Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Wants to Play for the Clippers

[ryguy613]

I don't see Harden has any control here. If the Sixers can't get fair value he'll be forced to play for the Sixers. It would then be in his best interest to play well or risk being even less desirable for anyone to sign. A deal will eventually get done with LA.
If he p

I get that it's widely accepted, but that's just because most players usually take the max amount of money possible. Harden didn't do that in this instance and that is indeed strange. I'm just saying that if you look at the circumstances it doesn't make sense that the Sixers would've offered him an explicit 'secret deal' or some handshake promise to pay him huge down the line.

You cut off my last explanation and maybe it was too long, so here's a more concise one:
a) neither the Sixers nor anyone else was interested in long-term maxing Harden in 2022 (remember he was awful against MIA in the 2nd rd), so why in the world would they promise him they'd do that as a 34 year-old? That would be inexplicable folly
b) the Sixers/Morey had more to lose by Harden taking a one-year paycut than they did to gain--they only gained the right to spend $3m more in MLE money and the right to sign a minimum-level guy in House, and they lost the ability to keep Harden rostered and build around him for 2-3 years (which was their ideal outcome). They would've preferred to lock him up for 3 years and keep things neat
c) it makes sense the Sixers would have said 'we want you here long-term and will work with you on that,' but that's extremely far from 'we will pay you a massive, multi-year max contract for sure'
d) Harden had some other non-financial reasons--1) Embiid was reportedly the one who really wanted Tucker, and Harden could want to do that for/with his guy; 2) he's repeatedly wanted to be credited/acknowledged for taking his pay cut to help the team win, seems motivated to be seen as the good guy there; and 3) same as now, he feels like he's a massively valuable guy and that many teams desperately want and had many options, why not keep things open if the team was giving him that mega-max?

Maybe the most important piece of context here is that we've already seen a lot of evidence that Harden is kind of strange and wishy-washy in his decision-making, and that he's not always clear on his value and leverage. And he didn't have an agent last summer to reign that in.

Well, you write your stance more concisely and I'll write simply reiterate my point. It's not just turning down the money - something you acknowledge is strange then disregard - by declining his player option and taking significantly less, he also gave away much of his leverage for future dealings and so has the Sixers. As he reminds everyone, by doing this the Sixers benefit by bringing in Tucker, you think he did this out of the kindness of his heart and not with the intent of recouping? Signing 1+PO had the obvious intent of signing a longer term deal after a year and for a lot more money. It's the last real 5 year contract Harden can sign before the over38 rule kicks in. If that was not the intent, why would the Sixers and Harden put themselves in this position? I find it amusing really, Philly gave up assets for him (more about the 2 frps with one unprotected) and now they're pinned in by their own contract when Harden picked up his player option and demanding a trade to only 1 team - knowing that any team he goes to won't be able to extend him. Now he has no real trade value. I don't see any reasoning as to why Morey and Harden would want to be in this position if the intent wasn't to sign a longer term deal at the max or close to it.
At this point, I wouldn't want Harden to come back, he's shown he'll become disrespectful and rude to this team mates in the media and will play half heartedly on the court. He's shown he won't back down. Maybe Morey thought he would take less and if that's the case, he seriously underestimated Harden. And poster around here b*** about MU lol

he kinda is p at this point, so i guess a deal will get done

[HotelVitale]

Well, you write your stance more concisely and I'll write simply reiterate my point. It's not just turning down the money - something you acknowledge is strange then disregard - by declining his player option and taking significantly less, he also gave away much of his leverage for future dealings and so has the Sixers. As he reminds everyone, by doing this the Sixers benefit by bringing in Tucker, you think he did this out of the kindness of his heart and not with the intent of recouping? Signing 1+PO had the obvious intent of signing a longer term deal after a year and for a lot more money. It's the last real 5 year contract Harden can sign before the over38 rule kicks in. If that was not the intent, why would the Sixers and Harden put themselves in this position? I find it amusing really, Philly gave up assets for him (more about the 2 frps with one unprotected) and now they're pinned in by their own contract when Harden picked up his player option and demanding a trade to only 1 team - knowing that any team he goes to won't be able to extend him. Now he has no real trade value. I don't see any reasoning as to why Morey and Harden would want to be in this position if the intent wasn't to sign a longer term deal at the max or close to it.

