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

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Where does James Harden end up?

Rockets
35
14%
Knicks
20
8%
Clippers
121
49%
Blazers
11
4%
Suns
14
6%
Other
46
19%
 
Total votes: 247

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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#541 » by HardenGoat » Tue Jul 4, 2023 3:57 am

___Rand___ wrote:Philly is saying they don't want to trade Harden. Thinks Harden is in his feels and he can be turned around. So not so fast guys.

He should just play for Philly. They could get Dame and have a serious shot at a title. Dame would have won a couple of those games against the Celtics and Embiid will be even more open (Harden too). That’s if there’s enough with Maxey and Tobias plus a couple picks and swaps.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#543 » by NO-KG-AI » Tue Jul 4, 2023 4:34 am

NBA4Lyfe wrote:
MAMBAEMD wrote:
NBA4Lyfe wrote:
Embiid didn’t get along with Brett brown
Clashed with Ben Simmons
Couldn’t win with jimmy butler
No harden wants out

When are people going to start looking at the problem which is Joel embiid is protected and gets no criticism from the media.

Embiid was terrible in the playoffs, and the media is pointing fingers at harden. When harden took the 3rd most shots on the team this year

Read on Twitter
?s=46&t=ewtpPCBRmqGoYot4fCMr4w


I agree.
My point though is that Embiid is the franchise player. He will not be happy if not surrounded by good players. If PHI just gets back expirings, I can’t imagine him liking that


That’s just it, he has been surrounded by great players his entire career.


Embiid gets plenty of criticism, and plenty is deserved. But Ben Simmons is an awful player and a terrible teammate. It's been even worse for him in his other stop, so it's really not some winning point or some kind of "both sides" thing. Ben is way more of a problem than Embiid in every way. He actually sucks at basketball.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#544 » by Johnny Bball » Tue Jul 4, 2023 10:39 pm

How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#545 » by Dan Z » Tue Jul 4, 2023 10:48 pm

Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?


Morey and Harden have had a working relationship for 11 years. I'm sure both of them are talking throughout this process.

My guess is that Morey wants him to stay but is willing to accommodate his trade request.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#546 » by Castle Black » Tue Jul 4, 2023 10:49 pm

Harden teasing a return on IG? Or just trolling fans.

Read on Twitter
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#547 » by the_process » Tue Jul 4, 2023 10:55 pm

Morey: Just take Covington, Morris, Batum, and the 2028 and 2030 1sts for Harden and be done with it.

Enough with having to show the biggest b**** in the room BS. Who f****** cares? Move on, keep the cap clean for next summer, and get everyone on board that this year is just a waiting game.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#548 » by HardenGoat » Wed Jul 5, 2023 4:43 am

Morey is showing the owners hand and it’s a cost cutting one. You let 3 free agents leave, two of which were rotation pieces and signed a vet minimum in Beverly. This is exactly why Harden will leave. He took a paycut to bring in flexibility in acquiring or retaining players and the message is luxury tax savings. Those are salary dumps. Fertitta 101.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#549 » by iggymcfrack » Wed Jul 5, 2023 4:52 am

the_process wrote:Morey: Just take Covington, Morris, Batum, and the 2028 and 2030 1sts for Harden and be done with it.

Enough with having to show the biggest b**** in the room BS. Who f****** cares? Move on, keep the cap clean for next summer, and get everyone on board that this year is just a waiting game.


Which of those pieces will be an asset that Embiid will care about at all? You don’t get one meaningful player and the picks don’t convey until after his prime. At the very least, it needs to be a 3-team deal where the Sixers get assets that will convey during Embiid’s prime even if that package turns out to be what the Clippers send out.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#551 » by M2J » Wed Jul 5, 2023 7:33 am

Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?


He pulls that Houston crap way 34 years old, heading to 35 before his next contract end hell be looking at Westbrook money.

His best bet right now, whether we like it or not is to play 1+1 deals with Daryl for big money until he fully deteriorates. But ownership was not going to allow a 3 year deal
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#552 » by Exp0sed » Wed Jul 5, 2023 11:26 am

Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?


I think ur reading too much into this

Harden wanted a contract the 76ers weren't willing to give him and wanted out as a result, Morey was\is willing to accomodate him but no1 else wants to pay him either so he'll end up staying and he'll be perfectly content doing it..

there isn't a rift here, not with Harden and Morey, not with Harden and his teammates and honestly it's a good situation for him

how did Morey eff him over?

I think he really did want to go to the Clippers but they weren't willing to commit either and bringing back Russ is a no-no for Harden i'd imagine
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#553 » by Johnny Bball » Wed Jul 5, 2023 12:11 pm

M2J wrote:
Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?


He pulls that Houston crap way 34 years old, heading to 35 before his next contract end hell be looking at Westbrook money.

His best bet right now, whether we like it or not is to play 1+1 deals with Daryl for big money until he fully deteriorates. But ownership was not going to allow a 3 year deal


No, he won't. He'll just be traded for far less. That's what happened last time. Why should he ever trust Morey or sixers ownership again?

People saying there isn't a rift here... he took almost 15 million less so they could sign two players and that was predicated on it coming back later. Now he's stuck for a 2nd year at the 15 million less just to get out and go to another team. And people think that's something a player would overlook?
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#554 » by mtcan » Wed Jul 5, 2023 1:10 pm

Harden will never sniff the kind of money he has made up til now...ever again.

He is in his mid-30s, has a well documented record of not showing up in elimination games and has a well documented history of quitting on teams either by requesting a trade/trying hard to sabotage a situation to force a trade.

