James Harden put the Philadelphia 76ers in shambles this offseason by submitting a trade request. Only a year and a half ago, the team pulled off a blockbuster deal to get the 10x NBA All-Star from the Brooklyn Nets.
The Beard doesn’t seem to care about it, since he already wants out of the City of Brotherly Love. But the Sixers haven’t moved him yet, and they reportedly wanted to convince him to stay.
With Harden on board, their championship chances are bigger since Joel Embiid needs a teammate of his caliber to take this team further. However, there would be no turning back on this situation.
Rumor: The relationship between Harden and Daryl Morey is ‘fractured’
One of the reasons many thought Harden could change his mind was because of Daryl Morey’s influence. But according to Shams Charania, they no longer have a good relationship:
(Transcript via Sixers Wire)
“The relationship between James Harden and Daryl Morey the President of Basketball Operations in Philadelphia, it’s essentially severed. It’s essentially fractured throughout this process. There’s no longer that valve of open-minded, open-ended trust that we’ve seen over the course of 692 games that Daryl Morey and James Harden have been together in Houston and in Philly and when James Harden opted in, the decision to work together on a trade, that stemmed from James Harden believing that there was no real intention from the Sixers in giving him a long-term offer as a free agent, and so everyone around the Sixers, they know that he’s been incredibly unnerved about how the team has handled his potential free agency. Especially, last summer he takes a $15 million pay cut in salary to allow the Sixers to go out make moves and make the team better.
So right now James Harden is still where he’s been the last few weeks. He wants a trade and he wants a trade to the Clippers and rival teams that I spoke to in Vegas and now, they still believe that that’s the path for the Sixers to go down potentially, but it’s gonna come down to those two teams engaging and really getting to a potential deal and working on something. We’ve seen how James Harden can come into camp when he’s disgruntled. He did it in Houston to get out of there, and this time around, there’s not that relationship between Daryl Morey and James Harden is nowhere close to being on solid ground.“
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NBA News: Sixers officially sign another backup to Joel Embiid
It’s safe to say Harden will eventually get what he wants at some point, but it could take much longer than what he desires. The Sixers still have the power to get what they demand in return, so it may depend on when Harden’s suitors meet Philadelphia’s asking price.
