James Harden has fired the first salvo in his battle with Sixers management, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link). Harden, who’s on a marketing tour for Adidas, blasted president of basketball operations Daryl Morey during an event in China and vowed never to play for him again.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden told the crowd. “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.”
Harden and Morey have a long working relationship, dating back to when Morey brought him to Houston as general manager of the Rockets in a 2012 trade. Morey was thrilled to reacquire Harden in a 2022 deal, driving to the airport to pick him up when he arrived in Philadelphia.
Things began to sour as Harden approached the deadline for his decision on a $35.6MM option for 2023/24. After signing for well below market value last summer to help the Sixers build up their roster, Harden was expecting a generous, long-term offer from the team. However, once Houston elected not to pursue him, Harden didn’t have another bidder and he wasn’t happy with what Morey and the 76ers were offering.
Instead of testing free agency, Harden picked up the option in late June and demanded to be traded. The Clippers were reportedly his first choice, but Philadelphia and L.A. weren’t able to make much progress in trade talks.
The situation has been quiet for several weeks, but it heated up Saturday night when the Sixers leaked a report to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that they have ceased trade talks involving Harden. Harden’s camp responded by stating that his decision to leave the organization is firm and he’s prepared to hold out of training camp if he’s not traded.
Harden is set to become a free agent next summer, but he risks that status if he chooses not to report to the Sixers, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, a player withholding services from his team for more than 30 days “shall be deemed not to have “complet[ed] his Player Contract by rendering the playing services called for thereunder.” That means Harden couldn’t sign with another team in 2024 without the Sixers’ consent.
As several writers have noted, Harden has a history of making things uncomfortable after submitting trade requests in Houston and Brooklyn. He appears to be pursuing the same strategy with Philadelphia, and today’s comments could be the start of a long, bitter standoff.
Sorry daril but when you play with fire you get burned. I’m sure he is a liar, not that Harden is unblameable,but this is what happens…
Couldn’t happen to a nicer franchise LMAO
who’s your favorite team?
This is the Ben Simmons situation 2.0. Do you blame the team or the players?
Completely different.
Trade Harden right away and move on
Fire morey it’s easy he hasn’t exactly done much besides draft Maxey
Nicer franchise Smh but funny sorta
Still though…..boo to you sir
Darryl Morey isn’t the guy who signs the checks. He had to get permission to give Harden his money. Ownership did not give him permission to give Harden his deal at the $$$$ he wanted.
Last year, when Harden took “less” money, he spent weeks gloating with a “wink/wink” that he took less money for the good of the team when everyone knew it was all about getting a much fatter deal this past offseason. Morey was on board, but Harden didn’t perform, and ownership wouldn’t write the check.
Harden didn’t perform. Philly is clearly not a title contender with him, so no reason to max him out.
Harden is a man without a team willing to give him the $$$ or role he desires. He played high stakes poker, and is losing badly right now. At some point very soon, he is gonna wish he took the offer he had from Philly. That will be upwards of $50 to $75 million more over the life of the deal than he can get from ANY other team.
Good Riddance! He can go and spend all his time chasing behind lil baby as his personal fan boy.
21pts and 10 assists per game isn’t performing ?
For $35M a year…is that performing?
or the 250m the nets offered him lol (not to mention with an actual chance at winning)
When the Knicks won their last championship in 1974. Were the games broadcast in B&W?? An absolute joke of a franchise
who’s talking about the Knicks?
1973 Boston won in ’74
Tell us your team coward.
Is Harden a slime ball? Seems so. Harden should try to terminate the contract if possible. Renig on the deal. Play or sit like Bum Simmons. You signed it. Such a players league, thanks LeBron for that
He could have been a free agent if he didn’t pick up his player option
Well, at least Philly wont lose in the second round again.
They’ll lose in the first round instead.
As someone who doesn’t care much about any of these people, this is just funny to me. Except for Philly fans. It sucks for them that their organization is a nonstop dysfunction junction.
