On Tuesday, any ideas of James Harden reconciling with the Philadelphia 76ers were put to rest once and for all. Despite making a public appearance in 76ers gear this month, Harden has been skipping pre-season games and practices as opening night draws near. Apparently, he’s only been to one team scrimmage in 14 days of training camp.
“While professional and engaged when present, James Harden has not attended any of the 76ers’ preseason games and has participated in just one team practice scrimmage over 14 days of training camp,” reported Shams on Tuesday.
Things took a turn for the worst this past summer when Harden expressed outrage at the 76ers over being kept out of the loop on his contract extension. In his eyes, Morey was failing to deliver his promise of a max extension that he rightfully earned as the NBA’s leading assist man last season. Now, it’s an all-out war between the former allies. And while this latest series of events may come as no surprise to some, Harden was actually showing signs of returning to play for the 76ers this season as trade talks began to heat up between Morey and the LA Clippers. As a result, it seems that James may opt to follow his Houston strategy in order to force his way out, and it will have drastic implications for the 76ers.
Harden Could Make Things Ugly For The Sixers
With just a few weeks to go before opening night, the chances of a pre-season trade for Harden are dwindling by the day and it could pressure the 10x All-Star to get his hands dirty. In Houston and Brooklyn, we saw Harden resort to drastic measures to get his way, including showing up to play out of shape, giving minimal effort on the court, and separating from the team to party in the clubs. With all eyes on Los Angeles now, Harden has no loyalty to Philly and one can only imagine what he might be pushed to do if Morey continues to deny a trade.
While the 76ers do have experience dealing with disgruntled stars, the situation with Harden is especially unique. Unlike most trade demands, this one has become personal and Harden has already exposed GM Daryl Morey as a “liar” to the public. At this point, it seems like all bets are off in this ongoing war and if the 76ers don’t resolve this quickly, it could become a major distraction for them throughout the season.
76ers Are In Deep Trouble
Even if James Harden returns this season, it’s unlikely that he’ll agree to re-sign when his contract expires in 2024. This will leave the 76ers with nothing to show for the Ben Simmons trade, and it will leave their franchise player (Joel Embiid) with no co-star to help him carry the load. On his own, Embiid is good enough to win plenty of regular season games for the Sixers and we saw it last season when he led the team to 54 wins while averaging 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 17 blocks per game.
This year, Embiid will have to rely on others, including Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris, to make up for Harden’s absence but it still may not be enough to beat other teams in the East like the Bucks, Celtics, or Miami Heat. Only time will tell how this all plays out in the end, but it’s hard to see how the 76ers can keep up with the field if they keep losing their biggest stars in such dramatic fashion.
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