The Philadelphia 76ers are weighing potential trade options for their perennial All-Star point guard, James Harden. He opted into the final year of his contract a few weeks ago, however, he did this with the understanding that the front office would work to find a mutually beneficial trade for him to leave Philly. It seems though, that Harden never really wanted to be here.
The Philadelphia 76ers were a means to an end for Harden.
Harden has now played for three teams over the last four seasons: the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers. At each stop, he has become unhappy and comes up with excuses to ask out even though he specifically requested to be traded to both the Nets and Sixers. It was not as if he ended up on a bad team or in a place he did not want to go to, these were his demanded destinations.
Brooklyn was a different story as the Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Harden experiment will likely go down in history as the best team that never was. Kyrie decided when he did and did not show up to work and Durant and Harden both battled injuries that accelerated the dissent among three superstars all wanting to be the leader on the team.
Then when Harden got to the Philadelphia 76ers it appeared like a match made in heaven. He was the perfect perimeter player with a top-tier court vision that would help unlock Joel Embiid and take this team to the next level. The former happened as Embiid became league MVP this past season, however, the latter did not and Harden was a contributing factor to that failure. It is important to note he won two games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the Boston Celtics, but he also went MIA in Games 6 and 7, adding to the infamy of playoff Harden.
Harden never wanted to be in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia 76ers traded for Harden in February of 2022 and by December of that same year, he was likely having people in his close circle leaking that there was mutual interest between himself and the Houston Rockets when Harden was eligible for free agency in the summer of 2023. The headline came out of left field and left many in Philly confused about the timing and validity of this report. Why would this news be breaking on Christmas Day and how could Harden not want to be playing for an Eastern Conference contender?
It is not just that Harden did not want to be in Philly; I don’t think he even knows where he does want to be. After spending the majority of his NBA career in Houston, he seemed convinced Brooklyn was the spot for him. Less than a year later, it had to be Philly to play alongside Embiid. And in the last two months, it has swung from passionately returning to Houston to now being nowhere but the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden changes his mind more than anyone I know and I think it has less to do with the Philadelphia 76ers and more to do with Harden.
By the opening night of the 2023-24 NBA season, I doubt Harden will be on the Sixers’ roster. Wherever he lands though, the clock will immediately start ticking on where he will want to go for his next stop again. I hope Harden figures out what he wants because his NBA career is undoubtedly on the back nine.
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