Yup. I lived through it. Through “the process” where they were practically giving tickets away to see a team win 10 games in a season, to defending Ben Simmons before he showed his true colors, to defending Joel Embiid before he showed his true colors in the playoffs. I’m done
The jojo who played with a torn acl ? Fractured face ? Torn off thumb ? Fair weather fan go live in New York.
From the outside looking in and with some of the comments Embiid has made that threw his team under the bus, it’s starting to give the impression that Embiid might not be a great teammate and at the root of some of the team’s problems.
I supported Embiid all through the injuries. I watched that man drag Ben Simmons’ ass up and down the court for 7 games on a torn meniscus averaging 30/10.
What I’m talking about is him giving up in the clinching games against Boston and then pretty much throwing his teammates under the bus. The dude can’t stay healthy when it matters most.
That’s when I knew it was time to blow it up. But yeah, let’s run it back with the same team again! Woohoo! 10 years of nonsense. From Sam Hinke and his “process” through the Colangelos and now with this Morey/Harden nonsense. Enough is enough already. It’s over
Fair weather fan? Go live in New York? Yeah ok
Takes a liar to know a liar you signed a contract to play for a team for so many years just because u want a trade doesn’t mean they owe you one
If I’m the sixers and morey this comment would just make me refuse to trade harden to clippers under any circumstances!
Play with emotion, don’t let emotion play with you
I’m not a Harden fan, and I don’t condone some of the things he’s said or done, but I fully support his stance on Daryl Morey and wish more players would publicly refuse to play on Morey led teams. This clown is nothing but a black eye for the league.
Yea the league hates it when people expose them for their injustices.
S**t if getting millions for having to deal with some bad guys sign me up plus the biggest black eye in the NBA is players demanding trades and other guys sitting out half the season with those “injuries”
Sorry you feel that way chairman
Honestly, Morey is right a lot. But he’s also the primary example of “you’re right, but also wrong/a complete pr*ck.”
He wanted his 36 million more than his desire to play for another team. That 30-day rule stands out as large here.
Predicting Harden shows up to camp then Within 10 minutes strains a hammy and sits for the time necessary to resolve the situation. It’ll be similar to Simmons in that the team will say he’s healthy to play but the player will insist he is not.
You’re absolutely right. They may have told him they’d hook him up if he took less but his current market value does not warrant a lucrative contract. He took the 36 because this is his last big salary year. The sixers are going to have to eat that $ and go on or get whatever they can for him wherever they can. Addition by subtraction at this point. I’d send him to the least desirable place. It’s funny how they traded Simmons for almost the exact same situation plus wasting a year of Embiid in the process.
Yes and wasting a year of Joel embiid is a huge consideration. How can the Sixers burn a season again?
It’s been pointed out that strategically, opting in was the only way to get on a contender. Most teams don’t have anywhere near the cap space to sign him as a free agent, so it’d have to be a trade. That would also benefit Philly as they’d get something for him.
Yes you’re absolutely correct. But if James Harden so desperately wants to play elsewhere, and that’s his number one goal and complaint and beef, why in the world would he opt in and be under control of the sixers? They have the right to not trade him and keep him for the year.
Nobody in their right mind would give up 34 million dollars to sign for 2 elsewhere, just because they don’t want to play somewhere. I get that he’s rich, but that’s well over 10% of his career earnings in the league. That’s a lot of money to just burn. I don’t blame him for opting in. The way he’s *acting* since opting in, on the other hand…
Money over principles. Every time.
There’s only a few exceptions such as Cassius Clay in the late sixties and Barry Sanders retiring early are two on the top of my head. I’m sure there’s dozens of others.
This has to be resolved and soon
Harden can Whine and complain and go to the mainstream media and scream and yell all He wants, but he has no leverage
The real culprit here is the CBA, but the league and players agreed to it, however Harden thinks he is above such mundane thoughts and agreements
Ps what caused all this mess was the Sixers drafting that headache and primadonna Ben Simmons!!!!!
If they didn’t draft they Balloon Head…..
Everyone throwing blame every which way, but the real blame goes to A. silver. He created this mess. It was rare to see this type of nonsense when Stern was in charge. Now it’s an annual occurrence.
