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

[Flash4thewin]

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That makes almost too much sense. The Bulls get out of that contract and take Harden as an expiring. Helps them tank. The 76ers get something better than the clippers offer.

[ryguy613]

Powell/Maxey combo would be nice as far as perimeter scoring

Sixers should ask for Batum if possible, he would be a very very useful FC partner with Embiid.

If the Clippers give up batum they are signing their own death warrant. he's their small ball centre option and that spot is hard to fill. But I almost expect they will trade him.

You know a lot of productive big men playing into their late 30's?

[Tor_Raps]

Harden isn’t very good anymore. If the Sixers replace him with a two-way guard like Norm while adding another depth piece they’ll easily win this trade.

21/6/11 on 61% ts is not very good?

People confuse "not being good as before" with "not being good anymore"

Harden is still a top 30 at worst and on most days a top 15 player. Good luck replacing that for a team that already couldn't get over the hump lol.

[lonzo_pelota]

Im starting to think the clippers owner is giving out nano wallets with millions in crypto as signing bonuses haha

all jokes aside the 76ers should try to get from under Tobias as well as harden simultaneously.

[jstross]

What is the Bulls offer you're referring too?

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That makes almost too much sense. The Bulls get out of that contract and take Harden as an expiring. Helps them tank. The 76ers get something better than the clippers offer.

[Johnny Bball]

Powell/Maxey combo would be nice as far as perimeter scoring

Sixers should ask for Batum if possible, he would be a very very useful FC partner with Embiid.

If the Clippers give up batum they are signing their own death warrant. he's their small ball centre option and that spot is hard to fill. But I almost expect they will trade him.

You know a lot of productive big men playing into their late 30's?

This is one year only. Lets face it, the Clippers are pushing everything in the middle for one year.

[jstross]

Problem is Harden too up and down in the playoffs. His game 6 and 7 versus Boston were painful to watch.

Harden isn’t very good anymore. If the Sixers replace him with a two-way guard like Norm while adding another depth piece they’ll easily win this trade.

21/6/11 on 61% ts is not very good?

People confuse "not being good as before" with "not being good anymore"

Harden is still a top 30 at worst and on most days a top 15 player. Good luck replacing that for a team that already couldn't get over the hump lol.

[ryguy613]

I doubt Morey will undersell on Harden, specially when he is on a position where he will have to convince a team to pay him next year. If the Clippers wants him, they should be prepared to part with George.

Eh... Sixers have no leverage. Harden has proven that he will sit and / or actively tank your team if you force him to play.

The Sixers can't just waste a season since Embiid's got a very limited shelf life and is also a flight risk as this point in time...

i think its gotta be somewhere in the middle right? I mean, im seeing people basically saying this is similar to the Bradley Beal situation where the sixers have no choice but to just take expiring contracts. The difference is that Phillie is not trying to rebuild so expiring contracts dont help them. There essentially no difference between the clippers expiring contracts and the one that they already have with Harden. They do need to get some actual value for him or they might as well just let the dude sit, and let his money come off the books next year the same way Morris and Roco do.

[ryguy613]

If the Clippers give up batum they are signing their own death warrant. he's their small ball centre option and that spot is hard to fill. But I almost expect they will trade him.

You know a lot of productive big men playing into their late 30's?

This is one year only. Lets face it, the Clippers are pushing everything in the middle for one year.

yes but he was already showing some serious signs of aging toward the end of last season, especially in the playoffs. we're getting into horford territory now. he will give you something good in spots, but expecting a big role from him moving forward is riskier than just moving off of him. if the sixers "demand" Batum in a trade instead of say... Terrance Mann... the clippers would be giddy.

[ryguy613]

Im starting to think the clippers owner is giving out nano wallets with millions in crypto as signing bonuses haha

all jokes aside the 76ers should try to get from under Tobias as well as harden simultaneously.

to what end though? Harris is an expiring contract. Who are they going to trade him for that makes sense? Clippers arent parting with Kawhi or PG...

[PhilBlackson]

I'm not even much of a fan of LaVine's but if PHI can get him for Harden, they should take it.

[Tor_Raps]

Problem is Harden too up and down in the playoffs. His game 6 and 7 versus Boston were painful to watch.

21/6/11 on 61% ts is not very good?

People confuse "not being good as before" with "not being good anymore"

Harden is still a top 30 at worst and on most days a top 15 player. Good luck replacing that for a team that already couldn't get over the hump lol.

Sure but do u think the Sixers will get someone in there that will do better?

Sixers already couldn't get over the hump and now they'll be lucky to get to a game 7 vs the Celtics. They're going backwards instead of trying to go forward.

[PhilBlackson]

Problem is Harden too up and down in the playoffs. His game 6 and 7 versus Boston were painful to watch.

People confuse "not being good as before" with "not being good anymore"

Harden is still a top 30 at worst and on most days a top 15 player. Good luck replacing that for a team that already couldn't get over the hump lol.