Respectfully, you're still just restating the basic assumption. You're not making any arguments or bringing anything new here, just saying again that Harden wouldn't give up money if he wasn't getting a max in exchange.

To simplify my response even more, the biggest reason that doesn't work in this situation is that this 'secret deal' wouldn't have ever made sense from the Sixers side. No one thought it was a good idea to sign Harden to a 5-year max in 2022--no one--and it's laughable that they would've promised him they'd do that a year later, not for a contract that would run from ages 34-38 on an already clearly declining player.

Hence your assumption might work for Harden's calculations about this, but not for the Sixers. So it's not an adequate explanation. I don't know what else happened and none of us do, but confidently saying that a pretty shaky explanation is the only possible one is a problem. Not even saying this to defend the Sixers or anything, just not a good assumption.

[HotelVitale]

^If you want my best guess about what happened, I think the long-term contract discussions broke down last year (Sixers wanted to give 3 years and Harden wanted more), Harden thought he would easily prove his dominance and value and also look like a good guy this season, and the Sixers decided that was the best outcome that was going to happen that year. Both sides probably thought they could eventually work something out, though the Sixers probably thought Harden would be realistic about his value and Harden probably assumed the team would back up the truck because he's James Harden. Both sides left happy and it only broke down recently when Harden realized the team wasn't bringing that truck around.

Just a guess there, but it's taking into account all sides and all the factors. Don't mind people coming to other conclusions but it has to make sense.

[TheNewEra]

Clippers won’t look to retain him and the longer the sixers drag this out the more the team has to look for another option.

[docholliday99]

Well, you write your stance more concisely and I'll write simply reiterate my point. It's not just turning down the money - something you acknowledge is strange then disregard - by declining his player option and taking significantly less, he also gave away much of his leverage for future dealings and so has the Sixers. As he reminds everyone, by doing this the Sixers benefit by bringing in Tucker, you think he did this out of the kindness of his heart and not with the intent of recouping? Signing 1+PO had the obvious intent of signing a longer term deal after a year and for a lot more money. It's the last real 5 year contract Harden can sign before the over38 rule kicks in. If that was not the intent, why would the Sixers and Harden put themselves in this position? I find it amusing really, Philly gave up assets for him (more about the 2 frps with one unprotected) and now they're pinned in by their own contract when Harden picked up his player option and demanding a trade to only 1 team - knowing that any team he goes to won't be able to extend him. Now he has no real trade value. I don't see any reasoning as to why Morey and Harden would want to be in this position if the intent wasn't to sign a longer term deal at the max or close to it.

Respectfully, you're still just restating the basic assumption. You're not making any arguments or bringing anything new here, just saying again that Harden wouldn't give up money if he wasn't getting a max in exchange.

To simplify my response even more, the biggest reason that doesn't work in this situation is that this 'secret deal' wouldn't have ever made sense from the Sixers side. No one thought it was a good idea to sign Harden to a 5-year max in 2022--no one--and it's laughable that they would've promised him they'd do that a year later, not for a contract that would run from ages 34-38 on an already clearly declining player.

Hence your assumption might work for Harden's calculations about this, but not for the Sixers. So it's not an adequate explanation. I don't know what else happened and none of us do, but confidently saying that a pretty shaky explanation is the only possible one is a problem. Not even saying this to defend the Sixers or anything, just not a good assumption.

