Daryl Morey and the Clippers aren’t having happy trade negotiations over James Harden, with Morey being upset with the Clippers for not making Terance Mann available in a deal. This led to Morey flippantly asking the team to send them Paul George instead due to their holding on to Mann.
“Lawrence Frank reiterated the team’s stance that Mann would not be part of their offer. Morey, those people say, expressed his disbelief and accused the Clippers of being ‘unserious’ about getting a deal done. He even quipped that they should just trade Clippers star Paul George for Harden if they were so determined to keep all of their lesser assets — a request that was immediately denied.”
Calling an NBA team ‘unserious’ during a trade negotiation isn’t something you hear very often. To be fair, a lot of things happening with Morey this offseason hasn’t happened with other GMs and their star players, so maybe this is expected.
Blowing up this deal over Mann seems odd, especially since the guard celebrated his 27th birthday today. This isn’t a prized young asset, but he’s definitely a tool the Clippers would want if they’re competing for a title. But wanting Mann alongside James Harden and Russell Westbrook as point guards seems a little odd.
Mann averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 23.1 minutes per game last season.
James Harden Skipping Practices
Harden is settling in to make the start of the season hell for the 76ers organization that has refused to trade him until now. Despite making a public appearance at practice at the start of training camp, Harden has absconded from team activities and hasn’t played in preseason. Whether he plays next week when the season starts is unclear at the moment.
Harden skipped practice today as well, even prompting reigning MVP Joel Embiid to come out and make a comment about Harden.
“I didn’t know if anything was going on because he’s been here,” Embiid said. “He wasn’t here today, so obviously I think he probably had something important to do or something came up. But guys know what it is.”
The passive-aggressive comment makes it clear where Embiid stands in this conversation. He clearly values having a relationship with Harden and possibly getting the assists leader to stay, but he seems pretty done with this situation he has found himself in twice in the last three seasons.
No Room For Reconcilement
James Harden has no interest in returning to the 76ers and repairing his relationship with Morey, one of his closest allies for the majority of his career. With Morey insisting on not wanting Harden on an expensive long-term salary, it seems the broken promises Harden alluded to in the summer have put a strain that their relationship cannot recover from.
“It’s really out of my control. It’s something that I didn’t want to happen, being in this position, but I’ve got to make a decision for my family,” Harden said last week. “I understand this is a business. It’s just as simple as that. I come in here today, work my butt off and do the things necessary as a professional — as I’ve been doing for 15 years.”
Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 10.7 assists last season. He likely won’t be seen on the court in a 76ers jersey this season, making it wise for Morey to deal him quickly instead of upsetting Joel Embiid even further.
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