Getty James Harden, Paul George
Though James Harden remains with the Philadelphia 76ers, he appears to be in contact with some of the more prominent players on the Los Angeles Clippers. Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill reported that Harden had been in touch with Clippers’ stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
“James has been in conversation with Paul and Kawhi, and they’re all kind of on the same page.”
@LawMurrayTheNU talks how Harden could help the Clippers on Good Word with Goodwill 👇
“What I’ve heard is that, hey, James has been in conversation with Paul and Kawhi, and they’re all kind of on the same page,” Goodwill said on the August 26 episode of the “Ball Don’t Lie” podcast.
Goodwill did not elaborate on what the three of them have an understanding of exactly, but with Harden’s reported desire to join the Clippers, it would be easy to deduce that they all want to join forces in LA. The question is whether this will end with the Sixers granting Harden’s request to join the Clippers.
No matter how much he wants to play with Leonard and George, the Sixers can decide to send him anywhere he wants because they have the power. When George told the Indiana Pacers that he planned to leave them in 2017, he reportedly wanted the Los Angeles Lakers, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, but they sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder instead.
Kendrick Perkins Urges Sixers to Start Over
On the August 21 episode of ESPN’s NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins urged the Sixers to start over, which, in his eyes, means trading Joel Embiid and building around Tyrese Maxey.
“This season for the Philadelphia 76ers is already a failure. If I was Philly, I would blow the whole thing up right now and I would start with building around Tyrese Maxey because Joel Embiid has to be tired.”
“This season for the Philadelphia 76ers is already a failure,” Perkins said. “If I was Philly – hear me out – I would blow the whole thing up right now. Right now, I would start with building around Tyrese Maxey because let me say this, Joel Embiid has to be tired, and before he goes public and ends up forcing his way out of Philly, I would blow it up now to save myself a headache and start over and start fresh building around Tyrese Maxey.”
Perkins didn’t mention Harden in this rant, but it would be assumed that if the Sixers were to trade Embiid in an effort to start over, they would also trade Harden.
Tyrese Maxey’s Honest Thoughts on James Harden Drama
On the August 24 episode of “Maxey on the Mic,” Tyrese Maxey commented on the Harden drama, praising his teammate while also talking about what the future holds.
“I will say this about the situation: to each his own. James, he’s a professional, and he’s doing something for a reason. You just have to kind of sit back and understand what he’s doing as a friend, but then as a teammate and someone as a part of an organization I’m with right now, you have to prepare for whether James is going to be there or not going to be there. That’s just the nature of it.”
Maxey then added that the Sixers have been through this while adding that he’d love to play with Harden again.
“It’s crazy to say this, but it’s not our first rodeo, honestly. That’s funny to say, but that’s life. James is his own individual, and he’s able to do whatever he pleases. I’m preparing right now to play with him or without him… and I love James. If James decided he’s going to come back and play for us, there’s nobody in this organization that would be upset about that.”