Respectfully I am, in fact, I said I would and I'll simplify it even further. You can say what you'd like what the Sixers intentions might have been, but you're making a guess based on you're assumptions on what you would do. Sixers may have, they may not have, they may have used the scenario to get Harden to agree. The truth is neither of us know but looking at the actual events, events you even call strange, you have a top player in the league - and he is still an elite playmaker - willingly giving up money to put himself in a situation that benefitted the team but will ultimately screw him over. That's not a logical move from any top player nearing the end of their careers, not unless there's some assurances of reciprocation. It's no different than what Morey did with CP3. It's no different than the Hawks allegedly calling Pascal's people to gauge his interest of signing an extension if they traded for him. Or the time Lowry took a phone call from the Heat's front office agreeing to a contract - before FA started. Or the crap KL did with Balmer when he was playing on the Raptors. Or Chicago and Ball. None of these are above the board yet these calls and discussions happen every year, all year long. At the moment, Morey is simply doing Morey and it looks like at minimum, Harden was misled, the snake Morey strikes again.

[Clemenza]

Keep him off the Clipps. Stay in Philly

I don't understand this mindset at all. You guys are all in on your current team with no draft picks. Why not take him if you can?

Harden or not, us going deep into the playoffs still relies on Kawhi & PG being healthy for the postseason, period. That's why the deal its feet and isn't a necessity. Its also more about Harden wanting to join the Clipps than the front office actually being interested in him. Harden would be a nice luxury but not a must for this team. Plus he's a one year rental. We would have to resign him at the end of the year not to mention we now faced with extending Kawhi & PG. Who knows what's going to happen on that front.

We just re-signed Russ who's a ball dominate guy and adding Harden sends one of these guys to the bench. Also the league is now flooded with talent. Outside of using first round picks for trades, first round lottery talent will start to become easier to acquire as pick heavy teams like OKC, Utah, and the likes can't add 3-5 new picks to a team every season. Teams are now dumping first round picks from a year ago who still have upside for cheap. Despite gambling away numerous firsts in the PG trade with OKC we're still looking good in the youth and player development side of things

[HardenGoat]

He’s also saying they signed trashy vets even though Embiid specifically asked for one. Like that was meaningless at the time in terms of chip aspirations. He has 20:20 hindsight and a crystal ball apparently

Definitely not what I'm saying, and I feel like we've interacted enough on Sxiers boards to know neither of us would waste time on long posts making useless hindsight points. As the last post says, having the whole MLE ($10m) instead of the tax MLE ($7m) isn't necessarily such a giant benefit that the Sixers would've risked not securing Harden for a few years to do it. The risk-reward there is pretty clear: sure getting Tucker is nice, but is it as nice as signing another nice vet with tax MLE and also knowing that your volatile 2nd star can't walk away next season? At best that's not clear, and yet almost everyone is assuming this is exactly what Morey decided--and that on top of that he promised this same volatile 2nd star a giant contract starting at age 34 that he knew no one had interest in giving him.

It just doesn't make that much sense. Certainly enough reason to doubt that we should assuming it's definitely what happened. (Also doens't make sense that Morey promised they would sign the max deal secretly before FA started, right after the Sixers got fined for tampering.)

It’s not just the 3 million it’s the fact they plucked Tucker away from the Heat by having Harden take less. Please read the speech Embiid gave about Tucker after losing the previous season. The fact is that was the only way they were going to get Tucker. If Harden signed a longer term deal at the time they wouldn’t get Tucker. He wasn’t viewed as just another vet. He was considered the difference maker in a winning team by their franchise player. Now the MVP of the league. You are purposely trying to make it less significant to meet some narrative. You don’t know what Harden asked for in terms of a contract. The fact is Harden has not been looking for huge contracts. His actions show he is looking for a team to go all in on competing by maximizing the talent pool. That includes keeping whatever vets are on the team and not seeing the money he sacrificed walk out the door for vet minimums. Use that money to get better players. I bet he’s more pissed the owner is punting this year to dodge taxes rather than solidify the roster. That’s my opinion. He doesn’t have the years to waste. The reason he didn’t sign a huge contract was to maintain flexibility. That’s the cost.

[HotRocks34]

Speculative LAC depth chart if they get Harden and lose Mann


JH*.....RW.......BH
PG......NP.......AC
KL......___......KB#
RC?.....NB......MM.....KMJ*
IZ.......MP......___


The biggest thing for me will be who plays backup SF? Maybe they dump Hyland and or Morris to help out there (if they don't have to dump them to get Harden).

