Getty James Harden, PJ Tucker
By steadfastly not trading James Harden, the Philadelphia 76ers that they refuse to trade him for the sake of trading him. As one of the league’s top hybrid scorers/playmakers, getting rid of Harden for not much would take the Sixers down a peg. Hence, they want a deal where they would remain one of the Eastern Conference’s contenders.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey proposed a three-way trade between the Sixers, Miami Heat, and Portland Trail Blazers involving Harden and PJ Tucker that could do just that. Bailey proposed the following trade.
Sixers receive: Tyler Herro, Malcolm Brogdon
Heat receive: Harden, Tucker
Trail Blazers receive: Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jovic, 2026 First-Round Pick Swap with Sixers
Buckley explained why the Sixers would take that deal. He added what kind of lineup the Sixers could trot out with Herro and Brogdon.
“Herro is just over 10 years younger than Harden. He won Sixth Man of the Year in 2021-22, has averaged at least 20 points and four assists in each of the last two seasons, is a career 38.3 percent three-point shooter, and would make sense as a combo guard alongside either Brogdon or Tyrese Maxey.
“In fact, because Herro and Brogdon are both 6’5″, there are probably lineups that make sense with all three on the floor. That’s a wealth of shooting and playmaking around Joel Embiid’s actions in the middle of the floor. With Tobias Harris as the fifth player in those situations, it might be impossible for opposing defenders to leave the perimeter for double-teams inside,” Buckley wrote.
The one issue is that because Brogdon was traded on October 1, he can’t be traded along with other players again until November 30. That means the Sixers would have to wait until December to pull off a deal like this. Knowing what they could get back, it might be worth the wait.
James Harden Attends Training Camp, Leaves Early: Reports
Although there has been speculation that Harden would cause a fuss for the Sixers knowing that he was still on the team, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on October 4 that Harden had attended training camp.
“James Harden is participating in Philadelphia 76ers practice at Colorado State University this morning,” Wojnarowski wrote via his X account on October 4.
There had been no follow-up reports that Harden stirred up any drama, but he left the first chance he got when media arrived, per Tim Bontemps via his X account.
“By the time the media was let into practice here at Colorado State, James Harden had exited the court,” Bontemps reported that same day.
Harden may be approaching it this way because of his rapport with his teammates, but he has proven that if he wants out, he’ll get his wishes no matter what it takes. Maybe it won’t be as dramatic this time, but Harden has not relented on his trade request.
Tobias Harris Gives Thoughts on James Harden Drama
After the first day of training camp, Harris gave his thoughts on Harden re-joining the squad in Colorado.
“[James Harden] is here and his attitude and energy today allowed everybody to understand that he wants to go out there and compete with us”
Tobias Harris on Harden returning to the team today 🙌
(via @KyleNeubeck)
“Everybody understands the business of the game of basketball at this point. Personally, he doesn’t have to address myself or anybody, truthfully. His participation, in my opinion, is addressing that he’s here and his attitude and energy today allowed everybody to understand that he wants to go out here and compete with us and get stuff done,” Harris told reporters on October 4.
Harden’s squabble with the Sixers has not affected his teammates, and they may never before he gets traded. Even if Harden’s not long for Philadelphia, at least this isn’t going the same way the Ben Simmons saga did.