with the 76ers, and maybe he no longer feels like that can happen.
Last season, the 33-year-old averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 10.7 assists per contest. In the playoffs, the 10-time All-Star had two 40-point games against the Celtics in the second round, but the 76ers fell short as they lost to Boston in seven games.
Harden still has some juice left and had a solid season with the 76ers. He has an excellent relationship with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, which makes his possible decision to leave Philadelphia very interesting. There were talks that Harden could return to Houston, but that may not be the case now.
How much does the 14-year veteran have left? He clearly is not “Houston Harden” anymore, and he is getting older, so it should be interesting to see how he performs in the future.
NBA free agency begins on June 30 at 6 PM EST. The negotiation period is from July1-6, and all deals become official on July 6 at 12:01 AM EST.
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