Now there is talk that maybe PJ Tucker could be traded along with Harden.

https://hoopshype.com/2023/07/21/pj-tucker-mentioned-in-james-harden-trade-talks-to-clippers/

If that happened, then the backup SF situation is likely handled (maybe RoCo is put there and Tucker starts at PF?; RoCo backs up Tucker and Batum plays backup SF?). My guess is Mann and maybe Morris are gone (and/or Hyland).

[bisme37]

This is pretty interesting. I thought about making it it's own thread since it will end up applying to more players but I guess I'll just stick it here for now.

There's a clause in the new CBA that protects teams from players holding out and refusing to play during the final year of their contract. If I'm understanding it, if a player in the last year of his contract sits out for the first 30 days of the season, his contract is voided and he becomes a free agent but can't sign with any other team without the permission of his previous team. So the team could just decide the player's career is over.

Sixers Protected From James Harden Holding Out Due To Obscure Clause In CBA

A report this week indicated James Harden plans to report to camp with the Philadelphia 76ers and additional information Zach Lowe gleaned from the NBA's collective bargaining agreement could explain why that is his position. Harden continues to want a trade from the Sixers with the Los Angeles Clippers his preferred team.

"There's an obscure clause in the collective bargaining agreement that says the following: 'A player who is in the last year of his contract.' Okay, so that's James Harden. He's on an expiring contract," said Zach Lowe on his podcast.

"'Who withholds his playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract shall be deemed', I'm paraphrasing now, 'should be deemed to have violated his contract. Accordingly, such a player shall not be a veteran free agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the team from which the player last played expressly agrees otherwise.'

"I was alerted to that clause by people who would know what it means. And then I checked with other people who would know what it means and I said 'Am I an idiot or does this say he doesn't actually show up, the Sixers, because he's on an expiring contract, can block him in perpetuity from signing in the NBA?'

"And I checked with legal people and cap people and team people and whatever people, and the answer every time was 'Yes. And not only the NBA, any other professional basketball teams means exactly what you think it is.

"So if you just read that, that's why I made the comment about James' quote showing his ass as you put it, because given that reality, if he's not traded, he kind of has to show up and we know what happens if he shows up and he's unhappy because we've seen it over and over again."

The clause Lowe references in the collective bargaining agreement is from Article XI, Section 3.

Players in the NBA have rarely held out while actively under contract and will typically agitate for a trade while ostensibly with the team. Ben Simmons reported to practice with the Sixers in 2021 before he stepped away from the team in their standoff. Lowe also reported this week that Simmons received credit for a year of service for the 21-22 season despite not appearing in any games.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/272573/Sixers-Protected-From-James-Harden-Holding-Out-Due-To-Obscure-Clause-In-CBA

[Wammy Giveaway]

There's a clause in the new CBA that protects teams from players holding out and refusing to play during the final year of their contract. If I'm understanding it, if a player in the last year of his contract sits out for the first 30 days of the season, his contract is voided and he becomes a free agent but can't sign with any other team without the permission of his previous team. So the team could just decide the player's career is over.

So if I'm reading this right, Harden is risking forced retirement to go home to Clippers. That could be what Harden was hinting at in the Instagram post.

A voided contract means it is not considered a buyout, therefore Clippers can get him freely given their 2nd apron situation. They also don't want to give up players who mean too much to them, like Mann for being one of their homegrown picks, Powell for the 2019 Raptors championship connection with Leonard, or Batum for saving his career when it was all but over and Clippers were deemed the place where careers go to die. Oh yeah, Morris, just because of unfinished business from their conference finals run in 2021. Harden would be forced to sign for the veterans minimum though, also a 2nd apron casualty.

What we have here is a loophole the Clippers are hoping to exploit. But they don't have a horse in this race; as a matter of fact, Sixers got the reigns as they have Harden's contract; they call the shots in trade talks, and can actually use the Clipper's losing history against them as a reason for not trading with them, demanding they break up the Leonard-George Dynamic Duo as requirement to getting Harden. But Clippers want to prove the Dynamic Duo is not a failure, although in an ironic way, trading for a third superstar to give them a True Big 3 - er, Fantastic 4 as Westbrook is a superstar by default via regular season MVP - is an admittance of failure with their current Good Samaritan approach (at least neither Leonard nor George got ejected from a game, which I believe will continue this season).

