NBA Off-Season News

[Donoghus]

 A real shame that its happening to an organization like the Sixers.....

[Celtics2021]

A real shame that its happening to an organization like the Sixers.....

They all deserve each other, from Josh Harris on down.

[Kernewek]

surprised no one posted this...

https://theathletic.com/4771337/2023/08/12/james-harden-sixers-trade/

Harden trade talks done. so now he is holding out and wont report to camp...

this could get messy

If I'm the 76ers I don't really care. If he shows up fine. They need to go on like business as usual and then file a complaint at the end of the year to expell him.

Agreed.  The Sixers need to focus on developing Maxey.  Next offseason they'll have Harden's and Harris' big contracts off the books.

I think Morey made one great trade for harden and was ahead of the curve on small ball and the value of threes. He hasn’t really had success since then and I don’t think he is anything special. He also seems to now be almost obsessed with harden the last few years and is turning into a jilted lover. Good for the Celtics tho

Harden just called Morey a liar and said he’d never play for an organization with him again. Said it twice. Yikes.

Here’s the video: https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1691039343186456576?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw.

This will get messy.

No doubt - not least because it's quite bold of a man with a belly like that to wear an all-white outfit before a meal.

[SHAQATTACK]

A real shame that its happening to an organization like the Sixers.....

My very very tiny violin is playing softly between my forefinger and thumb .
 

[green_bballers13]

Is James Harden actually serious with that line (that he repeated)? Daryl Morey is probably his biggest fan in the NBA.

People have been groaning about Harden's style of play since he got to Houston a decade ago. He is an aging iso player that doesn't play defense. Why is that worth a max contract? Harden needs better representation. This is self sabotage.

[Kernewek]

Is James Harden actually serious with that line (that he repeated)? Daryl Morey is probably his biggest fan in the NBA.

People have been groaning about Harden's style of play since he got to Houston a decade ago. He is an aging iso player that doesn't play defense. Why is that worth a max contract? Harden needs better representation. This is self sabotage.

If I recall correctly, Harden hires agents/lawyers for contract negotiations but otherwise doesn't have a regular one (this may be an entirely different player, but I seem to remember this being the case).

[SparzWizard]

Embiid should ask out of Philly, further the dumpster fire in the City of Brotherly Love hahaha

[celticsclay]

Embiid should ask out of Philly, further the dumpster fire in the City of Brotherly Love hahaha

It would not surprise me if this happened in the next year. Obviously harden is a big problem in all of this but it is becoming clear Morey has made some Bad miscalculations as well. Also for all his flaws, harden seems fairly well liked by a lot of players (including Embid). I wonder if other players don’t trust Morey any more that is a death knell for Morey as a gm (although ainge has a cutthroat reputation and seems to be doing fine)

[Phantom255x]

As much as I want to clown on the Sixers.... how does Harden even have fans? He's probably one of the most unlikeable guys out there, and legit has more trade requests than anyone else in history lol. Guy is a choker and a loser. Now he'll probably get out of shape again (or put on a fat suit) to facilitate a trade.

[Who]

As much as I want to clown on the Sixers.... how does Harden even have fans? He's probably one of the most unlikeable guys out there, and legit has more trade requests than anyone else in history lol. Guy is a choker and a loser. Now he'll probably get out of shape again (or put on a fat suit) to facilitate a trade.

A fat suit would be so funny. Imagine if someone actually put on a fat suit to force a trade and then just unzipped it once they got their deal and started balling.

Someone has got to do that.

[Who]

Harden continues to want a trade, ideally to the LA Clippers. Harden's camp continues to believe that a trade will materialize ahead of training camp opening.

I don't know what trade Harden thinks is going to materialize.

The market for him sucks.

The opportunities for Philly are in FA next summer. They are not taking back any salary past that point. So only teams that can offer expiring deals back to whatever $30-45mil Harden is earning can make an offer. And Philly do not want to make their team much worse heading ino next season. So they will try and wait Harden out to see how willing he is to lose a whole year's salary rather than take on 2-3 bench dudes in a trade instead of keeping Harden.

This thing should drag on until near the trade deadline.

I do not see what trade can materialize that makes any sense for Philly.

I mean even if Harden is willing to sit out all season or dog it all season for Philly, he will kill his contract value heading into next summer. How is going to command the max then when teams are not even sure if he is still a max player given his age & poor conditioning. This is not a good negotiating situation for Harden.

[Who]

There seems to be some uncertainty as to what Morey's promise was. Was it:

A: Last year, promising to take care of Harden this summer if he took a paycut last year.

B: This year, opt into your contract and we'll trade you somewhere. Win-win. But the offers sucked. So Morey pulled the plug and said no trades. It does sound like Morey may have made this second promise.

Anyway, not sure which one Harden is referring to in terms of Morey being a liar.

[celticsclay]

Is there any chance what harden has said here violates the cba? Seems much worse than a trade demand which players have been fined for

[Celtics2021]

Is there any chance what harden has said here violates the cba? Seems much worse than a trade demand which players have been fined for

I don’t think so, no.  I think the NBA would be as much interested in if whatever Daryl Morey promised Harden that Harden feels lied to about violated the CBA as anything.  Everyone thought their were shady promises made in June 2022 that Morey assured people weren’t made, for example.

[Who]

Is there any chance what harden has said here violates the cba? Seems much worse than a trade demand which players have been fined for

NBA should investigate. If Morey made a promise last summer of a payday this summer, that is a cap violation. A serious one. Like the Joe Smith contract with the T'Wolves where they lost a bunch of first round picks. Maybe 4 in 5 years. Something like that.

However, if it is a softer thing. A softer promise. That Harden extrapolated. Then not a cap violation.

So if Morey says "you take a paycut this year and we'll try to take care of you next year" or "you take a paycut, play well and then we'll give you the long term deal". Navigating that could be difficult. A semi-promise. But no hard figures. Not locked in. We'll "likely" do it but I cannot guarantee sort of thing. That is not a cap violation from my understanding. Teams are allowed do that.

So it would depend on Harden's answers from the NBA investigators and whether they would take his word if there was no other proof to corroborate. I don't know.