The Philadelphia 76ers have a predicament on their hands with James Harden. He wants out of Philly, but some of the teams that have been floated as possible trade destinations have little to no interest in him, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.
“So far, there’s been minimal to no buzz that teams like the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and New York Knicks are interested in Harden,” Pincus wrote in an August 16 story about “four realistic outcomes for the ugly” Harden situation. “The Los Angeles Clippers have been the only team that made some level of sense as a trade partner.”
That puts the Sixers in a tough spot as they “try to navigate a difficult, complex situation.” And Harden “doesn’t appear close to being done testing the Sixers’ resolve,” Pincus wrote, after calling Daryl Morey, Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, a “liar” for whom he would not play again.
James Harden Planned to Put Sixers ‘in Some Pain’: Insider
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed on August 16 that Harden and his representation were not happy to learn that the Sixers had decided to end trade talks involving him. So much so that Harden and company told the Sixers that they planned to inflict some damage on them.
“When James Harden and his agents were informed over the weekend … that they were not going to continue with trade talks. That Philadelphia was going to shut that down. You can imagine he was very upset,” Windhorst said on “Get Up.” “It was communicated to the Sixers that they were going to put them in some pain as a result of this. That’s what James Harden did with those comments on Monday morning in China. He put the Sixers in some pain.”
Windhorst said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Harden isn’t done putting the Sixers in pain for how they’ve handled the situation.
“My guess is he may not be done with it. There may be other opportunities for him to really squeeze the Sixers to try to make them reconsider this position,” Windhorst said. “I think his frustration is that they won’t trade him. He understood that his contract wasn’t going to be extended there. In lieu of that, he wanted to get traded. When that didn’t happen, obviously, you can see he’s lashing out. Unfortunately, the situation has really deteriorated from what I’ve been told.”
P.J. Tucker Publicly Sides With James Harden
After the video of Harden calling Morey a liar went viral, Sixers starter P.J. Tucker posted a message on Instagram Stories indicating that he was taking Harden’s side on the matter.
Tucker posted a picture of him and Harden together the year the latter won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, writing in the caption, “I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flippin’ on my bros.” Sixers’ Wire’s Ky Carlin aggregated the post on his X account.
PJ Tucker with a message #Sixers
This is an ugly situation with the Sixers right now, and with players taking their own sides on the matter, it might get even uglier.
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NBA Columnist on ‘Ugly’ James Harden Situation: ‘Minimal to No Buzz’