James Harden was not pulling his punches.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
Harden knows how to play the media game. He knows how to make bold statements that will lead to huge headlines, get the talking heads talking, and show up in everybody’s Instagram/TikTok/X (or Twitter, or whatever) feed.
What Harden doesn’t always do well is read the room.
His statements and stance combined with 76ers president Daryl Morey’s actions have left the player and the team in a no-win situation. While the rest of the NBA is quiet and on vacation — notice there are no leaks with the Damian Lillard trade request — the Harden/76ers drama comes with its own energy and inertia. It just keeps spinning out of control, not moving towards a conclusion but creating headlines.
It’s going to end ugly for everyone. Harden probably ends up a Clipper, that tends to be how things go, but everyone walks away from this covered in mud.
Harden isn’t going to find the contract he wants on the other side because other GMs have seen the movie and are not paying to watch it in their home. As one front office source (with a team not involved with Harden) told NBC Sports, in Harden’s case the pendulum of player empowerment had swung too far and teams are pushing it back to the middle.
For the 76ers, they are not going to get Harden to change his mind and play nice, nor will they get near the trade package they hoped for the former MVP. However it shakes out it hurts the Sixers’ status as a contender — and will frustrate Joel Embiid, Philly’s ticket to contention. Morey’s No. 1 job right now should be to keep Embiid happy.
None of this is how Harden thought things would go.
What Harden wanted with his trade demand was to have cake and to eat it too — he opted into the $35.6 million on his contract for this coming season while simultaneously demanding a trade out of Philadelphia. Harden wanted to get paid as much as he could this season (there wasn’t more money for him anywhere on the open market) while forcing his way to his desired destination, the Los Angeles Clippers.
Harden misread the room, or at least the market for his services — there isn’t much of one. At least not at the level of his current contract (which Harden believes is too low for his services). And not at the price Morey is asking for in a trade — Morey said he wants a player who can be an All-Star running mate for Embiid, or enough players and first-round picks they can be flipped into an All-Star level player. Good luck with that. Other teams are not interested in Harden as a potential rental in the final year of his contract, not at $35.6 million and with a history of quickly moving on (he’s trying to force his third trade in four years). Once Harden’s flirtation with the Rockets ended (right when Houston hired Ime Udoka), he had no leverage. The Clippers remain engaged on some level and would be happy to have Harden, but they are not going to bid against themselves to land another aging star who wants the ball in his hands. Especially with their own big decisions about a future direction coming up (Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are extension eligible this summer).
Harden misread the room on this request the way he misread Morey a year ago when Harden took a $14.4 million cut in pay to help the team, expecting to be paid back this offseason. Just like when he rejected a three-year, $161.1 max contract offer from the Nets and forced the trade to Philadelphia, where he never saw a max contract offer.
Harden says the lies from Morey are about a lot of things — from working hard to find a trade on down to a promise of Pizza Fridays — but at its core we all know it’s about the money.
Harden has his backers. Remember Chris Paul said of Morey “the GM there in Houston… He may tell me one thing but do another thing. But you just understand that that’s what it is.” Paul gets it can be an ugly business. Kyrie Irving had Harden’s back, as well.
Where do things go from here?
The only certainty is it’s going to end poorly for everyone involved, and likely will not end until October (at the earliest), when training camps open and there is again real pressure on the 76ers (and maybe the Clippers).
Harden will create that pressure. He could choose to hold out, setting up a potential Ben Simmons situation that drags out for half the season while other teams wait for the trade price to come down. More likely (thanks to the CBA), Harden will show up but be such a distraction and nuisance that the 76ers have to trade him. Or, send him home and pay him not to play.
History suggests a trade will eventually happen. It’s the way the NBA works.
Philadelphia’s dream return in a Harden trade is a running mate for Embiid, yet not someone who messes with the more than $30 million in cap space they have next summer. That was a tough needle to thread even before the trade demand. The reality is the 76ers will get less than they want from whatever deal gets made, and if they refuse to take on long-term money that return gets even smaller.
The real concern in Philly should be how Joel Embiid feels about all this — he has already sent his message to Morey that he just wants to win. If this season goes sideways in the middle of Embiid’s prime, he could start to think the grass is greener in Miami or New York or Los Angeles or whatever other team can make a move for him. We’re a long way from that, but know other teams are watching Embiid and waiting.
Harden will get his new home away from Morey, but the days of the Beard getting a max contract appear to be in the rear view mirror — at age 33 and with his history of forcing his way out of town, GMs are not going to go big on money and years. Particularly the years. Harden still has real value on the court — he averaged 21 points and 10.7 assists a game last season, he is still an elite offensive weapon — however, the days of him getting a max contract from any contender are gone.
Harden will not be happy. 76ers fans will not be happy.
But it will generate a lot of bold headlines. Harden still does that at an elite level.