I wonder if the NBA will step like they did with the Damian trade request.
They probably won’t unless Harden asks to got to Miami.
Harden is such a ego maniac. You could’ve opted out, you didn’t. Boo hoo your 2nd handpicked team in the east doesn’t want to give you a max contract that clearly nobody else does either
Man….first Ben Simmons wanting out…now James Harden….
The 76ers Front Office os getting some bad reps….
Is Embiid next?
Most likely Embiid has wanted out for a while after they didn’t resign Butler. But he wants to show out for the fans. He’s in a tough spot
Yeah it’s such a tough spot to have an entire franchise cater to you season after season while you crater in games that matter. Or you avoid them all together like when he ducked Jokic in a late season matchup.
MVP! MVP!
Bwaaa embid dominant in season match up against joker . Embid plays with brutal injuries in playoffs. Your opinion is baseless.
Embiid has choked even when healthy in the playoffs. He was barely injured at all against the Celtics and pooped the bed for the entire series, shooting so poorly it’s unbelievable and completely giving up halfway through Game 7. His body language that entire game looked so pathetic. Harden wasn’t playing well? He never has in closeout games, and it’s literally Embiid’s job to step up. Pau Gasol did it when Kobe struggled in their championship runs. Bam did it when Jimmy Butler was injured this postseason. LeBron carried literal garbage to the finals twice while nursing injury. As the face of the franchise, as the MVP, there are no excuses unless you cannot play at all.
I’m not going to act like his injuries don’t matter, but he’s also not great when he *is* healthy, nor does that excuse hold water for every situation. He’s been truly great for one playoff series in his whole career; the one where he only played like 25 minutes a game against a far inferior Wizards team whose best Center was Daniel Gafford. And then he turned the ball over every possession in the next series despite his scoring numbers. At some point, the injury excuse fails to matter. Get sh*t done. It’s not like LeBron dropped a near 40pt triple-double in the Lakers’ last game on an entirely messed up ankle or anything. Or like Jimmy Butler carried the *8th seed* to the finals while completely messed up. Embiid as he is now? He’s a better player than both of them on paper. He’s the reigning MVP. And yet he choked like he’d eaten a spicy pepper, in the *second round*. *Again.*
Only two times in NBA history has a player led the league in scoring and the not been in the top 10 in scoring in the subsequent playoffs. Embiid last year and Embiid the year before. When will people realize he is a major reason “the process” has failed?
Embiid played with a knee sprain against the Celtics, hence why he missed game 1. He didn’t play great, but look at Tatums shooting, he wasn’t much better than Embiid. Celtics just had a deeper and healthier team.
I agree Embiid isn’t Mr Playoffs but compared to a lot of stars in today’s game, like Tatum for example, hes not the great choke artist some of y’all make him out to be. He just happens to play for a garbage organization on a mess of a roster. Although I do think Jokic is better, if you put him on the Sixers, you would probably say the same about him.
Nah. Jokic raises his game in the postseason and has every year, and he carried a trash roster to the postseason without his best costar, or even his best two costars. He elevates his teammates tremendously in addition to his own stellar play. Embiid doesn’t.
Also, a minor knee sprain? That didn’t stop several other players from showing out, or stepping up when their costars were injured or ice cold.
There’s not a single player in the NBA who stays on a team or in a situation he doesn’t want in order to “show out for the fans”. Not one.
It’s “his team” and he’ll take that for now… that’s all he’s ever wanted.
One more year of “my team” and, if it doesn’t go well, he’ll be ready to ask out.
1) “my team” status (fought with Ben over that and won out – that’s why Ben wanted to leave).
2) MVP
3) Finals
4) Championship
He’s got two things left to accomplish. But, he’s perfectly happy he got the first two.
Don’t forget Jimmy Buckets wanted out as well. Seems to be a pattern, perhaps it’s the ownership and not the players.
Butler wanted brown out. Butler wanted Simmons out. Butler was correct.
