Getty James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers.
James Harden would get his wish of being traded by the Philadelphia 76ers in a “what if” story by Alex Mcewen of FanSided’s Sir Charles in Charge. And in the process, he would form an All-Star backcourt with LaMelo Ball on the Charlotte Hornets.
“Harden would be an intriguing addition for the Hornets even with LaMelo Ball on the roster,” Mcewen wrote in a July 4 opinion piece on “fun potential trade destinations.” “If Charlotte wanted to move on from Terry Rozier, perhaps they could use Harden as somewhat of a stopgap to help the young team make a splash earlier than expected.”
Mcewen wrote that the Hornets, who finished 27-55 and in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, could use a strong veteran presence, perhaps more than any other franchise in the league.
“You can make a strong argument that the Hornets need more leadership than any other team in the league right now,” Mcewen wrote. “Moreover, the Hornets are also a team that has only made the playoffs once since rebranding from the Bobcats in 2015. In their 33 years as a franchise, the Bobcats/Hornets have only made the playoffs 10 times and only have four series wins. They’ve never been to the conference finals either.”
Sixers ‘Would Still Love to Keep’ James Harden
While Harden is looking to leave the Sixers, the organization “would still love to keep” the 10-time All-Star this offseason despite the public trade request. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported both Philadelphia’s interest in retaining him and reiterated the Los Angeles Clippers‘ interest in dealing for him.
“You have an organization that would still love to keep him in Philadelphia for the season,” Wojnarowski said on a July 4 episode of “SportsCenter.” “Daryl Morey, their president, he’s got a long history with James Harden and certainly, if there’s a way, as the summer goes on, to try to convince him that they can still make this work together, that he has a chance to compete for a championship. They’ve got a new coach, Nick Nurse, with the Sixers. But at the same time, they are talking to other teams. The Clippers remain a team very interested in James Harden. They’ve been looking for a point guard for the last couple years.”
Daryl Morey hopes to convince James Harden to stay with the Sixers next season, per @wojespn:
– Sixers would love to keep Harden next season. Morey believes his relationship with Harden could help change his current thoughts on returning.
– Still talking to teams about a…
Erin Grugan of SB Nation’s Liberty Ballers explained how the Clippers could land Harden this offseason, writing that part one of the plan has already taken place.
“The Clippers are a team that haven’t really featured in the conversation surrounding Harden, at least not publicly,” Grugan wrote. “For that sort of move to realistically happen, Harden would have to opt-in to his $35.6 million player option with the Sixers, and then be traded. Even then, Harden would have to want to go to Los Angeles, as he has the power to veto any trade.”
‘May Be No Quick Resolution’ to Sixers’ James Harden Saga
Wojnarowski wrote that the Sixers could slow-play Harden’s eventual trade in the same manner they did with Ben Simmons’ departure from Philadelphia ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.
“I think those are conversations that’ll evolve, but you saw what Daryl Morey did a couple of years ago with Ben Simmons,” Wojnarwsoki wrote. “He slow-played it. They were unsuccessful in getting Ben Simmons back in the fold, but they didn’t have the relationship with Simmons that this group does have, especially Morey has with Harden, but I think this is going to be, again, like Portland’s situation, one that may play out over the summer. There may be no quick resolution. We have a lot of time before training camp in September.”
It could be several weeks before we get a resolution to the Harden saga. There’s no guarantee it won’t spill into training camp.