I am now thinking the only way this trade hostage gets remedied is by the Sixers firing Daryl Morey.

[jstross]

Harden can retire for all I care. He has zero leverage.

There's a clause in the new CBA that protects teams from players holding out and refusing to play during the final year of their contract. If I'm understanding it, if a player in the last year of his contract sits out for the first 30 days of the season, his contract is voided and he becomes a free agent but can't sign with any other team without the permission of his previous team. So the team could just decide the player's career is over.

So if I'm reading this right, Harden is risking forced retirement to go home to Clippers. That could be what Harden was hinting at in the Instagram post.

A voided contract means it is not considered a buyout, therefore Clippers can get him freely given their 2nd apron situation. They also don't want to give up players who mean too much to them, like Mann for being one of their homegrown picks, Powell for the 2019 Raptors championship connection with Leonard, or Batum for saving his career when it was all but over and Clippers were deemed the place where careers go to die. Oh yeah, Morris, just because of unfinished business from their conference finals run in 2021. Harden would be forced to sign for the veterans minimum though, also a 2nd apron casualty.

What we have here is a loophole the Clippers are hoping to exploit. But they don't have a horse in this race; as a matter of fact, Sixers got the reigns as they have Harden's contract; they call the shots in trade talks, and can actually use the Clipper's losing history against them as a reason for not trading with them, demanding they break up the Leonard-George Dynamic Duo as requirement to getting Harden. But Clippers want to prove the Dynamic Duo is not a failure, although in an ironic way, trading for a third superstar to give them a True Big 3 - er, Fantastic 4 as Westbrook is a superstar by default via regular season MVP - is an admittance of failure with their current Good Samaritan approach (at least neither Leonard nor George got ejected from a game, which I believe will continue this season).

I am now thinking the only way this trade hostage gets remedied is by the Sixers firing Daryl Morey.

[mg]

I doubt any team really wants Harden let alone allocate a big % of their cap to him under this new CBA. I'm guessing the Clips would take him for a few of their JAG's but doubt they would they give him the bag next offseason when they need to resign both PG and Kawhi.

Harden is good for putting up some regular season stats but is a big zero in the playoffs. His style of play hasn't been successful at all in the postseason. He obviously doesn't take care of his body either. Both fans and front offices have to be tired of his schtick demanding a trade every season. I'm no fan of Morey but there was no other team out there that was going to give him more than the Sixers did last summer. Only a few teams had the money to spend and they were bottom dwellers at the time trying to build thru the draft.

Just go way Harden.

[Deshaun Taden]

It's looking more and more like neither Dame nor Harden will be traded. At least anytime soon. It was a bit of fun entertainment but I think we'll see them both on their respective teams when the season starts. Also neither team will get anywhere. Philly might even shake it up this year and lose in the first round. Portland probably loses in the play-in.

[Pointgod]

This is pretty interesting. I thought about making it it's own thread since it will end up applying to more players but I guess I'll just stick it here for now.

There's a clause in the new CBA that protects teams from players holding out and refusing to play during the final year of their contract. If I'm understanding it, if a player in the last year of his contract sits out for the first 30 days of the season, his contract is voided and he becomes a free agent but can't sign with any other team without the permission of his previous team. So the team could just decide the player's career is over.

Sixers Protected From James Harden Holding Out Due To Obscure Clause In CBA

A report this week indicated James Harden plans to report to camp with the Philadelphia 76ers and additional information Zach Lowe gleaned from the NBA's collective bargaining agreement could explain why that is his position. Harden continues to want a trade from the Sixers with the Los Angeles Clippers his preferred team.

"There's an obscure clause in the collective bargaining agreement that says the following: 'A player who is in the last year of his contract.' Okay, so that's James Harden. He's on an expiring contract," said Zach Lowe on his podcast.