I get it...he is butt-hurt by having giving given up money to allow the team to add guys but forcing his way out yet again just looks bad.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#555 » by the_process » Wed Jul 5, 2023 1:19 pm

iggymcfrack wrote:
the_process wrote:Morey: Just take Covington, Morris, Batum, and the 2028 and 2030 1sts for Harden and be done with it.

Enough with having to show the biggest b**** in the room BS. Who f****** cares? Move on, keep the cap clean for next summer, and get everyone on board that this year is just a waiting game.


Which of those pieces will be an asset that Embiid will care about at all? You don’t get one meaningful player and the picks don’t convey until after his prime. At the very least, it needs to be a 3-team deal where the Sixers get assets that will convey during Embiid’s prime even if that package turns out to be what the Clippers send out.


Well, he's friends with Covington... but that's not the point of this trade.

The point of the trade is to keep the books clean for 24 free agency. And restock the asset cupboard, which is practically bare.

This coming season is a wash no matter how you want to spin it.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#556 » by HotelVitale » Wed Jul 5, 2023 1:20 pm

Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?

I mean, that’s not totally wrong but you’re skipping all the relevant stuff and also the part where real humans and decisions are involved. Harden on a huge long contract is a terrible idea, absolutely no one disagrees with that. If you think that’s what the Sixers should do right away, go ahead and state that opinion here and see what the response is.

Sixers have long been interested in a smaller one, but before those negotiations even came together Harden felt ‘disrespected’ that he wasn’t given a max. Not sure how you would handle that, but again if the answer is ‘ give him a max or else he might pout!’ then you need to be in this a little deeper.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#557 » by Mickey8 » Wed Jul 5, 2023 1:26 pm

NO-KG-AI wrote:
NBA4Lyfe wrote:
MAMBAEMD wrote:
I agree.
My point though is that Embiid is the franchise player. He will not be happy if not surrounded by good players. If PHI just gets back expirings, I can’t imagine him liking that


That’s just it, he has been surrounded by great players his entire career.


Embiid gets plenty of criticism, and plenty is deserved. But Ben Simmons is an awful player and a terrible teammate. It's been even worse for him in his other stop, so it's really not some winning point or some kind of "both sides" thing. Ben is way more of a problem than Embiid in every way. He actually sucks at basketball.


He gets zero to none criticism from the mainstream media. It is always somebody else or his overblown injuries he hides behind. First was the Australian coach, then it was Simmons and now its the coach and Harden. Embiid is the bum until he proves otherwise. He's the main reason why the Sixers have no team success. Your franchise player should be in front of most of the criticism and he isn't unjustifiably so. Boo that man until he produces when it matters the most.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#558 » by Johnny Bball » Wed Jul 5, 2023 1:28 pm

HotelVitale wrote:
Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?

I mean, that’s not totally wrong but you’re skipping all the relevant stuff and also the part where real humans and decisions are involved. Harden on a huge long contract is a terrible idea, absolutely no one disagrees with that. If you think that’s what the Sixers should do right away, go ahead and state that opinion here and see what the response is.

Sixers have long been interested in a smaller one, but before those negotiations even came together Harden felt ‘disrespected’ that he wasn’t given a max. Not sure how you would handle that, but again if the answer is ‘ give him a max or else he might pout!’ then you need to be in this a little deeper.


I get it. We are just back to but don't promise what you can't deliver is all.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#559 » by M2J » Wed Jul 5, 2023 5:02 pm

HotelVitale wrote:
Johnny Bball wrote:How do you eff over Harden on a contract, make him want to leave, and say out the other side of your face you want him to stay? Morey following the new age playbook of just openly lying.

When he doesn't play hard at all and they are fighting for a playin in December, then they will trade him. Did he not see what happened in Houston?

I mean, that’s not totally wrong but you’re skipping all the relevant stuff and also the part where real humans and decisions are involved. Harden on a huge long contract is a terrible idea, absolutely no one disagrees with that. If you think that’s what the Sixers should do right away, go ahead and state that opinion here and see what the response is.

Sixers have long been interested in a smaller one, but before those negotiations even came together Harden felt ‘disrespected’ that he wasn’t given a max. Not sure how you would handle that, but again if the answer is ‘ give him a max or else he might pout!’ then you need to be in this a little deeper.



We'll never know, but I think he's very wrong. I'm sure Philly was willing to give him 1+1 or 2 years at Max dollars, which could have made up for his $15 million, because his current play isn't worth that. James is delusional to think he would get anything more. Keep in mind it's reported that they didn't discuss dollars prior to Harden opting in, but they wanted him to explore free agency and it was clear Houston didn't want him anymore and him opting in allowed him to explore a trade to teams without cap space.

But Harden wasn't screwed even if you look at the possibility of him taking the 15 million last year. Being able to opt into this $36 million seems to have been a blessing for him... Where else would he have gotten it? Especially considering he actually played better this season than last.
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Re: Woj: Harden Opting into $35.6M Player Option and Demanding Trade from Philly; Clippers Frontrunners to Land Him 

Post#560 » by ryguy613 » Wed Jul 5, 2023 5:39 pm

the_process wrote:Morey: Just take Covington, Morris, Batum, and the 2028 and 2030 1sts for Harden and be done with it.

Enough with having to show the biggest b**** in the room BS. Who f****** cares? Move on, keep the cap clean for next summer, and get everyone on board that this year is just a waiting game.


Well its good to know that Jerry West is active enough online in his old age that he knows how to use burner accounts.

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