Following yet another disappointing postseason exit in the Conference Semifinals, things went from bad to worse for the Philadelphia 76ers. James Harden, who was reportedly upset at how his free agency was handled, requested a trade, and his relationship with GM Daryl Morey is now fractured, as per Shams Charania.
While the Sixers are trying to honor his request to be traded, they certainly won’t be parting with him for cheap. When asked about Harden’s situation on 97.5 The Fanatic, Morey revealed what he’d want in return for the future Hall-of-Famer.
“If we don’t get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, then we’re just not going to do it,” Morey said, via the Philly Voice. “If James were to turn his mind around, we would all be thrilled. You’ve heard Joel’s comments about that. But at this moment he prefers to be traded, and we are attempting to honor that.”
We do see GMs make statements like these, only to eventually buckle and trade players below their value, but Morey isn’t your average GM. During the whole Ben Simmons saga in 2021, he stubbornly refused to trade him until he got a star in return and he ended up landing Harden.
He was rewarded for waiting for the right deal, but there is one key difference here. Simmons had signed a five-year extension in 2019, so they had him under contract till 2025. Harden is going to be a free agent next year and as time goes by, his value will keep decreasing.
Morey is risking having to part with Harden for an even worse return than the ones being offered now or at worst, for free in 2024. It seems he is just hoping at this point that Harden changes his mind and decides to stay, but that would be a huge gamble on his part.
NBA Analyst Says There Is No Market For James Harden
Another question that comes up here, is just what is Harden’s value around the league? He averaged 21.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 10.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 0.5 BPG in the 2022-23 season, but it is clear he is not anywhere close to being the dominant player he once was.
Chris Mannix reported that there just isn’t a market for Harden at the moment, with the Sixers canvassing the NBA for a satisfactory offer for weeks without finding one. The former MVP wants to go to the Los Angeles Clippers and while the team is interested, as per Mannix, they don’t want to give up a lot to get him. This just seems like a very difficult situation to sort out and it’d be interesting to see how Morey and the Sixers continue to tackle it.
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