"'Who withholds his playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract shall be deemed', I'm paraphrasing now, 'should be deemed to have violated his contract. Accordingly, such a player shall not be a veteran free agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the team from which the player last played expressly agrees otherwise.'

"I was alerted to that clause by people who would know what it means. And then I checked with other people who would know what it means and I said 'Am I an idiot or does this say he doesn't actually show up, the Sixers, because he's on an expiring contract, can block him in perpetuity from signing in the NBA?'

"And I checked with legal people and cap people and team people and whatever people, and the answer every time was 'Yes. And not only the NBA, any other professional basketball teams means exactly what you think it is.

"So if you just read that, that's why I made the comment about James' quote showing his ass as you put it, because given that reality, if he's not traded, he kind of has to show up and we know what happens if he shows up and he's unhappy because we've seen it over and over again."

The clause Lowe references in the collective bargaining agreement is from Article XI, Section 3.

Players in the NBA have rarely held out while actively under contract and will typically agitate for a trade while ostensibly with the team. Ben Simmons reported to practice with the Sixers in 2021 before he stepped away from the team in their standoff. Lowe also reported this week that Simmons received credit for a year of service for the 21-22 season despite not appearing in any games.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/272573/Sixers-Protected-From-James-Harden-Holding-Out-Due-To-Obscure-Clause-In-CBA

That clause is absolutely wild. Can’t believe the players agreed to it. Holy ****.

[AkelaLoneWolf]

This is pretty interesting. I thought about making it it's own thread since it will end up applying to more players but I guess I'll just stick it here for now.

There's a clause in the new CBA that protects teams from players holding out and refusing to play during the final year of their contract. If I'm understanding it, if a player in the last year of his contract sits out for the first 30 days of the season, his contract is voided and he becomes a free agent but can't sign with any other team without the permission of his previous team. So the team could just decide the player's career is over.

Sixers Protected From James Harden Holding Out Due To Obscure Clause In CBA

A report this week indicated James Harden plans to report to camp with the Philadelphia 76ers and additional information Zach Lowe gleaned from the NBA's collective bargaining agreement could explain why that is his position. Harden continues to want a trade from the Sixers with the Los Angeles Clippers his preferred team.

"There's an obscure clause in the collective bargaining agreement that says the following: 'A player who is in the last year of his contract.' Okay, so that's James Harden. He's on an expiring contract," said Zach Lowe on his podcast.

"'Who withholds his playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract shall be deemed', I'm paraphrasing now, 'should be deemed to have violated his contract. Accordingly, such a player shall not be a veteran free agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the team from which the player last played expressly agrees otherwise.'

"I was alerted to that clause by people who would know what it means. And then I checked with other people who would know what it means and I said 'Am I an idiot or does this say he doesn't actually show up, the Sixers, because he's on an expiring contract, can block him in perpetuity from signing in the NBA?'

"And I checked with legal people and cap people and team people and whatever people, and the answer every time was 'Yes. And not only the NBA, any other professional basketball teams means exactly what you think it is.

"So if you just read that, that's why I made the comment about James' quote showing his ass as you put it, because given that reality, if he's not traded, he kind of has to show up and we know what happens if he shows up and he's unhappy because we've seen it over and over again."

The clause Lowe references in the collective bargaining agreement is from Article XI, Section 3.

Players in the NBA have rarely held out while actively under contract and will typically agitate for a trade while ostensibly with the team. Ben Simmons reported to practice with the Sixers in 2021 before he stepped away from the team in their standoff. Lowe also reported this week that Simmons received credit for a year of service for the 21-22 season despite not appearing in any games.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/272573/Sixers-Protected-From-James-Harden-Holding-Out-Due-To-Obscure-Clause-In-CBA

That clause is absolutely wild. Can’t believe the players agreed to it. Holy ****.

its the last portion that is relevant though. simmons did show up and dogged it and was sent home. so he met the terms of his contract. fat harden could show up and dog it too. its just an unpleasant situation all around

[HotelVitale]

He’s also saying they signed trashy vets even though Embiid specifically asked for one. Like that was meaningless at the time in terms of chip aspirations. He has 20:20 hindsight and a crystal ball apparently

