Sixers Fans Better Buckle up, Daryl Morey Ain’t Trading Harden For a Bag of Chips
Despite recent comments, it appears that James Harden will remain a Sixer well into the season. While Harden has a history of refusing to show up when requesting a trade, like he did with the Houston Rockets, that doesn’t appear to be possible here. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, any player who “withholds playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract” could be prohibited from entering free agency due to being considered to be in violation of his contract.
It's also unclear if Harden would actually want to go this route as he has recently built somewhat of a reputation as a team quitter. While Harden has already cemented his legacy as both one of the greatest NBA scorers and playmakers of all time, he has yet to win in the playoffs or prove himself as someone that elevates a teams performance down the stretch of the playoffs. Despite carrying the Rockets in a neck-and-neck seven-game series, they lost against the Kevin Durant Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
In fact, when comparing Ben Simmons’ fourth quarter scoring in games five through seven against the Atlanta Hawks, to Harden's fourth quarter scoring in games five through seven against the Celtics, Simmons actually outscored Harden 5-0. While Harden wasn’t the on court liability that Simmons was, all Simmons points came on free throw attempts due to Atlanta’s “Hack a Shaq(Simmons)” strategy, it certainly doesn’t show a player relentlessly seeking to help his team advance.
Furthermore, Daryl Morey is no stranger to locking in and refusing to relent until he gets exactly what he wants. In 2017, Morey was able to convince Chris Paul to opt into his deal to complete a sign and trade with the Clippers. Just over two years ago, Morey told Ben Simmons to pound sand when he asked to be immediately traded and proceeded to drag the process out through the trade deadline, after threatening to keep him for years until he got a superstar level player in return.
The most common mock trades that analysts have predicted so far is some variation of Terrance Mann, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, salary filler, and one to two first round picks from the Los Angeles Clippers. Morey has made it clear he wants either another superstar, or a package of young players and picks that he can later flip for a superstar if he were to trade Harden. I’m inclined to believe him.
The Sixers would be better off just keeping Harden if this were the case, considering he led the NBA in assists last season while averaging 21 PPG, 10.7 APG, 6.7 RPG and 1.2 SPG. While his playoff shortcomings at times made it hard for the Sixers to overcome, that package is not helping the Sixers get as far as they did. As of now it appears the Sixers have not been offered anything better, and until Morey is offered another star or a package including at least three first round picks coupled with a few decent role players, expect Harden to remain a Sixer.