Daryl Morey is the most overrated GM in the league, maybe ever.
James Harden is and always has been toxic.
Yet as a Bucks fan, I have no sympathy for Philly fans after they pulled Operation Sh*thole.
Lol more like harden is most over rated max eligible player in league.
What makes him overrated? He not once but twice turned the poo poo platter into James Harden, a future hall of famer. I will give you the Chris Paul/Westbrook trade was completely awful
He’s never won anything but people treat him like an elite GM
A glorified and over paid athlete that has worn out his welcome on other teams is playing this card now?
Just flat ridiculous. I’m not saying Morey is blameless here but just because the team said they will trade you doesn’t mean they are going to take less than what they feel is adequate compensation.
I don’t care if morey is asking for to much in a deal.
Boy, that escalated quickly! That really got out of hand fast.
The sixers owe Harden nothing except the opt in money he chose. No market for him isn’t moreys fault. Hardens value is vet minimum.
Vet minimum!? This has to be the most ridiculous take ever. I can’t stand Harden, but that’s clearly not his value.
Who offered him anything? What nba team ? Opted in . His choice. No offers .
He opted in because Houston wasn’t paying up and 36 for one season is basically the entire MLE over 3 years. He would have been offered the MLE by every team that had it. He will still get full MLE offers this off-season
No one was offering the max, he outplayed himself. Teams w. space had no reason to offer him and the only way a contending team could get him was a sign and trade. His own delusion screwed him, but if you’re telling me a team wouldn’t have quickly offered him say, two years at $20 mil per year, every team would gladly pay him that. He’s a borderline All Star.
Guaranteed he had offers. Offers weren’t to his liking.
You don’t think a team offered him somewhere around 20 mill even 25 mill at best?
Teams not paying him max money or meeting hardens demands doesn’t mean he didn’t have offers. I’m sure there’s plenty of teams would’ve signed him at a reasonable rate but weren’t willing to pay max price.
You really can’t blame the organization here.
1. They went through with the process as far as the league would allow them. They found some good players – not everyone panned out or was the ‘right’ choice but you can draft and trade for a HoF’er like Carmelo and still win jack.
2. The Coleangelos were forced upon the team, and they pretty much messed up the ‘process’ and threw away assets.
3. Brett Brown was forced to and allowed to play GM and he too messed up the ‘process’ by throwing away assets.
4. Jimmy Butler didn’t want to stay if Ben Simmons was on the team. Is what it is. At the time Ben was pre-extension, All NBA Defense, and an All-Star. You keep that player. They had to keep someone, they overpaid Tobias and the honestly dodged a bullet – they possibly could have signed Kemba if Boston didn’t. Al at least wasn’t injured immediately, even if he was a trojan horse planted by Boston.
5. Who would predict that Markelle Fultz would forget how to shoot?
6. Who would predict that Ben Simmons would quit basketball?
7. Morey went for his guy – if Haliburton or Fox was on the table for Ben Simmons that’s a huge mistake by Morey. But Harden, played like an All Star. They brought in his buddy PJ Tucker who he took less money so that they would do so.
8. Harden falling-off or becoming disinterested was somewhat predictable. They didn’t give him a max extension, which was the right move. He’s freaking 34 and isn’t the same player – if he was able to take flight and get to the basket at will, take over a game night after night. The 2 games against Boston, rare sight.
At the end of the day, NO ONE was giving Harden a max deal, or he would have opted out. NO ONE was giving him a 4 year, 3, year, 2 year, or 1 year max.
No one was offering more than his option.
This last stunt.. man he might be looking at Vet Min next year or China. Certainly no one is going to offer him more than a 1-year deal.
His best option was to report, ball-out, and get a new contract elsewhere, or get traded mid-season. He’s his own worst enemy.
I would be curious if Morey goes public with what the team might have offered him. If it was like 4/100 I would let the media know.
Harden could have elected to be a free agent and play for any team he wants. Him crying about wanting a trade to the Clippers and it not happening is ridiculous. I hope the Commissioner straps on the big boy pants and starts to do something about players interfering with trades. The players’ diva, spoiled, brat antics are pushing fans away.
