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

[Exp0sed]

He is clearly doing Morey a favor by getting pieces for him.

he's not doing anyone but himself a favor, he knows in FA there are only a couple of teams that can sign him to this type of money outright but they are **** teams, he essentially used Houston as leverage to get an opt-in and trade with Philly.

how did he use Houston?

the opt-in is a contract option
he could have either opted in or opted out, what does Houston have to do with it?

[okboomer]

imagine the audacity opting into almost 36 MILLION dollars with your employer and then immediately demanding a trade.

Player EmpowermentTM

he's doing them a favor

if he walks Morey can't do s*** as they are over the cap anyways
sure, if there was a team willing to give him a long term max he would sign there but obviously even Houston is reluctant

this way they can actually get some value
If they manage to wrestle a guy like Mann and a couple of solid rotation players - that's still a very competitive team perhaps even more competitive

if they end up with just salary filler (Morris etc.) and a SRP, it wouldn't matter much but perhaps they could get a good deal from someone

I can totally see Harden wanting to go for a round in California while being assured by Ballmer he'll be resigned over the summer

doing them a favor is perhaps stretching it a bit but him opting in and demanding a trade def serves both parties

I dont really see this as doing them a favor. He is opting in cause all of the teams that have cap space arent ready to win, which apparently he wants to do.

[KHRICH]

Interesting I was told it was Kyrie that made harden want to leave maybe at this point its just Harden this is his 3rd trade request

[mg]

I think Morey will go for a full rebuild. Embiid cannot play any better than this and his supporting cast will continue to get worse

Honestly I think Embiid's supporting cast is better if they can snag Mann and Powell types for Harden. It's not sexy but those guys will go out and compete.

FWIW I don't think Houston has any interest in Harden. They are very smart not to bring him back into their lockerroom that is full of 19-22 yo kids.

[AussieCeltic]

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[AleksandarN]

Let’s get this straight Harden forces his way on the nets which give up all of their depth and picks to get him. Then he does it again and forces his way to Philly giving up a lot of picks now wants to do it again. Man what an exit. Who would want him on a long term deal or give up any draft capital or assets to get him. Brutal

[gigantes]

Wow. Huge hit for Philly.

1674521383601074176

Harden demanding a trade is misleading. I am reading that the 76ers made it clear that they do not want to sign him long-term so there was no choice for Harden except to leave 76ers.

https://us.yahoo.com/sports/james-harden-reportedly-opts-into-356m-option-will-work-with-76ers-on-trade-out-of-philadelphia-205140598.html

Considering how much Morey likes Harden, I'd have to think he'd be willing to sign the Beard reasonably long-term, but certainly not at the salary Harden wants.

In the end I suspect this is probably best for Philly. There's going to be trade competition for one year of the Beard at his opt-in salary, so they should get something decent back. But more than just that, they'll no longer have to worry about a guy clearly on the decline, with hamstring issues.

[xb3at band1tx]

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[WargamesX]

Would Toronto do a sign and trade for Harden for FVV?

[CP3nthusiast]

Philly could've had Haliburton. Morey's love affair with Harden has cost him dearly again.

Haliburton doesn't contribute towards winning, yet... Sacramento got better without him. Philadelphia has championship expectations.

Haliburton through 56 games: 29/5/15 per 100 on 49/40/87 splits, 7.2 BPM, .195 WS/48, 4.4 VORP. Team record with him 28-28 (.500), team record without him 7-19 (.269)

Harden through 58 games: 28/8/14 per 100 on 44/38/87 splits, 5.4 BPM, .188 WS/48, 4.0 VORP. Team record with him: 39-19 (0.672), team record without him: 15-9 (0.625)

[therealbig3]

Dude, is there a bigger cancer than Harden, other than Kyrie? He forced his way out of Houston in a really ugly way, helped blow up the Nets in just a year and a half and forced his way out, went to Philly and underwhelmed badly in the playoffs in 2 straight years and now demands a trade again.

