With 76ers ending trade talks involving James Harden, what's next?
James Harden has made it clear that he wants to be traded priorto the start of the 2023-24 season, preferably to the Los AngelesClippers, but the Philadelphia 76ers have ended all trade talksinvolving the former MVP, sources tell ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
While the Sixers had some conversations with the Clippers andother squads, no team has been willing to meet the asking price setby general manager Daryl Morey and his staff.
Harden requested a trade back in June when he picked up his$35.6 million player option, but the Sixers now "plan to bring himback to training camp for the start of the season, setting up anuncomfortable situation with the unhappy star," Wojnarowskiwrites.
The Sixers believe that Harden, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey andCo. are a legitimate championship contender, so they want to makethis work and keep their core together.
Will Harden report to training camp? According to The Athletic'sSam Amick, that seems unlikely. Harden "no longer wants to play forPhiladelphia and has no plans of taking part in training camp," asource close to Harden told Amick.
Back in 2020, when the Houston Rockets didn't trade Harden priorto the start of the season, the disgruntled star showed up late totraining camp, telling reporters that he was training on his own inAtlanta and Las Vegas.
Then, once the season started, Harden complained about histeammates, saying the Rockets were "just not good enough —chemistry, talentwise, just everything." This upset some of histhen-Rockets teammates, including veteran center DeMarcusCousins.
"The disrespect started way before any interview,"Cousinstold reporters. "Just theapproach to training camp, showing up the way he did, the anticsoff the court. I mean, the disrespect started way before. So thisisn't something all of a sudden happened last night... It iscompletely unfair to the rest of the guys in the locker room."
Could we see a similar situation play out inPhiladelphia if Harden isn't traded by the start of the season? Itremains to be seen.
It's also worth pointing out that Morey showedthroughout the Ben Simmons saga that he has no problem fining anabsent player and staying patient until he finds a suitabletrade.
Last season, the 10-time All-Star averaged 21 points,10.7 assists, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 threes and 1.2 steals, whileshooting 44.1% from the field, 38.5% from three-point range and86.7% from the free-throw line.
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