The Philadelphia 76ers have decided to end trade talks for James Harden and plan to bring him to training camp, CBS Sports' Bill Reiter confirmed. Harden had requested a trade earlier this offseason, and the Sixers had discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers, his preferred destination, but could not find a worthwhile deal.
Harden decided to pick up his $35.6 million player option on June 29, just ahead of free agency, but did so while simultaneously asking for a trade. If he had become an unrestricted free agent, he may not have gotten such a big annual payday, but now that the Sixers have pulled the plug on trade talks he could be stuck in Philadelphia for one more season.
While star players' trade requests are usually honored, it's not surprising to see the Sixers standing firm given Daryl Morey's history. Ironically, the reason the Sixers have Harden is because Morey was extremely patient with the Ben Simmons situation and didn't panic and take the first half-decent offer. It's clear they'll be following the same playbook this time around.
"I think James is a very good player and right now, unfortunately, he does prefer to be somewhere else," Morey said during an interview with local Philadelphia radio station 97.5 The Fanatic in July. "I'm attempting to honor that, but the reality is, if we do look at a trade, it's going to be for one of two things. 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] as well.
"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."
When you look specifically at the Clippers' roster, there's no deal that makes sense for them and fits Morey's requirements. Swapping Paul George or Kawhi Leonard for Harden doesn't get them any closer to a title, and they don't have enough young players and picks to pique the Sixers' interest. Unless something drastic happens on either side, it's hard to see a deal between the teams ever happening.
As for a deal with another team, it's possible but doesn't seem super likely given Morey's requirements. Finding a team willing to pay that price for a soon-to-be 34-year-old Harden in the final year of his contract will be difficult -- even more so if there's no guarantee that he would re-sign with said team.
The risk for the Sixers with their hard-ball strategy is that Harden shows up to camp out of shape and mopes through the opening weeks of the season in an attempt to force their hand, as he's done to other organizations. That could very easily lead to them wasting another year of Joel Embiid's prime.
The upside is that Harden realizes he has a chance to win in Philadelphia and acts like a professional, and the Sixers continue to have one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They were one win away from the conference finals last season, and with Embiid and Harden would once again be in the mix to possibly get to the Finals if things break their way.
Whatever happens over the next months, this is going to be a fascinating situation to follow.
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