There’s nothing else for the commissioner to do. The rules are in place with tampering Etc and it’s the team’s right to trade a guy or not trade a guy. If he’s under contract he either shows up or sits out. What else can the commissioner do?
With the Ben Simmons case, he was claiming injury and inability to perform on the court. That’s exactly what James Harden will do if he’s not traded. Hami-strain, groin strain, and shoulder injury.., whatever it takes.
hit him with a fat fine for his comments is a good start. worry about his other antics as they occur. Harden is making it harder to get value for him. He may not get traded until the trade deadline … just like Simmons
Is every other President/GM in the league lining up hoping to be called the next liar by Harden?
Who held the gun to Harden’s head and forced him to opt in to his contract?
His creditors, mortgages, friends and or family, and lifestyle choices. At his age and considering his future earning power he better tighten those things up.
My personal opinion is that if a player signs a contract and wants out, they should void the contract and allow them to sign wherever they want for available cap space. Let harden go to the clippers for the vet min
I think the league could set-up a system for petitioning to void a contract due to a player’s intent to not honor the contract.
Ben Simmons, James Harden, whomever. You petition to the league. You come up with a couple options… one being you fully void the contract, the player can sign elsewhere with any team on a 1-year deal for up to 1/2 the current year’s contract, teams would have to use cap space to sign the player and the signing team forfeits a 2nd round pick to the player’s original team and the original team can use that player’s full contract to go out and sign a free agent regardless of cap situation. Second option, you can void and do a 3-year Sign & Trade deal where the 1st year starts at 1/2 the current year’s salary, and the team receives at minimum an unprotected 1st round pick. Third the league can deem the player’s conduct detrimental to the integrity of the league and suspend that player for 1 year at half-pay or no pay. The team can use 1/2 the player’s contract value akin to a disabled player exception. Player becomes a free agent, signing team forfeits a 2nd round pick to the original team.
Something along these lines – punitive to the player and team taking on said player. Makes players think before the speak/act.
Love this idea
The players union would NEVER allow that. It’s all about money and there’s no way James Harden can get 36 million for next season any other way than this contract he has.
There are two sides to a contract. When there are “opt-outs” or “opt-ins,” those are the times to do just that. You live with your decision after that. The team shouldn’t bend over for the player and get nothing in return after he made his choice.
If it was harden instead of kobe they wouldn’t have made a holiday for a guy burning every franchises bridge and wanting on different teams yearly
Am I the only one who sees past the gimmick? Harden is in China to sell his shoes. What better way to attract Chinese business than going after the most publicly anti China employee of the NBA?
Not sure his shoes matter nearly as much as his future standing in the league (ie, his current and potential next contract). If that’s his play, which I highly doubt, it’s a terrible one all the way around.
It sounds like Harden’s contract could either be tolled or forfeited with the Sixers retaining his rights. He’s a great player, but doing this to three organizations in a row says more about him than it does about the organizations.
It won’t be covered by the League that much but this story is 2nd to Wemby coming in. This is a huge deal and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chinese government somehow influenced it.
Silver said Morey’s tweet about protesters cost the League 400 million. Harden backed China then as did LeBron and others. Harden made the remark in China. He said he isn’t playing for an organization that has Morey part of it. So if the 6ers don’t have Morey part of it then that opens a door.
I’m sure Hardin is bothered, however, does anyone find it interesting that Hardin chose to make these comments while in China?
Morey made the Taiwan comments that got China upset with the NBA a few years ago.
Did these comments make Hardin some extra money on his China visit?
No, I don’t find whatever nonsensical conspiracy theories Fox News publishes interesting (or most cable networks, for that matter). There’s nothing going on here beyond a narcissistic fool being the same narcissistic fool he’s always been.
And it’s HardEn, not HardIn.
Upon further reflection, I do think there’s a little bit of a chance this may actually be true lol. But gosh, it would be such a stupid angle for Harden to play. Who is going to want to sign this declining clown after his current contract ends? Making a bit more money now at the expense of burning all the bridges around you.