Definitely not what I'm saying, and I feel like we've interacted enough on Sxiers boards to know neither of us would waste time on long posts making useless hindsight points. As the last post says, having the whole MLE ($10m) instead of the tax MLE ($7m) isn't necessarily such a giant benefit that the Sixers would've risked not securing Harden for a few years to do it. The risk-reward there is pretty clear: sure getting Tucker is nice, but is it as nice as signing another nice vet with tax MLE and also knowing that your volatile 2nd star can't walk away next season? At best that's not clear, and yet almost everyone is assuming this is exactly what Morey decided--and that on top of that he promised this same volatile 2nd star a giant contract starting at age 34 that he knew no one had interest in giving him.

It just doesn't make that much sense. Certainly enough reason to doubt that we should assuming it's definitely what happened. (Also doens't make sense that Morey promised they would sign the max deal secretly before FA started, right after the Sixers got fined for tampering.)

It’s not just the 3 million it’s the fact they plucked Tucker away from the Heat by having Harden take less. Please read the speech Embiid gave about Tucker after losing the previous season. The fact is that was the only way they were going to get Tucker. If Harden signed a longer term deal at the time they wouldn’t get Tucker. He wasn’t viewed as just another vet. He was considered the difference maker in a winning team by their franchise player. Now the MVP of the league. You are purposely trying to make it less significant to meet some narrative. You don’t know what Harden asked for in terms of a contract. The fact is Harden has not been looking for huge contracts. His actions show he is looking for a team to go all in on competing by maximizing the talent pool. That includes keeping whatever vets are on the team and not seeing the money he sacrificed walk out the door for vet minimums. Use that money to get better players. I bet he’s more pissed the owner is punting this year to dodge taxes rather than solidify the roster. That’s my opinion. He doesn’t have the years to waste. The reason he didn’t sign a huge contract was to maintain flexibility. That’s the cost.

Think you’re on my side here then. If you don’t think a secret deal was reached last year or some agreement that said ‘we will absolutely pay you a huge amount of money next year if you take less money now’ then you’re falling into my camp. The existence of an explicit ‘secret deal’ that Morey welched on is what I was disputing.

If you’re arguing that Harden isn’t expecting that much $ and the Sixers have still been jerking him around, that’s possible. It feels unlikely to me cuz I don’t think there’s much downside to Morey paying him like $30-35m for a few years, but I wouldn’t argue with you about that interpretation. Also remember that Hardeb opted in before FA started so he didn’t know about Niang and Shake leaving for sure yet (we haven’t heard a whisper about the Sixers needing to dodge tax this year too).

Also I’m a big Sixers fan with a good memory so yes I remember every part of last year’s saga. The Sixers definitely wanted to get PJ Tucker, my point about that was that Harden also wanted him and also wanted to bro up with Embiid, and also wanted to look like a good guy interested in winning and not just maxing his bank account. Just saying that Harden had some reasons for wanting to do the cheaper deal that weren’t just this ‘secret deal,’ small part of the bigger argument against that theory.

[ITYSL]

Harden has some leverage simply because he is willing to show up but be fat and lazy and apathetic and throw passes away just like he did at the end of his time in Brooklyn. And then Philly's hand will be forced somewhat.

[Hook_Em]

The scariest star to have while disgruntled/unmotivated is James Harden. Remember the end of his tenure in Houston? It was all time bad.

[Exp0sed]

Harden has some leverage simply because he is willing to show up but be fat and lazy and apathetic and throw passes away just like he did at the end of his time in Brooklyn. And then Philly's hand will be forced somewhat.

The CBA clause thing is interesting but indeed, it still allows Harden to show up (tehnically) but can't prevent him from dogging it
question is, doesn't a guy like Harden who already pulled this stunt in Houston have clauses regarding say..body fat % or stuff like that?

if he doesn't than the 76ers deserve whatever stunt he's gonna pull on them

[flranger]

All I know if Harden was misled and now in this mess I'm all for it given the **** he's pulled in his career

Karma mother focker