I don't think he's THAT much better than Kyrie either. He's pretty much just as bad. Kyrie actively makes teams worse, like as an actual basketball player, so that's the one thing Harden has over him. But Harden has come up hella short in the playoffs for 2 years now, in addition to his perennial playoff choke jobs in Houston, outside of some random explosions here and there.

Kyrie caused the Brooklyn issues, I dont blame Harden for that.

LOL, Harden definitely played a part, a big one too. He was almost as much to blame for that as Kyrie was.

[AleksandarN]

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Here come fat Harden version 2.0 in Philly

[zshawn10]

this dude called it

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Eh, if your randomly ‘call’ every rumored scenario, you’ll be right sometimes.

This guy is legit; he had news 24 hours before Woj and Shams did. Yesterday he had 9k followers and before it got suspended, he had about 35k followers

[HotelVitale]

Clippers CANNOT send back Mann, Bones or Boston Jr for a 1 year Harden rental with no bird rights. Would be a disaster. They need to keep those guys out.

Harden no bird rights?

Should be fine, from CBA FAQ: "This means a player can obtain "Bird rights" by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination thereof. It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him."

[HotelVitale]

this dude called it

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Eh, if your randomly ‘call’ every rumored scenario, you’ll be right sometimes.

This guy is legit; he had news 24 hours before Woj and Shams did. Yesterday he had 9k followers and before it got suspended, he had about 35k followers

Cool, I guess these stunts work then? Not sure why him gaining more followers shows that he wasn't just reaching or putting out rumors as asbolute facts.

[Exp0sed]

imagine the audacity opting into almost 36 MILLION dollars with your employer and then immediately demanding a trade.

Player EmpowermentTM

he's doing them a favor

if he walks Morey can't do s*** as they are over the cap anyways
sure, if there was a team willing to give him a long term max he would sign there but obviously even Houston is reluctant

this way they can actually get some value
If they manage to wrestle a guy like Mann and a couple of solid rotation players - that's still a very competitive team perhaps even more competitive

if they end up with just salary filler (Morris etc.) and a SRP, it wouldn't matter much but perhaps they could get a good deal from someone

I can totally see Harden wanting to go for a round in California while being assured by Ballmer he'll be resigned over the summer

doing them a favor is perhaps stretching it a bit but him opting in and demanding a trade def serves both parties

I dont really see this as doing them a favor. He is opting in cause all of the teams that have cap space arent ready to win, which apparently he wants to do.

you think Harden cares about winning? whatever gave you that idea?

sure, everyone would rather win then lose but this is Harden we're talking about
the guy who prioritizes strip club and general clubbing over being a real pro and maximising his chances of winning

if he's not happy in Philly on or off the court (probably both) and he can get paid in a place he thinks he might have a better shot at being happier on\off - he'll take it

i'd bet if Harden made a list of his "pros" by order of importance, "winning" wouldn't crack the top 3

[GeorgeSears]

As badly as Harden played against the Celtics, he was still an important piece to the Sixers' success. It's going to be tough to replace him, unless they can get someone like PG in return or try and get two really solid role players to make up for him.

I heard rumors about them going after Fred VanVleet. IMO, he's just not big enough and quick enough at his size, to be anything more than a good 4th option on a championship team. He's more of a scoring PG off the bench, the way Isaiah Thomas was for the Sacramento Kings. Obviously, the Sixers need him to be more than that.

It's an interesting situation to monitor. I would want to get PG.

[Exp0sed]

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Here come fat Harden version 2.0 in Philly

yeah, they're just posturing for the media
they know exactly what they're gonna get if they go that route with him so if really wants out - he'll be out

[TheNewEra]

If the clippers had to give up Paul George it wouldn’t make sense to do the trade.

[jc23]

its weird how his teammates seem to love him yet he jumps ship at every stop. im just gong to assume he picks up the bill at the gentlemen establishments.