Harden isn’t a malcontent and he’s never been a team cancer. He happily signed extensions with the Rockets as they came and never hit the free agent market. When that team has run it’s course and the window closed he did what was best for both parties and asked for a trade. It gave Harden a chance to go to another team that on paper had a shot at winning a chip and the Rockets some assets back in the trade.
The Nets? We saw how that worked out. Irving only played part time and eventually KD asked out twice. Harden played in the 2021 playoffs after sustaining a grade 2 hamstring injury he returned to floor well before it was time after Kyrie injured his ankle in game 4. So he’s willing to sacrifice his body when it matters. He saw that Kyrie and KD weren’t as committed as he was and wanted out.
In the off season after he got traded to Philly he gave up several million dollars so the team could sign some players to support himself, Maxey, Harris and Embiid with the promise that they would do right by him this off season. It’s not like he played poorly, he scored a very efficient 21 PPG and led the league in assists. Morey reneged on his end of the bargain when it became time to return the favor and now he doesn’t want to play for a GM that lied to him, especially since he and Morey had reportedly a great relationship prior to this off season. Now he opted in and asked for a trade as it’s the only way to play for team that he wants to play for. I can’t say I blame him.
“harden isn’t a malcontent”
Oh?
The definition of a malcontent is” a person who is dissatisfied and rebellious.”
Harden is dissatisfied and he’s rebelling.
Harden isn’t a malcontent?? LOL!
Harden could’ve told the rockets to trade for everyone or he’d be a public baby too. They picked up Howard, Paul , and Westbrook for him and then wall after Westbrook was a baby and forced another trade and then Harden copied Westbrook and started forcing trades himself.
Malcontent was an unfortunate selection of vocabulary on my part. The point still remains though that if they treat a player with respect most will return the favor in kind. Harden is justifiably malcontent.
No matter who you believe, Harden is really doing a disservice to himself with this bold, public statement.
Even if he’s right, I doubt many GMs are going to want to bring him in now, let alone give up young players and draft capital for him.
I wouldn’t be shocked if he sits out this year, and he doesn’t have many left. Morey won’t want to trade him for little value and nobody will want to give up much for him. Tough situation
Love to know what Harden thinks will happen now.
He just killed any chance of Philly being able to get even a good package for him in trade.
No way I give him away or cut him if I’m Philly.
Morey is partly responsible for his career. They’ve spent 8 years together. Morey was in Houston telling Harden to jack it from everywhere.
No way I’d want this cancer in my locker room
The cancers are in the ownership team. Butler, Simmons and now Harden all wanted out. Embiid has has hunted at it. If you make Harden or any player feel unappreciated you get the situation the 76ers are in now.
The owners should have a gigantic celebration that Simmons wanted out. His own home country doesn’t even want him now
36 mil a year? Please under appreciate me.
Saying it’s on the ownership isn’t really holding water.
If every player that was under appreciated or felt under appreciated acted like this the entire league would be on espn with head lines.
This is nothing more than a man child that is going to do anything and everything he can to get his way.
He’s becoming the Antonio Brown of the NBA
The league could just avoid this by removing the salary cap and the birds rights.
A lot of these issues are just happening because players are just maximizing their earnings, but unfortunately at the expense of not wanting to actually play where they sign.
That’s how you end up with baseball’s problem, where all the AL Central and most of the NL Central teams are barely competitive year-to-year, with several being uncompetitive. I’d rather deal with drama and watch good games, rather than seeing the Royals, Pirates, and Tigers suck for the nth year in a row.
Yeah as if the process didn’t make basketball unwatchable for the sixers for 5 years,
But I get it: limited money means players have to suck it up and play out of market at times.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the league actually likes all this talk to increase chatter/interest
That was definitely the most extreme example of tanking in basketball history, but honestly? That level of crap is where the Royals and Tigers have been for the past five years. And that’s despite trying for the entire time.
Not that every league should use MLB as a model on how to run things because they treat the players like crap but the league is competitive and has parity without a salary cap or Bird rights.