Sure but do u think the Sixers will get someone in there that will do better?

Sixers already couldn't get over the hump and now they'll be lucky to get to a game 7 vs the Celtics. They're going backwards instead of trying to go forward.

Let's be honest, this is all about just trying to keep Embiid as long as possible before he inevitably asks out.

You have to get a name back (ie/ LaVine) if you don't want him starting to leak he wants out by this year's deadline.

[SelfishPlayer]

Do you really not understand how asset valuation works in the NBA or are you just **** with me?

Do you not understand how building a team with championship asperation works? Harden contributes towards that. Haliburton absolutely doesn't. Sacramento has improved without Haliburton becoming a playoff team.

76ers are a treadmill team. They won’t win a championship.

No such thing as a treadmill team with a reigning league MVP.

[HotelVitale]

Do you not understand how building a team with championship asperation works? Harden contributes towards that. Haliburton absolutely doesn't. Sacramento has improved without Haliburton becoming a playoff team.

76ers are a treadmill team. They won’t win a championship.

No such thing as a treadmill team with a reigning league MVP.

I disagree on Haliburton (be cool to have him for sure), but yeah the term 'treadmill' has totally jumped the shark if it's including teams like the Sixers.

[HotelVitale]

Im starting to think the clippers owner is giving out nano wallets with millions in crypto as signing bonuses haha. all jokes aside the 76ers should try to get from under Tobias as well as harden simultaneously.

No reason to dump Tobias to a team without huge cap space, he's expiring this year so they'd have to take back as much $ as he makes anyway (which may or may not expire this season). If they move Tobias this year, it's for a talent or fit upgrade.

Problem is Harden too up and down in the playoffs. His game 6 and 7 versus Boston were painful to watch.

21/6/11 on 61% ts is not very good?

People confuse "not being good as before" with "not being good anymore" Harden is still a top 30 at worst and on most days a top 15 player. Good luck replacing that for a team that already couldn't get over the hump lol.

It sucks to lose Harden now and that will definitely create new problems for the team, but yeah he very very clearly wasn't a reliable solution for what the Sixers needed, and I really don't think anyone in Philly thought keeping him around was worth giving him a huge 4-year contract. (Also he didn't look like a top-100 guy in big games the last couple PO--no one's trying to exaggerate or anything, he was clearly that bad.)

Not the end of the world to move him for some lesser talent role players now, then try to get creative with Harris, upcoming cap space, etc. Feels like it at least gives a better shot in 2-3 seasons, when Embiid will still be at his peak and Harden would be turning 36, 37, and 38 and be on a huge contract.

[lonzo_pelota]

Im starting to think the clippers owner is giving out nano wallets with millions in crypto as signing bonuses haha

all jokes aside the 76ers should try to get from under Tobias as well as harden simultaneously.

to what end though? Harris is an expiring contract. Who are they going to trade him for that makes sense? Clippers arent parting with Kawhi or PG...

teams have been getting pennies on the dollar in these superstar trades, they should demand better or atleast get a tier 1 or tier 2 level talent in return or salary dump in addition at the very least either to the primary team or a 3rd team added

[HMFFL]

Im starting to think the clippers owner is giving out nano wallets with millions in crypto as signing bonuses haha

all jokes aside the 76ers should try to get from under Tobias as well as harden simultaneously.

to what end though? Harris is an expiring contract. Who are they going to trade him for that makes sense? Clippers arent parting with Kawhi or PG...

teams have been getting pennies on the dollar in these superstar trades, they should demand better or atleast get a tier 1 or tier 2 level talent in return or salary dump in addition at the very least either to the primary team or a 3rd team added

What superstars have actually been traded?

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[Slim Charlez]

Norman Powell would be the conversation starter for this kinda deal. No deal will happen without him being included.

i would think no deal will happen without both Powell and Mann, but maybe Im crazy. I see a lot of clippers fans on twitter claiming that the deal will get done with like... Morris, Roco, and Batum.

Agree. No chance it gets done without Powell and Mann.

[GSWFan1994]

Here's my take on this situation:

- Harden thought he could strong arm the Sixers into paying him the max. The Sixers didn't want to, so "suddenly" there appeared reports of Harden's interest in returning to Houston. This was just a posturing tactic.

- Months later, the Sixers still didn't want to pay him the max, so he opted in and forced a trade to wherever the hell he wants to be (which, of course, is another contender... these players always want to have the cake and eat it; max money + desired destination).

- Now the Clippers want to get Harden, but don't want to pay anything close to his trade value, which means, not give up either Kawhi or PG. So they end up offering all that spare parts (Powell, 1 or 2 "young guys", **** picks, etc).

- I don't see Morey having none of this, so he will search for a 3-team trade. Lavine makes a lot of sense here. Philadelphia gets the best available player, Chicago gets out of Lavine's contract and goes for a soft rebuild (or more, to be defined), Harden goes to where he wants to.

- This posturing by superstars of signing a contract and then forcing a trade out is despicable, to say the least.