The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly ended trade talks for James Harden and plan to bring him back to training camp to start next season.
His potential exit from Philadelphia was always messy, but it somehow got significantly messier when Harden publicly aired his grievances about 76ers executive Daryl Morey. Despite the two having a longstanding relationship from their shared time with the Houston Rockets, it appears the two are no longer on good terms.
While speaking to a crowd in China, the Philadelphia guard called Morey a “liar” and said he would never play again for the Sixers president again:
“Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
There is one big problem, though. If the front office decides not to trade Harden, he won’t exactly have a choice in the matter. My colleague Mike Sykes had a full explainer on the clause last month, but the short version is fairly simple.
So is Article XI, Section 3 of the new CBA now just known as the James Harden Clause? pic.twitter.com/KHyqtb6pnA
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) August 14, 2023
If a player decides to withhold playing services for more than 30 days while in the final year of his contract, he cannot sign with a new team in the NBA (or any other professional basketball league) until the original team explicitly agrees to let him out of his contract.
Harden accepted his player option earlier this offseason, which means he is in the final year of his contract. So the CBA dictates that he will have to play for Philadelphia until he completes his last year of service with the organization.
So even though the Clippers are the overwhelming favorites to land Harden, he isn’t heading to L.A. unless Philadelphia is offered a suitable return for his services.
Considering that they surrendered former No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons and two first-round picks in order to land Harden in 2022, it’s unlikely that they decide to punt on the asset for pennies on the dollar just to appease him.
Especially because if the return is not satisfactory for Harden, the team could risk losing NBA MVP Joel Embiid to a similar trade request at some point in the near future.