I would argue the parity point. The teams in the flyover states tend to be way worse off than the coastal teams, and it shows. The AL Central has a lower winning percentage every year than either the west or east. Ditto the NL Central. A lot of that is because they run much smaller payrolls and personnel departments than other teams. There are teams that spend a lot and still can’t win (the Mets), but it’s the exception rather than the rule.
There are flaws, but there has only been one multiple World Series winner in the last ten seasons and 3 in the last twenty. In that span flyover teams like the Royals, White Sox, Cardinals and Cubs have won it all and others have been competitive.
That’s more a factor of the randomness of baseball compared to other sports, but fair. I still say that parity is the wrong term. Balance maybe. But there’s a massive gap in the scouting and development of teams like the Yankees and Dodgers and the Royals and Tigers, and that gap is mostly down to money.
So when Embiid asks for a trade, it will be 3 players asking out of Philly in 3 years.
Nobody want to address the real issue which is that the Sixers are poorly run? Morey and Philly created this entire problem and now they are screwed bc Embiid is watching and probably talking to his agent about where he can go…
If I was Miami I would forget Dame and start putting together the package for Embiid, bc that is coming next.
Back to the Process for you Philly. Maybe it will work this time.
Glad that Harden back to the Rockets rumor never panned out. We dodged a bullet.
This is ugly for the Sixers, and as much as I don’t like the way Harden handles his business, this one’s on Morey.
It was pretty evident last year when Harden re-signed for below market value that there was a second part to the agreement that included James getting his “make up” money this offseason. The fact that Morey didn’t follow through on it isn’t just going to cost him James, but Embiid as well. Joel can’t be looking at this and think “this is a franchise I want to play for long term” knowing he can’t trust team management.
Morey trying to save his pennies knowing that there isn’t another team that had/wanted to spend what Harden wanted to land his services is going to destroy the franchise.
I’m tired of Fatty blowing out his gas all the time. He may have been a premier player five years ago. Now he’s just a fading pile of lard.
I cannot stand Harden right now.
I was a fan of Harden with the Rockets back in the day when was breaking records etc. and more. I also liked Morey. Not sure right now totally. Philly will not go anywhere if do not do something I never liked CP3 trade for Westbrook and do not know what Morey thinking then.
I feel for Embiid. As really think he wants out but is staying out of loyalty to fans.
Harden should have opted out. I think in was a big mistake.
Not crazy with things in league or CBA but not a lot can do. Even Ben Simmons issue with this team.
Going back to Rockets I think Silas coming in as coach then perhaps stirred some things. Silas was a 20 year assistant coming in to be a head coach. I might not have blamed them Harden and Westbrook wanting out. I doubt if Silas would have worked with them. But the way of things back then. Silas could not be HC never fit as one. Why Rockets tanked for 3 seasons. Get all new team through draft so now bring in a coach to take this team and go out and send the ones out who were not part of future. Although I liked KJ. Will things pay off for Rockets.
But again Philly will be in chaos I think even as season gets closer. And perhaps into.
What will be with Lillard down road. Will he hold off. I feel for him at this stage but with Scoot can Portland go on.
But so tired of the Harden stuff. But unless is traded or something who knows
Splendid when a player tells the truth, I wish more would, you gotta love it!
Harden you legend!!!
If Harden is going to call Morey a liar, then he should indicate what lie(s) he told. Based on the league’s investigation last year regarding Harden’s contract, I’d think the commissioner would want to know.
Regardless, in the pantheon of liars, the most despicable are those that fail to keep critcal promises, i.e., those one puts in writing, accepts consideration for and is aware that others are relying on. That might be Morey. But its certainly Harden.
educated guess but im thinking 12 months ago Morey goes to his buddy James “we can bring in PJ Tucker and win a chip if you take xx less… we can do this! I promise next summer when we have cap flexibility we’ll get you done long term”…. 12 months later “uh yea James.. about that…. “
Pj Tucker was the worst piece to add for harden to take less, he’s completely done.