But if the Clippers or another team won't meet their asking price for him, do the Sixers dare a repeat of Harden's disastrous final days in Houston? Or, more recently, Ben Simmons' half-season absence following his own trade request in 2021?Įven if the Sixers did hold firm and Harden shows up to training camp on time, it's fair to wonder how engaged he'd be. One day after a particularly apathetic performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in mid-January-after which he told reporters the situation was "crazy" and "something that I don't think can be fixed"-the Rockets shipped him to the Brooklyn Nets in a four-team trade that netted them four first-round picks and four first-round pick swaps.īy virtue of picking up his player option, Harden is now under contract with the Sixers for the 2023-24 season. Harden started the 2020-21 campaign with three straight 30-plus-point outings, but the wheels quickly fell off from there. Upon his return, he had "multiple verbal confrontations with teammates in practice," including one in which he threw a basketball at forward Jae'Sean Tate, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. He then missed the start of training camp due to the league's health-and-safety protocols amidst the Covid-19 pandemic because he was out partying in Las Vegas. Still, Harden's past history should give them second thoughts about allowing this to drag out for too long.īack in 2020, Harden "indicated to the Houston Rockets before training camp that he would be open to a trade," according to Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon. But given the stakes of this trade for the Sixers-if they whiff on the return, it could raise questions about Joel Embiid's long-term future in Philly-it's understandable why they're holding out for a haul. They've also already traded away four of their next five second-round picks, although they do have their 20 second-rounders, along with a handful from other teams over the next few years.īetween their draft picks and salary filler, the Clippers should have enough assets to acquire Harden. That means they could offer the Sixers two unprotected first-round picks (20) and/or two pick swaps (20) if so inclined. The Clippers already owe their unprotected 20 first-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder from the George trade in 2019, along with a 2025 first-round pick swap. There are likely three sticking points in the Harden trade talks at the moment: Whether the Clippers would be willing to include any of their young players, which salary-filler contracts they're sending back and how much (if any) draft compensation they'd offer as well.
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